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Hi all. As promised, I will do my bit about a key issue. The following will help complete the Bartholomew paternal line, although there is scope for more data to fill in the picture.

Thomas Bartholomew, almost certainly of old London, married Amelia some time in the 1780s. Thomas may be identical with the child born in Westminster, 1759, to Peter and Ann Bartholomew. More work needed on that one. His wife could have been: Amelia, daughter of John and Elizabeth Pratt of Boarhunt, Hampshire, born on 22/3/1760; or, Louisa Marie, daughter of Pierce and Joan Griffyth of Stoke Damerel, Devonshire. If so, Thomas and Louisa Marie married in Westminster on 28/8/1780. The happy couple left issue, including:

John Pratt Bartholomew, born St James, Westminster 11/5/1790 and baptised there 8/5/1790. Died at 16 Silver Street, Westminster, 1/12/1875. He married Jane Townsend at St James on 31/5/1812. They left issue, including:

Benjamin Scott Bartholomew, born at St James, Westminster 25/6/1815 and baptised there 29/10/1815. He married Louisa Green on 22/10/1835 and seems to have continued to share the same street address as his father. It is possible they were carpenters and/or cabinet makers and builders by trade. The Silver Street premises had been associated with such craftsmen way back into the 1680s. Benjamin also died in the December quarter of 1875. He and Louisa left issue, including:

William Bartholomew, born at St James, Westminster 7/4/1838. He became an assistant architect and moved away from St James in the 1860s. William married Mary Ann Wood and died at some date after 1891. He and Louisa left issue, including:

Frederick Robert Bartholomew, born at St James, Westminster 27/5/1858 and baptised at St Thomas, Regent Street, London 11/7/1860. He married Mary Brown at St Peters, Dublin on 18/12/1883. Frederick was a professional soldier and after an interesting 27-year career settled at Warminster, Wiltshire. He died there on 11/1/1954. He and Mary left issue, the youngest of whom was:

Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew, born at Warminster, Wiltshire 7/1/1893 and baptised at St Denys, Warminster, 8/3/1893. He had obtained employment as a clerk there but moved to Canada in 1913 and worked as a rangeman (ie, for a cattle rancher) at Toronto, in the province of Ontario. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Dragoons at Toronto on 29/2/1916 and served in France, where he was very severely wounded. A report in the California press dating from 1935 shows he was still receiving a military pension from the Canadian government. In 1919 Cecil married Lilian May Clark and found employment as a minor civil servant in London. As another poster has suggested, he could be identifiable with a man of the same name who died in 1968. He and Lilian May left issue, including:

Frederick Cecil Bartholomew, born at Harlesden, London on 28/3/1924 - the famous actor.

A lot of the above info came from the ancestry.com site. Several other folk elsewhere have also engaged in research on this paternal line - info online is actually pretty diverse. Printed Bartholomew family history is virtually non-existent. My thanks to all for some vital info provided by other posters earlier in the month. A bit more work needed, but things are shaping up.

My gratitude to Choccy for sending me the details of Frederick Robert Bartholomew, the actor's grandfather. I will summarise the key elements, but first an obvious comment: he was a first class soldier in a first class regiment. The army went out of its way to retain his services. He was no Sandhurst man, so commissioned rank was not an easy option. But he served as a respected Warrant Officer for many years.

Career summary as follows:
Joined the 21st Regiment of Hussars (Number 1675) at Shorncliffe, aged 19 years and 10 months. To serve for eight years, plus four years as a reservist. Note:the army extended his time of service several times.

Appointments:
Private: 29/3/1878
Lance Corporal:14/9/1880
Sergeant: 6/12/1881
Squadron Sergeant Major: 21/11/1887.

He studied signalling at Aldershot Base and was appointed an Assistant Instructor in June 1884.Transferred to the Royal Wiltshire Yoemanry as Squadron Sergeant Major, 14/2/1891. By the time of his discharge he was attached to the Permanent Staff of the Royal Wiltshire Yoemanry as a Sergeant Major - though still on the strength of the 21st Hussars. It is interesting to read that from 1898 he was allowed to attend the Officer's Mess and received a special allowance to cover costs.

Service:
Home (England, Scotland, Ireland): 29/3/1878
East Indies: 23/11/1889 (He was based at Bangalore, the administrative and command center for Southern India)
Home: 26/4/1890
South Africa: 27/2/1900 (for active service in the Boer War. Additional research reveals he must have served with the three Wiltshire companies in the 1st Battalion of the Imperial Yoemanry)
Home: 29/4/1901
Discharged from the 21st Hussars at Chippenham: 31/3/1905 - on completion of service.

Discharge notes describe his conduct as exemplary and mention he had been awarded the South Africa 1900 Good Conduct Medal. An additional note on his qualifications for civilian life states Fredererick Bartholomew was a good penman and clerk. In addition, he received a life-time army pension.

Frederick married Emma Brown at St Peters, Dublin, 18/12/1883. Their place of residence was to be Carlton Villa, 8 Weymouth Street, Warminster, Wiltshire.

Frederick died at Carlton Villa on 11/1/1954, in his 96th year.

Now here comes a strange thing. The details can be found in the Census data of 1901. Emma Bartholomew and the young folk of the family are all listed as being resident in an orphanage -the family had been there since about 1890, when Frederick transferred to the yoemanry . It is likely he and Emma had some kind of care role at the place.

On Census Night 1901 - May the first - Emma is noted as being head of the family. There is a one word comment in the margin - describing her as a widow. In other words, some disastrous new had reached the family not long before. Frederick Bartholomew had been wrongly reported as dead - either in action or from disease.

So we have a situation where the entire family had been traumatised and thrown into chaos by some kind of army clerical mistake. We don't know the details and probably never will. Frederick will have been en route by sea from South Africa to England on Census Night and it is possible/probable he knew nothing of the business until he landed. We can only imagine the scenes when he turned up safe and sound in Warminster.

PM sent to John re military records

The Bartholomew paternal line can be traced further back - possibly as far as Peter Bartholomew, born in the early 1700s. About four people on various sites have done the hard yards on that.

Will be delighted to supply the details - it will take me a day to pull my notes together.

Can somebody supply a little more data about Frederick Bartholomew's (born 1858) military career from 1878 - 1905. That is, his exact regiment and the dates of promotions. There is a bit of a saga behind it if everything falls into place.

Thankyou for all that research MadBull, at least i don't have to post for the census information now !
Your help is most appreciated.

Best wishes.

Children of William & Mary Ann:

BARTHOLOMEW, Frederic Robert Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 27 May 1858
Christening Date: 11 Jul 1860 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film 1042312 Dates: 1860 - 1860

BARTHOLOMEW, Benjamin Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 6 Aug 1859
Christening Date: 11 Jul 1860 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film 1042312 Dates: 1860 - 1860

BARTHOLOMEW, Arthur Griffiths Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1 May 1863
Christening Date: 27 Dec 1863 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film Dates: 1862 - 1881

BARTHOLOMEW, Albert Edward Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 13 Dec 1866
Christening Date: 23 Jun 1867 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film Dates: 1862 - 1881

BARTHOLOMEW, William Joseph Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 18 Dec 1868
Christening Date: 10 Jan 1869 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film Dates: 1862 - 1881

BARTHOLOMEW, Elizabeth Christening
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 12 Jul 1870
Christening Date: 24 Sep 1870 Recorded in: Croydon, Surrey, England
Collection: St John the Baptist
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film 994333 Dates: 1859 - 1882

BARTHOLOMEW, Percy John Christening
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 21 Mar 1876
Christening Date: 30 Jul 1876 Recorded in: Westminster, London, England
Collection: St James
Father: William BARTHOLOMEW
Mother: Mary Ann
Source: FHL Film Dates: 1862 - 1881

1871 census
3 Falcon? Villas, Croydon
William Bartholomew, head, 33, architect's assistant, born London, St. James
Mary A., wife, 33, born Essex, Heybridge
Frederick R., son, 12, born St. James
Benjamin, son, 11, born "
Louisa L., dau, 10, born "
Arthur G., son, 7, born Somerset, Taunton
Albert, son, 4, born Surrey, Croydon
William, son, 2, born "
Elizabeth, dau, 9 months, born "
Joseph R., visitor, 23, carpenter unemployed, born St. James

Frederick and mother Mary? But where's father?
1861 census
2 Narlboro Row, St. James, Westminster
Mary Bartholomew, head, married, 23, fundholder
Fred'k, son, 2
Benj'n, son, 1
Louisa, dau, 1 month
Celina?, aunt, 35
All born Westminster except aunt born Marylebone.

Edit: William is a boarder in Weston Super Mare. He's 24, married, born Westminster, an architect's clerk.

Yes Kath,
I have not been on here since before Christmas (for various reasons which i will tell you about later...i will email you later on as i am going off-line now).

Thanks again !

Good to see your name on the boards again too. Hope you are well. The boards seem very quiet these days!!

Kath. x

Hi Kath,

Good to hear from you again !
Thankyou for the info. about the deaths of Cecil & Lilian, it certainly looks correct.

I have been hunting around FreeBMD this afternoon & it seems that this family has definate roots in the Wandsworth area of London.

Many thanks !

Hello MadBull,

In fairness i was not asking for any information about Freddie (Cecil's son), it is Cecil's paternal parental line that i am trying to research - of which i know very little.

What little i do know was included in my posting on here & my posting yesterday for the 1911 census info. re: Cecil.

Best Wishes.

Possible for Lilian's birth (although the registration doesn't match up with the birth date given on the death record):-

Name: Lilian May Clarke
Year of Registration: 1900
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Wandsworth
County: Greater London, London, Surrey
Volume: 1d
Page: 737

Kath. x

Could this be Cecil's death:-

Name: Cecil L Bartholomew
Death Registration Month/Year: 1968
Age at death (estimated): 75
Registration district: Wandsworth
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 5e
Page: 826

and perhaps Lilian's:-

Name: Lilian May Bartholomew
Birth Date: 18 Oct 1900
Death Registration Month/Year: Aug 1996
Age at death (estimated): 95
Registration district: Wandsworth
Inferred County: London
Register number: E72A
District and Subdistrict: 2561E
Entry number: 298

Kath. x

I'm sure the poster must have known all of this! He/she had the date of Freddie's birth, must have known he was famous. There's loads of info about him online.

Many, many thanks to :

Ann of Green Gables * Choccy * MadBull *

Your help is most appreciated !

I am actually trying to research the Bartholomew family lineage (no relation) back through census returns, etc...

The family was torn-apart by child custody battles in America during the late 1930's, when Cecil & Lilian Bartholomew tried to regain custody of their son Freddie from Cecil's sister Millicent (Cissy).
Millicent later adopted her nephew & the parents seemed to vanish back into the woodwork !

It was a very notorious case & poor Freddie lost all of his earnings fighting his parents' through the courts in America (there are now fascinating documents available on-line pertaining to the court cases).

Thankyou all again

EDIT : Frederick Cecil Bartholomew was born in Harlesden, London on 28 March 1924 (i have a copy of the birth certificate).

Sources quoting birthplace as Ireland are wrong.

He was not named Frederick Llewellyn or Frederick Llewellyn March either - as erroneously reported in several sources ( both in print & on-line).

Conflicting with some sources, a New York Times obituary article published 24 Jan 1992 states his birthplace was not London, England, where he was reared, but actually Dublin, Ireland

Freddie Bartholomew More at IMDbPro »
ad feedbackDate of Birth
28 March 1924, Dublin, Ireland


Date of Death
23 January 1992, Sarasota, Florida, USA (emphysema and heart failure)


Mini Biography
One of the most popular child actors in film history, Freddie Bartholomew was born Frederick Llwellyn in Dublin, Ireland, in 1924. He was raised in England by an aunt, Millicent Bartholomew, from whom he took his surname. Freddie had appeared on the London stage and in 2 minor British films when on a visit to the U.S. with his aunt in 1934, he was offered the title role in The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (1935) by MGM. This film made him an overnight star and he went on to appear in such classics as Anna Karenina (1935), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), and Captains Courageous (1937). His salary soared to $2,500 a week making him filmdom's highest paid child star after Shirley Temple. But with the advent of young manhood, his dimpled, angelic good looks began to fade. After a stint in the Air Force in World War II, his film career was all but finished. In 1954, he went to work for an advertising agency and remarked at the time that the millions he had earned as a child had been spent mostly on lawsuits, one of which involved a headline court battle in 1937 between his parents and his aunt for custody of young Freddie. "I was drained dry," he said. Freddie Bartholomew died in Florida in 1992 at the age of 67. He leaves a legacy of some of the greatest adventure films of the 1930s.))

This was added to the above site:

(1) Yes, his full name was Frederick Cecil Bartholomew – birth registered in the Willesden Registration District in the January to March quarter of 1924. Willesden covered Middlesex, which is London town’s county.

(2)His father was Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew, born at Warminster, Wiltshire County, England, on January 7, 1893. Moved to Canada in the early 1910s, worked as a rangeman – whatever that job was. Enlisted in the Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1916, badly wounded in France,worked as a minor civil servant in England after the war.

(3)He married Lilian May Clarke at Wandsworth (now a section of Greater London) in County Surrey in the last quarter of 1919.

(4)Freddie the actor’s grandfather was Frederick (or Frederick Robert)Bartholomew, born about 1860 or a year or two earlier. He married Emma Brown, born in Dublin in about 1862. I suspect the couple married in Dublin. They had quite a few children, listed in British census returns.

(5)The youngsters were: Frederick, born Dublin about 1885;Arthur, born Dublin about 1887, Millicent, Freddie’s ‘Aunt Cissie’, born at Bangalore in India about 1889; Lilian Gertrude May, baptised 1891-probably at Warminster, certainly in England; Cecil Llewellyn, Freddie’s father. The great actor’s dad was a younger son, hence, in keeping with social traditions of the era, he probably moved to the colonies to make his way in life.

Very interesting story about Freddie here:

http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/8590/freddie-bartholomew-part-2/