1921 Census of England & Wales - Wynne household

There was huge excitement among many genealogists this week with the publication of the 1921 census for England & Wales. I didn't expect to find any direct ancestors living in England, apart from one set of great-grandparents. Patrick and Teresa Wynne had emigrated to Newcastle-upon-Tyne during the previous decade.

This census could show:

• whether my grandad Kevin, born 1909, was still with the family, or if he had already been sent back to Dublin, to live with his Aunt Mary
• An example of my great-grandfather's signature
• the family's home address
• the name and address of Patrick Wynne's employer in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• confirmation of the total number of children born to Patrick Wynne
• confirmation of each person's age, in years and months

The family were easily found in the index. Well, Teresa and five of the children were. There was no sign of Patrick or Kevin anywhere in England and Wales. Déjà vu! Patrick was not at home on census night in 1911 either. He'd been in Cork, probably for work. Where was he this time?

The family were living at 136 Violet Street, Benwell, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

This census was enumerated on 19 June in 1921, and probably missed numerous people away on their summer holidays. Patrick may have been home in Dublin during his break. It's unlikely we'll ever know for sure as no census was taken in Ireland that year. The War of Independence was in full swing.

On census night in England, the Wynne household included:

• Teresa, wife, 33 yrs, 1 mt, married, b. Dublin, Home duties.
• Maurice, son, 14 yrs, 6 mts, b. Dublin, Machine boy, Armstrong Whitworth.
• Brendan, son, 13 yrs, 2 mts, b. Dublin, Wholetime school.
• Eileen, daughter, 5 yrs, 1 mt, b. Benwell, N/C on Tyne, Wholetime School.
• Brian, son, 3 yrs, 0 mts, b. Benwell, N/C on Tyne.
• Norah, daughter, 8 mts, b. Benwell, N/C on Tyne.

No surprises there, except maybe that Maurice was already working at 14.

Granddad must have been given to the Aunt Mary by then. He was company for her. She'd been left on her own back home when they all emigrated to England.

But the next part is surprising, and sad!

Teresa said she had only 5 children 'residing as members of this household or elsewhere'. And clearly she had 6! What about her 11-year-old son, Kevin? What mother forgets a child? Did she misread the form? It was only supposed to have been completed by Patrick, had he been home, and other 'married men, widowers and widows'. Married women had answered an equivalent question in 1911. Another misinterpretation on her part? Maybe Teresa just had her hands full, on her own, with all the kids.

Did she forget Kevin, aged 11 years?

I missed out on seeing Patrick Wynne's signature, as Teresa signed the form - a lost opportunity, maybe the last opportunity. The 1931 census returns were destroyed by fire, and Patrick died in 1937.

It's the second example of Teresa's signature found. See her Signature Silhouette for comparison. Unusual for a married woman to leave more records than her husband in this day and age.

Source: $ FindMyPast, 1921 Census.

Did you wonder how Two Ball Lonnen, Newcastle got its name?

My great-grandparents lived on a street mysteriously called ‘Two Ball Lonnen’ in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. They moved there from Riddell Avenue, Newcastle, about 1934, and opened a general provision store. When I first searched Google maps for images of their home, which they named 'Wynholm', at 297/299 Two Ball Lonnen, it was hard to see where the street name had come from. 

Modern-day view of Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham (Google maps)

‘Lonnen’ means ‘lane’ in the Geordie dialect of the Tyneside, and it seems Two Ball Lonnen was an ancient lane in Newcastle. Old photographs online at the ‘Newcastle City Library Photographic Collection’ reveal the source of the street name. There really were two balls!

Entrance to Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham, c.1905, Newcastle Libraries

Entrance to Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham, c.1905, Newcastle Libraries

As you can see, the lonnen got its name from the ball-shaped ornaments sitting on top of the two pillars, once positioned at each side of the entrance. It didn’t look like this when my great-grandparents moved to the area though.

The following picture shows a view of the street in the 1930s. The entrance pillars have long been removed, but I haven’t yet ascertained when.

Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham c.1930, Newcastle Libraries

Historical images (public domain), online at Newcastle Libraries. 

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© Black Raven Genealogy

Our Wynne family in the National Register of 1939

On 29 September 1939, during the earliest days of WWII, the British government compiled a National Register of its civilian population. The Register would have many uses, but initially it was used to issue ID cards and ration books, as part of the War effort. The details for England and Wales are now available online, and included my Wynne family, who had emigrated to Newcastle-upon-Tyne.[1] And, as you know, I like to collect every snippet of information concerning my direct ancestors. 

My great-grandfather, Patrick Wynne, died on 21 December 1937, so it was his wife, my great-grandmother, Teresa (Carroll) Wynne, who headed up the Wynne family, in Newcastle, in 1939.  She was one of five people living in their home - 297 Two Ball Lonnem, Fenham.

Teresa resided with her second eldest son Brendan, born in 1908, and her eldest daughter Eileen, born in 1916. But, the identity of the two other household members is officially closed. The records of anyone born within the last 100 years, who are still living, or who died after 1991, are restricted, for privacy reasons.

Patrick and Teresa had eight children.  By 1939, their eldest son Maurice was married and heading up his own household at 11 Waverdale Avenue, Newcastle, while my grandfather Kevin lived back home in Dublin. This leaves Brian (1918-1969), Nora (1920-2000), Terrence (1922-1993) and Laurence (1924-1993) unaccounted for in the survey. The records for the three youngest are likely still closed, but we should be able to locate Brian Wynne, who died well before 1991. Yet, there is no sign of him.

Newcastle was a major port and industrial centre in 1939 and an attractive target for German bombers. Young children were removed from the city to the countryside, during the War, but the National Register was probably enumerated long before the evacuation started.  So, it isn’t clear which two of the four youngest were living at home with Teresa.

The following information can currently be gleaned from the Register: -

Name	Sex	Birth date	Status	Occupation
Teresa Wynne	F	10 May 1888	Widow	General Dealer
Brendan Wynne	M	6 Apr 1908	Single	Wholesale General Warehouse
Eileen M. Wynne /Johnson	F	22 May 1916	Single	Unpaid Domestic

Eileen married John Walter Johnson in 1950, and her married-name was added to the Register, over time. 

1939 Register, Wynne household, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

[1] 1939 England and Wales Register, separately indexed and available online at ($) Ancestry and ($) FindmyPast. Click on image to enlarge.

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© Black Raven Genealogy

Finding ‘Wynholm’ for Aunty Anne

My Aunt Anne often tells fascinating family stories, passed down to her by my grandmother. Sometimes, I even find evidence to prove the stories true. Several years ago, my aunt recalled ‘Wynneholme’ as the name of our Wynne family home in Newcastle upon Tyne in England and asked me to locate the house. It was certainly an apt name for the family home, but, try as I might, I never could find it.

The only address uncovered for my great-grandparents in Newcastle was their home at 297/9 Two Ball Lonnen, in Fenham. This is where Patrick Wynne died on 21 December 1937.[1] The family operated a successful grocery business there for many years and lived in the rooms above the shop. The shop was still in business when Teresa (Carroll) Wynne died there, some twenty years later, on 9 July 1958.[2] 

  

297 Two Ball Lonnen, June 2016, Source: Google Street View

The electoral registers for Newcastle upon Tyne are now available online and they have thrown further light on my great-grandparent’s various residences in the city.[3] We ‘know’ Patrick Wynne first settled in Newcastle when he returned from Australia about 1915, but the registers were not kept during the war years, so I can only track his movements from 1918 onward. 

Between 1918 and 1925, Patrick and Teresa Wynne lived at 136 Violet Street, Benwell, close to the River Tyne. These houses were built during the nineteenth century for workers in the successful Armstrong armaments factory. It is where the family lived when they had their children Brian Patrick Wynne in 1918, Nora Teresa Wynne in 1920, Terence McSwiney Wynne in 1922 and Laurence Wynne in 1924. I don’t know yet where they were in 1916, when Eileen Mary Wynne was born, but perhaps they were already in Violet Street. 

  

Violet Street, Benwell, when the houses were being demolished, 1967/8

Source: Newcastle Libraries, Local Studies Collection. (Public Domain) 

Then, for eight years, between 1926 and 1933, Patrick and Teresa resided at 13 Riddell Avenue, Fenham. They were at this address when their sons Maurice O’Carroll Wynne and Brendan Patrick Wynne, both born in Dublin, joined the electorate in 1928 and 1932, respectively. 

From Riddell Avenue, they moved to Two Ball Lonnen, also in Fenham. And, in 1934 and 1935, for two years only, before my Aunt Anne was even born, the Wynnes lived in a house called ‘Wynholm’ on Two Ball Lonnen. Beginning 1936, their address was shown as ‘297/299’ along the same road.

It is difficult to tell if ‘Wynholm’ and ‘297/299’ were the same property, or not. The houses follow an unusual numbering pattern. There were many gaps, perhaps arising because some of their neighbours did not vote. Still, by examining our family’s position in relation to their named neighbours, it seems they may well have moved to a new house between 1935 and 1936. What do you think?

Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham Ward, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1935 and 1936

So, it’s not entirely clear if I’ve located the actual house known as ‘Wynholm’, but I have definitely found evidence it existed and was situated on Two Ball Lonnen.

Sources: 
[1] Death certificate, Patrick J. Wynne, Dec. 1937, General Register Office, England and Wales.

[2] Death certificate, Teresa J. Wynne, Sep. 1958, General Register Office, England and Wales.

[3] ‘Newcastle Upon Tyne, West, Register of Electors’, for years 1918 through 1937, Tyne and Wear Archives, Newcastle Upon Tyne, accessed on Ancestry.com (subscription site). 

Do you wonder how 'Two Ball Lonnen' got it's name? - see here.

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© Black Raven Genealogy

Sepia Saturday: Hats off to James Carroll

Sepia Saturday prompts bloggers to share their family history through old photographs. 

Their suggestion this week shows a British Grenadier Guard kissing a woman during a visit to Sydney in 1934, but the Guard’s towering bearskin cap hides most of the action. Indeed, hats of all kinds feature most prominently in this picture - nearly everyone is wearing one.

So today, as part of our family history, I thought I'd tell the story of James Carroll and share with you some of his photos. They feature a variety of great hats. James Carroll was Teresa (Carroll) Wynne’s older brother. Actually, he was her half-brother, the son of Maurice Carroll and his first wife, Mary Anne Frazer. That makes him my half-great-granduncle.  

James Carroll was born in Balheary, in Swords, Co. Dublin, 150 years ago, on 4 November 1865. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was only two years old, but, by the time he was four, his father had remarried. Anne Radcliffe was twenty years of age when she married Maurice and became mother to his surviving children. Although, five children have been identified in baptism records – David, Robert, Catherine, Thomas and James – some may have died prior to Maurice and Anne’s marriage. James probably had no memories of Mary Anne for he named Anne Radcliffe as his mother later in life.

Three days after his twenty-first birthday, James married Anne Molyneux in the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. His bride was originally from Ballymore Eustace in Co. Kildare. The young couple had three boys born in Dublin city, Maurice in 1887, William in 1889 and James in 1891. Sadly, William died.  

James and Anne (Molyneux) Carroll in later life

About 1901, the family migrated to Newcastle upon Tyne, in England. During the census that year, James, Anne and their son James were living in a lodging house in Elswick, seemingly having just arrived in the town. James had found work as a general labourer. Their eldest son Maurice was temporarily left behind with friends in Ireland.

James Carroll in his fire officer’s uniform 

By 1911, James was well established  in Newcastle, where he worked for Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd, then the largest manufacturing company in Britain.  James was a fireman in their fire department. Both his sons also worked for the company, Maurice as a ship joiner and young James as an apprentice electrician in their gun department.

The Armstrong Whitworth fire-engine

After James retired, he moved out of Newcastle with his wife Anne and they spent some years living in the Northumbrian countryside, first in a place called Twice Brewed and later at Tow House, near Bardon Mill. During the war years they moved back to Newcastle to live with their son James, who was known as Jimmy. James died on 22 December 1943. His wife did not survive him by very long and within six months, on 18 June 1944, she too passed away.

Anne (Molyneux) Carroll in later life

To see what stories other Sepians have under their hats this week, head over to Sepia Saturday.

Sources: Copy birth, marriage and death registers, General Register Officer; Church records on RootsIreland.ie and IrishGenealogy.ie; 1901 and 1911 Census of England and Wales, accessed on Ancestry; information after 1911 and Carroll family photographs received, with much appreciation, from the great-grandchildren of James Carroll in Newcastle. Thank you Rosalie, Brian and Rosemary. 

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© Black Raven Genealogy

2014 in review - Accentuate the Positive

As 2014 draws to a close, it seems an opportune time to reflect on the year’s blogging successes. Jill Ball from the GeniAus blog invited us Geneabloggers to ‘Accentuate the Positive’ by answering a selection of specific questions, so here goes: 

An elusive ancestor I found residing in Melbourne, Australia in 1860 was my third-great-grandfather John Radcliffe, who I had long been searching for.  With the help of my third cousin, who is a regular reader here, it was truly wonderful to finally track him down.  I wrote about the search for John and his eventual discovery last March. 

A precious family photo I found was one of my granda Kevin Wynne making his First Holy Communion, in about 1916. I didn’t ‘find’ this photo exactly, but, learning of my genealogy addiction, my Aunt Anne kindly shared it with me. Precious, wasn’t he?

 

Kevin Wynne, First Holy Communion (c. 1916)

An ancestor's grave I found belonged to my great-grandparents Patrick Wynne (1868-1937) and Teresa (Carroll) Wynne (1888-1958). They were both buried in Ashburton Roman Catholic Cemetery, in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Some lovely ‘Carroll cousins’ I met via this blog visited their grave and sent me this photograph. Sadly, the grave is looking a little neglected now. Thank you again, Brian, Rosemary and Rosalie. 

Wynne grave, Ashburton RC Cemetery, Gosforth

An important vital record I found received came courtesy of my first cousin, Aileen.  It is the memorial card for the aforementioned Patrick Wynne, who died in Newcastle on 21 December 1937. Aileen got the original memorial from Pat Fagan, Patrick’s niece.

Patrick Wynne, Memorial Card, 1937

A newly found family member shared many amazing photographs!  In truth, this year, quite a number of previously unknown family members contacted me through my blog. Many shared their family photos and stories with me. As well as the Carroll descendants in Newcastle, I ‘met’ my Wynne cousins in England and New Zealand and a Mahon descendant in Dublin. Coming from a family who saved relatively little in the way of family memorabilia, the shared photos are just priceless and have already featured in numerous blog posts here. In addition, a newly discovered Byrne cousin in England helped confirm a photo I found in the British Mariner Records was indeed taken of my maternal great-granduncle, Benjamin Byrne. 

My 2014 blog post that I was particularly proud of was ‘An Open letter to GG-Grandfather, John Wynne.’ At least, it was the most fun to write and I am still hopeful he will send a reply, someday soon. 

My 2014 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was entitled ‘Horses and Mischief’. It was my first Sepia Saturday post and received 22 comments – the most comments any post has received so far. Again, thanks are due to my ‘Carroll cousins’ for giving me the photos used in this post. 

A genea-surprise I received was a letter written by a relative in Ireland to my Great-Grandaunt Mary (Wynne) Finnegan in Colorado. My third cousin Phyllis, Mary’s great-granddaughter, sent me a copy of the letter, which had been written in the last decade of the nineteenth century, shortly after Mary immigrated to the United States. I was able to identify the sender as Kate Tucker, Mary’s maternal aunt.  Kate was also my great-great-grandaunt. A lovely-genea-surprise! 

Seems the Black Raven Genealogy blog helped me learn a lot about my ancestors in the year. Here’s to 2015! 

Happy New Year!

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

Sepia Saturday: Horses and Mischief

Sepia Saturday prompts bloggers to share family history with old photographs.

Their suggestion this week features an old horse-drawn carriage, with its mischievous coachmen seemingly playing for the camera, while they wait to collect their passengers. The themes of horses and mischief reminded me of the following picture-postcard of Maurice Carroll, so I thought it might be suitable for my first Sepia Saturday venture. Maurice was a first cousin of my grandfather, Kevin Wynne.

Maurice Carroll, Barry Buddon training camp, 1911

Maurice Joseph Carroll, named after his paternal grandfather, was born in Dublin city on 13 November 1887, the eldest son of James and Anne (Molyneux) Carroll. The family migrated to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England in the early years of the twentieth century, when Maurice was still a young teenager.

The biggest employer in the area they lived was Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd, a large manufacturing company, based in Elswick. By 1911, Maurice was employed there, as a joiner in their ship building division, while his brother James was an apprentice electrician in their gun factory.

Maurice J. Carroll (1887-1964)

Maurice volunteered at the Elswick Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery, a territorial unit based in Newcastle, composed of men from the Armstrong Whitworth factory. The battery had been established in 1900 and the regiment fought in the Boer War. Maurice received his training at the Barry Buddon Training Camp in Angus, Scotland in 1911 and this is where the photograph of Maurice, on his very handsome army horse, was taken. It is unlikely that Maurice actively served in the First World War, as Armstrong Whitworth made weaponry and the work of its employees in the factory was probably deemed more important to the war effort.

Maurice sent the Barry Budden postcard to his friend and future brother-in-law, and given he lived in the urban district of Benwell in Newcastle, the message written on the back reveals his true sense of mischief.

‘Dear Eugene, just a line hoping you are keeping well, as I am very well myself. What do you think of this horse of mine. I am going to bring him to Benwell. Do you think I will be able to get room in the garden for a stable for him. I hope you will have one ready by the time I come home for he will be tired and will want a sleep. Best love from M. J. Carroll, 1st NRFA [Northumbrian Royal Field Artillery].’

In December 1915, Maurice married Eugene’s sister, Mary Agnes Leckey, at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Benwell. The couple went on to have four children, two boys and two girls. 

Mary Agnes (Leckey) Carroll with her youngest son 

Maurice remained in Newcastle for the rest of his life.  

Maurice J. Carroll sitting front left, with friends

He certainly appears to be having a fun time with his friends in the above picture also. Out together for the afternoon, minus the horse, they look like a bunch not opposed to a bit of devilment!

Check out how other 'Saturday Sepians' interpreted this week’s prompt here. 

Sources: Church records on Irishgenealogy; 1911 Census of England and Wales on Ancestry; Free BMD; Images and family lore courtesy of the Jones family of Newcastle, descendants of Maurice Carroll.

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

Brendan Wynne (1908-1972)

Brendan Wynne, 1908 - 1972

This young man is believed to have been Brendan Wynne, born on 6 April 1908 at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. He was the second son of my great-grandparents, Patrick Wynne and Teresa Carroll. Brendan grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, where his father worked as a brush-maker. The Wynnes also ran a grocery store in Two Ball Lonnen, Fenham and it was Brendan who took over and expanded this business. Brendan married Dorothy McDonnell in Newcastle in January 1960, sadly, on the same day that his brother, my grandfather, was buried in Dublin.

Everything else currently known about Brendan and his life in Newcastle comes from his musings in a single surviving letter that he wrote to my grandfather.

Here is a transcript of this letter, calculated as having been written during the first half of 1953.

297 Two Ball Lonnen,

Fenham,

N/C on Tyne,

Dear Kev,

Please excuse long delay in answering your welcome letter, but believe me, in this trade, we have to work at top pressure all the time, one thing seems to follow on top of another, without a break & now its feverish preparation for the coronation.

Well Kevin, I was highly delighted to hear your good news that you were much better, for without health you have nothing. Well, it’s up to you not to over-do it for a while & to take it as easy as life allows. Maurice [their elder brother] paid us one of his rare visits recently, his address by the way is "The Cottage" War Dept, Ryhope, Co. Durham". 

I hope Annie and the children are keeping fit & well. Give them my regards. I bet I would see a great change in them for it's about 6 yrs since I saw them & it makes a huge difference in children. 

I have opened another shop in Coatsworth Rd, Gateshead, to try and improve turnover, as I am buying very big now, so at present I am full of it, until I get it going to my satisfaction.

Eileen [sister] generally comes up for a couple of hours daily, but recently the baby has been ill, so haven't seen her for a few days. He, the baby that is, is a proper handful. She dare not take her eyes off him for a second, or he's sure to fall and cut himself. He's a funny kid. When he decides to be good, he’s very good but when he takes the opposite view there is absolutely no doing with him. He screams the place down for no apparent reason. Poor Eileen is absolutely worn out. She doesn't get her proper rest, I'm sure.

Mother is as well as can be expected. She has gone to Benedictions, so I have a bit of peace and quietness to write this letter.

I have been writing for the last 3 hours, books, accounts & orders, so I am beginning to get a bit bleary eyed. Laurence [brother] is getting married this year, sometime in August is the tentative date. As for myself, there is no change, if I get married it will have to be on a Sunday, for that's the only day I have.

Your loving brother,

Brendan

Brendan’s signature on the letter is very similar to his signature on the above photograph. 

The photograph of Brendan was received, with many thanks, from descendants of the Carrolls, still living in Newcastle. Brendan was known to have maintained a relationship with his half-first-cousin, Maurice Carroll. The Carrolls migrated to Newcastle on Tyne, at the same time as, or just before, the Wynnes. This was around the beginning of the twentieth century. Through this blog, I have recently been in contact with Maurice's grandchildren and they have been very generous in sharing some fascinating photographs and stories about the Newcastle Carrolls.

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy