Reginald Stephen COPLESTON Bishop of Colombo – an unexpected family photograph find!!

At the recent Shepton Mallet Postcard Fair there were several stalls selling old family photographs, as well as postcards, and as always I was on the search for any with writing or clues on the back!

On one stall I was immediately attracted by a beautiful family group photograph which showed several generations of what seemed to be one family and also included two men wearing ‘dog collars’

– so imagine my delight when I turned it over to discover lots of writing and information about the people in the photograph!

The writing showed the family name to be COPLESTON and mentioned references to the Bishop of Colombo and the Judicial Commissioner, so before searching Ancestry for family trees containing the COPLESTON name I googled Bishop of Colombo and immediately found a whole Wikipedia page about Reginald Stephen COPLESTON and his family, career and even a photograph of him that matched with my photograph – to discover more on the family click this link COPLESTON Family

I then looked on Ancestry to see if I could find any family trees researching the COPLESTON family and although I found a couple of matches and messaged them, they seem to be quite distant connections at this stage.

My aim now is to find an Archive or Museum that would like to add this beautiful COPLESTON family photograph to their history of the family, so that it can be given a much wider audience – unfortunately there is no photographers name , location or date, but I am sure with more research it could be dated quite accurately.

I wonder who it belonged to and how it ended up at a Postcard Fair in Somerset!

Therefore if anyone knows where it could receive a very good new home please get in touch with me.

Many thanks

Simon LAST

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

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Wedding photograph of Francis John KEAN and Mary SAVILE in Leeds in 1909 – are you related?

Another old wedding photograph postcard find I am trying to reunite also has useful clues written on the back to help with trying to identify the people in it, which could hopefully lead to it being reunited with a family member.

The photograph is of a bride and groom,as below:

On the reverse is written ‘With kind regards from Mr & Mrs F J KEAN’ with a date of 29th March 1909 and an address of 14 Blandford Grove, Blenheim Walk in Leeds, again as below:

On a quick check of marriage records I have found that Francis John KEAN married Mary SAVILE in the March quarter of 1909 in Leeds Registration District, all which fits with the photograph.

I have the found the family on the 1911 census record, as below, and they know have two daughters Mary Frances Savile KEAN aged 1 year and Frances Mary Savile KEAN aged 2 months – Francis their father is aged 28 and his wife Mary aged 22. They are living at 78 Harehills Avenue in Leeds.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 26964 – Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

Francis John KEAN was born in Forest Gate in Essex and his occupation is shown as an Assistant to a Professor of Machinist Engineering.

Sadly I then quickly discovered that Francis John KEAN died on 25th November 1918 at the 2nd London General Hospital, possibly as a result of injuries from World War 1 and below are his World War 1 medal card and probate entry;

Source Information: Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920

Source Information: Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

I need to investigate further to discover more about the story of this family, but in the meantime do you have a connection to the KEAN or SAVILE families, as it would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a relative if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

 

Wedding photograph of William TAYLOR and Mary Ann STAFFORD in 1913 from Rochdale – are you related?

Another old wedding photograph postcard find I am trying to reunite also has useful clues written on the back to help with trying to identify the people in it, which could hopefully lead to it being reunited with a family member.

The photograph is of a bride and groom,as below:

On the reverse is written Mr & Mrs W HERRON Kind regards & many thanks for bets wishes from Mr & Mrs Wm TAYLOR Sept 11/13, again as below:

On a quick check of marriage records I have been lucky enough to find a copy of the marriage certificate online, as below, that shows that William TAYLOR married Mary Ann STAFFORD on 11th September 1913 in St Mary’s Church in Wardleworth near Rochdale in Lancashire – William’s father is named as Charles TAYLOR and Mary Ann’s as Ezckiel STAFFORD.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. Manchester, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930

William is aged 23 and his occupation is shown as an Clerk and Mary Ann is aged 23 and her occupation is shown as a Cotton weaver – their addresses are shown as being in Rochdale.

Do you have a connection to the TAYLOR or STAFFORD families as it would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a relative if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Beautiful WW1 photograph of the LOADES family from Norwich in Norfolk – are you related?

I recently found this beautiful old family photograph postcard which immediately sparked my interest because of the military uniforms the young men are wearing, so imagine my delight when I turned it over and saw that all the family names were written on the back!

The names on the back were Joseph Robert LOADES, Caroline, Harry LOADES, Sidney Joseph and Alice Kate, but unfortunately there was no photographer named to try and work out a geographical location.

However on entering into the internet the name Joseph Robert LOADES, who appeared to be the father in the photograph, I quickly found the 1911 census record for the LOADES family, that showed that they lived in Norwich in Norfolk.

The 1911 census, as below, showed Joseph Robert LOADES as the head of the family aged 50 occupation a Piano Forte Tuner, Caroline his wife aged 47 and three sons Sidney Joseph aged 20, Walter Harry aged 16 and Reginald Ernest aged 13 – the family were living at 24 Brunswick Street in Norwich.

Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 11323; Schedule Number: 383 Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census

Joseph and Caroline had been married for 21 years and had had four children, one of whom had sadly died.

I then found the marriage record for Joseph Robert LOADES to Caroline CHATTON, as below, on 25th April 1889 in Swaffham in Norfolk – Joseph’s father is named as Benjamin Titter LOADES and Caroline’s as John  CHATTON.

Source Citation: Norfolk Record Office; Norwich, Norfolk, England; Reference: PD 52/490 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Norfolk, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940

The baptism records for their sons show that Sidney was born on 9th October 1890, Walter was born on 14th March 1895 and Reginald was born on 16th August 1897.

I could not locate Alice Kate at first, but then found that Sidney Joseph LOADES married Alice Kate PERKINS in the April quarter of 1917 in Norwich in Norfolk, which helps to date the photo to the middle of World War 1.

Seeing that the young men in the photograph were wearing uniforms I wanted to see if I could discover any information about their military service during World War 1 and quite quickly found that Walter Harry LOADES was killed in action on 11th September 1918, only a few months before the end of the war.

He was originally in the Norfolk Regiment, but later a Private in the Machine Gun Corps with Regimental number 42138 – the records show that he died at home, so maybe he was brought home from the front line with injuries.

Therefore it would not have been many months after this family photograph was taken that he was sadly killed.

Sidney Joseph LOADES survived the war and I have found that he died in June 1978 aged 87 in Norwich in Norfolk – his brother Reginald Ernest died in 1956 in Cambridgeshire and his father Joseph Robert died in March 1939 also in Norwich in Norfolk.

Below is the World War 1 Medal Card of Walter Harry LOADES:

Source Information: Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Original data: Army Medal Office. WWI Medal Index Cards. In the care of The Western Front Association website.

As always if anyone has a proven connection to the LOADES family it would be fantastic to reunite this beautiful old photograph with a family member if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

 

Wedding photograph of George THORNTON and Amy PARKINSON from Yorkshire – are you related?

Another old wedding photograph postcard find I am trying to reunite also has useful clues written on the back to help with trying to identify the people in it, which could hopefully lead to it being reunited with a family member.

The photograph is of a bride and groom, with family members as below:

On the reverse is written George THORNTON and Amy PARKINSON, again as below – could these be the names of the bride and groom?

On a quick check of marriage registrations on the internet I found that George THORNTON married Amy PARKINSON in the June quarter of 1922 in the North Bierley Registration District in Yorkshire.

Again I have been lucky enough to find a copy of the marriage certificate online that shows that George THORNTON married Amy PARKINSON on 3rd April 1922 in Eccleshill in Yorkshire – George’s father is named as Squire THORNTON and Amy’s as Charles Chappel PARKINSON.

Source Citation: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Leeds, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records Source Information: Ancestry.com. West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935

George is aged 24 and his occupation is shown as an Electric Car Driver and Amy is aged 22 and her occupation is shown as a Winder – their addresses are shown as being in Bradford.

Do you have a connection to the THORNTON or PARKINSON families as it would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a relative if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Wedding photograph of Edwin E WAKEFIELD and Edith BRADBURY 1918 – are you related?

I have recently found three individual old wedding photograph postcards all of different couples, but they all have useful clues written on the back to help with trying to identify the people in them, which could hopefully lead to them being reunited with a family member.

The third photograph is of a bride and groom, as below:

On the reverse is written ‘With Kindest Regards from E E & E WAKEFIELD 3rd August 1918, again as below – could these be the names of the bride and groom?

On a quick check of marriage registrations on the internet I found that Edwin E WAKEFIELD married Edith BRADBURY in the September quarter of 1918 in the Holbeck Registration District in Yorkshire.

Again I have been lucky enough to find a copy of the marriage certificate online that shows that Edwin Eugene WAKEFIELD married Edith BRADBURY on 3rd August 1918 in Holbeck in Yorkshire – Edwin’s father is named as  Charles WAKEFIELD and Edith’s as John BRDABURY.

Edwin is a widower aged 31 and his occupation is shown as an Engineer and Edith is aged 25 and her occupation is shown as a School Teacher.

           Source Citation: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Leeds, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; Reference Number: RDP41/8 Source Information: Ancestry.com. West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935

Do you have a connection to the WAKEFIELD or BRADBURY families as it would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a relative if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com

Wedding photograph of John A DRAKE and Rena E SUTCLIFFE 1928 – are you related?

I have recently found three individual old wedding photograph postcards all of different couples, but they all have useful clues written on the back to help with trying to identify the people in them, which could hopefully lead to them being reunited with a family member.

The second photograph is of a another family group showing the bride and groom, parents, best man and bridesmaid, as below:

On the reverse is written lots of information including Uncle Tony and Aunt Rena’s wedding 1st September 1928 – other names include Lesley THOMSON and Tony and Hugh DRAKE, again as below:

Using Tony DRAKE as the possible surname of the Bridegroom on a quick check of marriage registrations on the internet I found that John A DRAKE married Rena E SUTCLIFFE  in the September quarter of 1928 in the Bradford  Registration District in Yorkshire.

Another online search produced the marriage entry for Rena E SUTCLIFFE aged 27 on 1st September 1928 to John Anthony DRAKE aged 27 in Great Horton in Yorkshire – Rena’s father is named as John William SUTCLIFFE and John’s as Albert DRAKE, as below:

Source Citation: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Leeds, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records Source Information: Ancestry.com. West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935

Do you have a connection to the DRAKE or SUTCLIFFE families as it would be wonderful to reunite this lovely old family photograph with a relative if possible.

Simon LAST

charnwoodresearch@virginmedia.com

http://www.charnwood-genealogy.com