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Charles Davies was the younger brother of my great-grandmother, Jane. They had seven more younger sisters, as well. My strategy has been to follow each of the siblings on the census records and hopefully, learn about marriages, children, deaths, etc to round out our family history. I have birth/baptismal records for all the children, and have found details on each of the other siblings, except for Charles. The girls all gave Budbrooke as their place of birth, other than Jane, who was born in Smethcott, Shropshire, before her father took a job as the gardener at Grove Park estate in Budbrooke. No census records after 1881 have a Charles Davies born in Budbrooke. The only other reference to Charles was made when his older sister, Jane, placed her twin boys at Middlemore Home in Birmingham in 1912 because she had no one left to care for them while she worked. Jane was not married, so her widowed mother had been raising the boys, but was giving up her home to go live with her married son. (Charles was her one and only son, who had always been her "favorite", according to family stories). When Charles and Jane's mother died a few years later, she was at Victoria Road, Bidford, and was attended by her youngest daughter, Helen. Jane's boys were sent to Canada to work on farms and never saw their mother again. Like most British Home Children, the twins never spoke about their past, so none of us here in Canada have known anything about our Davies relatives in England, until I started researching a few years ago. It's been a lot of hard work, but I've had assistance from many helpful people along the way who have pointed out possibilities I may have overlooked. I'm hoping someone on this site may have an idea that would lead to discovering more about Charles. Thanks so much.

For our info - the 1881 you refer to

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Grove Park, Budbrooke, Warwick, Warwickshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Birth place Occupation
William Davies Head Married Male 43 1838 Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England Gardener
Jane Davies Wife Married Female 34 1847 Montgomeryshire, Wales Gardener Wife
Jane Davies Daughter Single Female 10 1871 Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England Scholar
Charles Davies Son Single Male 8 1873 Budbrooke, Warwickshire, England Scholar
Mary A Davies Daughter Single Female 5 1876 Budbrooke, Warwickshire, England Scholar
Elizabeth Davies Daughter Single Female 3 1878 Budbrooke, Warwickshire, England -
Alice Davies Daughter Single Female 1 1880 Budbrooke, Warwickshire, England -

??????? said to be born Hampton

Hampton is 0.3 miles from Budbrooke. Grove Park (Estate) would appear to encompass both places
.
1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

First name(s) Charles
Last name Davies
Relationship Servant
Marital status Single
Sex Male
Age 19
Birth year 1872
Birth town -
Birth county Warwickshire
Birth county as transcribed WARWICKSHIRE
Birth place England
Occupation Footman Domestic Servant

Mother Jane 1911 - mistakenly completed to show married 30 years. 8 children born 1 has died (maybe means married for 30 years prior to death of husband, not at time of census)

1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription

Five Ways Hasley Near Warwick, Haseley, Warwickshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Birth place Occupation
Jane Davies Head Widow Female 62 1849 Montgomeryshire Berriew None
Helen Davies Daughter Single Female 20 1891 Warwickshire Budbrook School Teacher
Albert Davies Grandchild - Male 10 1901 Warwickshire Birham School
Edward Davies Grandchild - Male 10 1901 Warwickshire Birham School

who was the one who had died????

Trying to get an idea of where people are

1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Haseley, Warwick, Warwickshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Birth place Occupation
Jane Davies Head Widow Female 51 1850 Berrier, Montgomeryshire, Wales Farmer
Florence Davies Daughter Single Female 13 1888 Warwickshire, England -
Helen Davies Daughter - Female 10 1891 Warwickshire, England -

I'm sorry I don't quite know how to reply to individual posts. The census records mentioned by "greyghost" are the ones I have confirmed for the rest of the Davies family, but the 1891 listing for Charles Davies born in Hampton looks like a distinct possibility. The 1911 Census for the grandmother (also named Jane Davies) was probably filled in by her daughter, Helen, the school teacher, but signed by Jane, herself. Jane and William had been married in December,1868, and William died in November 1899, so just shy of their 31st anniversary. "SylviainCanada", the number of children still living has bothered me because I know of only one who had died by this time--Annie, born 1882, listed with the infirmity of "idiot" on the 1891 Census, admitted to Hatton Asylum in January 1894, died at same place in December 1894. All the other girls have been accounted for with jobs and families and eventually, death records. Charles is the only one who continues to elude me. Thank you both for your comments.

Please don't reply individually Norma, best to keep replies here on the thread as you have done, so all helpers can see what's been said.

Have you been able to check who lived at Victoria Road, Bidford when Jane senior died? Could it have been Charles' home and Helen happened to be with her when she died?

Do you know Charles actual DOB incase he can be picked up on the 1939 Register?

I'm not sure where to look to find who lived at Victoria Road. The death certificate didn't give a house number, just the street, but I have wondered the same thing about it being where Charles and his wife lived.

Charles was baptized on May 25, 1873 at Norton Lindsay, but I don't have an actual birth certificate to determine the precise date of birth. There is a possible birth registration for June 1873.

I've noticed that none of the Davies family seem to have had middle names, so that might rule out certain records. The twins were given the surname of Davies on their birth certificates, but most subsequent records for them and their mother uses the "Davis" spelling, other than that 1911 census, when the boys were living at their grandmother's house in Haseley. (We have an old photo of them in front of the house with their grandmother and their Aunt Helen. One of the Davies cousins I managed to track down made a point of visiting that address and taking an up-to-date photo of the house for me.)

The oldest surviving family member is Aunt Helen's daughter, who I discovered quite by "accident". She didn't know anything about Jane and the twins, but seemed to think that Charles had died quite young, so may not be on the 1939 Register.

The births of the siblings. You said you only had a possible for Charles.

Although Jane is said to be born in Shrewsbury on that 1881 census, the GRO index has the wrong mmn for the Shrewsbury birth.

1871 census has her born Smethcote (Smethcott) as per her Father too, which is in the Church Stretton RD

Note - mmn spelt variously Rees/Reece

Name: Mother's Maiden Surname: Order:

DAVIES, JANE REES Order
GRO Reference: 1871 M Quarter in CHURCH STRETTON Volume 06A Page 631

DAVIES, CHARLES REES Order
GRO Reference: 1873 J Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 543 Order

DAVIES, MARY ANN REECE Order
GRO Reference: 1875 D Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 561

DAVIES ELIZABETH REES Order
GRO Reference: 1877 D Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 613 Order

DAVIES, ALICE REES Order
GRO Reference: 1880 M Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 606

DAVIES, ANNIE REECE Order
GRO Reference: 1882 J Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 596 Order

DAVIES, EDITH REECE Order
GRO Reference: 1884 D Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 583 Order

DAVIES, FLORENCE REES Order
GRO Reference: 1887 D Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 564

DAVIES, ELLEN REES Order
GRO Reference: 1890 D Quarter in WARWICK Volume 06D Page 514 Order

The 9 births, I expect there was a miscount when the census was completed !
Note some with mmn Rees and others Reece.

Charles' birth is registered in the June Qtr so as 6 weeks was allowed in which to register a birth he could have been born anywhere between mid February (and end June) and baptism date of May 25th

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Is this the parents marriage - her name spelt Reece. It's the only Davies / Rees or Reece comes up for Dec Qtr 1868.

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1868 (>99%)
DAVIES William Fylde 8e 870
ECCLES Ann Fylde 8e 870
IDDON James Fylde 8e 870
Reece Jane Fylde 8e 870

Marriage: 22 Dec 1868 St Peter, Fleetwood, Lancashire, England
William Davies - Full Age, Gardener, Bachelor, Fleetwood
James Reece - Full Age, Spinster, Fleetwood
Groom's Father: William Davies, Gardener
Bride's Father: Thomas Reece, Game Keeper
Witness: Isaac Taylor; Elizabeth Mary Allen
Married by Banns by: Geo Y Osborne
Register: Marriages 1842 - 1874, Page 187, Entry 374
Source: LDS Film 1470815

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Smethcote School, Smethcote, Church Stretton, Shropshire, England
Learn more


First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
William Davies Head - Male 31 1840 - Shropshire, England Transcription
Jane Davies Wife - Female 24 1847 - Berriew Montgomeryshire, Wales Transcription
Jane Davies Daughter - Female 0 1871 - Shropshire, England

Thank you for the birth records, "greyghost". That information will be helpful when I'm ready to order more certificates. I've mostly ordered the ones that I thought would have details I was missing or was unsure of. So far, I've got 7 correct certificates and only one that wasn't a match. This is definitely the correct marriage record for William and Jane, my great-great-grandparents. Thank you for the transcription, ErikaH. One of the cousins had sent me a copy of the certificate, but I couldn't make out the handwriting. The census record is also correct. William's family all lived in the Smethcott area, and many are buried at the nearby cemetery in Picklescott. I found the gravestone inscriptions online and sorted out several relationships from those. There doesn't seem to be any point in tracing the family line back much further than William and Jane's parents and siblings, which my cousin has helped me with. It's the subsequent generations that interest me, particularly Charles's family, since I would like to find more living relatives.