More on the feisty Ellen (Nell) Whybrew

When I wrote about Ellen Whybrew in November last year, my information was all based on official records. But now I've received new information, direct from descendants of the Whybrew family, which sheds new light on some of the things that seemed uncertain or odd.

Just to recap, "Aunt Nell" as she was known to the family, was the daughter of David and Susan Whybrew. She was born in Colchester in 1890. Of the three children born after her, only Ada survived. There was a six year gap between Nell and her older brother Bill, due to the death of another brother, James, in infancy, and a five year age gap between Nell and Ada. Nevertheless, the two girls seem to have been close to each other as they grew older.

As I noted, Nell and her first husband, George Howard, had three children, all boys. The eldest, Alexander George Ernest was known as George. The second, William Edward, was known as Billy. He died at the age of three, apparently from meningitis. Leslie, the third, also died in infancy. Poor Nell lost two sons, her husband and her father in the period between 1915 and October 1917. 

Cap badge of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)

Apparently Nell met her second husband, Alfred Lloyd, through Ada's husband Joe Metson. In April 1919, Joe left the house to be out of the way while Ada was giving birth to their youngest child, Violet, as men did in those days. At the pub he found Alf, who he hadn't seen for years. They had both served in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) during the war. Alf is said to have been gassed, and had been a prisoner of war in Germany. (I haven't been able to find any record of this yet.)

After talking for a while, Joe took Alf home with him. Nell was in the house, helping Ada, and that was where she and Alf met. The story concludes with "Uncle Alf and Aunt Nell got together and married 3 months later," which is almost true - they married in September 1919.

According to family lore, Nell was quite a feisty woman, a trait she may well have inherited from her mother Susan. During the war (I think this refers to the second world war) she is said to have picked up a chair and waved it in the air during air raids, shouting "Where are you bastards? I'll get you!" At the age of ninety she had her ears pierced and bought a long cocktail dress. 

She was 94 when she died in 1984. Unfortunately no photos of Nell have come to light so far. I'd love to see her in that cocktail dress, wouldn't you?

Ellen Whybrew

I was looking again recently at the records I have for the children of David and Susan Whybrew (nee Mason). Of the fourteen offspring born to Susan, I've found the date of death for all but two - Rose, who disappears without trace in America after 1918, and Ellen (known in childhood as Nellie). 

I've written about Rose several times. Here's what I know about Ellen, the Whybrew's eleventh child. Her father David, a soldier, was close to retirement when she was born in 1890 and the family lived in Colchester during her childhood. Of the three children born after Ellen, only Ada (b 1895) survived infancy.

High St, Colchester (2019)

At the age of twenty Ellen married George Frederick Howard, who was five years her senior. He was the son of Alfred and Sarah Howard of Stotfold in Bedfordshire. Sarah died when George was only nine years old, and he and his siblings were brought up by their father, a farm labourer. By the age of fifteen George was also employed as a farm labourer. 

However, sometime before the marriage in August 1910, most likely when he turned eighteen,  George enlisted in the army. On the marriage register in Colchester his occupation was recorded as "Drummer, Bedford Rgt." Strangely, his father Alfred was described as a "baker" on the marriage register. Perhaps this has been incorrectly transcribed. (I don't have the marriage certificate, only the information included on the transcription on freereg.org.uk).

On the night the census was taken in 1911, George was resident in the barracks in Aldershot, as a private in the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire regiment. He was described as a drummer and musician. Ellen was alone in a six roomed house in Newport Road, Aldershot.

But she and George must have spent at least some time together over the next few years. Their first child, Alexander George Ernest, was born in 1911, followed by William Edward in March 1913 and Leslie Owen in December 1914. Sadly for Ellen, Leslie died before his first birthday, and it seems likely that William also died in infancy. His name doesn't appear with Ellen's in later records. 

Could William have been adopted by Ellen's brother William and his wife Adelaide? It's a tantalising thought, given that no record seems to exist for the birth of William and Adelaide's only child, William Ronald. (See Did William Whybrew have a son after all? ) But William Ronald is said to have been born on 20 August 1912, according to the 1939 register, which makes him at least seven months older than Ellen's child, so it seems unlikely that they are the same. It's more likely that Ellen's son is the William Edward Howard who died in Colchester at the age of two early in 1916.

With the outbreak of war in 1914, George went from being a drummer with the Bedfordshire regiment to a private with the Royal Sussex Regiment of the 11th battalion. He was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force. On 4 August 1917, he was killed in action and was buried among the many fallen soldiers in the Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Ellen probably never got to visit his grave. Just a few weeks later her father David also died, at home in Colchester.

Etaples Military Cemetery

She received a widows pension, but it must have been difficult for Ellen raising her only child alone. By the time she received George's few possessions from the army in 1919, she had moved to Islington. She married Alfred Lloyd at St Paul's, Canonbury in Islington in September that year. Her sister Ada and Ada's husband, Joseph Metson, were the witnesses.

The last trace I can find of Ellen is in the 1939 England and Wales register, taken just as the second World War began. She and Alfred were living in Merton in South London, along with Alexander, who was still single. Alfred was working as a government messenger, while Ellen described herself as a retired tailoress. So far I haven't been able to determine which of the many death registrations for women named Ellen Lloyd, born around 1890, is the right one for Ellen. 

UPDATE: I've now confirmed that Ellen died in 1984 in Bromley, Kent, aged 94.

Sources

Births, deaths and marriages: Ancestry.com.au, GRO index search

Ellen's marriage to George Howard: Freereg.org.uk 

George Howard's military service: Bedfordshire Roll of Honour, Stotfold  

Images: Etaples Military Cemetery: Wikimedia 

Colchester High St: David Martin  on Georgraph.org.uk