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From: "Frances Costello" <>
Subject: [JONES-UK] Alfred Jones of London
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:12:29 -0000


Hi everyone

Just wanted to share some success I have had this year with my mother in law's family

We have had difficulty finding much about my mother in law (Betty)'s great grandfather Alfred Jones who was a printer, in the City of London directories he even had a business on Ludgate Circus but he remains fairly evasive as to his origins.

We have him on the 1881 census with wife Clara and several children in St Brides area of London - Harp alley, but Clara had been married before to a Charles Ferguson and had a son Alfred Francis Ferguson who later takes on the name Jones.
For years this has been a problem as we didn't find a marriage for Clara to either Ferguson or Jones and don't know what happened to Ferguson who is described as a ship steward. We had only found A F Ferguson's birth in 1867 but by a coincidence by listing some details a lady called Lorilee in Canada emailed me with what she thought was Clara's first marriage to Charles Ferguson in 1865 - Clara's surname spelt Esall, it turned out to be the right one!

Betty lives in London so we never quite expected to have someone in Canada find what we couldn't find ourselves!!
Our main problem was where was Alfred Jones before 1881 and when did Charles Ferguson leave/ Die and when did Alfred come into Clara's life.

During this summer I went to visit Betty in London and made a visit to the Metropolitan Archives not far from the Family Records centre. I went to look for baptisms in St Saviours Southwark or St George in the East hoping it might help establish some of the childrens births - as the 1881 census had incorrect ages for Bettys grandmother Florence and Rose listed as born 1867 which was when Alfred Francis was born..... I came away rather perplexed, you see I found Alfred Francis Ferguson's baptism 3 weeks after he was born but his parents were given as Alfred And Clara Ferguson, fathers occupation Mariner. I expected to see Charles Ferguson as the father! It is the right Alfred Francis as his date of birth is given in the register.
None of the other children were baptised in those churches I looked at.

Alfred Francis Ferguson was a bit of a mystery on the Census as he is not with Alfred and Clara in 1881 and apart from his death in 1905 when the roof collapsed at Charing Cross station we knew little about him, anyway I had a plan - to look for Clara's sisters Almira and Rosetta and found Alfred in 1871 with Grandmother Sarah and Almira and then in 1881 with his other Aunt Rosetta and her husband William Hatherley. In 1890 Alfred married an Annie Black as Alfred F F Jones and in the 1901 census he has 3 children. (All called Jones). I would love to find some relatives via these children but it is early days yet.

Betty thinks she may have found Alfred and Clara on the 1871 census but his name is given as Albert, but we have had fun finding the children as "Rose" is registered at birth and marriage as Clara Caroline Rose Jones, Percy is registered as Daniel Percy, Emily we haven't found a birth for yet - I wonder if she had another first name? Florence at least was called Florence, Blanche the same, Benjamin is Leonard Benjamin Lloyd, a new arrival is Ethel who is with Blanche and her husband in 1901 aged 15 who may have gone to America......

Although we have still lots of loose ends we have moved the family on a bit this year, I wonder if Clara actually did marry Alfred but apart from the basic info on the 1881 census which says he was born middlesex, we are no nearer to knowing much about his family and where he came from. He is supposed to have left Clara and the children behind and gone to America, but how far we will be able to prove that is yet to be discovered. Clara died in 1893.

Frances Costello

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