Clayton Family

Part Two

Very little was known about William's older brother Thomas, eight years his senior. The 20 year old twine maker recorded in the 1881 census seemed to have disappeared from the collective memory, apart from one memory provided by my father’s cousin Bill Clayton:

 

“I think Granddad Bill’s older brother lived in Sheffield, I’m sure it was Thomas and I’ve a feeling he was his half brother. He once came down from Sheffield and he went with Granddad Bill to a football match at Villa Park”.

 

There is in the family an old children’s story book called ‘Mischievous Jack’ which has a presentation certificate on the inside cover which reads:

 

“Presented to Thomas Clayton by the School Board for good attendance at Cowper Street School in 1895”

 

For some time I tried  to work out who this book might have belonged to, i.e. which Thomas Clayton was of school age in 1895? The answer seems to lie in the 1891 census. There is a            reference to the family of a Thomas Clayton and his family living at 4 Court, 1 House Cowper Street. Thomas is listed as a 29 year old spring maker and he is the right age, give or take a few months, to have been the older brother of William Henry Clayton.

 

Thomas Clayton’s wife at the Cowper  Street address in 1891 was Mary  Clayton aged 26. The couple had two children, Thomas aged 2 and Violet 12 months. The oldest of these children would therefore have been 7 in 1895, making him the right age to have been the child named in the aforementioned Cowper Street school story book.

 

The same family are also recorded in the 1901 census, but this time residing at Chester Road, Sutton Coldfield. Thomas is listed as a spring fitter, aged 39 from Birmingham. Mary is aged 36, Thomas junior is 13 and working as a jeweler (gold) and Violet is aged 11 and at school. There are two additional children named  Harold (aged 8) and May (aged 5), all born in Birmingham.        

 

Only Nance has been able to recall  actually seeing Granddad William Clayton’s father, Thomas Clayton the blacksmith from Willenhall and even her memory of him is a fleeting one:

 

"Granddad was a very tall man, much taller than his brothers, but his father (Thomas) was a little short man. I remember seeing him when I was a   little girl, dressed in black, huddled up next to his fireplace".

 

If we speculate that Nance may have seen her great grandfather perhaps in the early 1920s, this would have aged old Thomas in his early to mid eighties at that point.

 

My dad’s cousin Bill told me that he believes Thomas Clayton was definitely from Willenhall near Wolverhampton and that he used to frequent a pub in the town called The Ring O Bells, which amazingly still exists in the back streets of Willenhall. Bill also told me that Thomas was a keen long distance runner.    

 

Willenhall incidentally is a typical but  even so, distinctive Black Country town which lies midway between Walsall and Wolverhampton, 3 miles from each. In the 1850s Willenhall had about 10,000 inhabitants who were mostly employed in the manufacture of locks, keys, bolts, latches, chafing dishes, gridirons and currycombs. It was said that more locks were made in Willenhall than any similar sized town in Europe. 

 

We can therefore forge a link between the metal related industry of Willenhall and some of the trades which crop up in the Clayton family a hundred plus years ago. My great grandfather’s               grandfather, Thomas Clayton, was a screw maker. His son Thomas was (in various records) a black smith, a tin  plate worker and an iron bedstead maker. In turn, his son Thomas became a spring maker whilst another son (my great grand father) was at one stage a steel turner.

 

It is suggested that my great grandfather, William, always maintained an interest in the blacksmith trade, a fascination which he would certainly have inherited from his father's profession, having grown up around the sounds and smells of the blacksmith's yard. It is said that William would often take his grandchildren to watch the local blacksmith at work.

 

I have found no evidence from any of the records to substantiate the family myth that my great grandfather, Henry William was not actually the real son of Thomas. The story has it that his mother Emma had an affair with a wealthy guest whilst she was working as a chamber maid in a hotel. The inference was that Thomas married Emma to protect her honor and to provide her illegitimate baby with a father.

 

However, we now have evidence that Thomas and Emma married some 5 years prior to the birth of William and already had two children, at least one of whom was born before they married. On William’s birth certificate, Thomas clearly identifies himself as the father. On the other hand, it is intriguing to wonder how such a story might have originated if it did not have some factual basis. It is still quite possible that an extra-marital affair took place or it could be possible that the story refers to the birth of the oldest son, Thomas. Perhaps this is another mystery which may remain  unsolved.

 

The Family of Mary Emily Clayton

 

Mary E Clayton, the older sister of my great grandfather William, was born on the 28th December 1866. On her birth certificate it states that she was born at her family home at Bedford Place, Farm Street. Her mother was Emma (nee. Brookes) and her father Thomas Clayton, iron bedstead fitter (journeyman).

 

Mary Emma married William George Jeenes (sometimes Geenes) in 1885. William was 22 and a brass cabinet worker, the son of William George Jeenes, an engine fitter. The address for him was Webster Street. Mary Emma was 19 when she married    William Jeenes and was living at         Phillips Street, Aston. Witnesses to their marriage were William Bates and Mary Jane Jeenes.

 

Carole Graham told me:

 

“Nothing more is known for a short time then in 1890 there was a son  Walter born to an Emily Clayton of Cecil Street. No father's name. I have yet to prove this was one of Mary Emma's "flings". I find it difficult to believe Mary Emma had no children between 1890 and 1894. I believe there may have been a daughter Rosa”.

 

In 1894 Mary Emma Jeenes gave birth to another son, named on the birth certificate as George Howard Edwards. No father's name was given on the birth certificate, but the address for Mary Emma was Unett Street. The place of birth was Frankfort Street.

 

In February 1896 Mary Emma remarried. There is no evidence as to what happened to her marriage to William Jeenes. On her new marriage certificate she called herself Emma Clayton and claimed to be a spinster. She married William Edwards (the same name as on her son George's birth certificate).

 

Mary Emma’s second marriage to William Edwards (age 29) took place at All Saints Parish on 2nd February 1896. William was a 29 year old polisher from 3 court 3 house Abbey Street, and Emma was a 28 year old spinster from the same address. The father of William Edwards was John Edwards, an engineer. Emma’s father was listed as Thomas Clayton, tin plate worker. 

 

On 3rd October 1896 Emma Edwards (nee. Clayton), an electro plate polisher,  gave birth to Arthur Edwards at 14 Court 2 Unett Street in Birmingham. His father was named as William Edwards (b. 1866).

 

Emma’s second husband, William Edwards senior died on the 15th August 1917 aged 51. He died from (1) Phthisis (Pulmonary Tuberculosis) and (2) Haemoptysis (coughing up blood) at 63 Benson Road in Winson Green, which may have been a hospital for TB patients, being in close proximity to the City Fever Hospital. His home address was given as 1 Back of 172 Farm Street (Newtown) and his ‘rank or profession’ given as Ex 4003 Private 6th Royal Warwick Regiment. His wife Mary Emma was present at William’s death and her address was also 1 Back 172 Farm Street.

 

In 1920 Emma’s son George Howard Edwards married Charlotte Madden. George gave his address as 1 Back 172 Farm Street. In 1922  Charlotte and George had a daughter Elsie Agnes. George Howard now reverting to the surname Jeenes, died in 1963.

 

George Howard Edwards was the great grandfather of Julie Brindley with whom I have corresponded via email. Like Ralph Edwards and Carole Graham, Julie has provided fascinating information about her own branch of the Clayton family:

 

“My great grandmother Charlotte  Madden married George Howard Edwards, the son of Mary Emma  Clayton. Charlotte was born on 22nd January 1901 in Birmingham. Her mother,  Sarah Ann Madden, was born on 2nd February 1880 in Oldbury to Edward Madden and Sarah Ann (nee Priest). Charlotte’s mother, Sarah Ann, was a worker at St Chad’s Cathedral, the family are shown on the 1901   census living at Price Street in Birmingham. In the census Charlotte is just two months old and whilst her father is not recorded in the home, her grandfather Edward Madden is registered. He came from County Mayo in Ireland and I believe he came over circa 1850s.”

 

“Charlotte Madden and George Edwards married at St Stephens church on April 5th 1920. George was a 25 year old polisher from 1/172 Farm Street (father—William Edwards) and Charlotte was a 21 year old plater from 150 Brearley Street (father—William Madden)”

 

Julie points out that so far Charlotte’s father is not actually known and as yet she has been unable to trace a register of her birth. We should note that in the 1901 census record, Charlotte has the surname Madden and so does her maternal grandfather, pointing to the fact that her mother did not have a married name.

 

“According to the marriage certificate of George Howard Edwards & Charlotte Madden, Charlotte's father was William Madden, this name is unproven and I personally think that they may have put down the same forename as George's father as they also lied about her age. As Charlotte was only 19 and she stated 21 (full age).”

 

“George Howard Edwards bought up his family in Brearley Street in his early marriage years. George Howard was quite a small man but some of his offspring were quite tall.”

 

“One other point is that George Howard Edwards was cross-eyed. (My mom said that when she was a child and George Howard watched the boxing on the TV, you had to duck because you just never knew which way he was looking or where his fists would end up throwing the punches for the boxers on TV).”

 

Julie also related a familiar story concerning the cold welcome extended to Mary Emma whenever she came visiting:

 

“Mary Emma was not a very welcomed person anywhere by the sounds of it. When she used to visit George Howard’s home he used to leave by the back door also, leaving Charlotte (my great gran) to see to her.”

 

Julie told me a little more about the confusing use of the two surnames, Edwards and Jeenes, by the same family members:

 

“My great grandfather was named Edwards at both birth and marriage. He then named his first born daughter Elsie Agnes as an Edwards, but subsequent children took the surname Jeenes and he and Charlotte were both registered on their death certificates as Jeenes. I always knew them as Jeenes and so did my mom”.       

 

George Howard Jeenes died at Dudley Road hospital on 25th February 1963 at the age of 68. His address at that time was 14 Nuthall Grove, Birmingham 21 and his profession was given as retired polisher. 

 

My father’s cousin Bill Clayton remembers a grandson of Aunty Pem named Freddie Jeenes:

 

“Freddie worked underground in the sewers. He lived near the Claytons in Ladywood and he married a girl from Ostler Street”.  

 

Hard times for the Edwards family

 

On the 3rd October 1904, Mary Emma’s son, Arthur Edwards was placed in the Middlemore Home in Birmingham. Arthur’s son Ralph Edwards, who lives in Winnipeg, Canada told me about his father’s story:

 

“From the Middlemore records that I have been able to view, it appears that William and Emma and their children had fallen on "hard times" and were having trouble providing for their children and themselves. When my father went into the Middlemore Home on 3rd/4th October 1904, this is what was on the application:

 

Name and address of Parent:          William Edwards 3 House 10 Court Lower Tower Street.

 

Members of  family: Mother and father and five children eldest 10 years the youngest 8 months. It goes on to say that the  father (William) has been out of regular employment for fourteen months but has done odd jobs for his nephew who is a shoe finisher. Then it states that my father was "sleeping out' and also has been in trouble at the markets for apparently stealing things. It also states that when Pem was interviewed she said her husband had spent time in jail for assaulting people and being drunk. She also told the interviewer that they moved often to avoid paying rent so that they would have money for food. It also said that one of the children had spent time in the Shustoke Industrial School.

 

“The report on admittance does not give names of any of my fathers siblings and only uses his name (Arthur) and the father's name (William). Nor does it give any name of the mother. She is referred to as "mother". I know that life was hard in Birmingham in the late 1800's and early 1900's. My father's family was much better off than a lot of the family admittance reports that I have seen in the Middlemore records. There were a lot of "horror stories" in that era.”

 

“In June of 1906 my father was immigrated to Canada with many other children from the Middlemore Home. He came to Canada on a ship called The Siberian in 1906”.

 

“I don't know if you are aware of the child care agencies that were operating in England in the late 1800's and up until about 1930 but there were quite a number bringing children to Canada to work on farms. Dr Barnadoes organization was probably the largest. He worked primarily in London, saving destitute children.  Middlemore Homes of Birmingham brought approximately 5000 children to Canada. Many of the children after they were placed on farms here were mistreated and treated like slaves. In fairness there were many who were placed in good homes and treated as their own children.”

 

“My father was placed on a farm here in the province of New Brunswick, with a farmer who did not treat him very well. In 1915 he left the farm and joined the Canadian Army which was known as the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He went back to England and served in France during World War 1.”

 

Ralph Edwards explained to me that his father must have had direct contact with his parents during this period and on his army records he gives the family’s home address at 1 Back 172 Farm Street as a contact address. It was also where his pay assignment went to during the time he was in  England and France:

 

“My father arrived in England on 6th October 1916 and was in England and France until April 1919, when he was returned to Canada. He was not far away when his father died in                    Birmingham.” 

 

“After returning from the war he married my mother in 1922. My mother was also immigrated here with Middlemore Homes of Birmingham. She arrived here in 1910. My mother whose name was Daisy Bate was born in Woodsetton, Staffordshire. They settled in Nova Scotia, about one hour drive from Halifax and raised five children, three boys and two girls.”

 

Ralph Edwards told me more about the life of his grandmother, Mary Emma Clayton, substantiating the information given to me by Carole  Graham and raising similar questions:

 

“It appears that my grandmother, Mary Emma Clayton (age 19), was married first to William George Jeenes (age 22) at Aston Brook on 25 Dec 1885. I believe that there were children from this marriage which were carried over to her marriage with my grandfather, William Edwards (age 29), when they married at All Saints Parish 02 Feb 1896.”

 

“There are many questions that surround these two marriages. On the marriage certificate of William Edwards and Mary Emma she is a spinster. Also she has dropped the name Mary and is now Emma. Her age shows as 28 when she should have turned 29 at the end of the previous year. What happened to William George Jeenes? Had he died sometime between 1885 and her marriage to William Edwards? Or was William Jeenes still living and she illegally married ? These are a few of the questions that puzzle me about my grandmother.”