evans family birkenhead

[brandyncoke]

hi, was wondering if anyone can help me. let me give a bit of background info. one set of my g/grandparents were william(1843) and margaret evans(1841). they both came from north wales, but settled to married life in birkenhead. first child david (c1867) my g/grandad:elias - ? married a susannah jackson, dont know anything after this: william (1874) - i dont know what happened to him, theres a possibility he ended up at sea???
very recently i found out that they had 2 more boys thomas henry (c 1881) - i know nothing about this boy: john edward (c1885) - again i know nothing
apart from the 2 eldest it seems that the rest of the children were not talked about, at least that my mum remembers. ?? why
it seems that margaret died shortly after the birth of the last child. rumour has it that william was "friendly" with the local pub ?landlady/?barmaid, married her and had more kids. i have tentative evidence that this child was a george soples(c1886).
some addresses that i have are ?abbey terrace, 83 oliver st, 102 argyle st south and ?? after he remarried albert st.all birkenhead/tranmere
what i really want to know is if there is any way i can find out what happened to these children. i can find david, ?elias and ?? john on the 1901 census, but after that nothing and for the others nothing at all.the only clue i have is a girl called lydia ?evans, mum once met (?? born 1930`s) i would also love to find any descendants of these people. is there any were i could put an advert? although i am originally from the wirral i now live in the south west, which makes it difficult to visit in person.
sorry for the long post, but i am truly brickwalled and would love to find more out especially for mum, thanks.

[Wirral]

Try the Liverpool Echo www.icliverpool.co.uk (http://www.icliverpool.co.uk/) It has an Old Pals section every Saturday. You could also try the Birkenhead News and The Globe.

www.cheshirebmd.org.uk (http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/) lists the birth of an Elias EVANS in Birkenhead in 1870.

George SOPLES is a miss-translation of George TOPLIS. William EVANS married Elizabeth TOPLIS 1891 - 1895 at St Anne, Birkenhead (June quarter 1891 according to FreeBMD). She was the wife of Frederick TOPLIS who, in 1881, was the Manager of the Assembly Rooms in Albion St, New Brighton. [I think that was the Hotel Victoria , demolished last year]. In 1891, Elizabeth TOPLIS was a widow with 4 children, a Boarding House Keeper at 21 Cleveland St, Birkenhead. The Toplis children were Emily Gladys b.1880, Olive May b. 1882, Arthur Herbert b. 1884, George Frederick b. 1886. Frederick Toplis died March quarter 1890, Birkenhead. With 4 children to support, it wasn't unusual for a widow to remarry fairly quickly.

[Wirral]

I think two of the stepbrothers may have married sisters.

Thomas Henry EVANS married in June Q 1905 Birkenhead vol 8a page 980 to Miriam HESKINE or Louise Elizabeth PESKETT (GRO index).
George Frederick TOPLIS married Emily HESKINE 1914 St Luke, Lower Tranmere, Cheshire (CheshireBMD).

1901 census, RG13/3396 folio 121 page 9, 139 Peel St, Tranmere, Cheshire
Mary Hekine, head, widow, 48, Charwoman, Cheshire Birkenhead
Miriam Heskine, dau, S 19 Charwoman, Cheshire Tranmere
Emily Heskine dau, S 15 Book binders apprentice, Cheshire Tranmere
Mary E. Heskine, dau S, 6, Cheshire Tranmere.

Marriages of the other TOPLIS children are also listed on www.cheshirebmd.org.uk (http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk)

[brandyncoke]

wirral thank you for your help. i will give those papers a try or get mum and dad to as they are more local. got to be some descendants somewhere (i hope)
the toplis connection is tentative at the mo, but it is interesting that 2 step brothers may have married 2 sisters. the thomas henry evans that you found i would say is a strong possibility its the right one. after my holiday (its an expensive hobby?) i think i will apply for the marriage certificate, to see if his parents are mentioned. william may still have been alive at this point. thanks again

[Wirral]

after my holiday (its an expensive hobby?) i think i will apply for the marriage certificate, to see if his parents are mentioned. william may still have been alive at this point. thanks againHang fire on getting the marriage certificate. My husband is going fishing tomorrow, so I am off to the library to play. :) My own lookups shouldn't take too long, so if I have time I'll see what there is about yours. Not all the church records are at the local library, but most of the C of E ones are.
Both TOPLIS and HESKINE are very uncommon names around here, each family from a single individual. William HESKINE was from Manchester, Frederick TOPLIS from Derby. Pity you aren't related to them by birth, rather than by marriage, instead of to an EVANS! There are thousands of them!

[brandyncoke]

thanks for the offer wirral, its much appreciated.i am living in the south west at the moment so cant get up that way very often. re the 1000`s of evans, i also have smith, jones, taylor and hughes!! as well as some more slightly unusual surnames in my tree.brandyncoke

[Wirral]

No luck, I'm afraid - Birkenhead library did not have a single one of the records that you need. They do have trade directories & electoral registers, so if you do eventually get some addresses & occupations from marriage certificates I can have a look at those. Cheshire County Records Office is at Chester & the records should be there. I keep promising myself a trip there again, but haven't got round to it yet. Other than that it is going to be the newspapers. Maybe someone will recognize the names TOPLIS & HESKINE in conjunction with EVANS.

I've just spent a whole day at Anglesey Records Office, looking for my JONES and WILLIAMS families, so I know what it is like!

[brandyncoke]

wirral thanks for looking. i have a similar problem with some other ancestors. had a 3 x g/grandad who was a teacher in a school off grange road in the 1870`s. he did a runner leaving a wife and kids behind. the truth was never known or more likely told.last year i made contact with a lady from the n/ east, who is also his 3 x g/grandaughter. turned out the naughty man set up home with another lady and had more kids. never taught again. anyway to cut a long story slightly shorter i rang wirral records, they said some records of the school do survive but are kept in chester. im hoping mum and dad can make a trip fairly shortly for me, but they are not as young as they were and last time they spent a whole day in rhuthin trying to trace an ancestor they came away empty handed. trouble is with that one(the school teachers m -i -l) is she was married twice. we cant find any of her marriage certs so we dont know her maiden name.
im going to have to book some time off at some point and come up to look myself. b

[Wirral]

I noted down a couple more marriages at the library. You may already have the 1st & the 2nd one may be no connection at all - I only recorded it becasue I found a John Elias Bennett Evans at 10 Rugby Road, Wallasey in the 1938 Kelly's Liverpool & Area Trade Directory.

St Nicholas, Liverpool, marriage after Banns, 25 June 1893.
Elias Evans, 23, bachelor, Fireman, 35 Union St, father William Evans, Plater.
Susannah Jackson, 21, spinster, 38 Tithebarn St, father George Jackson, Fitter.
Witnesses: E.W.B.[?] Powell & Elizzie Roberts.

St Peter, Liverpool, marriage after Banns, 6 April 1884.
Hugh Evans, 21, bachelor, bricklayer, Leeds St, father Hugh Evans, Plasterer.
Mary Jane Bennett, 20, spinster, Leeds St, father Richard Edward Bennett (deceased), Gardener.
Witnesses: William Williams & Sarah Williams

[brandyncoke]

wirral, sorry i havent replied sooner, been doing the old night shifts. all i do is sleep and work.
the marriage between elias and susannah as far as i am aware is the correct one. thank you, i will show mum. the only info i had was from the 1901 census. so wasnt aware when and where etc. interesting about the witnesses. dont know who the first (powell) is, but im thinking that the elizzie roberts is in fact eliza roberts. she was a cousin from wales where william (elias`s dad) was from . we believe that after williams wife died, she came to live with them for a bit to help with his 5 sons (recorded on the 1891 census).
cheers brandy

[hvnurse]

Hi
I'm helping a friend with her tree which includes William Evans b.1843 Llangwstennin, Wales son of Elias Evans b. 1816 and Eliza Roberts. William was the husband of 1) Margaret Roberts 2) Elizabeth Toplis.
By Margaret he had ? 5 children inc Elias b. 1870 in Birkenhead. William was a boiler maker / plater
Does this family ring any bells with anyone
Hvnurse