When
Wallace* Griffin was born on September 22, 1862, in Kingston Seymour, Somerset, England, his father,
Samuel Bird Griffin (1834-1890), was 28 and his mother,
Jane (nee Wallis) (1835-1909), was 27. He had
nine brothers and two sisters.
*Wallace was baptized Wallis, his mother's maiden name. He appears to have adopted the more common spelling as all documents in his adult life are spelled Wallace, so I will use that spelling here.
Wallace married
Mary Ann Price, a widow, on February 18, 1889, at the
Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Yatton, Somerset, England. At the time of the marriage,
Wallace is a farmer.
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| Marriage Registration St. Mary the Virgin (image via Ancestry.com) |
When
Mary Ann Price was born in 1864 in Kingston Seymour, Somerset, England, her father,
George Price (1824-?), was 40, and her mother,
Elizabeth (nee Wyatt) (1829-1881), was 35.
Prior to marrying
Wallace,
Mary Ann was married to
Frank Parsons (son of
James and
Ann Parsons) on April 13, 1886, in Clapton in Gordano, Somerset, England.
Mary Ann was widowed when
Frank died suddenly on July 9, 1887. The couple had no children.
Wallace and
Mary Ann had five children in 13 years:
- Leonard Wallace Griffin (1889-1971) married Kathleen Frederica Brice (1886-1970)
- Mervyn George Griffin (1891-1960) married Gertrude L. Hare (1891-1963)
- Vida Florence Griffin (1893-1918)
- Olive Mary Griffin (1903-1968) married Maurice Owen Wyatt (1899-1968)
- Cyril Griffin (1904-1904)
The couple's first born child is a son,
Leonard Wallace born November 7, 1889, and baptized at the same church his parents were married in
on December 8th. (And can we take a moment to admire the Curate's handwriting and the fact that he took the extra time to record the birth date?)
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| Baptismal Register, St. Mary the Virgin (image via Ancestry.com) |
Mervyn George is born next in 1891. Unlike his brother, the date of his birth is not recorded in the register, but his birth, on March 6, 1891, is
announced in the Weston Super Mare Gazette. He was
baptized on April 1, 1891.
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| Baptismal Register, St. Mary the Virgin (image via Ancestry.com) |
|
The family appears on the 1891 Census in Lower Claverham.
Wallace is a farmer. Their two sons are at home. They employ both a domestic servant and a farm servant, who are listed as living with them.
An advertisement appears in the
October 21, 1893 Bristol Mercury which suggests that Wallace sold his farm by auction on October 31 of that year.
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| Manor Farm, Claverham |
The couple's first daughter,
Vida Florence, is born on December 18, 1893, and
baptized on Christmas Day at
St. Mary's church in Wedmore. By this time, Wallace is the Inn-Keeper at the
Swan Inn in Wedmore. (Side note -
the Swan Inn is still an operating boutique hotel and pub in Wedmore, and I hope to visit someday!)
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| Baptismal Register, St. Mary the Virgin (image via Ancestry.com) |
On January 17, 1894, an article in the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser suggests that Wallace received the license for the Swan Hotel.
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| Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser January 17, 1894 (image via FindMyPast.com) |
On April 26, 1894, an article appears in the Wells Journal that references Wallace.
A similar article appears in the Wells Journal on March 11, 1897.
An
August 27, 1897 article in the Weston Super Mare Gazette suggests that the license for the Swan was transferred from Wallace to a James Kingstone.
On March 5, 1898, the paper suggests that Wallace has taken the license for
the Bath Arms in Cheddar. (Side note: The Bath Arms is also still operating as an Inn and Pub.)
On the 1901 England Census, we find
Wallace,
Mary Ann, and their children living in Cheddar.
Wallace's occupation is described as an "Oilcake and Insurance Agent" (oilcake is used for food for livestock).
Mary Ann's father,
George Price, is unemployed and living with the family.
Olive Mary is born on May 2, 1903, and
baptized on the 31st at
St. John the Baptist in Axbridge. Wallace's occupation is Licensed Victualler (a landlord of a pub would have needed a license to sell alcohol, but it's possible, given the 1901 Census, that Wallace is no longer the owner of the Swan by this point).
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| Baptismal Register, St. John the Baptist (image via Ancestry.com) |
Cyril Griffin is the last child born in December 1904. He's baptized on December 18, 1904, and the baptismal record suggests that he died the next day.
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| Baptismal Register, St. John the Baptist (image via Ancestry.com) |
On March 19, 1908, reference is found in the Wells Journal to both Wallace and Mary Ann, who testify at the trial of a bicycle thief. The article suggests that Wallace "kept the Banwell Stores in the Square at Axbridge."
In 1911, the family is at
4 Queen Road in Bristol.
Wallace's occupation is described as a clerk.
Mary Ann is a housekeeper.
Leonard and
Mervyn are Grocer's Assistants, and
Vida is a cashier/assistant at an "Outfitters" - a shop that sells specialized clothing.
Olive is still at school.
After the 1911 England Census, I lose track of the family. I believe that
Mary Ann died in 1914 in Bristol, at the age of 50 and
Wallace died in 1938 at the age of 75 (there are matching death registrations). I haven't found any photographs of either of them.
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Interesting that Wallis turned into Wallace! "Wallis" is a favorite given name in my husband's tree and whenever I see "Wallace" on somebody else's version of our tree, I can see they don't really know the family. Of course, Census enumerators consistently spelled the name as "Wallace" so that doesn't help today's researchers.
ReplyDeleteIt really does make it more difficult to research!
Delete