In October 2004 I started researching my father's family history, partly because of the recent BBC series on the subject. I've made a lot of progress, and I'm putting this up in case anyone else out there is looking for the same names. (I had a mother as well, but my uncle has done her side of the family).
My father, Douglas Redfern 24/9/1900 - 18/1/1976. He was born in
Droylesden, Manchester, was unfortunately just old enough to serve in
both the First (66898 Private, 53rd (Young Soldiers) Battalion South
Wales Borderers 14/10/1918 - 15/4/1920) and Second (14256082 Private
42nd Armoured Division 2/8/1942 - 5/3/1946) World Wars.
He never talked about all this, of course, and indeed successfully convinced everyone that he was 10 years younger - particularly my mother, whom he married in 1961. When I knew him, he was a small shopkeeper in Southport, Lancashire.
I have a photo, which I believe to be of my father and his first wife taken probably in the 1930s, after he was married to Doris Harper (1890-1958, m. 2/6/1928). I have a bunch of other Yorkshire photos - I know nothing of any of these people; they are probably Blakeleys (Doris's maiden name; in 1913 she married Fred Harper, who was killed while a soldier in France in 1918 - I have his medals).
From the invaluable online 1901 census, I discovered my grandparents Charles Percy Redfern and Agnes Redfern (née Harding). All subsequent information comes from the Family Records Centre in London, near where I work, or from the GRO in Southport, near where I was born.
Charles Percy Redfern 24/6/1872 - 24/11/1948 was born at 13 Dixon Street, Hulme, Manchester, and worked as an assistant grocer all his life.
Agnes Harding 17/10/1875 - 17/4/1948 married Charles on 4/5/1896 in
the Wesleyan Chapel of Ashton Under Lyne. She lied about her age - she
wouldn't be 21 for another 6 months - but was already 3 months
pregnant with Reginald, born 17/11/1896. She was a waitress, and they
were living together at 38 Henrietta Street, Ashton. She was
born at 32 Simpson Street, Broughton, Salford.
I have a photograph which I have tentatively decided must be of Charles and Agnes in the 1930s. They died, six months apart, at 7 Rutland Avenue, Cleveleys, having been married for 51 years.
Reginald (a fruiterer) married Ada Bayley in 1922 and had a son, Roy. He would now be around 82 - he may have married in 1947/1950, and his children may well be alive and reading this. I have a family group that makes me think there I have other cousins on this side, possibly from the third son, John Allen.
Charles's parents, my great grandparents, were George Frederick Redfern and Jane Lloyd. They married on 4/6/1869 at St Margaret's Church, Whalley Range.
George Frederick Redfern, 1/10/1847 - Jan-Mar 1895, was a
'commercial traveller'. Jane, 28/3/1844 - 17/5/1877 was
gentry, from Oswestry in Shropshire.
After Jane died, Charles and his sister Caroline Maud (2 years
older) lived with their maiden aunt Elizabeth Lloyd in Sale,
Cheshire. Caroline died in 1909 of 'heart failure from acute
bronchitis, accelerated by neglecting to obtain medical attention',
according to the coroner.
James Redfern, George's father, was a brushmaker, born around 1811, but David Lloyd, Jane's father, was a gentleman, and she lived at 67 Russell Street, Salford.
David, and his wife Anne Rogers, married in Oswestry on 13/9/1825, and they also had Elizabeth (christened 2/10/1825), Susannah (7/1/1827), Thomas (15/7/1829), John (1/1/1832), Mary (21/3/1837), Anne (18/12/1838), Charles Edward Clarke (24/5/1843-2/11/1843), William (11/11/1846-30/4/1852) and Fanny Lucy (3/7/1850). At least they appear to have done - I need to visit Shropshire.
James (born 16/8/1811) married Elizabeth Collins on 4/4/1833 in
Manchester Cathedral. Together they had Mary (4/4/1835), Sarah
(7/10/1836), Elizabeth (1839), Martha (1841), James (1845), Esther
(1846), George Frederick (1847), Sarah Jane (1850), John
(1852) and Caroline (1856). Elizabeth's mother was probably called Sarah,
but her father may be John or Jeremiah.
There were 42 Redferns born in Manchester in the 1840s - it looks like I may be related to all of them. In fact, I have some statistics.
Martha married Joseph Davison (1838), a builder employing 19 men and 2 boys, in 1865 and they had a daughter Winifred in 1870, as well as Ada (1866), Emily (1867) and James (1869).
James Redfern junior was a printer and later married Louisa Ann Joule (1856) from Macclesfield in 1884 and had a daughter Esther (1886) and a son James (1887). Louisa's father John Joule (1817) was a silk broker - she had at least 8 siblings.
John Redfern (who took over the brushmaking business, now James Redfern & Co. of 75 Market Street, and went international) married Alice in 1887, having Elsie (1891), Robert Leigh (1892), Alfred James (1893) and John H (1900). Leigh was killed at Gallipoli on 4/6/1915, and Alfred on the Somme on 27/8/1916. Both brothers had worked in the family business, and my father would join Alfred's regiment.
James senior's parents were Edward Redfern and Mary Clegg, who married in 1/12/1790 in Manchester Cathedral (they weren't posh, but the taxes were cheaper that way). It's possible that Edward was born in Barlow, near Chesterfield, in 1762 to Samuel Redfern. It's also likely that Mary was still alive in 1851, aged 83, living in Cheetham with her daughters Mary and Martha.
Edward and Mary also had Jane (20/5/1792), Hannah (17/4/1794), Edward (29/6/1796), William (20/5/1798), Mary (10/8/1800), Mary (24/10/1802), Martha (31/7/1804), Joel (15/6/1806) and John (11/11/1807).
John may have married Ann in 1833 and had a successful career as a brickmaker, with children Edward (1833), Ann Elizabeth (1839) and William (1845). Edward then married Elenor in around 1855 and they had Ann Elizabeth (1855), Edward (1856), Richard (1858) and John (1860).
Notice the lack of imaginative names in my family. It's clear that I narrowly escaped being called Elizabeth. In fact, Victorian Redfern boys seem to have been William, Thomas (not my lot), John, James, Joseph, George and Samuel, amd the girls overwhelmingly Elizabeth and Mary, with a few Sarah, Hannah, Ann and Jane - although Ann was more popular as a middle name with Sarah or Mary.
I always thought child mortality was high in Victorian Manchester, but even at one child every two years, it seems all my relatives survived to adulthood - but my family was wealthy enough that everyone got a decent education and the girls didn't have to work.
I have a picture of a family group that may be from during WWI
taken by W.J. Gregson & Co, 92 Talbot Road Blackpool, negatives
numbers 13897 and 13898. I haven't identified them.
On the Harding side, James Harding (born 1839-1842), a lamplighter, married Sarah Ann Domakin (born ?1839), a servant, on 1/4/1866 in Salford at a New Windsor Congregationalist Chapel. The Domakin family were originally Irish, and migrated to Westmoreland in the early 1800s, before settling in Lancashire. It's an unusual name, and there were no others in the country - I wonder if it's related to the Bulgarian 'domakin', or 'householder'. There are very few of them left.
James's father, William Harding, was a silk weaver, born in 1805 in Macclesfield. He may have married Martha Ramsbottom in 1826 when she was just 19 - another hurried job in Manchester Cathedral - although she was a Macclesfield girl (daughter of William and Ann Ramsbotham).
Sarah's father, John Domakin, was a stripper and grinder in a factory. Agnes also had brothers Frank (1867) and Walter (1872) and a sister Martha (1876).
I have another photo of a posh-looking young woman, taken by White
Photography, 58, Crescent, Salford. It has S. Scantlebury written on
the back, with slashes through each S. It's a carte de visite with
rounded corners, probably early 1880s.
I have a few other photos too.
I also have a pile of unrelated stuff of the Blakeley and Harper families.
So, for Google, here's a list of names:
Ian Redfern (1968)
Douglas Redfern (1900), John Allen Redfern (1911), Reginald Redfern (1896),
Alfred J Redfern (1893), Robert L Redfern (1892), Elsie Redfern (1891),
James Redfern (1886), Esther Redfern (1885)
Charles Percy Redfern (1872) and Agnes Harding (1875)
James Redfern (1845) and Louisa Anne Joule (1856)
John Joule (1847), Eliza Joule (1849), Arthur W Joule (1851), Marion
Joule (1855), Edward B Joule (1860), Eleanor Joule (1861), Henrietta
Joule (1863) and Peter Joule (1865)
Caroline Maud Redfern (1870)
Frank Harding (1867), Walter Harding (1872), Martha Harding (1876)
George Frederick Redfern (1847) and Jane Lloyd (1844)
Mary Redfern (1835), Sarah Redfern (1836), Elizabeth Redfern (1839),
Sarah Redfern (1850), John Redfern (1852), Caroline Redfern (1855)
Winifred Davison (1870), Ada Davison (1866), Emily Davison (1867),
James Davison (1869)
James Harding (1839/42) and Sarah Ann Domakin (1838)
Joseph Harding (1830), Eliza Harding (1834), William Harding (1836),
Emma Harding (1838), Isaac Harding (1844), John Harding (1847)
Joseph Davison (1838) and Martha Davison (1842)
Elizabeth Lloyd (1825), Susannah Lloyd (1827), Thomas Lloyd (1829),
John Lloyd (1832), Mary Lloyd (1837), Anne Lloyd (1838), Charles
Edward Clarke Lloyd (1843), William Lloyd (1846), Fanny Lucy Lloyd
(1850)
John Joule (1817) and Jane Joule (1829)
John Domakin
William Harding (1805) and Martha Ramsbottom/Ramsbotham (1808)
David Lloyd and Anne Rogers
James Redfern (1811) and Elizabeth Collins (1812)
Jane Redfern (1792), Hannah Redfern (1794), Edward Redfern (1796),
William Redfern (1798), Mary Redfern (1800), Mary Redfern (1802),
Martha Redfern (1804), Joel Redfern (1806), John Redfern (1807)
Edward Redfern (1762) and Mary Clegg (1769)
I shall add more details as I discover them.
If you have any comments, please contact me at family(at)redferni.uklinux.net.
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