grandad in faringdon berks

[nicky]

trying to trace great grandad Joseph Webb in faringdon in 1918 he lived with a Mrs Florence Lewis at Block Green Terrace Farringdon, any information would great, Thanks

[Trish]

trying to trace great grandad Joseph Webb in faringdon in 1918 he lived with a Mrs Florence Lewis at Block Green Terrace Farringdon, any information would great, Thanks

Nicky,

Do you know anything more? Any idea when your great grandfather might have been born and where? Or even what approximate age he might have been in 1918? Do you know what his relationship with Florence LEWIS was? Could he have been a lodger at her house? Do you know what his occupation was?

The answers -- or whatever other information you may have -- may help us help you...

Trish

[nicky]

Hi Trish,
His name was Joseph Webb and he was born In Britford in Wltshire 1885, he married in wilton just a few miles from here in Salisbury 1906 he had a son my grandfather 1906, and a daughter 1916, sometime after April 30th , he ranaway with a young girl he got her pregant , and they went to Faringdon.
Then in 1918 he was charged with Mrs Florence Lewis (he was her lodger) with the concealment of the birth of a baby, this baby ended up in the fire box of a steam engine . Joseph and Mrs Lewis wre both setenced to 15 months hard labour. He went to Oxford prison but we don't know where she went., or whether Joseph was the father of the child. Mrs Lewis husband had been killed at the front, don't know when or his name.
They both came out of prison and lived in Faringdon.
He then had another child by whom we don't know she was called Patience we guess btween 1922 /1938. We don't know whether Joseph and Florence married.
Joseph then left Patience and her mother as her mother was admitted to a mental hospital, he went to Bletchley where he met another woman and had another daughter called June in 1938ish, he married June's mother 1943/1945 ish maybe in Aylesbury not sure.
Joseph died in 19162.
So after all that we know quite abit but there is some gaps that we would love to fill , such as why would they go to thoases lenghts to get rid of the baby and what happened to the girl and her baby he ranaway with etc.
any ideas we would love to have them
Regards
Nicky

[Geoffers]

I did respond to your original query back in October
http://www.british-genealogy.com/for...1689#post41689

In addition to these thoughts, try:

Thames Valley Police who have/had a museum at their training centre in Sulhamstead. Ask if they have kept the Occurrence Books for Faringdon from this time, or the case papers - it's unlikely but if you don't ask, you'll never know.

Geoffers

[Trish]

Fascinating story, Nicky. You have some intriguing family skeletons. I assume you know all about Joseph and his family going back into the 19th century -- or you don't care about that but want to know about his post 1918 life? ...In which case, you really should follow up on Geoffers' suggestions -- he knows what he's talking about!

Do keep us posted on whatever you find out. Joseph must have been, at the very least, an interesting man!

Trish

[nicky]

Thank you for your useful tips, sorry Geoffers only just found your message.

Have applied for will waiting for it to come back,trying to track a marriage date down for Florence Lewis but it seems to be a long process, will keep you updated.

[nicky]

i have found out yesterday that Florence was from Wantage and her middlename was May she was 31 yrs when charged and served in the female section of Oxford Prison, so that is how her and Joseph would have kept in touch, and i am now trying to track down the name of Florence's first husband but with a surname like lewis is not easy, and details about the baby and whether Florence and Joseph married, also involved in the crime was another lady called Florence Simpson

[Geoffers]

i have found out yesterday that Florence was from Wantage and her middlename was May she was 31 yrs

This will help to narrow down the period to search for her marriage.

when charged and served in the female section of Oxford Prison, so that is how her and Joseph would have kept in touch

I don't think they would have kept in touch in Oxford Prison!

and i am now trying to track down the name of Florence's first husband but with a surname like lewis is not easy

You might begin to narrow down the search if there is anyone on these forums who lives around Wantage/Faringdon and could check the war memorials for you. Even if you end up with several names; it's somewhere to start checking out each on CWGC web-site. Other than that, one of ArchiveCDBooks excellent diretories may help with names of Lewis families in the area.
Geoffers

[Peter Goodey]

...or perhaps go somewhere where they have the "Soldiers Died in the Great War" database (don't buy it! ). In some respects it's more useful than the CWGC site. Major libraries or Archives might have it. SoG certainly does. I think the FRC has it.

[Geoffers]

i am now trying to track down the name of Florence's first husband but with a surname like lewis is not easy

Well, it took a little digging, but I found him:

Thomas Frederick Hawkes LEWIS
L/Cpl 15374, 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regt
Died 25 Sep 1915, aged 29
husband of Florence May LEWIS of Block Green, Fraingdon
He is commemorated at the Ploegsteert Memorial

You can check my findings using the CWGC web-site
http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx
Search on, surname LEWIS, initials TF, restrict the period to 1915.

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