The Davies Family in 1921 – a Moment in Time

I hardly knew my grandad, Reginald Davies.  He had left my grandmother, Bronwen, before my parents married, and later moved from South Wales to Birmingham.  He appeared briefly in my childhood and died in 1963 of Parkinson’s disease.  My mother told me some tales from her childhood when she had lived  in Ivor Street in Fleur de Lys, Pengam.

Reginald’s birth certificate states that he was born at 9, Ivor Street in 1908 to Emily Elizabeth Rose and Thomas Davies. Reginald’s mother Elizabeth died there in 1963.   So I was fairly sure I would find the family living in Ivor Street in 1921.  And there they were:-

• Thomas Davies, 38, born in Beaufort working as a ‘rider coal miner’ at the Britannia Colliery in Pengam owned by the Powell Duffyrn Colliery Company
• Emily Elizabeth Rose, 40, born in Bristol working at  ‘home duties’
• Reginald Davies, 13, born Pengam in full time education
• William George Davies, 8, born Pengam in full time education
• Hugh Davies, 6, born Pengam in full time education
• Elovinde Marie Weller, 76, born Hereford working as a servant

But I knew two children were missing from the family – Thomas Rees born in 1910 and Elizabeth born in 1911. Sadly Thomas had died on  June 7^th , just 12 days before the census was taken, from cardiac disease four months and influenza six months. Thomas was buried in Pengam Cemetery on June 13^th by the Baptist minister.

That left two unanswered questions – Where was Elizabeth Davies?  and Who was Elovinde Weller?

Where was Elizabeth Davies?

Elizabeth or Aunty Betty as we knew her never married.  She was an invalid who had a heart condition and was mostly confined to bed.  Betty lived in a little summer house in the yard and was very involved with the local church and the Girl Guides.  When her mother died she went to live with her brother William and his family in Northwich, Cheshire.  I am not sure at what age Betty became ‘ill’ but wonder now if there was some sort of heredity heart problem which affected her and her brother.

Searching for Elizabeth Davies (name variant Betty) was not an easy task.  It involved going through many possible results until I found one that looked like a match – using the advanced filter on Findmypast  was a help.

Elizabeth was with her grandmother, Elizabeth Rose in Bristol.  Maybe she had been sent to stay with her when her brother was so ill.  Interestingly she was recorded as being in full time education which suggests she was not confined to bed at this stage of her life.

 Elizabeth Rose, aged 69,  was working as a housekeeper at 23, New Wells Road in Totterdown, Bristol.  She was employed by John Green, a grocer’s assistant at C.H. Bayliss. (Grocers)  which was situated further along the same road.  Looking back to the 1911 census Elizabeth was at this same address working as a servant. John was described as single and his mother Mary Norris Green aged 80 was also living there.  There is an additional note which records that Elizabeth’s husband was in the Bristol Workshouse.  George Rose died here in 1913 from chronic bronchitis and heart failure.

This live-in job could have been a life saver for Elizabeth as at age 59 heavy work would have been difficult and George was in and out of the workshouse for several years, unable to work due to ill health.  Elizabeth died in 1931 aged 78 at Southmead Hospital of ‘a fractured skull, probably due to an accidental fall’.  No post mortem was held.  Her address was given as 123, New Walls Road – she had lived there for at least 20 years.    John Green died, at the same address, in June 1939 leaving effects of £1450 to his sister.  It is good to know that my great ggreat grandmother had some stability and hopefully companionship at the end of her often difficult life which will be covered in a later blog.

Who was Elovinde Marie Weller?

Who was Elovinde Marie Weller, aged 75, living with the family and described as a servant?  Perhaps she had been employed to help care for young Thomas  during his illness or maybe she was a lodger who worked elsewhere as a servant.  At the age of 75 both seem rather unlikely. Could she be a distant relative? Some more searching revealed a little more of this lady.

• Her name was Clorinde (Clorinda) Marie Weller – this was confirmed by her burial record in Pengam cemetery in February 1923. At the time she was residing at Edward Street, Pengam
• Although Clorinde was born and baptised in Kington, Hereford to Abel Hamer a writing clerk  and Louisa Pauline de Rutowsky in 1843 she spent most of her life in East London.
• Her grandfather, Louis de Rutowsky was a ’well respected artist’ who was born in France and had a business in Kent.  Some of his paintings can be viewed on Artnet.
• In 1880 she married William Allen, a book binder and they had 8 children together before William died in 1884.
• In the 1891, 1901 and 1911 census she was living with John Nathaniel Weller in Shoreditch.  John was a joiner and general labourer.  Clorinde was described as a ‘washer’, a ‘washerwoman’ and a ‘laundress’.  John and Clorinde finally married in 1906.
• John died in 1913 – Clorinde moved to Islington and applied for relief from the parish.  The parish made an order of removal from Islington back to Shoreditch.

Initially none of the above explained why Clorinde may have moved to a village in Monmouthshire sometime between 1913 and 1921 but it does show what a tough life she had had.  Born into relative comfort she ended her days working far away from her home city and working as a servant of some sort. 

One final search to find out why Clorinde was living in Fleur de Lys was lo search for Clorinde’s children and who they married.  Clorinde’s daughter Lucy Louise Allen married  Arthur Benson from West Ham and around 1905 they moved to Fleur de Lys where they lived until their deaths. In 1911 Arthur was working as an assistant timberman in a colliery and the family lived in Bryn Gwyn Street not far from Ivor Street.  Lucy and Elizabeth were a similar age and both men were probably working at the same place. So maybe Clorinde was helping out Elizabeth and Thomas at a difficult time in their lives.

This census search revealed a lot about my Davies family and I discovered more about one of my great great grandmothers, Elizabeth Rose, in the process.  It also opened a window on a tragic time in my great grandparent’s lives.