Peter was born in 1918 in Cambridge but his birth was registered in Canterbury (Canterbury 2a 1458 Jun 1918) Kent the son of Frederick Charles and Lilian Edith LEFEVRE nee Langford. Frederick Charles LEFEVRE was mayor of Canterbury but that is a story for another time. Lilian died when Peter was less than a year old in the flu outbreak of 1919 (Canterbury 2a 1677 Mar 1919). His father married Winifred M Blundell in 1921 (Canterbury 2a 2089 Jun 1921) and so he had a woman in his life.

Peter William Lefevre (2nd from left)

In my research so far Peter’s early life was unremarkable being educated at Tonbridge School and subsequently at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in March 1938 and was posted to 38 (some research says 46) Squadron in December 1938. He was involved in the first battle of that squadron in October 1939 off the north cost of Britain. His squadron was posted to Northern Norway in June 1940 and then later in 1940 he returned to Britain where he fought in the Battle of Britain. On 3^rd September 1940 he was shot down in combat over Chatham and ‘baled out’ with minor injuries. In 1941 the squadron was posted to the Mediterranean and in May 1941 the squadron was serving on Malta and re-designated as 126 Squadron. On 10^th October 1941 he was posted to command 185 Squadron, this post only lasted for a week and he then returned to command 126 Squadron. For his actions in the North Sea, the Middle East and the Mediterranean he was awarded the DFC on 12^th December 1941^[1].

Peter at far right with 46 Squadron at Stapleford

He returned to the UK in December 1941 and served with 52 Squadron. Early in 1943 he was posted as Flight Commander of 129 Squadron and then in April 1943 he was given command of 161 Squadron. On 16^th April 1943 he was shot down by ‘flak’ whilst escorting bombers to Brest. He was found by the French resistance and smuggled into Spain and then to Gibraltar and returned to the UK on 13^th July 1943. He re-joined 616 Squadron on 11^th August but shortly afterwards was posted to command 266 Squadron.

On 6^th February 1944 whilst leading an attack on anti-aircraft guns at l’Aber-Vrac’h, Brittany he was shot down by ‘flak’ and baled-out but unfortunately was too low for his parachute to deploy (200 feet) and he was recorded as missing presumed killed, his body never being recovered from the sea.

Peter was a confirmed fighter Ace with 10 confirmed ‘kills’ ^[2,3]. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial on panel 200 ^[4].

Colin Spencer

Member 1005

http://le-fever.org/famous-lefevers/peter-william-lefevre/

^[1] SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 12 DECEMBER, 1941:

Acting Squadron Leader Peter William LEFEVRE (40719), No. 126 Squadron. This officer has shown the utmost devotion to duty over a long period of operational flying, in which he has destroyed several enemy aircraft. He carried out over 250 hours flying on convoy patrols over the North Sea as well as participating in other operational missions. Squadron Leader Lefevre has participated in operations in the Middle East, and in July, 1941, he attacked an Italian E boat which was forced to surrender.

^[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_the_United_Kingdom#L

^[3] Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII  By Christopher Shores, Clive Williams

^[4] Photograph courtesy of Stephen Daglish member 1110

Sometimes a person just gets under your skin somehow for no apparent reason. I have just such a soft spot for Jordan Bridge.

• I don’t know when he was born.
• I don’t know who his parents were.
• I do know he had brothers Adam and Christopher.
• He may have been a bit of a dodgy character.
• I do know he died in 1546.
• I don’t know where he is buried.

Jordan was one of the first residents of the Springhill area after deforestation in 1507. He delivered a piece of land 90 feet x 40 feet unto Henry Durden in, or before, 1515. I would love to know where it was.

He, together with the other tenants of Deadwenclough, was elected Greave of Rossyndale in 1516. Why the office of Greave was allocated to a group rather than an individual and how this worked in practice is sadly not recorded.

In 1527 there was an entry in the Halmote records of the manor describing how Jordan, by ‘Synister labor, Craft and subtilite’ ... ‘fined and connveyed’ to deprive Adam his brother of his share of the lands on deforestation ‘value of xxs’ in Deadwenclough. The ‘false and untrue delying’ was ‘openly Kawne’. As a consequence of mediation by their friends the matter went to court which found for Adam. Jordan was ordered to compensate Adam which Jordan refused to do ‘contrariety to all gud Right and conciens and his faith and fidelity and contrary to his seyd agreement thereof’ and the Halmote ‘pray … for … Reformacien’. (Farrer vol III pp 58-9).

Then, the following year (1528) he was sued together with his brother Adam and other tenants of Deadwenchough for trespass with beasts, a common offence in the area. The common pasture was largely in the west of Rossendale and the modern rights of way numerous and complex, reflecting the various routes taken by farmers in moving their animals.

In 1534 he was fined 4d (together with seven others) for making a ‘marle pyt’. Marl Pits field later became part of Springhill Farm and is now a sports complex. It has notoriously bad drainage, not surprising given its name.

In January 1536/7 Jordan, together with three others, sued four neighbours over partition of land in Deadwenclough called ‘The Edge’, just above Springhill. Four others were ordered to divide the land equally amongst all the parties.

The year 1541 finds Jordan together with Adam, and John Bridge, being sued for obstructing a right of way and was bound over for 6s 8d to repair it before the feast of St John the Baptist. The vicar was charged with deciding which man had to clear which bit.

Jordan Bridge died in 1546. His son, John, was admitted tenant (fine 16s 3d, probably one year’s rent). Christopher and Frauncis Bridge forbade fine by right of inheritance. This was to granted, but John Bridge surrendered the land to Christopher shortly afterwards.

It appears that Jordan may not have been above a bit of dubious dealing. It also gives a flavour of how hard life was in the early part of C16, with people trying to exist in pretty unpromising terrain and the squabbles which emerged as the land was deforested (in 1507) and began to be inhabited.

And today? The old highways are still impassable. Rights of way are still being blocked. Marl Pits is still boggy. The vicar doesn’t usually deal with highway obstructions now, though.

Janet Barrie

Member 1132

Even as an experienced researcher, I have been unable to penetrate this brick wall, and, unless there are other untried sources, I feel I may never be able to resolve it.

Subject: James Murray SMITHSON (great grandfather) born c 1835 in Midlothian, Scotland.  No birth entry or baptism has been found in Scottish archives but I believe that prior to 1855 there was no compulsion to do so by parents.

He first appears in the 1851 census in lodgings in 37 Back Newberry Street, Manchester, as a “cabinet maker” aged 19 born in Scotland.  He is at the household of Ellen Mackintosh and her daughter Sarah, aged 20, a Power Loom Weaver, born Manchester.

James and Sarah were married on 23 April 1853 at Manchester Cathedral Church. 

In the 1861 census, the couple are living at 17 Clayburn Street, Hulme, Manchester, and his occupation in this, and subsequent censuses, is Cabinet Maker.  They have three children: Albert, Margaret and Sarah.

In the 1871 census, James is living at 22 Greenbank Street, Salford, but not with Sarah who I assumed at one point had died as his “wife” was stated to be Hannah, and daughters Margaret and Sarah from his marriage to Sarah Mackintosh, as well as two more daughters Nelly and Hannah, and a son, James, aged seven.

I found a marriage to Hannah Whittle but not until 23 March 1873, after the census.

Note that James’s father is given as William SmithFIELD which could be an error. 

Hannah was born in 1836 in Manchester and by the time they eventually married in 1873, they had had a son William who was born and died in Salford in 1865, Hannah born 1866 in Salford, Ellen born 1869 in Manchester and Emma Murray who was born and died in 1871 in Salford.  Hannah, James’s wife died one month after their marriage at 20 Rodney Street, Salford, aged 37.

I had assumed that Sarah (Mackintosh) had died between the birth of her son John James in 1863 and 1873 but at the time (1871) Sarah was living as the “wife” of Samuel Pearson, a Boiler maker from Ashton under Lyne at 33 Cawdor Street, Manchester.  They had three children, Alfred born 1866, Melinda born 1867 and Amy aged 10 months all born Hulme, Manchester.  They eventually married as shown below.    

One of the witnesses above was Margaret Cowie, Sarah and James’s daughter. 

On 10 August 1873 James married yet again – to a widow, Mary Ann Holland (nee Philips) at St Simon’s Church, Salford.  Father was stated to be William WILSON no occupation.  In 1871 she was a widow, living with her parents and two children at 22 Rodney Street, Salford next door to No 20 where Hannah Smithson had died.  On 16 April 1876, they had a son (my grandfather) who was baptised Edward Murray Smithson although in the 1881 census he is called William E.   Mary Ann died on 17 May 1879 at 1 Bombay Street, Salford.

On 28 March 1880 James married for the fourth and final time to Primrose Rodgers, a widow, at St Luke’s Church, Weaste, Salford. 

The father was given as William Smithson deceased.  They had a son in 1881 called Beaconsfield Murray Smithson.  In the 1881 census Primrose and James are living at 11 Darley Street, Salford with James’s children James, Ellen, William E (Edward) and Sarah.  James Murray Smithson dies aged 46 on 8 July 1882 at this address.

It looks as if James has married bigamously as Sarah only died in 1896.

I then looked for any siblings of James Murray Smithson.  I found a William Murray Smithson who I thought could be related.

William appears firstly on the 1851 census, at 29 Rigby Street, Manchester.  His occupation was a Lithographic Printer and the census states that he was born in Liverpool in 1829.  He is living with his wife Elizabeth (Eliza) and son William aged eleven.  William junior was christened on 22 April 1860 at Manchester Cathedral.

He had married as below under the name of SMITH and his father’s name also appears as William SMITH (Commission Agent).  One of the witnesses was a Margaret Woodall.#

In the 1861 census, he is living at 8 Bombay Street, Salford (the street where my grandfather Edward Murray Smithson was born) with wife Eliza and son William.  William was their only child and he was born 1849 in Salford, registered under the name William Smithson.  He was baptised on 22 April 1860 at Manchester Cathedral under the name William Murray Smithson.  His father William again is under the surname of SMITH in this census and his birthplace is given as MANCHESTER.

In the 1871 census, the family are living at 34 Waterloo Place, Salford, under the surname SMITHSON and same occupation of Lithographic Printer.  Birthplace is given as LIVERPOOL.  William senior dies on 13 June 1875 at 7 Paradise Hill, Salford.  The informant was Mary Ann Smithson, sister in law of Bombay Street, Salford (James’s third wife).

# As stated earlier, a witness to the marriage of William Murray Smithson was a Margaret Woodall.  I found a Margaret Smithson  born c 1827 Liverpool, married to an Edward Woodall, Baker, on 6 December 1846 at St Mary’s, Prestwich. Father of bride is William Smithson – Traveller and witness William Smithson.  Edward Woodall died in 1859, they appear on the 1851 census living at 6 Mason Street, Manchester.  I have been unable to find Margaret in subsequent censuses.  A visitor to the household in 1851 was a John Murray born 1819 Scotland a Greenwich Pensioner.  He could possibly be a relation as Margaret’s brother’s James and William have the middle name of Murray.  

This is a really tangled web the main problems being:-

1. As all three Smithson siblings were born before civil registration I am unable to find a birth. The OPC Lancashire has been searched for baptisms in Manchester and Liverpool to no avail.
2. No trace in the 1841 censuses for any of them.
3. In William Murray Smithson’s case for both father and son, the appearance of SMITH in some official documents and SMITHSON in others presents difficulties as Smith is such a common name.
4. Why was James M Smithson born in Midlothian and the others in Lancashire? Family legend has it that there is possibly some connection with Portobello, which is near Edinburgh.
5. No records of William Smithson, father of James, William and Margaret, in any censuses. No marriage either, but that would have been before civil registration and could have been in Scotland. His wife’s maiden name was possibly MURRAY? A very common name in Scotland. As he was listed as deceased at the time of James and Primrose’s marriage he could have died between the third and fourth marriages of his son. Made a cursory look at Trade Directories for a William Smithson, Commission Agent but not in great detail.
6. About ten or eleven years ago a researcher in Scotland visited archives in Scotland but could not find any Smithsons at all.

I have a public tree on Ancestry called Smithson family tree but although there are several people related to this family, no-one except me have come up with any extra information, in fact they have copied details of mine.

Janet Rigby

Member 1314

John Furniss – b 1852 Carters Lane, Ecklington Ringinglow Derbyshire, d 1922 Rangiwahia New Zealand

George Pearson – b 1829 Totley Derbyshire

According to Edward Carpenter’s autobiography, “My Days and Dream”, (Sheffield Socialists, 1916, p133, George Allen and Unwin), John Furniss was a remarkable man and perhaps the very first to preach the modern socialism in the streets of Sheffield. A quarryman by trade, keen and wiry both in body and in mind, a thorough going Christian Socialist and originally a bit of a local preacher, he had somehow got hold of the main ideas of socialism and, in the 1880s, used to stride – he and his companion George Pearson – five or six miles over the moors, in order to speak at the Pump or the Monolith, and then stride back in the middle of the night. This he kept up for years and years and later, when he migrated to another quarry some distance from Chesterfield, he did exactly the same thing there for perhaps twenty years, with marvellous energy and perseverance. He must have kept up with this propaganda: and the amount of effective influence he must have exercised would be hard to reckon.

The Totley Colony and John Ruskin

In 1871, the visionary John Ruskin established the Guild of St George as a means of transforming a declining and corrupt Britain into a place of beauty and justice. His utopian vision involved working the land and encouraging traditional crafts. Ruskin was a hater of rapacious capitalism, modern technology and saved special invective for the railways.

An area of 13 acres was bought at Totley in 1877 by the Guild of St George. The land was first used as allotments for a group of Sheffield workmen. Ruskin must have been irritated when the 3.5 mile Totley tunnel was completed in 1892 for the main Manchester to Sheffield railway line.

Following the allotments, the land was run as a land colony with around 12 members. Edward Carpenter describes the men as Communists and great talkers. The installation of William Harrison Riley as custodian or Master of the Totley communitarian experiment was not a popular move and signalled the beginning of the numerous arguments and disagreements that finally sank the colony, though the severe weather, poor soil, the lack of mechanisation and the labourers lack of agricultural expertise must have contributed to the failure of the scheme.

St George’s farm was taken over by Ruskin’s own head gardener at Brantwood (David Downs) who set up “Mickley Botanical Gardens” to try to show the best methods of cultivating fruit trees as well as strawberries, currants and gooseberries. When this failed, even John Ruskin lost faith and could not wait to unload his 13 acres of poor land at Totley.

Edward Carpenter, George Pearson and the Totley Colony

Edward Carpenter, who stayed at St George’s farm for a few months in 1880, was philosophical about the failure of the Totley colony though appreciated the efforts of those involved, “They have kept the sacred fire alight through a long dark night”. Through the influence of Carpenter, George Pearson, a quarryman and a miner, was allowed to lease the land. Pearson’s father already farmed 100 acres at Totley. At this time George Pearson was aided by his friend John Furniss who had set up a small utopian community farm at Moor Hay farm Wigley near Chesterfield. In 1882, Carpenter moved to Millthorpe to set up a gardening business of his own.

John Furniss religious dissenter and roadside burials

Not everyone was allowed to be buried in a churchyard and a reference back to 1510 tells of quiet crossroads used for burials. This practice was banned by an Act of Parliament in 1823.

Even following this, the increasing intolerances of non conformists saw them carry out their own arrangements.

In 1888, John Furniss senior, of Moor Hay farm Wigley near Chesterfield, chose to bury his wife Elizabeth beneath a cairn of stones on the land where they had farmed rather than the parish church of St Peter and St Paul in Old Brampton.

Early life

John had an aunt and uncle who had a farm in the neighbouring Loxley Valley and as a relaxation in summer and autumn George Pearson and John Furniss would go to the farm at Broadhead Flats – and help with the hay making, harvest and milking.^[1]

The farmer, name of Helliwell, had among his children, a daughter named Elizabeth. She eventually married George Pearson. Elizabeth’s mother was a Miss Furniss (now Elizabeth Helliwell). The Furniss line was descended from the Bagshawes of Hazelbadge Hall (1575) Bradwell, Derbyshire.

Elizabeth was probably John’s mother – John was born in 1852 – and the eldest Helliwell child was born in 1847. John was born out of wedlock and was to spend his childhood with aunts and uncles.

For the local Furniss family, Bastardy Accounts record George Furniss, 1828, a child with Sarah Helliwell, and Matthew Furniss in 1832, with Ann Grayson.

Census Years

In 1861, aged 9 yrs, John was living with his uncle Heald Unwin at a farm of 74 acres at Moor Side farm Dore with his cousins, Sarah, 7, and Ann, 13. Name spelt Furness.

In 1871, aged 19 yrs, he was living with his uncle George Furness and his cousins at Threebird Brampton. Name spelt Furness.

In 1881, aged 29 yrs, John was a lodger living at Cresswell Street, Nether Hallam, Sheffield with his friend George Pearson (b 1858 Baslow). Both title themselves Quarrymen.

In 1891, aged 39 yrs, he was living at Moor Hay farm Old Brampton with his family. He styles himself as a Farmer and Quarryman. John gives his birthplace as Ecklington, Derbyshire, and he is living with his wife, Mary Ann (b 1864 Sheffield) and two children – John Hoyle (b 1887 Wadsley Yorkshire) and James (b 1891 Brampton). John’s widowed sister Ann White (b 1848 Dore) and nephew George White (b 1879 Brampton) are also enumerated with the family. Name spelt Furniss.

In 1901, aged 49 yrs, John is still at Moor Hay Farm but he now styles himself as a farmer born Ecklington Derbyshire. Mary Ann is still alive and they have 7 children – all of whom were born at Brampton with the exception of John Hoyle, the eldest child. James b 1887, James b1 891, Annie b 1892, George b 1893, Mary Hannah b 1896 and Grace b 1898. Name spelt Furniss.

All of the children are entered in the Wigley school records with their birth dates. A final remark states all left England on 10.10.1902 for New Zealand where John established a homestead on virgin land, clearing trees and diverting waterways. The land was brought into cultivation and transformed into a thriving dairy farm.

[1] www.totleyhistorygroup.org.uk

John Furniss

Member 1211

As an adoptee, I have concentrated my research over the years on my paternal adoptive line, although I have done a fair bit of work on my maternal adoptive line and just a small amount of research on my birth lines.

Albert (far right) and Jane Parrant nee Morris

This is about an ancestor from my maternal birth line: my great-grandfather, Albert Joseph Parrant. He was born in 1876 in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, and, according to family lore, he cycled all the way from there to South Wales to look for work in the mines. His first marriage was to Sarah Ann Davies but, just one month later, she sadly died due to a pregnancy-related condition and the baby did not survive either. By the end of that same year, Albert Joseph had married again, this time to his late wife’s sister, Margaretta Davies. More sadness ensued as she gave birth to their daughter but the baby (also Margaretta) died two days later. Just a fortnight after the baby’s death, Margaretta succumbed to pneumonia and died.

Albert Joseph picked himself up, dusted himself down and married yet again, this time to Jane Morris. They were married in the Register Office in Llandovery although both previous marriages had taken place in the Tabernacle Chapel there. He served as a Driver in the RFA during WW1 and came home safely from France.

Then we fast-forward to 1920, when we find Albert Joseph being granted Poor Person status, under the Rules of the Supreme Court 1914, in order to prosecute a suit for divorce. A year later, we have Albert Joseph’s divorce petition. Divorce is not a laughing matter by any means, and the sad result was that even though Albert Joseph was given custody of their five young children, he couldn’t possibly manage on his own in those days and they were placed in to a children’s home for a while. However, the printed divorce petition can be looked at in a far more light-hearted way, and here are two paragraphs from it:

That on the 2nd day of February 1919 at Hope Street, Pontardulais aforesaid the said Jane Parrant committed adultery with Eli Williams of Pontardulais in the County of Glamorgan.

That on the 15th day of October 1919 the said Jane Parrant committed adultery with the said William Pugh in a railway carriage of a train travelling between Gowerton and Dunvant in the said County of Glamorgan.

We would love to know who spotted this dastardly deed on a moving train – the ticket collector, a signalman, another passenger, perhaps? And who did they tell – the stationmaster, the police, poor old Albert Joseph? The story should have ended there, with us feeling sorry for cuckolded Albert Joseph who had to go through the humiliation of being granted ‘poor person’ status and then the divorce courts. However ...

I haven’t done any work on this line for quite a few years so, whilst preparing this article, I opened up the tree in my family history software to check that everything I had quoted was factually correct. It linked up to Ancestry, and there were Albert Joseph’s WW1 Service Records – 36 pages of them! These had gone online since the last time I worked on Albert Joseph, and it was exciting to find such a big bundle. Contained therein were no less than three letters to the RFA Records Office in Woolwich from three different single ladies, during 1919, asking for the whereabouts of 112910 Driver A Parrant! There was also a letter to the same office from the aforementioned Mrs Jane Parrant. It was clearly in reply to a letter she had received, and although it’s quite a poor copy and difficult to read in places, it’s very easy to get the gist of what she was saying:

In reply to your letter of the 24th inst., the Officer Edwards is the one that put my husband in France, in the firing line, because I asked him to do owing to the letter I received from my husband, the time he was stationed in the Barracks in Leeds to ask me to Divorce him because he had a girl in trouble ...

This puts a different slant on the story. Jane, the wronged wife, was obviously of the mind that ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!’ And ‘poor’ Albert had obviously been having some fun whilst stationed away from home, elsewhere in the UK. So now my next task is to try and discover whether the ‘girl in trouble’ was one of the three ladies who were looking for his address and then to see if any of them had a child in the right place at the right time. There could be a whole new branch to add to this tree very soon!

Mandy Blake

Member 1007