11 replies to this topic

[Bwillou]

Hi I'm a new member from Canada and doing research on my Family my grandfather John Willoughby was born in Amersham in 1897 then came to Canada in 1906 with his father John Willoughby Sr. and mother Jane Willoughby nee Rohdes. They left behind one child Kate Willoughby who was raised by her Grandparents but I'm not sure if it was the Willoughby or Rhodes grandparents. My father who is now 80 promised his father he would try to find her decendents. I am wondering if anyone knows of this Willoughby family that is from Amersham. I would appreciate any information anyone can give me.
Thank You,
Billie-Jo

[DogChops]

Hi

Bored at work, so had a look at the BMD indexes.

This may or may not be of help, but there were 2 Kate Willoughbys who got married not too far from Amersham; one in Q3 1923 in Watford (index ref 3a 2104) to Jesse G Reeves and one in Q3 1924 in Thame to George Birmingham (index ref 3a 2739).

Having looked through the death indexes for Kates by any of the above names, there is Kate Reeves b 18 Dec 1902 d Q2 1980 Ealing, Middx. (index ref 12 0184). I think this may well be your lady.

There is only one Jesse Reeves shown with a middle name G in the deaths, so this may well be Kate's husband; Jesse Gladstone Reeves b 12 Oct 1899 d Q1 1974 Surrey Northern (index ref 5g 615). The Birth index shows him originating in Nantwich, Cheshire (index ref 8a 329); he is on the 1901 census but my work PC won't allow me to look at the census image, but if you don't have access to that yourself, let me know and I'd be happy to do a lookup at home later.

Note that the place names are the registration districts, not necessarily the actual place.

Best Wishes

Dave

[Bwillou]

Hi

Bored at work, so had a look at the BMD indexes.

This may or may not be of help, but there were 2 Kate Willoughbys who got married not too far from Amersham; one in Q3 1923 in Watford (index ref 3a 2104) to Jesse G Reeves and one in Q3 1924 in Thame to George Birmingham (index ref 3a 2739).

Having looked through the death indexes for Kates by any of the above names, there is Kate Reeves b 18 Dec 1902 d Q2 1980 Ealing, Middx. (index ref 12 0184). I think this may well be your lady.

There is only one Jesse Reeves shown with a middle name G in the deaths, so this may well be Kate's husband; Jesse Gladstone Reeves b 12 Oct 1899 d Q1 1974 Surrey Northern (index ref 5g 615). The Birth index shows him originating in Nantwich, Cheshire (index ref 8a 329); he is on the 1901 census but my work PC won't allow me to look at the census image, but if you don't have access to that yourself, let me know and I'd be happy to do a lookup at home later.

Note that the place names are the registration districts, not necessarily the actual place.

Best Wishes

Dave

Hi Dave:

Thanks so much for the information. I do have a membership to Ancestry.ca but I can't seem to find him on the 1901 census if it isn't too much trouble that would be great if you could pull the 1901 census report. I was wondering if you would know how I might try to find any decendants of Kate Willoughby and Jesse G Reeves. I heard from one of my Aunts that she had a son who wrote a book about the Willoughby Family or maybe it was a grandson not sure. I was to come to England in June to finish the research I've started but my father has taken very ill and I have to stay in Canada and take care of him. I know that I must have many relative in England as my Great Grandfather was the only one of the family to come to Canada. The rest of them stayed in Amersham. It would be nice to connect with these relatives and maybe find out more about my ancestors.
Once again Thank You and any information you can provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

[DogChops]

Hi

I have to assume this is him:

2, North Gate, St Leonards, Bridgnorth, Salop:

Jesse Reeves age 18 months b Crewe, Cheshire (visitor)
Mary Reeves age 32 b Hurley, Salop (visitor)

They are visiting a family called Taylor, good chance it's Mary's parents. You'd need to check the birth certificate for Jesse to confirm this, though!

Best Wishes

Dave

[Bwillou]

Thanks again Dave.

I was wondering if you would have any suggestions on how I may locate any living decendats of Kate and Jesse's? I have been searching for alomost two years trying to find any living decendants with no luck. I have however recently recieved information from a lady on Ancestry.ca that she found two children born to Kate and Jesse Reeves. They were Raymond Fredrick J Reeves b. 1925 and died 1999 they also had a daughter Joan Reeves b. 1930 according to this woman on Ancesty it shows Joan as still living. So I will try to search and find either Raymond's decendants or Joan and her decendants. If you have any suggestions on how I might locate any living decendants of Kate and Jesse Reeves please let me know it would be appreciated.
Thank you again for all your help.
Billie-Jo

[DogChops]

Joan E M Reeves b Q1 1930 Watford. Index 3a 1364. That is Kate's daughter.

There are 3 Joan E M Reeves in the Marriages; two in 1948 (Westminster & Bromley) and one in 1953 (Ealing). The last one is your lady. Index is 5e 118. The husband's name is Arthur J Ellis-Hall which is nice and unusual.

There's a death for Arthur John Ellis-Hall (b 15 Feb 1931) in Jul 1989 Hammersmith (index 12 1244) but nothing for Joan so she was still with us in 2005.

There is a record on the Electoral Role for a Joan E Ellis-Hall, living with a David A Ellis-Hall and Michele A Caldinez, up til at least 2007. However, the address (somewhere in the London area) can only be obtained by subscription. David is Joan's son. David may or may not have some connection with the Fashion Industry, but again subscriptions get in the way...!!

Best Wishes

Dave

[Bwillou]

Dave this is great information where do you get this information? I have been looking so long and never found anything. I was just wondering what subscription are you talking about...is there a site I can subscribe to and get this information? I am going to see what I can find out based on the info you have given me.
I thank you 100 times over for this information...I have just told my Dad and he is very happy we may be close to getting in touch with his cousin.
Billie-Jo

[DogChops]

...I just love rooting around and finding stuff!!

Apart from Ancestry, bmd indexes are available on www.freebmd.org.uk - the more recent ones include links to spouses (at marriage) or mother's maiden name (at birth) which helps.

The reference to the Electoral Roles is from www.192.com which is a subscription-based people finder (it covers phone directories and electoral roles). If you pay for a subscription then you will get his registered address from the Electoral Role - this type of thing is also available in libraries and council offices, but apart from it being in Middlesex (i.e. pretty much London) there was no further clue so it would probably be a bit tricky to track down that way. There was no phone directory hit (which usually shows a little more info) so I suspect he is ex-directory.

I shall see if I can find someone with a subscription, otherwise maybe someone on this board may have one?

Best Wishes

Dave

[Bwillou]

I think that I may make another post asking if anyone has a membership to the 192.com and if they would be able to help me by looking up David Ellia-Hall. I can offer to look for information for them through Ancestry.com if they would like that or I also belong to findmypast.com which I can search on. So maybe if they need information on either of those sites we could trade off.

I have a question for you Dave are you from the UK? Thanks for the great idea of asking for help on this board.
Billie-Jo

[DogChops]

Yes, UK. Live not-too-far from Amersham and went to school there hence why I read this board. That, and having little to do at work...!

While I'm here, do you want any other look-ups for UK people? I don't know if your Canadian Ancestry shows UK data or not? Happy to do so if you want. Your John Willoughby sr was living in my village in the 1881 census...

Best Wishes

Dave

[Bwillou]

Was your villiage Amersham I'm not really sure of how the cities and villiages work there...it is a bit different from Canada. I hope to find out what street he lived on and maybe even the number then when I visit England in the Fall I would like to go see it and take some pictures. I know that I must have other relatives over in England as my great grandfather was the only one from his family to come over to Canada. His sisters and brothers stayed in England and it was a big family. My great grandmother from the Rhodes family also was the only one of her family to come over to Canada so all of her family and their decendants must still be England.

I can look up UK stuff on my Ancestry but it dosen't seem to be very accurate as some of the things you found I could not find. I might have some other people if you don't mind? Just have to look them up on my files.
Thanks
Billie-Jo

[DogChops]

My village about 5 miles from Amersham. This part of the country is fortunately still relatively rural, so the villages are not yet swallowed up by towns & cities.
It does seem a little odd that John W Sr moved from Amersham, but maybe work was available for him on a particular farm?
I can't find him at the moment in the 1891 census - I have heard that the search engine and transcriptions for 1891 are of poorer quality than the rest on Ancestry. In 1901 he was living on the outskirts of Rickmansworth, which is a larger town than Amersham and about 5-6 miles in the other direction - I know the road fairly well, and it does still have some older houses along it. Unfortunately, none of the censuses where I can see the family give an exact address, although I can tell you that the places the family lived in 1861 & 1871 have now been re-built over.

Best Wishes

Dave