Find Ancestors

Oh Flip - I am good!! All is sorted and 23 January is the day.

I so want the will to see if there is a mystery to be solved! It just seems strange in this day and age that they are so anachronistic...don't take card payments only cheque; no online access only snail mail;

The photo btw is my grandparents and their two pre WW1 daughters. My aunt had it and I only knew when I went to see her or organise cars for my mum's funeral.

It came yesterday :-) Here it is verbatim:

BE IT KNOWN THAT Charles David Llewellyn of 45 Wellington Road Bridgwater in the County of Somerset who died on the 2nd day of May 1926

made and duly executed his last will and testament and named therein Gilbert Alfred Farr Wallis sole executor who died in his lifetime.

AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written Letters of Administration with the will....were granted to Eva Bevan of 45 Wellington Road aforesaid minister the residuary legatee named in the said will.

Dated the 18th day of June 1926.

Gross value of Estate £174-10-5


This is the last will and testament of me Charles David Llewellyn of Bridgwater in the County of Somerset Retired Publican.......I appoint Gilbert Alfred Farr Wallis of Bridgwater aforesaid Solicitor to be the sole executor of this my will. I direct that my just debts and funeral and testamentary expenses be paid as soon as possible after my decease and subject to such payment I give devise and bequeath all my estate both real and personal whatsoever and wheresoever unto Eva Bevan lately of Number 36 Constant Street in Newport in the County of Monmouth for her own use and benefit absolutely in WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of November one thousand nine hundred and twenty two

Signed/dated in the presence of Geo Price and G H Thorne Clerks to Mr G A J Wallis Solicitor Bridgwater

On the 18th day of June 1926 Administration (with will) was granted to Eva Bevan the residuary legatee.


So....Eva WAS the sole beneficiary. And she was from Newport. I think Constant Street should be Constance Street which is where Charles David lived with his mother at the time of 1911 census (next door to my grandparents).

So now the task is to prove who she was.....

Well for starters, six months before he made his will in Bridgwater, his mother Maria died on 09 May 1922 at.....36 Constance Street!

So, Eva - and I suspect Charles - were living with Maria.

My initial thoughts...

Charles was still married to wife Mabel Edith/Edith Mabel which is why neither married their new partners..her's being Albert Mervyn Jenkins and Charles' being Eva Edmonds.

Can't trace Eva after 1901 census when she is in the pub with Charles and Mabel Edith.

Haven't yet found anything that ties her into being one and the same as Eva Bevan or indeed any reason why they should up sticks and move to Bridgwater. The entry in the probate calendar describes her as spinster - ruling out a marriage to Mr Bevan....so maybe just changed her name?

The next challenge....................................... :-D

WOW Jude, I can't believe it has finally arrived !!

I will have to read through all this again later as I have quite forgotten why we wanted the will in the first place ;-) :-D :-D

Need to find out which way you are going next !

Dea Xxx

My God, it's been so long I've also forgotten why we wanted it!!!

So guess Eva needs some investigating now we know she's the benificiary rather than just person getting probate.

Well I can't find Eva Edmunds/Edmonds or Eva Bevan in 1911. Certainly no Eva living in Constance Street...

And I can't find an Eva Bevan prior to 1911........

Well, one theory would be if they were living with mother Maria her assets were probably sold/divided up - probate granted to Lewis Llewlyn and Maria Wright - so Charles may not have had much choice but to move out of the family home. There may have been the common "falling out" over the money.

Have you got any family/friends still in Newport who could do an ER check, see if they can be placed at 36 Constance street?

Ok, trying to eliminate Eva Edmonds/Edmunds for the frame - you had her in Chapel street in 1891, and her birth is registered 1882 Newport. The family in 1891:

Elvia Edmund
Age: 46
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1845
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: Daniel Edmund
Gender: Female
Where born: Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales

Civil parish: St Woollos
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
Town: Newport
County/Island: Monmouthshire
Country: Wales

Street Address: View image
Condition as to marriage: View image
Education: View image
Employment status: View image
Occupation: View image

Registration district: Newport
Sub-registration district: Newport
ED, institution, or vessel: 27
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 4375
Folio: 82
Page Number: 16
Household Members: Name Age
Daniel Edmund 49
Elvia Edmund 46
Henry D Edmund 21
Annie Edmund 20
William Edmund 18
Amelia Edmund 16
Arthur J Edmund 14
Lillian L Edmund 12
Florence M Edmund 10
Eva Edmund 8 99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDMUNDS Eva Cardiff 11a 689
GILBERT John Kerry Cardiff 11a 689
MATHEWS Thomas Cardiff 11a 689
PROUDMAN George Scholey Cardiff 11a 689
REIN Mary Ann Cardiff 11a 689

Though not sure if this is the correct marriage I don't see to be able to locate her in 1911 under any of these names

Added: I don't know what's going on, but only part of this has posted. I had the family (without Eva, who was obviously with Charles) in 1901, then Elvira a widow living in Cardiff with daughter Nellie Gertrude in 1911. Which is why I though the Cardiff marriage for Eva a possibility.

Flip...yes I had found Elvira (nee Price) in that 1911 census - Daniel died in 1908. I have checked all the sisters for a marriage to Bevan to no avail (just in case she assumed the name because of this).

When Maria died in 1922 she left about £9500. She had five surviving children; Lewis and Maria (to whom probate was granted) Mary Jane, Charles and Alfred (who was in an asylum)

I know that some of that money filtered through to Alfred because when he died in 1950, my dad used his share to buy my mum's engagement ring.

But as Charles left less than £200 when he died four years later it beggars belief he could have been left an equal share!

How do you get an ER check of 1922? I still live in Newport (never left other than for uni)

The local library should have the electoral rolls.

Dea x

As Dea says, the local library/records centre should have the ERs, it is worth giving them a ring. However, if they don't have them I think you'll find them here:

http://services.newport.gov.uk/a_to_z/service/200/gwent_archives

You can only search by address, not name, but you know the area so shouldn't have too much trouble.

Well, thank God Maria's probate record didn't say "with will" otherwise we'd still be waiting next Christmas! :-D

Seriously though, you have no idea how much Charles was left other than if there was no will I would have thought the spoils would have been divided equally between her remaining children. Guess your mum was glad of the engagement ring!

Yes Flip....I have acquired her jewellery (my dad is not interested)...her cross and chain which I will wear to her funeral; my grandmother's wedding ring which my daughters can "argue" over. And her other stuff, wedding ring, engagement ring, three eternity rings...I will go to the library when I have a mo. Personally I think there would have been a fifth share for each of them...but seems he squandered his if that is the case :-)

I think my mum was very glad of the engagement ring :-)...for the time it is quite somethi8ng :-D

Like buses....another copy arrived today!

Hope to visit the library this afternoon :-)

Jude

Well I visited the library this afternoon and had a look at the electoral rolls.

From 1918 to Autumn 1919 only Maria is shown at 36 Constance Street. Charles appears in Spring 1920 and is there until Autumn 1922. In Spring 1923, there is nobody at number 36 which fits with him having moved to Bridgwater. There is no mention at any time of Eva Bevan.

Charles, landlord of the White Hart in 1901 is not there in 1902. John Lucy is shown in 1902.

So, IF Eva Bevan was Eva Edmunds, then she would not have been able to vote until 1918 when she was 36. But if she was living at 36 Constance Street at any time between 1920 and 1922 then she should have appeared on the electoral roll.

However, if Eva Bevan was not Eva Edmunds and was born 1892 or later, then she would not have been on the electoral roll.

So good fun; not easy to search as they are books so no search facility :-(....a mystery which I guess may remain just that!

It did throw up one new thing...I had my great gran as Maria O'connor Marchant/Llewellyn...according to the electoral roll she was Maria Ocona!

Hi Jude,

If it took any longer for the Will I was about to take a day off and go and get it for you.

It would appear that FMP are to launch ER's this year so we may yet get a bit further with your search.
Kind regards
Amanda

OK my mum's funeral was (finally) yesterday. So now I have to occupy myself :-)

What do you think about this for Mervyn Albert Jenkins - the dentist/insurance agent that Edith Mabel disappeared with?????

Name: Albert Jenkins
Birth Place: Bassaleg, Monmouth
Death Date: 21 Apr 1917
Death Location: France & Flanders
Enlistment Location: Bury, Lancs
Rank: BDR.
Regiment: Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery
Number: 9952
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre

Hi Jude, hope you are holding out ok, good to see you keeping busy!

Guess that record you've found is from Ancestry - this is the same record from CWG -


BombardierService No:9952Date of Death:22/04/1917Regiment/Service:Royal Field Artillery "C" Bty. 14th Bde. Grave ReferenceI. G. 19.CemeteryST. NICOLAS BRITISH CEMETERY
Additional Information:

View certificate This is a PDF file and requires Adobe Reader to view.

ST. NICOLAS BRITISH CEMETERY

Country:FranceLocality:Pas de Calais
Find out more about this Cemetery including, visiting information, reports and plans and any emergency notices.

There is no other info, so not sure, without the service record, if this could be possible for your guy. Can't see anything on the national archives, so would assume there is no surviving military record. But I will stand corrected if someone can find one! - Hopefully :-)

But then again, wonder if this death is correct (or another in WW1) could she have lived with someone else and died under his name?? Still strange we can't find marriages/deaths for her and the children.

atb
Flip

Yes Flip - good!

No I couldn't find any other military records. But there can't be many people called Jenkins born in Bassaleg and enlisting in Bury....with almost the same name!

Jude

Yes, I agree it's a strange combination - but without the military records it's still conjecture - even though it looks likely.

So, assuming this death is right how do we find out if she re-married or took on a different name? We haven't been able to find a re-marriage so far, do you have her actual dob to try checking for a death just using dob?

Glad you're ok!

This is everything I have about her....

At marriage on 20 June 1900 she was 23 years old.

The birth was registered Q4 1877 so she must have rounded up her age (or else they were very late registering her)!

It is only in 1911 that her age coincides with a birth year of 1877

Haven't found a marriage for her...she couldn't marry until 1926 (as I am sure there was no divorce)

Jude

If she was known as Jenkins in the time she spent in Bury - have your tried finding a re-marriage for her under that name?