Davis/Kennedy

[Beryl38]

I'm new to this list so here goes:
Hunting for my Grandfather:
William Davis DOB @ 1851 Liverpool (year roughly calculated from marriage, death and census records)
Married Frances Strongitharm in London in 1892:Occupation - Foreman Decorator: Status- Widower: Father - Willam Davis, Physician.
DOD 10 October 1928 London - Age given as 77
Earlier History:
Possibly married Mary Ellen Kennedy 27 May 1872 St Simon, Liverpool. Father- William Davis-Druggist.
Children: Gertrude DOB 1875 West Derby; Blanch DOB 1876 West Derby; Annie DOB 1879 West Derby.
Mary Ellen Davis (nee Kennedy) DOD 26 February 1889 West Derby
Any help much appreciated from a wintry Tasmania

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

To help us see the whole picture at various dates, could you please give details from the censuses you have them on and also what information are you looking to find?

[Tina]

Hello Beryl, great to see a poster from the Apple Isle!!
All the best with your search, you've come to the right forum.
Cheers

[Tina]

Hi Mary, 1891 errors in Anx. Gertrude 15 & Blanch 12 are with their Aunt Elizabeth Kennedy however they have them as related to the people next door. I've sent an error to Anx.
Elizabeth is an umbrella machinist single 30 in Deacon St Everton so this confirms the mother's maiden name.
1881 father Wm is a painter and plumber, something amiss here.

[Beryl38]

1881 Census RG11/3707/98 Page 20
William Davis living with wife Mary Ellen and 3 children in West Derby, aged 30 - Painter and Plumber
1901 Census RG13/69/125 Page 58
William Davis living wth wife Frances and 3 children in Chelsea, aged 49 - Builder
1911 Census
William Davis living with wife Frances and 6 children in Chelsea, aged 56 (NB dropped 4 years off his age) - House Painter /Builder

The real problem is that I can't track William definitively before his marriage to Frances in 1892. The only other information is what appears on his Marriage Certficate.

Q 1/Does anyone have any infomation on a Druggist or Physician William Davis in the 1850-1890's?

Q 2/ Does anyone have any information on Gerturde or Blanch Davis that I might be able to link to my William Davis?

Hope this will fill in some gaps - sorry not to be able to offer more - my grandfather must have been a bit mysterious about his origins - the Family Folk Story is that his father was a doctor, he came from Liverpool, he had been married before and had another family in Liverpool.

[dickiesam]

Hi and welcome,
I notice from your 1911 sighting that William refers to himself as William Ben Davis. But when he married Frances Jane he was plain William.

This is the only birth that is a near match for those forenames in Lancashire between 1850 and 1860. He may have thought he was born in Liverpool if that is where he was raised from a young age.
DAVIES, Benjamin William
Registration district: Manchester, Lancashire
Year/qtr of registration: 1852 / Jan-Feb-Mar
Volume no: 8D; Page no: 253

If his father was a doctor I doubt if his birth would have passed unregistered. Perhaps our Manchester friends could find a baptism there?

[dickiesam]

With all the evidence pointing to there being only one William Davis, I am looking for clues as to William's origin and why he finished up in London in a possibly bigamous marriage, but found his first wife Mary Ellen had probably died in 1889.

Following Mary Ellen's death:
Deaths Mar 1889: Davis, Mary Ellen - 33 - W.Derby - 8b - 435..
the family has been split up. Her two older daughters are with her sister Elizabeth.

KENNEDY, Elizabeth - u/m - 30 - 1861 - Umbrella machinist - Liverpool, Lancashire.
DAVIS, Gertrude - Niece - 15 - 1876 - Liverpool, Lancashire.
DAVIS, Blanche - Niece - 12 - 1879 - Liverpool, Lancashire.
Address: 18 Deacon Street, Everton, Liverpool
RG12 - Piece: - 2948 - Folio: 106 - Page: 33.

I haven't yet found the younger daughter Annie and it appears that his mother-in-law Catherine Kennedy has died by 1891....
KENNEDY, Catherine
Registration district: Liverpool
Year/qtr of registration: 1888 / Apr-May-Jun
Age at death: 75
Volume no: 8B; Page no: 95.

Or
KENNEDY, Catherine
Registration district: West Derby
Year/qtr of registration: 1882 / Apr-May-Jun
Age at death: 68
Volume no: 8B; Page no: 387.

Edited to add Mary Ellen Davis' death.

[MaryA]

Mary Ellen Davis (nee Kennedy) DOD 26 February 1889 West Derby

So hopefully not a bigamous marriage - Beryl do you have the death certificate? who registered the death?

Details from the censuses required, dates of birth and also places of birth for children are important to assist with movements and full details helps to see the overall picture.

1881 23 Empire Street, West Derby
Everyone except mother in law born Liverpool, Lancashire
William Davis Head M 30 Painter & Plumber
Mary E Wife M 30
Gertrude? (bad handwriting) Daur 6 Scholar
Blanch daur 2
Annie E daur 1 month
Catherine Kennedy Mother in Law W 67 Ireland
RG11; Piece: 3707; Folio: 98; Page: 20

1901 39 Victoria Road, South Fulham, London
Wife and all children born Fulham, London
William Davis Head M 49 Builder Own Account Lancashire, Liverpool
Frances Wife M 35
Frances daur 9
Ida daur 7
Eva daur 5
RG13; Piece: 69; Folio: 125; Page: 58.

[MaryA]

I'm assuming you are quoting the place of birth of the children as "West Derby" because you found the entries in the indexes of birth? The West Derby registration district covers a large area of Liverpool so although you may be correct in this instance since they are living in West Derby, that the children might have been born there, equally it could have been in another suburb of Liverpool, there is information about the registration district here http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/dist ... derby.html

Baptisms I have found for St Peter, Liverpool
Gertrude Davis born 1 June 1875, baptised 24 April 1876 Parents William & Mary Ellen Davis, occupation Painter
address seems to be Neild St.

Blanche Davies born 10 June 1878, baptised 10 September, 1878 Parents William & Mary Ellen Davies, occupation Painter, address West Derby

Can't find Annie's baptism, but the 1881 census states her age to be 1 month.

[dickiesam]

I think I have found William Davis in London in 1891..

HARRIS, Thomas - Head - Md - 58 - 1833 - Iron Moulder - Phillack, Cornwall.
HARRIS, Catherine - Wife - 58 - 1833 - Phillack, Cornwall.
HARRIS, Elizabeth - Dtr - u/m - 18 - 1873 - Machinist, shirt maker - Islington, London.
HARRIS, Richard Oliver - Son - 15 - 1876 - Engineer's apprentice - St Lukes, London.
DAVIS, William - Lodger - Widower - 38 - 1853 - Decorator - Lancashire.
Address: 9 Pratt Street, Lambeth, London.
RG12 - Piece: 392 - Folio: 31 - Page: 24.

[Beryl38]

Many thanks to you all for all your help - it is great to find so many people out there, who can find something for me -

I do have a Death Certificate for Mary Ellen Davis, and the death was registered by William. They were living in West Derby at 3 Bourne Street.

That Lambeth address for William Davis in 1891 Census would tie in nicely as the Strongitharm family, including his 2nd wife-to-be Frances were living in the same area.

My feeling is that William left the girls Gertrude, Blanch and Annie with Catherine and Elizabeth Kennedy to look after, and went down south to London to find work. He may have intended to send for them later. However, Frances was well pregnant by the time William married her, so he may have felt it impossible to lumber her with his little girls, when she also had a new baby on the way.

By the way, his 2nd family consisted of 5 girls and only one boy, which suggests this may be the correct William Davis I'm looking at.

It doesn't help that the surname often appears as 'Davies' even though William consistently uses 'Davis'.

I'm going to try to trace Gerturde and Blanch through later Census and see what happens.
Cheers to you all
Beryl

[MaryA]

Well a couple of censuses later there is a Blanch Davies age 30 who was born in Liverpool as a hotel guest at 97-101 Great Portland Street, St Marylebone, London.

[Beryl38]

Hi Mary
Thanks for that - I've had a look at Blanch Davies in 1911 Census and I don't think she is mine - she is the wrong age and I found a Birth for a Blanch Davies registered at Prescot in 4Q1870 - I have a feeling that Gerturde and Blanch are going to slip between the cracks of history like my grandfather William - but I'll keep hunting
Thanks Beryl

[MaryA]

I've had a look at Blanch Davies in 1911 Census and I don't think she is mine - she is the wrong age and I found a Birth for a Blanch Davies registered at Prescot in 4Q1870

I would doubt very much if your Blanch was registered in the Prescot area as they lived around West Derby, the census gave the birthplace as "Liverpool".
Can you tell me why you don't think the baptisms I found are yours? Parents and occupation seem to match as does the date of birth given for Blanche at least in the censuses.

Gertrude Davis born 1 June 1875, baptised 24 April 1876 Parents William & Mary Ellen Davis, occupation Painter
address seems to be Neild St.

Blanche Davies born 10 June 1878, baptised 10 September, 1878 Parents William & Mary Ellen Davies, occupation Painter, address West Derby

This would make me consider keeping the Blanch in London on file, a hotel guest wouldn't necessarily enter the full census details herself, so an age, give or take a year could be acceptable.

[dickiesam]

Hi Mary
Thanks for that - I've had a look at Blanch Davies in 1911 Census and I don't think she is mine - she is the wrong age and I found a Birth for a Blanch Davies registered at Prescot in 4Q1870.
Thanks Beryl

This is the Prescot-registered Blanche in 1871...

DAVIES, Samuel - Head - 39 - 1832 - Labourer, soap works - Frankby, Cheshire.
DAVIES, Margaret - Wife - 36 - 1835 - Sandbach, Cheshire.
Plus 4 older children, all bn Halewood, then:
DAVIES, Blanche - Dtr - 9? mths - 1871 - Halewood, Lancashire.
Address: Halebank Road, Halewood, Lancashire.
RG10 - Piece: 3854 - Folio: 45 - Page: 7
Reg. District: Prescot

Just wondering... Was Gertrude plain Gertrude or Gertrude Eleanor?
DAVIS, Gertrude Eleanor married DRAKE, Henry Manning.
Registration district: Liverpool
Year/qtr of registration: 1899 / Apr-May-Jun
Volume no: 8B; Page no: 69.

And then resided at: 14, Catterick Road, Didsbury, Lancashire.
RG13 - Piece: 3669 - Folio: 62 - Page: 20.

Or was she Gertrude Mary...?
DAVIES, Gertrude Mary - Probationer - u/m - 24 - 1877 - Probationer Nurse - Liverpool.
Address: West Derby Union, Mill Road Everton
RG13 - Piece: 3486 - Folio: 98 - Page: 3