|
Post by annedw on Oct 8, 2008 13:46:59 GMT
Again a bit more I found in the Museum. Not a Lot ;D ;D ;D
A desciption of Gibbons Court with the note that the origin of the name is unknown.
From the History of Wrexham ( Shortened version ) Missis Simon`s schools. Kelso House Grosvener Road is within the memory of many Wrexham people, it was only about 1925 that it closed down after a life in the service of education over about 50 years. Missis Simon came from Cardiff about 1875 to open a Girls School in Lea side Rhosddu, They moved to Pengwern 15 King Streeet in 1886 and then to Kelso House. In the early days they appointed a Fraulein to teach German and a Madamoiselle to teach French - a rather starling thing to do in those days, but it enhanced the reputation of the school.
This might explain the `finishing school ` story.
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Oct 9, 2008 18:06:30 GMT
Hi Annedw I will talk to my Mother who gave me the 'finishing school' story and see if I can establish if indeed her Mother actually travelled to France or in reality learnt French from a reach Frenchwoman!! This is all really interesting and I can quite see it was a real advanced step in those days! I also wonder where the other children went to school - if the family were this progressive with their girls - where did the boys go to school? Kind Regards Claudia
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Oct 11, 2008 14:53:35 GMT
It seems there were many private schools in Wrexham , but I would imagine that the boys went to Wrexham County School when they turned 11. It was a very good school and I`m almost sure parents had to pay for the education, but I might be wrong on that. The registers are at Denbs archives in Ruthin. It gives fathers name . occupation, when child was admitted and when he left.
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Oct 11, 2008 15:03:53 GMT
I found all the following in the Adwy Chapel registers. Later known as Bethlehem. In January 1893 Rev Griffiths left and three months later Rev Edgar Moses became pastor. The church was still at Bron Offa until 1896 when again it was ` locked out `. To enable to keep the church together, a room over Mr Gibbons shop was rented for 2/6 a week. Services were held there for six months until the church then moved to Coedpoeth Infants School. Eventually a suitable plot of land was found A new church was built and was opened on December 14 1897. In the same year the name of the Church was changed from the Congregational Church, Adwy to Bethlehem Congregational Church, Penygelli and on Monday Sept 20th 1897 memorial stones were laid on the front walls. Mr Joseph Wilcoxon presided over the ceremony. Mr Samuel Moss laid the first stone with a silver trowel, which was suitably inscribed for the occasion. In 1984 the church celebrated the centenary of its beginnings in 1884 by the founder members who were ; William LesterSamuel Roberts Charles. James Gibbons Sarah Vernon Samuel Powell Albert William Ashford Alice Roden James Vernon Anne Jones Letitia Jones Edward Roden Mary Anne Jones Ada L Jones Samuel Pickering M A LesterAnnie Jones Wm Percy Jones Anne Powell Maggie Roberts William Davies Ann J Pickering Harriet Gittins So Charles James became a non conformist. Joseph Wilcoxon was my Great Grandfather, looks like our ancestors were aquainted then. There`s a theory that every one on earth is connected by six links or occurances , Hmmm , I`m beginning to believe it
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Oct 11, 2008 15:27:22 GMT
More from Bethlehem , this is from the Members Register. Looks like Charles was influenced by his boss Mr Lester.
Charles James Gibbons age 48 Plas Maelor Manager joined July 6 1884 Left
William Lester age 54 Bron Offa Lime Merchant joined July 6 1884 Mary A Lester Bron Offa joined July 6 1884 Departed this life on the 16 Jan 1892
Oswald Wilcoxon age14 Coedpoeth Teacher joined Feb 10 1918 Transfer and confession from Union of Young Worshippers. The above is my Dad.
This is from the PLEDGE I PROMISE TO ABSTAIN FROM ALL INTOXICATING DRINKS AS BEVERAGES
23/2/1886 William Lester 56 Bryn Offa 23/2/1886 Charles James Gibbons 50 Plas Maelor
Bethlehem Baptisms Charlotte Beatrice d/o Chas J Gibbons and Mary Ellen Accountant Plas Maelor born Sep 20 1885 bapt Nov 29 1885 Penelope Kate Gwendoline d/o Chas J Gibbons and Mary Ellen Accountant Plas Maelor born Sep 1 1887 bapt Oct 23 1887
No Gibbons in Marriages or Burials.
Charles James must have returned to the Church as he was buried in Minera Churchyard rather than Coedpoeth Cemetery.
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Oct 12, 2008 11:11:37 GMT
Hi Annedw This really is quite fascinating and, as you say the theory of the 6 links/occurances makes you think doesn't it! In how many cases does the 'circle' of acquantainces and friends replicate Wonder what our GGFathers would think to this electronic means of renewing family acquaintences! Looking back through the variety of established facts, Mr Lester had quite an influence on Charles James over the years. I assume that giving up 'intoxicating beverages' for a family such as this one seems to would have been quite a step (wine at meals etc) Have to go to work today but hope son will sort chatroom link out tomorrow. Regards Claudia
|
|
|
Post by eluned on Oct 19, 2008 16:07:25 GMT
DD/BE/112 Correspondence and papers concerning application of George Gibbons, Adwy'r Clawdd, for a spirit licence. 1894-5. J.Clifford Davies mentions in his book "Pubs & Inquests" 1918 Mr Gibbons granted a retail licence for beer not to be consumed on the premises of Poplar House, Adwy. I am guessing not all the family took the pledge
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Oct 19, 2008 21:47:30 GMT
Hi Religion seem to play quite a part in this family's way of life. On further investigation my Mother tells me that my GM (Dora LB Gibbons) was engaged to another man prior to marrying Patrick Joseph O'Malley. The gentleman broke off the engagement as Dora had converted to the Roman Catholic church and he could not 'consider marriage any longer as she was no longer a 'suitable' wife following her change of religion. The actual timing of this is unclear, certainly my Mother wears Dora's first engagement ring and remembers that it was quite a special piece to Dora. Did they publish engagements in Newspapers in those days? It would be interesting if who the fiance was. Having quizzed my Mother about the French connection, it seems that this was definitely time spent living in France - not merely a 'holiday'. Still unclear if this was 'finishing school' or perhaps Dora had been sent as a Governess or similar? Looking at where she went to school, certainly there were links here to the continent - with proper French and German nationals teaching their own language . We have also found Dora's receipe book - and a large proportion is written in French, showing a real command of the language AND wonderful handwriting. Regards Claudia
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Nov 17, 2008 0:45:30 GMT
Hi All
I have unearthed from my Mothers loft, a photograph of the wedding of Dora L B Gibbons to Patrick Joseph O'Malley in New Brighton. We have managed to identify at least 4 people but the other 8 are unknown as yet. Do you think it worthwhile uploading this onto the website to see if anyone might recognise anyone in it.
Your thoughts would be appreciated. Claudia PS: Still trying to get into the Chatroom
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Nov 17, 2008 14:37:39 GMT
I don`t think you can put an image on the site, at least no-one has so far I looked for a Marriage announcment for Dora in the Times, nothing in there, and without a date for the engagment it would be pretty hard to find. I suppose local papers may have something, but it would be a major search. Shame, it would be interesting to find out who he was, could have been the son of a very wealthy man ;D ;D ;D access.gale.com/newstrial/ This is a very good searchable site, but only for 19c papers. Worth a go if you have lots of time, I did a search for Gibbons and found thousands. I suppose narrowing the dates and publications might help I`ve been wondering how it came that Dora, obviously very well educated and from a highly regarded background married a dock worker. Looking at this site , it seems that he would have been not much more than a labourer. Or was there more to Patrick Joseph O`Malley then we know. www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/history/living/Dockers and merchants The activities of merchants created employment in the docks. Dock workers were employed as 'casual' labour. Each morning and lunchtime dockers gathered at stands, hoping to get picked for work. By 1929 the docks stretched for seven miles along the waterfront with 239 'stands'. Dock work was divided between stevedores and porters. Stevedores were responsible for loading and unloading cargo. This was highly skilled work as the stability of a ship was dependent upon the proper distribution of cargo in the holds. The most important piece of equipment for all dockers was 'the hook' - a hand held tool used for shifting heavy sacks: "You had to have a good hook, one which would fit your hand and one which you could work with - otherwise after a day handling anything up to a hundred tons of cargo, they'd just be bleeding red raw and blistered."
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Nov 18, 2008 7:22:19 GMT
Hi Annedw
Whilst up in the loft I found an old Bible - in the front cover are cuttings from a newspaper as follows:-
"New Brighton Wedding - Gibbons - O'Malley. Considerable interest was aroused in New Brighton on Monday morning by the wedding of Miss Dora L Gibbons, daughter of Captain and Mrs J Gibbons, Wellington Road to Mr Patrick O'Malley, of Glasgow. The ceremony took place at the Church of SS Peter and Paul, Rowson Street, the Rev T. Mullins officiating. There was a pleasant gathering of friends and relations and the bride attended by two bridesmaids, was given away by her Uncle Mr A W Wright Ashford. " 17.06.1912
It goes on to explain how she was dressed (rather grandly), what gifts the bridegroom had given both her and the bridesmaids - Misses Annie O'Malley and Gwen Gibbons. The best man was a Mr Blue of Rothesay. The wedding breakfast was held at the residence of the bride's parents after which the newly-married pair left for their honeymoon which was to be spent in the North of Ireland.
As you say, quite where these two met is somewhat of a mystery!
Claudia
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Nov 21, 2008 20:22:34 GMT
Hi All From the same Bible I have found the report in what is possibly a Glasgow paper of the funeral of Patrick J O'Malley at the age of 54. It is quite a long (6") column. He was referred to as taking a "prominent part in the Catholic life of the city, and was for sometime, a member of the old Parish Council" . He is reported as carrying on business as a stevedore at Queen's Dock and was held in high esteem by all with whom he came in contact. Several of the mourners were members of the Clergy, family (which gives me some more information to check out!) and representatives of business firms and public bodies with whom PJO had been associated with. So it would appear that although referred to as a Stevedore, that as you say more to Patrick Joseph than meets the eye - I wonder if I can find out any more. Still doesn't answer how his path crossed that of Dora L B Gibbons does it? Claudia Claudia
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Nov 24, 2008 11:11:54 GMT
Thats a marvellous find Claudia, but doesn`t it make you worry about what they thought wasn`t worthy to go in the attic. You might like to see this, before it goes !!! Download the photo for keeps. www.flickr.com/photos/exacta2a/2656118416/
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Jan 23, 2009 14:16:22 GMT
OXFORD LOCAL EXAMINATIONS Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), Tuesday, August 17, 1897; There is a HT Gibbons named as passing these exams. It looks like he is male. One of your perhaps. My Gt Aunt Edith Wilcoxon is also named, they would have been at Wrexham County School
|
|
|
Post by sooty on Apr 3, 2009 21:35:21 GMT
To Annedw I appreciate that you must have made many entries on this site - I had posted an entry last year regarding Captain John Francis but had received no reply - it was on the off chance that I had entered this post and given the dates I was referring to 1688 I wasn't totally surprised not to have received a reply! When I pressed search to try and recall this post to review it the search also drew up your entry from the 11th September 2008 where you suggest the origin of the term Captain in relation to mine managers. This Captain John Francis you mention came from Cornwall and you suggest that this may be where the term originated from, this matches much of my information and I would really appreciate if you could let me know where you found the information regarding this Captain John Francis and suggest maybe where I could look to find out more. I did visit the AN Palmer Centre in Wrexham last year but had limited time to research (I live in Anglesey and had to fit my visit around a college interview my son had)- I did find a book about the Lead Mines and this had also indicated that Mine Managers were addressed as Captain but I found no actual reference to a Captain John Francis. My family information indicated that he took over running the Minera Lead Mine c1688 Any information or help you could give me would be much appreciated Thanking you Sooty
|
|
|
Post by eluned on Apr 4, 2009 8:43:21 GMT
Hi Sooty, I think Annedws got the information from a website, unsure which site though The term Captain is thought to come from Cornwall where the manager of the tin mines were called Captains. A Captain John Francis came from Corwall to work the leadmines and the term stuck. So, he was the Boss ;D I found this bit on the web.Specialty Definition: MINE CAPTAIN Mining A. A superintendent of a mine b. The director of work in a mine, with or without superior officials or subordinates c. In metal mining, a foreman who supervises the extraction, hauling, and hoisting of ore in a mine.
A local history book "Minera" by J.C. DavieS gives the similar information, " The first recorded Captain at the mine was John Francis who came from Cornwall in 1688 to take charge of the lead mines. All succeeding officials have been granted the title of ' Captain." I beleive the book is soon to be republished Sorry that nobody has added to your thread which can be located by clicking on your user name and choosing most recent posts Or by using this link minerahistory.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=86&page=1#733All info will be added to your previous post, hopefully
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Jun 2, 2009 17:08:21 GMT
Back to the Gibbons. 1881 Poplar House, Adwy George Gibbons H M 43 dentist + asst surgeon, B.Kenilworth Mary A. " W M 46 B.Birmingham Catherine E. " daur unm 17 pupil teacher, B.Bersham Sarah Parsonage boarder unm 26 teacher certificated B.Wrexham Elizabeth Owens serv 30 domestic serv, B.Bersham
In Penygelli School Log Books dated Oct 24/25/26 1876 Catherine Gibbons and Mary L Kelly both failed the exam to enable them to qualify as Pupil Teachers, Catherine must have been only about 12 at the time. Obviously Catherine did better another time ;D
|
|
|
Post by annedw on Jul 6, 2009 13:39:40 GMT
A litle more about the Gibbons.
From Penygelli school log books. 6 Oct 1870 A present of 2 globes given by W C J Gibbons, Plas Maelor. 10 Jan 1876 This evening there was a distribution of Prizes to the boys who passed at the Government Inspection in October. Present were The Mayor of Wrexham (Dr Eyton Jones) and the Mayoress, Dr Gibbons, Mrs C J Gibbons, Mrs G Gibbons etc etc.
|
|
|
Post by claudiaa on Jul 19, 2009 21:14:36 GMT
Hi Claudia, Wrexhams museum, the AN Palmer centre has copies of local newspapers on micro film. If you have dates, then they may do a search for you, but there wil be a charge. Or, I will look for you for FREE, I live very close and often pop in. It seems lots of us use A***** and there are some military records, I say some as a lot were destroyed in a fire. Again, I can have a look on the A site for you. You can ask the National Archeves at Kew for a search to see if his War service Records are there, but wait a couple of days and see what we can find. As for the info you find, you can add it on this site,, often people just` Googling` find us though names they are reseaching and it may be of use and interest to others, The weather is lovely and I`m going to make the most of it now, so will get back to this later. Stanley L Gibbons boarder. aged 20 in 1901. He does seem to be the same son of Charles J Gibbons in 1891. Would he have fought in WWI though ? There`s nothing showing on A**** military records for Stanley L. Birth registerd Wrexham 1882 March qtr Stanley Lester Gibbons Marriage registered West Derby 1907 Dec qtr Stanley Lester Gibbons to either Lilian Whitefoot or Frances Smith. Hi All, I have obtained confirmation of Stanley Lester Gibbons enlisting on 15th February 1901 in the Imperial Yeomanry (88th Company) at the age of 20 years and 7 months. He is noted as being born in the Parish of Bersham near Wrexham, Denbigh. His next of kin is his father, listed as Charles J Gibbons. So yes I can confirm that Stanley Lester is definitely one of mine! ;D. More information on his service etc will follow. Claudia
|
|