Where were Smale my ancestors a century ago?
Having recently subscribed to the 1921 Census with FindMyPast, I've been looking up various branches of my family to see what they were up to back then. Today I'm concentrating on my Smale family who branch off my maternal line.
My first port of call was 22 Ford Street in Tavistock, Devon. There were 8 people at the address occupying a total of 4 rooms. For the purpose of the census, the rooms enumerated are the usual living rooms, including bedrooms and kitchens, but excluding sculleries, landings, lobbies, closets, bathrooms, or any warehouse, office or shop rooms.
The address was the home of my 2 x great-grandparents, William Henry Smale and Grace Smale (nee Martin). William was 56 years old and he'd had many occupations which included a farm servant, railway labourer, groom, mail cart driver and omnibus driver. However, in 1921, he was a Roadstone Quarrier and his place of work is stated as Devon County Council although this might actually be in the wrong column and the council might have been his employer, I'm not entirely sure.
William's wife, Grace, was older than him at 64 years of age and her occupation is shown as home duties. Likewise, her daughter (my gran's mother) Florence Weaver, nee Smale, is also recorded as undertaking home duties. The census was taken on 19th June 1921 and Florence was a 33 year old widow. Little would anyone have known that she would die within 2 months. The cause was mentioned in a contemporary newspaper as meningitis of the brain which she'd been ill with for about a week.
Number 22 was the address where my Granny Geake was born. In 1921 she was there as a 4 year old named Phyllis Grace Weaver. Her father is recorded as dead - he died in WW1 - and there's no mention that she might have begun attending school by then.
Grace Smale, nee Martin, with her grandaughter, Phyllis Grace Weaver, believed to be photographed on the doorstep of 22 Ford Street, Tavistock
Also residing in the house were two of Florence's younger brothers, Charles Henry Smale and Percy Smale who were both serving in the Royal Navy. Two other men were boarding with the family; Clarence Hawkin, a cinema operator, and William Maunder, who was an out-of-work labourer.
Elsewhere, another of Grace Smale's daughters, Edith Ellen Martin (Martin was both her maiden name and her married name), was living with her husband, John, an unemployed carpenter's labourer, and their two children, (I knew them as Auntie Hilda and Uncle Jack), at 21 Fitzford Cottages, Tavistock. Hilda's husband-to-be was living not far away at number 18. I'd previously found the Martin family in the 1911 census residing in Curry Rivel, Somerset. John and Edith may have introduced my great-grandmother, Florence, to her husband, Henry James Weaver, as Curry Rivel was his home village. My gran went to live with the Martins after her grandmother, Grace, passed away in 1925. I can't be certain if they were still at Fitzford Cottages or whether the family had already moved to 43 Crelake Park by then.
Edith Ellen Martin at the front door of 21 Fitzford Cottages, Tavistock
Grace Smale's eldest son, William Martin, was living with his family not far away at 29 Exeter Street, Tavistock. Ten years earlier, in 1911, they'd been at 1 Vigo Bridge, Tavistock, which was previously the home of Williams' wife's family.
By 1921, William Martin's half-brother, Bertram Smale, was at the same house, 1 Vigo Bridge, with his wife and two sons. Bertram was an Able Seaman in the Royal Navy working at HMS Defiance in Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. I too worked at HMS Defiance (now part of HMS Drake) over twenty years ago when the bank sub-branch was there.
William and Grace Smale's second daughter, Emily, was married to Peter Ingram and they were based at the Army Barracks & Military Hospital in Bodmin, Cornwall. They'd already had their first four children including two year old twins girls who my gran always kept in touch with.
My gran's Uncle Tom (Thomas Smale) was described in 1921 as a visitor (with 'boarder' crossed out) residing at 13 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall. He was a signal porter with the Great Western Railway at St Dennis and later worked as a signalman in Tavistock from 1937 until he retired. Uncle Tom was the only one of that generation who I met as he lived until he was 95 years old and was still riding his bicycle around Tavistock when he was in his 90's.
This leaves two more sons of William and Grace. First there was Stanley George Smale who was boarding at Walkhampton with a family called Harris. Stanley was a groom, working for a J Woodman, horse trainer, at Yennadon near Dousland. Yennadon Down is a favourite area where I frequently go walking which overlooks Burrator Reservoir.
Finally, Philip Henry Smale was a 19 year old driver in the Army located at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Dundalk, Ireland. By a strange co-incidence, my paternal grandfather was born in the same road in 1898 about a mile and a half away in the coastguard cottages at Soldier's Point, Dundalk. Small world, as they say.
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My first port of call was 22 Ford Street in Tavistock, Devon. There were 8 people at the address occupying a total of 4 rooms. For the purpose of the census, the rooms enumerated are the usual living rooms, including bedrooms and kitchens, but excluding sculleries, landings, lobbies, closets, bathrooms, or any warehouse, office or shop rooms.
The address was the home of my 2 x great-grandparents, William Henry Smale and Grace Smale (nee Martin). William was 56 years old and he'd had many occupations which included a farm servant, railway labourer, groom, mail cart driver and omnibus driver. However, in 1921, he was a Roadstone Quarrier and his place of work is stated as Devon County Council although this might actually be in the wrong column and the council might have been his employer, I'm not entirely sure.
William's wife, Grace, was older than him at 64 years of age and her occupation is shown as home duties. Likewise, her daughter (my gran's mother) Florence Weaver, nee Smale, is also recorded as undertaking home duties. The census was taken on 19th June 1921 and Florence was a 33 year old widow. Little would anyone have known that she would die within 2 months. The cause was mentioned in a contemporary newspaper as meningitis of the brain which she'd been ill with for about a week.
Number 22 was the address where my Granny Geake was born. In 1921 she was there as a 4 year old named Phyllis Grace Weaver. Her father is recorded as dead - he died in WW1 - and there's no mention that she might have begun attending school by then.
Grace Smale, nee Martin, with her grandaughter, Phyllis Grace Weaver, believed to be photographed on the doorstep of 22 Ford Street, Tavistock
Also residing in the house were two of Florence's younger brothers, Charles Henry Smale and Percy Smale who were both serving in the Royal Navy. Two other men were boarding with the family; Clarence Hawkin, a cinema operator, and William Maunder, who was an out-of-work labourer.
Elsewhere, another of Grace Smale's daughters, Edith Ellen Martin (Martin was both her maiden name and her married name), was living with her husband, John, an unemployed carpenter's labourer, and their two children, (I knew them as Auntie Hilda and Uncle Jack), at 21 Fitzford Cottages, Tavistock. Hilda's husband-to-be was living not far away at number 18. I'd previously found the Martin family in the 1911 census residing in Curry Rivel, Somerset. John and Edith may have introduced my great-grandmother, Florence, to her husband, Henry James Weaver, as Curry Rivel was his home village. My gran went to live with the Martins after her grandmother, Grace, passed away in 1925. I can't be certain if they were still at Fitzford Cottages or whether the family had already moved to 43 Crelake Park by then.
Edith Ellen Martin at the front door of 21 Fitzford Cottages, Tavistock
Grace Smale's eldest son, William Martin, was living with his family not far away at 29 Exeter Street, Tavistock. Ten years earlier, in 1911, they'd been at 1 Vigo Bridge, Tavistock, which was previously the home of Williams' wife's family.
By 1921, William Martin's half-brother, Bertram Smale, was at the same house, 1 Vigo Bridge, with his wife and two sons. Bertram was an Able Seaman in the Royal Navy working at HMS Defiance in Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. I too worked at HMS Defiance (now part of HMS Drake) over twenty years ago when the bank sub-branch was there.
William and Grace Smale's second daughter, Emily, was married to Peter Ingram and they were based at the Army Barracks & Military Hospital in Bodmin, Cornwall. They'd already had their first four children including two year old twins girls who my gran always kept in touch with.
My gran's Uncle Tom (Thomas Smale) was described in 1921 as a visitor (with 'boarder' crossed out) residing at 13 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall. He was a signal porter with the Great Western Railway at St Dennis and later worked as a signalman in Tavistock from 1937 until he retired. Uncle Tom was the only one of that generation who I met as he lived until he was 95 years old and was still riding his bicycle around Tavistock when he was in his 90's.
This leaves two more sons of William and Grace. First there was Stanley George Smale who was boarding at Walkhampton with a family called Harris. Stanley was a groom, working for a J Woodman, horse trainer, at Yennadon near Dousland. Yennadon Down is a favourite area where I frequently go walking which overlooks Burrator Reservoir.
Finally, Philip Henry Smale was a 19 year old driver in the Army located at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Dundalk, Ireland. By a strange co-incidence, my paternal grandfather was born in the same road in 1898 about a mile and a half away in the coastguard cottages at Soldier's Point, Dundalk. Small world, as they say.
Please feel free to follow my Blog on Facebook
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]
Category: Ancestors Corner