February 2006
Despite now being semi-retired there has been a further long delay of over three years since the last newsletter and I have only now completed the incorporation of all the additional information that has been given to me by various correspondents. More information has been promised to me and I hope that this letter will spur you to supplying me with this. I then plan to have the Second Revised Edition available for downloading later this year
Anyone wishing to download a pdf version the First Revised Edition should apply to me or to Ian Roberts. For privacy reasons, it is available only upon request. Our details are at the end of this letter. Note that Ian has a new postal address.
With the growth of the internet most people now have email addresses making circulation of this letter very easy. If anyone receiving this in the post has an email address please let me know. It is being circulated by email to every member of the family for whom I happen to have an address. If anyone does not want to receive it in future please let me know. It would be helpful if all those who do want to remain on the list would also let me have their postal addresses.
It had been assumed that everyone with the name Wates was related and until recently it had always been possible to find their place in the tree. However it is now clear that most people with the name in the United States are not related and probably form an entirely separate family of Afro-Americans. There are many members of our family there but only few with the name Wates. This other family is being researched by Mary J. Wyatt of Birmingham, Alabama and her email address is Polo6565@aol.com.
This chapter is headed George 1811, but gives 1809 as an alternative date for his birth. The 1809 date is probably based on his age at the date of his death in 1897 being given as 88. Mike Evans (caabdib) who is descended from his son George (1835-1879) has done some research and has a copy of his death certificate confirming this. I have not yet discovered where the 1811 date comes from.
Mike Evans has supplied information on the family of his grandfather Charles Frederick Wates (caabd) (1866-1936)
Doris McLean (caafab), descended from Benjamin (1846-1900) died on the 21st June 2003 in Sydney, Australia at the age of 96. She was the daughter of George Edward Wates and was born in Belvedere, Erith, Kent. Her parents emigrated to Australia in 1912 and farmed near Melbourne. Her husband, Les McLean, had a bakery and subsequently a fruit shop which she ran while he was away in World War II. She had four children and in her last few years was cared for by her daughters Lil Sheppard and Margaret Beaton
The author Diana Saville (dbc ahcb) is descended from James (1830-1883). She is a well known novelist and writer on gardening. She lives with her husband in Gloucestershire
New Zealand family - descended from Samuel (1849-1898) who immigrated there in about 1870
Nancy Clark (dbc mbd) daughter of Percy William Wates died in Oct 2003 at the age of 90. She lived nearly all her life in Weston, a village to the west of Oamaru, South Island where she grew up and where her husband Lance Clark had a motor repair business. They were keen bowls players and also enjoyed gardening. . She had two children, 5 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild!
Lance Wates (dbc mbaa) died in April 2004 at the age of 76. He had a difficult start in life his mother dying when he was four and being brought up in an orphanage with his brother and sisters. He qualified as a plumber and had his own business in Dunedin, and had a passion for sailing. After he retired he and his wife moved to Cromwell, Central Otago. He had two children - Keith, a cabinet maker, and Helen Sheppard married to a farmer and five grandchildren.
Toni Williams (dbc mbea) tragically died of cancer at the age of 63 in December 2004. She lived in Queenstown with her husband Graham where she was a keen gardener. Her great hobby was patchwork quilting . They made regular visits to Europe keeping in touch with friends and family. She is survived by Graham and three children and four grandchildren.
Adrian Wates (dbb icc) has supplied an interesting account written by his father Sidney of his journey to Canada to visit his brother Ernest in 1912. Ernest had acquired a plot at Charlton, Ontario next to his cousin Geoffrey Hughes (dbh bn) Although Ernest himself came back to England his descendants live in the area, as do those of Geoffery Hughes. He went on to visit the Hann family (dbj b) in Summit, New Jersey
Ernest’s son Norman Wates, (dbb idd) who now lives in Oregon, USA, has also supplied interesting details of his early life in Ontario. Sadly his wife Ivy died of cancer at the age of 85 just before Christmas 2005.
Thomas Edward Wates (dbf afcb) died on the 13th June 2005 aged 82. He was the son of Thomas Edward Wates (1896-1971) who was a London bus driver for 30 years
The younger Thomas served in the RAF during the war and then joined the Civil Service working in the Stationery Office and then as a Court Clerk. In retirement he lived in Selsey, Sussex. He has two sons, one of whom, John, is interested in the family history and has been doing some research
Kathleen Edith Roberts, known as Molly, died on the 18th November 2005 at the age of 95. She was one of the 8 children of George Roberts, son of Matilda Wates. She immigrated to Vancouver, Canada at the age of 16 joining her aunts Maude and Lil there but returned to England before the Second World War and lived in Brixton Hill with her companion George Atkinson. She worked for the Air Ministry. At the age of 79 she returned to live in Vancouver but was still traveling extensively at the age of 90. She finally returned to England when 91 to live in Lancashire near her niece Elaine Holliday.
Hilda Davis died on the 20th July 2005. She was the daughter of Maude Davis (nee Roberts) and was born in Winnipeg, Canada. Her parents moved to Vancouver when she was young. Her father having died when she was 19 and her mother being unwell she lived with her mother to care for her. She earned her living as a dressmaker working from home until her mother’s death. Her brother Norman was also unmarried and lived with her until his death in 1998. She took an interest in the family history and has been a source of information to me.
The Saga records that upon William’s retirement from the position of organist and choirmaster of Deptford Congregational Church he was presented with a marble clock. William Hughes (dbh btb) has in his possession in New South Wales, Australia a French Alabaster Mantelpiece clock presented to William Wates in 1864 and this is presumably the clock referred to in the Saga. None of his three sons has expressed an interest in the clock and he therefore proposes to sell it, but would like to give first refusal to any members of the family who might be interested. Please contact him at hugheswj@bigpond.net.au or contact me. He will then obtain a valuation and can supply photos if required.
I stated in the last newsletter in 2002 that Martha Hughes had at least 57 grandchildren. It has been pointed out to me that this was an error and there were only a mere 37. A number of these are still living
Carrie Hawkins (dbhb ncca) has developed genealogy as a hobby and has done extensive research into various branches of her family and would be pleased to hear from anyone. Her address is PO Box 2115, New Liskeard, Ontario P0J 1P0, Canada and email crhawk@ntl.sympatico.ca
|
|
|
Martha Hughes (dbhb) lived at 12 Glebe Place, Chelsea from 1868 until the death of her husband William Stephen Hughes in 1891 when she moved to St. Merryn, North Cornwall. From 1897 until her death in 1935 she lived in the property known as Trescore which was run as a guest house and was owned by Bernard Hughes (dbhb t) until the 1950s. Carrie Hawkins supplied me with this photo of Trescore and on a recent visit to London Nancy Soloway (dbhb beb) took this photo of 12 Glebe Place.
Roy Frederick Hughes (dbhb naa) a grandson of Geoffrey Ambrose Hughes (dbhb n) who settled at Charlton, Ontario in 1901 died on the 21st July 2004 aged 68. He was a farmer in the same district.
Descendants of Josiah George Wates (dbid)(1850-1907) Samuel’s son George immigrated to the United States in about 1867 becoming a US citizen in 1872. He settled in New York state. His daughter Edith May Wates married Stephen Harleigh Peacock and they lived in Buffalo on Lake Erie. Barbara Gese, related to the Peacock family, has done extensive research into the family and has supplied a lot of information.
Collinson family. Information on this family, descended from Samuel’s daughter Annie (dbia) who married Henry Fowles has been supplied by Francis Collinson (dbi aeac) and Tim Collinson (dbi aead) living in the Redhill, Reigate area of Surrey
Descendants of Dominic Wates (dblgA). Most of these had immigrated into Australia or England from Hyderobad in India during the latter part of last century leaving only some of the children of his son Stanley Wates still in India. In the last report I had from Patricia Subhas she was in Perth, Australia and was hoping that her mother and sister Carol would be coming soon leaving only four of the family in India. I also heard earlier from Rhea Correy in Perth, one of Stanley’s grandchildren, but have lost contact with both of them.
Darren Wates (dblgA aba), grandson of Dominic’s son Ralph plays cricket for Western Australia. His brother Gavin Wates (dblgA abb) is also a cricketer. He played for the Western Australia 2nd XI and in 2004 appears to have been playing for Southgate, London.. This information comes from a casual internet search.
George Ainsworth Wates (dblebb), my father, died on the 22nd Aug 2002 aged 88. Educated at Mill Hill School and Cambridge, he qualified as a solicitor. In the Second World War he served as a Captain in the 113 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery taking part in the D-Day landings. His working life was as a partner in the firm of J. D. Langton & Passmore (subsequently Stoneham Langton & Passmore) of which his father had been a partner, and he continued in his retirement with various trusteeships and directorships right up until his death. He had many interests: sailing, rugby, music, astronomy, birds and lived life to the full
Barbara Lucy Argles (dbleba), my father’s sister and the eldest child of George Leslie Wates, died on 15th Jan 2003 aged 90. She was educated at St. Feliz School in Suffolk and Swanley Agricultural College, part of Wye College, Kent. The war years were spent in Jamaica where her husband Guy Argles had a post advising on tropical agriculture. She brought up five sons and later had fruit farms in Sutton Valence, Kent and managed the family nursery garden at Buckland Monarchorum, Devon. She loved music and was always a member of a choir. In her retirement she produced a magnificent scrap-book history of her parents lives which is valuable source of historical information
Peter Boswell Wates (baakka) died in 2002 aged 77. He was a nephew of Edward and Arthur Wates and after leaving the army in 1947 worked in the E & A Wates furniture business, managing it until his partial retirement in 1990.He contributed to the compilation of the Story of the Wates Building Group produced by Nigel Watson
Joan Christine Bennett (baakdk), formerly Joan Hayes, a daughter of Alice Sanders, died on 29th April 2004 aged 91. Born in Hither Green, South-east London, she married Philip Hayes and they lived in what had been her parents retirement home in Tankerton, Nr. Whitstable, Kent where they were keen sailors. She was also a golf player and avid birdwatcher being a founder member of the Whitstable Natural History Society. She worked as a news editor for BBC Radio. After her husband’s death she married a family friend, Arthur Bennett and they moved to Mudeford, Dorset.
Brian A.Wates
Brian Wates
48 Miskin Road, Dartford, Kent, England DA1 2LS
tel.no. 01322 221620
email: bawates@globalnet.co.uk
website: http://www.brian-wates.co.uk/
Ian Roberts
2249 McGovern Road West, R.R.#2 Oxford Mills, Ontario, K0G 1S0
tel.no. (613)258-4950
email: ianroberts@xplornet.com
website: http://users.xplornet.com/~ianroberts/
All Rights Reserved 2006