Inheriting a photo album can be full of excitement or full of frustration. All those lovely photos but not a surname in sight. Who are the people? Where are they? What is the story behind them? So many questions and yet no way of getting answers. Well, that is not always the case because often the clues are there just waiting to be found.
This little album, which I have entitled "China Sketches", is a perfect example. Although full of sketches and cartoons the clues which I followed up on, and the methods which I used to trace the family background, are exactly the same as if it had been a family photograph album so will not be out of place on this blog.
Flicking through the pages it is immediately apparent that the owner's family had some connection to China. A 1920 Christmas Card with hand painted Chinese sketch is addressed to Vera and signed by Winnie and Leslie.
The top of a letter addressed to "Auntie" has been torn off leaving an address in Shanghai.
Then, perhaps the most important page of all - a cartoon of a lady sitting on a pile of suitcases. The place name of Preston is displayed boldly over a picture of a train. One of the suitcases has a small label showing the place name of "Barrow". The suitcases themselves are marked with the initials "V.L.H.". So maybe this cartoon was of a Vera travelling by train to or from Preston. If so, then her surname was going to begin with the letter H.
Next to this is another cartoon of a lady in Army uniform with the title "Sergeant Major Nora takes the salute".
Using these clues, my first attempt at identification was to assume that the name "Winnie" was the short form of "Winifred". 1920 was soon after WW1 so perhaps "Winnie and Leslie" had left England for China sometime in 1919 or 1920. If so then the place to search was Outgoing Passenger Lists for Shanghai. Winifred is not a particularly common Christian name so perhaps there would not be too many to follow up on.
The year 1919 produced just one result:
Winifred S. SHAW born 1886 - a married lady travelling alone to Shanghai
The year 1920 produced 11 ladies with the name Winifred or Winnie. Of these 4 were children who would have been far too young to have written a Christmas card. That left:
Winifred MARTIN born 1894 - single, a typist travelling alone to Shanghai
Winifred NORRIS born 1893 - single, travelling alone to Shanghai
Winifred Fanny CROPLEY born 1891 - single, a missionary travelling to Shanghai
Winifred SKINNER born 1890 - a married lady travelling with her husband, Alexander, and a daughter to Shanghai. An unlikely identification but not altogether impossible.
Winnie GRAHAM born 1900 - single, travelling with mother and younger brother named Eric to Shanghai
Winnie M. TIPPER born 1911 - a girl travelling with parents and younger brother to Shanghai. None of the other family members were called Leslie
Nora Winifred BOOTH born 1890 - single, a nurse travelling alone to Shanghai.
As none of the above possibilities produced the positive result of a Winifred and Leslie travelling together it was time to move on to another search. How about trying Vera L.H. to see if there were any likely results in the 1911 census in Barrow (V.L.H. the initials in one of the cartoons and Barrow the place name on the suitcase label).
The year 1919 produced just one result:
Winifred S. SHAW born 1886 - a married lady travelling alone to Shanghai
The year 1920 produced 11 ladies with the name Winifred or Winnie. Of these 4 were children who would have been far too young to have written a Christmas card. That left:
Winifred MARTIN born 1894 - single, a typist travelling alone to Shanghai
Winifred NORRIS born 1893 - single, travelling alone to Shanghai
Winifred Fanny CROPLEY born 1891 - single, a missionary travelling to Shanghai
Winifred SKINNER born 1890 - a married lady travelling with her husband, Alexander, and a daughter to Shanghai. An unlikely identification but not altogether impossible.
Winnie GRAHAM born 1900 - single, travelling with mother and younger brother named Eric to Shanghai
Winnie M. TIPPER born 1911 - a girl travelling with parents and younger brother to Shanghai. None of the other family members were called Leslie
Nora Winifred BOOTH born 1890 - single, a nurse travelling alone to Shanghai.
As none of the above possibilities produced the positive result of a Winifred and Leslie travelling together it was time to move on to another search. How about trying Vera L.H. to see if there were any likely results in the 1911 census in Barrow (V.L.H. the initials in one of the cartoons and Barrow the place name on the suitcase label).
This search produced just 1 person who fitted all the criteria: Vera Lilian HOWELLS aged 12 living with her Aunt Margaret D. REID with an elder sister named Winifred Sarah and brothers, James, Ernest and Geoffrey. Looks as if this seach had hit the jackpot because not only did we have a Vera Lilian HOWELLS (V.L.H.) but we also had an aunt and a sister named Winifred born 1886. Comparing this Winifred with the passenger list results showed Winifred S. SHAW born 1886, a married lady who had travelled alone to Shanghai in 1919. Now - if Winifred S. HOWELLS had married a gentleman named SHAW (preferably Leslie SHAW!) sometime between 1911 and 1919 then identification was as good as made.
True enough, the marriage search produced the required result. Winifred S. HOWELLS had married Leslie SHAW in Barrow in Furness in the first quarter of 1915.
Searching the passenger lists again I found that Leslie SHAW a 29 year old draughtsman had left Liverpool bound for Shanghai in March 1919. Winifred had followed him 6 weeks later.
All that was left was to find out a little about the HOWELL family. Why were the children living with an aunt rather than their parents in 1911? How long did Winifred and Leslie spend in China? Here is something of their story which I have managed to piece together.
The girls father, David J. HOWELLS had married Agnes L. REID in Barrow in 1883. By 1891 they were living in Tranmere with four children: Winifred Sarah, James Tudor, Ethel Nora and Margaret Hilda. Agnes' sister, Margaret D. REID, was also living with the family. David was shown as being a mechanical engineer. I wonder whether this might be the three sisters?
By 1901 the children were still living in Barrow but there was no sign of their parents. Instead they were with their Aunt Margaret who was shown as being the "Housekeeper". The family had expanded with sons, Herbert Reid, Ernest Lewis and David Geoffrey, born in 1893, 1896 and 1897, and daughter, Vera Lilian born in 1898 in Odessa, Russia. In 1909 Vera started school at Barrow Secondary Girls School and the admission form showed that her parents were in Russia. A final child, Crissie Jean, was born in Barrow in 1901.
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| Entitled "A little time on the zither" - perhaps one of the brothers learning to play?!! |
The parents returned to England before the First World War and after a few years in Barrow and then Birkenhead they settled at Studds Hall Cottage, Barbon, Kirkby Lonsdale on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Herbert Reid, the second son of David and Agnes, enrolled in Barrow Secondary School for Boys in August 1905. The admission register showed that his parents were in Odessa. When he left in December 1909 he took up employment in an Engineering Workship in Odessa, Russia. In March 1916 Herbert joined the Royal Navy in the rank of E.R.A. becoming a Temporary Mate on 1 July 1918. After the war Herbert moved to London and in 1939 was shown as being the Chief Surveyor of Cold Stores in Paddington. He died in Northamptonshire in 1969.
Ernest Lewis, the third son enrolled in Barrow in Furness Secondary School for Boys in 1907. Again his parents were shown as being in Odessa. When he left in 1912 he took up employment as an Apprentice Engineer with Vickers. In 1916 he joined the Merchant Navy serving until the early 1920s. In 1927 he applied for US Citizenship and in 1930 was shown as being the Master Mechanic in a soup factory in Boston.
David Geoffrey, the fourth son enlisted as a Private with the Royal Fusiliers in April 1916. In January 1917 he came home from France to join the Cadet Corps but was found to be so ill with Trench Fever that he was nursed at home. In May, with his condition worsening, he was transferred to hospital. His medical report notes: "His condition was very weak with great emaciation. There was dullness over the whole right lung with considerable contraction of this side due to the pleuritic effusion being allowed to absorb. The temperature and pulse ran very erratically until about mid-July but since that date the improvement, although slow, has been steady". David was transferred to the Convalescent Home, Southport in September 1917 and was found fit for service on 25 October 1917. He obtained his commission with the Royal Fusiliers on 30 July 1918 but by October was lying dangerously ill in 20 General Hospital, Camiers, France. David Geoffrey HOWELLS died in the 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell, London on 1 December 1918 and was buried at Bebington Cemetery in Cheshire.
Now what of the ladies of the family? Well they all appear to have pursued careers in teaching.
Ethel had received a university education in Manchester and then trained as a teacher. In 1911 she was Assistant Mistress at Sale County High School; 1912-1917 Assistant Mistress at City of Cardiff Hight School for Girls; 1917-1918 Assistant Mistress at Thoresby High School, Leeds. Then came her war service after which she took up the post of Assistant Mistress at North Lodon Collegiate School, London. Between 1919 and 1927 Ethel was Senior Assistant Mistress at Sunny Hill Girls' School in Bruton, Somerset; 1930 Assistant Mistress at Bradford Girls' Grammar Schiil and in 1931 Head Mistress at Birkenhead Girls' School. Ethel retired to Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset and died at Kingsleigh, 78 Berrow Road on 21 January 1982.
Little is known of Margaret Hilda, the third daughter, except that when she sailed for Canada in 1923 she was shown as being a Teacher. It is believed that Margaret remained in Canada and married there.
Vera Lilian (shown with the initials VLH in the sketches) who had been born in Odessa also became a teacher and after the war obtained posts in London and Essex. No doubt this is Vera leaving home with all her possessions! In 1931 she was living in Little Thurrock, Essex with her youngest sister, Crissie Jean. By 1939 Vera was a Head Teacher in Ealing, London. Vera died in Bridport, Dorset on 7 April 1984.
Winifred Sarah HOWELLS was the eldest daughter and I believe it was she who penned the wonderful sketches in the little album. Most look as if they have been cut from larger pages and I would guess that they were originally contained in letters sent back home - perhaps they were her letters to "Auntie Margaret". As mentioned earlier, Winifred married Leslie SHAW in 1915 and joined him in Shanghai in 1919. I believe this little picture to be Winnie's interpretation of herself and Leslie having a stroll along The Bund in Shanghai.
Here are some of the characters whom she met during her stay in the Far East.
The couple do not appear to have spent many years in the Far East because by 1925 they were living at 2 Maudsley Road, Eltham, South London. Passenger lists show them returning to the UK from Montreal in 1926; from the West Indies in 1933; and from South Africa in 1938. Whether these trips were "sunshine cruises" or in connection with Leslie's work as a commercial artist is not known. By 1939 the couple were living in Barrow in Furness with Winifred's eldest brother, James Tudor HOWELLS. James was a Submarine and Oil Engine draughtsman whilst Leslie had progressed to become a Ship Designer. After the war the couple retired to Bexhill-on Sea, Sussex. Leslie died on 14 December 1961 followed just three weeks later by Winifred. Winifred's younger sister, Vera Lilian, was shown as being Executor on both wills.
If you should happen to be descended from any of Winifred's siblings PLEASE get in touch - I would love to hear from you. I have three or four strands of research outstanding and could well add to this post if any of those surface additional information.
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