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What an amazing poem.

Reading it, thinking that’s just how it used to be, then BAM. So very descriptive.

Thanks for offering to repay the transcript fee - but there's no need.
I'm happy to have satisfied my own curiosity.

As ErikaH says, there's no need to have a sub to FMP in order to search the 1921 census.
I don't.

Interesting to read his poem.
I can imagine him reciting it, very dramatically!

You don’t need to be a subscriber to FMP

EVERYONE can access 1921 - and they ALL have to pay - even those with the most expensive package for the site

Oh I’m shocked. I was just about to look for this record, but I don’t have a sub for fmp. Thank you so much, I’d like to repay somehow. ??

So the newspaper was correct that he first came to perrotts buildings. So we found you then in 1921 William.! His granddaughter wants his photo, don’t we all! And she is sending for certs of marriage and death with haste.

Maybe I could type out one of his poems. .

THR WRECK OF THE MANCHESTER EXPRESS .. WELLINGBOROUGH September 2nd, 1898.

Lines composed by W A Jeffs , the well known Blind Reciter.

Leaving London's crowded city by the most convenient train,
Some quite out of breath with running, comfortable seats to gain,
Fond farewells in haste are spoken, some regret they cannot stay
Others gladly hear the whistle, and the guard call "right away!"
Now she's off! The brakes are lifted, and the mighty iron steed
Bears away it's precious burden, ever with increasing speed,
And the lover fondly gazes till the train is out of sight
Thinking of his love and hoping she will reach home all right.
Homeward bound! With brightest prospects, dreams of future happiness.
Fill the minds of some who travel by the Manchester Express.
Homeward bound! The pleasure ended of a lengthy holiday.
Duty's call must be attended, though one fain would longer stay.
Some are reading, some are smoking, some perhaps to sleep incline
Others with their friends are joking in the carriage, where they dine
Ted and Jack upon the engine, they might feel well proud to drive
Thinking of a smiling welcome when at Leicester they arrive
Homeward bound! Their final journey the the day of toil is o'er
Never for a moment dreaming they would run that train no more
Now the engine's speed is slackened, Bedford station is in sight
Here the carriage wheels are tested, here some passengers alight
Hark! The whistle! All is ready; once again she's "Right away!"
Oh that something unexpected might have caused a slight delay
All is well each signal tells them, and they swiftly pass it by
Onward, through the verdant meadows, down the hill they almost fly.
Then along the bank she dashes; is there any cause for fear?
Yes! Oh heaven! A red light flashes, there is awful danger near.
Quickly Ted springs to his lever, and the brake is well applied
But alas! Their cause is hopeless, and to certain death they ride.
On the line a truck is lying, which the engine hurls along
See, the wood in fragments flying, but the iron frame is strong
Onward to the points it rushes, will it cross them with success?
No, a crash! And all is over with the Manchester Express
Like some captive monster making frantic efforts to be free
From the metals leap’s the engine, then, oh dreadful sight to see!
Up the bank it madly plunges, falling back completely wreck'd;
Oh, what awful mischief cometh from one act of slight neglect
Fine new cars, all smashed and scattered, and the engine overturned
Glass and earthenware all shattered, luggage into ashes burned
Groans of pain, and cries of terror, break up the still night air,
And the fire among the wreckage, sheds around a lurid glare.
There a corpse all torn and mangled, Ted, the gallant driver lay
And poor Jack, his dying comrade, was picked up not far away.
None of those who gazed upon it will forget the dreadful sight
Or the groans of mortal anguish heard that sad September night
Soon the Ambulance arriving. Render valuable aid
Doctors also in attendance, their investigations made
Eight of those severely injured to the hospital were sent
Others to hotels were taken or to private houses went
All that human skill could render for those sufferers was done
And we say to all who helped them "Ye our thanks have nobly won"
Seven in all, Death claimed as victims (though we hoped there would be less)
Of the hapless souls who travelled in the Manchester Express
Thou, Who art the Great Physician, sympathising with our grief
Hear us, and to those who suffer, in Thy mercy and relief
To the sad and broken hearted, let Thy healing balm be given.
And may those so cruelly parted be united yet in heaven
Grant that we may never witness such an awful sight again
Such a scene of woe and anguish as the wrecking of a train.
W. A. Jeffs

Sorry it’s a bit graphic, and I don't know how to attach the picture of the wreck, exactly as he described it, strewn up the bank,

Having been hooked by this story, to satisfy my own curiosity I've lashed out and paid for the transcript of the 1921 record for William Joffrey, suggested earlier.

First name(s) William Arthur
Parish Tormoham
Last name Joffrey
Registration district Newton Abbot
Sex Male
Registration district number 272
Birth year 1869
Sub-district Torquay
Census date 19 June 1921
Sub-district number 6
Age in years 51
Enumeration district number 18
Age in months 10
County Devon
Age as transcribed 51 y 10 m
Country England
Relationship to head Head
Borough, urban or rural district Torquay MB
Marital status Married
Ward of borough or urban district Strand
Birth place Northamptonshire, England <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Parliamentary borough or division Devonshire PC, Torquay Div.
Birth county Northamptonshire
Archive The National Archives
Birth country England
Archive series RG 15
Transcribed birth place Northamptonshire
Piece number 10471
Occupation Own Account
Schedule number 231
Occupation code 965
Schedule type code E
Occupation code with suffix 965/4
Employer Street Musician Blind <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
District reference RD 272 RS 6 ED 18
Employer code 759
Other household member's first name(s) Mary Ann
Language used to complete form English
Other household member's last name Joffrey
Person making return Mr Jeffs <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Record set 1921 Census Of England & Wales
House number 7
Category Census, land & surveys
Street Perrotts Buildings
Subcategory Census
Address 7 Perrotts Buildings
Collections from Great Britain, England
Full address as transcribed 7 Perrots Buildings <<<<<<<<<<<


Mary Ann is described as born 1865,; age 55 years 7 months; housekeeper, single.


I'm inclined to assume that Mary Ann's surname is Joffrey (or possibly Jeffrey), and William's name has been mistranscribed as also Joffrey.
They've got his name right as the person who filled in the form - .Mr Jeffs.

Don't see Mary Ann definitely anywhere else.

Just a few extras, it seems Charlotte lived until 1957. But in 1917 she had a boy to another man, it is thought the one she was working for. His photo is held by my relative, and information about that boys life came from his relatives. So it is possible the story about him writing to ask for Charlotte be put to workhouse may have come from them, I’m only guessing.

Making a time line, I find that Charlotte was sent to prison (given info)on 22.11.1909 for 14 days, and William's boots being stolen in Newton Abbott 3rd march 1910 date of newspaper article.

I’m told he was a basket maker on previous censuses. Looking at other search results for ER I see a Billy Jeffs in Devon middle years 1920s, but still not to be found in 1911.

William Arthur still in Northants in July 1907.


Charlotte Jeffs
in the Bedfordshire, England, Workhouse and Poor Law Records, 1835-1914
Name: Charlotte Jeffs
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Birth Date: abt 1881
Residence Date: 1907
Residence Place: Bedford, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Poor Law Union: Bedford
Description: Admission and Discharge Register, Casuals

Charlotte Jeffs, laundress, and Walter Ernest, 5 months, both admitted on Tuesday 25 June 1907, having spent the previous night in Wellingborough.
Both discharged on June 26th, to Wellingborough.

So that would just be for medical reasons, and not for long-term residence.



Re-admitted on Tuesday 2 July - Charlotte, Walter Ernest, and William Arthur, 38, basketmaker, blind.
They'd all spent the previous night in Biggleswade.
All discharged the following day, going to Wellingborough.


Change of occupation from basketmaker to street musician?
Or poet and reciter, as in your opening post.

But so many things do fit, as you say.

If he's the same man, Matilda must have been mistaken in thinking that he'd been in Torquay for 36 years.

Charlotte must have entered the workhouse at some time between 1906 and 1909.
Where did the info that William had asked for her to be admitted come from?

If true, then William went to Devon between 1906 and whenever she was admitted - before 1909, and presumably after the conception of Lilian May, which would have been in 1907.

Lilian May's address at baptism in October 1908, and at her burial in November 1908, is "Workhouse".


Re "Workhouse Escapades" -

Charlotte Jeffs and Eliza Parker, inmates at the Workhouse, were charged with fighting that (Monday) morning.
Labour Master Dickins said that they had a lot of trouble with the defendants, and had tried them on bread and water without effect.
The Chairman asked if they could not be separated, and was answered that there was no convenience.
The Chairman: You could send one of them to Northampton.
Witness: The remaining one would quarrel with the others.
Eliza Wykes said the quarrel was over a floor flannel. Parker hit Jeffs and the latter picked up a bucket of soap suds and threw over her.
Northampton Mercury Northamptonshire, England
26 Nov 1909




HIGHAM FERRERS

... Coroner (Mr. C. H. Davis), on Tues ...
. . . . .Jeffs, aged seven weeks. Charlotte Jeffs, mother of the deceased, deposed that the child seemed ill on Friday, and became worse on Saturday, when she sent for a doctor. It died at 5.25 p.m. on Saturday. Sarah Rush said she saw the child on Saturday, and told the mother that she thought the child was dying, and that they ought to have a doctor.—Dr. J. K. Hyde, Earl’s Barton, said that when he visited the house the child was lying dead in perambulator downstairs. It had been dead for some time. In his opinion the child died from thrush, and would probably refuse food for some hours, perhaps days, before its death. William Jeffs, father of the child, stated that he went for a doctor, but as he was blind lost himself several times. —The jury returned a verdict of “Death from natural causes.” ...

Published: Friday 04 May 1906
Newspaper: Northampton Mercury


The child above:
JEFFS, BERTHA ELIZABETH mmn FARRER
GRO Reference: 1906 J Quarter in WELLINGBOROUGH Volume 03B Page 113

Deaths Jun 1906 (>99%)
Jeffs Bertha Elizabeth 0 Wellingborough 3b 73

Having no success so far like yourself.
Strange that so many details fit our man.

I’m waiting for a few details from my relation who is so delighted with your finds. She says that a newspaper article 1909 Northampton, where Charlotte Jeffs and Eliza Parker are fighting in the workhouse. WORKHOUSE ESCAPADES. Apparently, and yet to be confirmed, he wrote from Newton Abbott to ask for his wife to be put in the workhouse !?
His granddaughter also says that when he married Charlotte in 1903 he had his own house. She is trying to obtain a copy of a small paperback mentioned in an early newspaper which could be bought for 2d. ( irrelevant information, but interesting).

oh!! thanks for sticking with it... i'll take a look at that

??? wondering about these people in 1921 -


William Arthur
Joffrey
1869
Northamptonshire, England
Tormoham
Newton Abbot
Devon

He's with a Mary Ann Joffrey, 1865, born Devonport.


I don't see these people in any other record.

Of course I should have known that wasn't William Arthur in Liverpool in 1921.
According to Matilda he was in Torquay then.

Still can't see him, though!
Also he's not listed at either Perrott's Buildings or Melville Street in 1901 or 1911.

Oh so sorry, I can’t find him either ??

So I wasted a lot of my time finding info about Walter :-( :-( :-( :-(

Just looked at that 1911 for William Jeffs in Liverpool, b. 1864, I think it says that he is. Crew, and a watchman on a ship called Greyhound. So I don’t think it’s him, as he was blind.

Well, it goes to prove what good researchers you are. All is completely correct except for guessing Agnes Callaghans birth. Agnes born 1912 mother Wilton Manchester, lancs. That covered in another thread about Annie Townsend and Joseph Moore Wilton/ Edward .Thomas Cousins.

Walter married Maud Marjorie Rees Jones who gave birth to Madge, that is Marjorie, his sole beneficiary. This wife left him and left Madge tied in a chair, until he came home. He then got together with Agnes Callaghan and had more children, but could not ever marry her, as Maud (and she used lots of other names) could not be found.
Agnes lived as Walter's wife.

By the way, the history of Maud was uncovered, and Madge got to see her mother in a nursing home just before the mother's death.

We really are getting to the bottom of this, a big thanks

Name: Walter Ernest Jeffs
Birth Date: 24 Jan 1907
Service: 1939-1945
Medal Issued/Claimed: 1946-2002
Discharge Number: 1092128

Name: Walter Ernest Jeffs
Birth Date: 24 Jan 1907
Birth Place: Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
Date: 1908-1955
Service Number: AX 13343

Name: Walter E Jeffs
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 24 Jan 1907
Residence Date: 1939
Address: 75 Parr Lane
Residence Place: Bury, Lancashire, England
Occupation: Lineman, Sectional Eng G P O
Line Number: 36
Schedule Number: 138
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: Ngbk
Borough: Bury
Registration district: 462-1
Inferred Spouse:
Agnes Jeffs
Household Members Age
Walter E Jeffs 32
Agnes Jeffs 27 (DoB 9/11/1912)
This record is officially closed.
Walter L. 2
This record is officially closed.

Name: Walter E Jeffs
Appointed Date: 1923
Appointed Place: England
Industry: Postal Service


Name: Walter Ernest Jeffs
Death Date: 11 May 1961
Death Place: Lancashire, England
Probate Date: 2 Nov 1962
Probate Registry: Manchester, Chester, England

Probate to Marjorie Maud Ada Mason (wife of Joseph Mason)

Births Sep 1930 (>99%)
Jeffs Marjorie M A Jones Bristol 6a 10

JEFFS, MARJORIE MAUD ADA
GRO Reference: 1930 S Quarter in BRISTOL Volume 06A Page 10

Marriages Sep 1952 (>99%)
JEFFS Marjorie M A MASON Bury 10b 1577
MASON Joseph JEFFS Bury 10b 1577


Marriages Sep 1929 (>99%)
Jeffs Walter E Jones Bristol 6a 546
Jones Maud M R Jeffs Bristol 6a 546

Name: Agnes Jeffs
Death Age: 54
Birth Date: abt 1912
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec 1966
Registration District: Heywood
Inferred County: Lancashire
Volume: 10c
Page: 443

Births Sep 1937 (>99%)
Jeffs Walter L Callaghan Heywood 8c 655
More Jeffs/Callaghan births on freebmd


Name: Maud Marjorie Rees Jones
Baptism Date: 4 Dec 1910
Baptism Place: Easton, Bristol, England
Parish as it Appears: All Hallows
Register Type: Parish Register
Father: Tom Briarley Jones
Mother: Edith Maud Jones

Name: Maud Marjorie Jeffs.......living with her father?
Residence Year: 1932
Parliamentary Division: Thornbury
Residence Place: Gloucestershire, England


????????????
Births Dec 1912 (>99%)
Callaghan Agnes Kirk Leeds 9b 740

Taken at face value, Walter and Maud must have separated, and he took up with Agnes, but didn't marry her

I found the ER info I posted on FMP

Jeffs
Matilda
—
—
1931
England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1910-1932
Devon, England

Jeffs
William A
—
—
1931
England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1910-1932
Devon, England


ADDRESS 20 Melville Street

As posted above yesterday

Ok. Thanks it was a gift then, from Erika for 1931

The Electoral Rolls here on GR don't really go back before 2002.

Ancestry and FMP have ERs for certain towns or areas, but not all.

ERs for Torquay for the 1920s-1930s are not on Ancestry.
Nor on FMP , as far as I can see.

The British Library has all Electoral Rolls, but you can only view them in person.