Ada Whybrew

I wrote about Ada Whybrew when I listed the fourteen children of David and Susan Whybrew back in 2014. Ada was the youngest child in the family, of those who survived infancy. At that time I didn't know much about her. But thanks to the information sent to me by the same family member who provided the photo of Susan, I can now fill in some of the details.

Ada with Joseph Metson,
probably around the time of their marriage

Ada Louisa Whybrew was born to Susan in July 1895, when her oldest sisters, Harriet and Eliza (my great grandmother) were already into their late twenties and married. Susan had one further child after Ada, named Lily, but she died within a few weeks of her birth in 1896. 

So Ada was effectively the youngest child in the family for most of her life. As she grew older, she seems to have been close to her sister Ellen (Nell) who was five years older than Ada. 

Her parents were living in Colchester when Ada was born. Her father David had retired from the army and was working as a watchman. Ada was baptised at St Botolph's church in Colchester on 1 September 1895. She seems to have been the only girl in the family to have been given a second name. Possibly she was named after David's half sister Louisa.

With David retired and settled, and most of her siblings grown up and left, her life was very different to that of Harriet, Eliza and her other sisters and brothers, who had grown up during David's army days.

In later life, Ada recalled her father David being very strict but fair, wanting the best for his family. He didn't like his daughters to go to dances, so Ada would hide her dancing shoes under a hedge.

She also told the story of how, when she was fourteen, she went to work in Cambridge, helping Bill with his fish and chip shop. (Possibly this was her older brother, Bill Whybrew, who was living in Cambridge at this time, although the 1911 census described his occupation as a "carman" for a mineral water company.) She did all the chores around the shop. 

Apparently Susan, her mother, visited to see how she was getting on. When she saw Ada carrying heavy buckets of dripping in the street, she said: “Put that down!”  She took Ada back to the shop, told her to put her coat on and took her home to Colchester. This story is somewhat apocryphal, but it would certainly be in keeping with Susan's character.

Like many of the girls in Colchester, Ada liked to visit the barracks to see the soldiers, and that was where she met her husband, Joseph William Metson. She and Joe married in May 1913, when she was seventeen and he was twenty-four 

After the birth of their first daughter, Florence, in 1914, they planned to go to India. They had their papers signed and themselves vaccinated, ready to go. But war broke out and Joe was sent to fight. He was injured in the heel, and then, after returning into service, suffered a hand injury that put him out of action for the rest of the war. According to the records, he was formally discharged in September 1916.

Ada and Joseph's second child, named Joseph William after his father, was born in Colchester in the same month, September 1916. Joe senior was unable to find work in Colchester, so they moved to Islington in London, where he worked as a caretaker at a school. Their third child, Violet, was born there in 1919. 

The war was still on when they moved to the school. Islington was a target for air-raids by zeppelins. During the raids, everyone in the street would come to the school and shelter in the hall. Ada would play the piano while the raids were on and everyone else would sing.

After Joe was diagnosed with TB, they had to leave the school. Joe died in 1935. For many years Ada lived with her daughter Florrie and her husband. She died in 1980, at the age of 85, while on holiday with her son Joseph, in Devon. 

She is remembered as being short, soft and pretty, someone who was kind but strong. She was always smiling and happy and had a great sense of humour. 

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?

A wonderful photo surprise

 

(Click to enlarge)

This stunning image was sent to me by a lady who had just read my book 'Susan'. The original belonged to her grandmother, Ada. When it arrived by email it felt like Christmas all over again. Have you guessed who it is?

Yes, it's Susan Whybrew (nee Mason) the subject of the book. I understand the photo was taken in 1914, when Susan would have been in her sixties and living in Colchester with her husband David. Presumably it would have been in black and white originally and was coloured later. I'm sharing it with the permission of the owner, who has it hanging on a wall at home.

Along with the photo of Susan was one of Susan's youngest daughter Ada, with her husband Joseph (Joe) Metson. That too was a wonderful surprise, the first one of Ada that I'd seen. I plan to write a post about Ada later.

The lady who sent them to me very kindly provided me with lots of information about Susan, David and several of their children, which has been passed down through her family. Some of the stories are of the sort that can't be verified, and some were provided to me in confidence. But once I've gone through them again, I'll share what I can in later posts. 

 

Here are photos of Susan and four of her daughters (cropped from larger photos) so you can see the family resemblances. I don't have photos of David, nor of Rose, Ellen or any of the boys, but they too may turn up one day. I've been so blessed to have people share their family photos with me through this blog. 

(from L to R) Susan, Harriet, Eliza, Alice, Ada.

See The Fourteen Children of David and Susan Whybrew  parts 1 and 2, for more details about this family.

The fourteen children of David and Susan Whybrew - part 2

(See also The fourteen children of David and Susan Whybrew part 1)

Benjamin John (Jack)

Born in Canterbury in 1879, David and Susan's son was recorded as "John Whybrew" in the civil register, "Benjamin J Whybrow" in the British Nationals Armed Forces register of births, and "Jack" in the 1891 census. He used John and Benjamin interchangeably on later census, but John seems to be his most commonly used name.

Next of kin listed on John's army records

John Whybrow (sic), joined the 3rd Essex battalion in 1895 at the age of 17. His military records give his next of kin as David and Susan Whybrew of Pownell Cresent, Colchester. He was discharged from the 44th and 56th foot of the Essex battalion in July 1896 to join the York and Lancaster regiment, but was discharged from there as medically unfit in January 1898, due to a perforated eardrum. The medical officer who examined him couldn't account for the perforation, but didn't think it was due to anything related to his time in the army. He considered that it was untreatable and that John's deafness on that side would be permanent. It's tempting to think that this disability probably saved John's life.

In late 1898 John married Emily Licence, the daughter of a blacksmith from Leiston in Suffolk. They lived in Colchester, where John worked as a bricklayer. In 1901 they were living with Henry and Harriet Malone along with Rose Anthony (nee Whybrew).Their daughter Emily was born in late 1902. I haven't yet discovered any other children.

Possibly John tried to join the army again at the beginning of WW1. A medal roll index card exists for a John Whybrew who joined the Army Veterinary Corp in 1914, but was discharged in 1915. Whether or not this is the same John Whybrew I haven't been able to discover - the card, like most, carries very little personal information.

I'm told (third hand) that after Emily, John's wife, died (in 1913) John remarried, leaving young Emily with Eliza and William Beales. I haven't been able to find any record of this marriage, if it was official. John himself died in Colchester in 1941 at the age of 62.

It's worth noting that, despite having had 14 children, David and Susan had no grandsons to carry on the family name. In fact, they had relatively few grandchildren in total. 

David Henry

Like John, David Henry was registered by one name on the civil register of births (Henry Whybrew), but by another (David H Whybrow) on the British Nationals Armed Forces births register. He seems to have been generally known as Henry.

Again like John, Henry joined the 3rd Essex Regiment at the age of 17, in 1898, and then transferred to the 44th and 56th foot. But his army career, while short, was far more tragic than John's. In October 1899, at the outbreak of the (second) Boer War he joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Records show that in February 1902 a Private H. Whybrew of the 1st battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers died "of disease" at Springfontein. This was almost certainly Henry, as no further record of him can be found. His death would also account for why Susan had only 7 remaining children at the time of the 1911 census.

William (Bill)

William was born in 1884 while his father David was stationed in Kent, and he appears with Susan in the 1891 census as "Bill". In the 1901 census he is described as William, aged 16, working as an assistant gardener and living with David and Susan in Colchester.

After this a certain amount of speculation is needed to piece together his story. In the 1911 census a William Whybrew born in Canterbury, Kent is living in Cambridge with his wife Annie Whybrew, (along with a lodger). Annie is a good 20 years older than William, and they have been married for 6 years, but Annie has no children, living or otherwise, suggesting (but not proving) that she was single rather than widowed when they married. 

The only marriage in or about 1905 that seems to fit is that of William Whybrew to Adelaide Williams in Colchester in 1905. Was Adelaide perhaps known as Annie? According to the 1911 census "Annie" Whybrew was born in about 1866 in Ipswich, Suffolk. There was an Adelaide Williams born in Ipswich in 1867. But of course there were dozens of other Annies and Adelaides born in Ipswich about this time. 

What happened to William after this is also uncertain, but my hunch is that he is probably the Private William Whybrew who was killed in action in France in October 1918 - just a few weeks before the end of the war. 

Private Whybrew enlisted in Colchester and was a member of the 9th battalion of the Alexandra Princess of Wales Own (Yorkshire) regiment. His regiment number was 34021, and he was originally a member of the Army Veterinary Corp. This would tie in with William's occupation in 1911 as a 'carman', that is, someone who drove a horse-drawn cart delivering goods. The Veterinary Corp helped to look after the millions of horses, dogs and other animals used by the British army. The only detail against this hypothesis is that Private William Whybrew is said to have been born in Colchester, but his brother Henry's papers include the same error. Such details were not always accurate, and it would be an understandable mistake.

The British Cemetery at Vis-en-Artois
By MilborneOne (Own work)  via Wikimedia Commons

Private Whybrew was buried somewhere in the British Cemetary at Vis-en-Artois, France and his name was listed on the Vis-en-Artois memorial (panel 5).

According to the British Army medal roll index card, Mrs Whybrew (no first name given - mother or sister not specified) requested that William's 1915 Star medal be sent to her. The address recorded on the card is 195 Bramford Rd, Ipswich. An Adelaide Whybrew was married to John Sanders in Ipswich late in 1919 suggesting that the widowed Annie/Adelaide remarried.

(I hoped that tracking down the occupants of 195 Bramford Rd in the 1911 census would give some more clues, but the family who were living there, the Lasts, seem to be unrelated to William or Annie. The husband, Henry Last, died in 1917 and possibly the family moved after that.)

As I say, a lot of speculation is involved here, but it seems to explain the absence of a civilian record of William's death.*

Ellen (Nellie)

Ellen was born in Colchester in 1890, and married George F Howard there in 1910. At the time of the 1911 census she was living alone, alongside many other army wives, in Aldershot, so it's probable that George was a soldier. Two George F Howards were listed in the Barracks at Aldershot at the census, one single, the other married. The latter was born in Stortford, Bedfordshire and was a member of the 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment (Infantry). 

St Michael the Archangel, Aldershot*
 © Copyright Basher Eyre,
 licensed for reuse under this CC license

Ellen and George had a son, Alexander George Ernest Howard on 2 September 1911. He was baptised at St Michael the Archangel church in Aldershot. They may possibly have had another child, Leslie O. Howard, born in Colchester in October 1914, died in Colchester in 1915. (The child's mother's name is given as Whybrew). 

It seems that George Howard was yet another victim of the carnage that was World War 1, although I haven't positively identified his military records. In September 1919 the now-widowed Ellen Howard, daughter of David Whybrew (deceased) married Alfred Lloyd in London. The register was witnessed by Ada Metson and Joseph Metson. 

Ada

Ada, born 1895, married Joseph Metson in the second quarter of 1913 in Colchester. Joseph clearly survived the war, since he was present at Ellen's wedding in 1919. The fact that he and Ada had a child born in 1916 suggests he may not have joined the army until late in the war, if at all. Apart from that, I haven't been able to find out anything about him.

Ada and Joseph had at least 3 children - Florence born in Jan 1914, Joseph born in 1916 (both in Colchester) and Violet born in mid 1919 (in Islington). After that I can't find any definite record of either Ada or Joseph, but it seems likely that Joseph died in Edmonton in 1935 and Ada died in Torbay in 1980.

* Update: I now have a copy of William's marriage certificate which confirms that he married Adelaide (Annie) Williams, and have other evidence that he was killed in action in 1918.

You may also be interested in:

David Whybrew
Susan Mason
The fourteen children of David and Susan Whybrew part 1
William Whybrew - an update
David Whybrew's military career part 1
Susan Mason, a wild colonial girl

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You can find out more about Susan and David Whybrew and their family, in my book Susan: convict's daughter, soldier's wife, nobody's fool.
It's available on Amazon and other online books stores