Uglow Family History

Chatham Dockyard

Kent is the county occupying the far south-east corner of England, abutting France and containing the ports for the channel ferries - let alone the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. It was the maritime character of the county - especially the Royal Navy docks at Chatham - that led 19th Uglows eastwards from Plymouth...

 
Family 1: James Bath and Jane Ann Wills

James Bath 1839 was  born in Mylor and is the son of James 1790 and Jenny Bath and grandson of Nicholas and Joan Card from Antony. In 1841, he is found with his parents in Flushing.

He followed in his father's footsteps as a ship's carpenter. Presumably he moves to Chatham as he marries Jane Ann Wills, a Devon girl born in 1849 from East Stonehouse. The ceremony is in Sheppey, Kent in 1870.

In 1881 James is living in 26 Britton St Gillingham, Kent and is attached to HMS Pembroke in Chatham. He's a skilled carpenter's mate. He appears twice on the census! In 1891, the family is at 12 Xmas St, Gillingham.

They move to Sheppey - in 1901, James and Jane and the four children are at 103 Alma St, Sheerness. His occupation is shipwright. They are at the same address in 1911 - James is a navy pensioner and shipwright

The tragedy for James and Jane is that three of their children are born deaf and dumb - only Elizabeth is recorded as not. James dies in 1912 and is buried at Halfway cemetery, Sheerness. Jane survives until 1944, outliving Florence who dies in 1941.

• daughter, Florence Jane 1872, born in Sheerness. She is deaf and dumb and is living with her parents at 26 Britton St Gillingham, Kent in 1881, at Xmas St, Gillingham in 1891 and at 103 Alma St, Sheerness in 1901 and 1911. She worked as a compositor (1891 census but has no occupation on the 1911 census). She dies unmarried in 1942 and is buried at Halfway cemetery, Sheerness.
• son, James 1876, born in Sheppey but who dies a year later. 
• son George 1882, born in New Brompton in the Medway, Kent. He is deaf and dumb. He's not with the family in 1891 but is living with his parents at 103 Alma St, Sheerness in 1901 and in 1911 when he is recorded as working as a shop assistant and baker. He dies in 1939 and is buried at Halfway cemetery, Sheerness.
• son James 1883 born New Bropmpton, Medway. He is with his parents on the 1891 census but is not on the 1901 census. He may have been at sea as he was in the navy . He dies, aged 25, in Medway in 1909.
• daughter Elizabeth Emma 1888 born in Gillingam. She is living with her parents at Xmas St, Gillingham in 1891 and at 103 Alma St, Sheerness in 1901. She marries in 1910 - Fred Priestley born in Newark in 1879. They have a son, Eddie. They are living in Medway in 1911.
• son Alfred Wills 1890 born in Medway but dies the same year
• daughter, Ellen 1893, born in Gillingham. She is deaf and dumb and is living with her parents at at 103 Alma St, Sheerness in 1901 and in 1911 - she is a dressmaker.

Family 2: James and Emma Jane Date and Rosabel Coite nee Armstrong

This is a complex story - James 1869 is the son of Abel 1831 and Mary Ann Dyer and the grandson of  James and Grace. In 1871 he is with his parents in William St, Stoke Damerel. In 1881, James is with his mother, still in William St but father Abel has died. Mary Ann is a  widow and draperess with three young children.

In 1888 James marries Emma Dorinda Date born 1869 in Stoke Damerel - she was the daughter of a RN shipwright, John Henry Date and mother, Emma, a stationer. In 1881 she lived with her parents at the stationer's shop in Albert Road. In 1891, Emma and the children, James Charles and Lilian, are living with her parents at 57 Princes St, Stoke Damerel. James is away - he is an engine room artificer in the Royal Navy.

However in 1901, James is living with his widowed mother in law, Emma Date in Cornwall St, Plymouth. With him are James and Lilian. James himself is described as a RN carpenter and single. There is no sign of Emma. There is record of a divorce in 1894/5. Emma Jane re-marries in 1900 in London - to Thomas McVicker. He was born in Devonport around 1870. However there is no sign of Emma and Thomas in the 1901 census but in 1911, she is living with Thomas at 4 Etruria St, Battersea. He is working as a railway porter - they have all three children living with them (as Charles, Lily and Bertram).

The 1911 census tells us that James has 'married' again to Rosabel and moved to Chatham dockyards in Kent. James and Rosabel do marry but in 1914 in Medway but the 1911 census says that they have been married 14 years. Rosabel Coite seems a colourful character. She is born Rosabel Armstrong in 1873 in Shoeburyness, Essex, the daughter of Charles and Ellen from Kilkenny in Ireland. She marries Fred Smith, a sergeant in the artillery in 1889 in Rochford. As Rosabel Smith, we find her marrying John Harley Coite in 1896 in Weymouth. In the census in 1901, she is in York S, Plymouth with son John, next door to her parents in law.

In 1911, James and Rosabel (who states she was born in Edinburgh!) are at 24 Garfield Road in Gillingham. James is a RN carpenter. There are the two sons from Rosa's marriage to John Coite, John and William, and their own two young children, James Alfred and Lilian. James dies in Yarmouth in 1929.  His gravestone refers to him as a shipwright lieutenant. (Thanks to Claire on Flickr for this image)

But a further twist is that before James' death in 1929, there is a record of Rosa Uglow marrying William Watts in 1927 in Liverpool - see entry for her son, Reginald, who changes his name to Watts. On my count, this is her fourth ceremony of marriage without necessarily ever going through the formalities of death or divorce?

Marriage to Emma Date:

• son James Charles 1888. By the 1891 census he is living in Devonport with his mother and grandparents, John and Emma Date, at 57 Princes St. His father, James, was at sea. In 1901 he is with his father and widowed grandmother. He went to sea - in 1908 he is a carpenter on 'Albemarle' in the Atlantic fleet with Admiral Jellicoe. But in 1911, he is on dry land, living with his mother and stepfather, Thomas McVicker at 4 Etruria St, Battersea and working as a clerk in a druggist shop. In the war, he returns to sea and in 1915 he is promoted chief carpenter. James dies in 1951 in Lambeth
• daughter Lillian Emma 1890. By the 1891 census she is living in Devonport with her mother and grandparents, John and Emma Date, at 57 Princes St. Her father, James, was at sea. In 1901 she is with her father and widowed grandmother. In 1911, she is living with her mother and stepfather, Thomas McVicker at 4 Etruria St, Battersea - Lily is working as a pianist in a picture theatre. In 1914 she marries William Kerr in Lambeth - they have three children, Leslie, Rita and David, all born in Lambeth.
• son Edgar Bertram 1894. He is not with his siblings in 1901 but in 1911, he is living with his mother and stepfather, Thomas McVicker at 4 Etruria St, Battersea. He is an apprentice fitter. Unlike his siblings, he takes the name of his stepfather - given the date of his mother's divorce (1894), perhaps he is in fact Thomas's son. As Edgar B McVicker, in 1923, he marries Emily Roberts in Wandsworth. He dies in 1927 in Lambeth.

Marriage to Rosabel Coite:

• step-son John 1899 born in Plymouth but with James and Rosabel in Gillingham in 1911.
• step-son William Uglow-Coite 1903 born in Gower, Glamorgan but with James and Rosabel in Gillingham in 1911. Rev. William James Hector MacDonald Uglow-Coite died in Australia in 1987 aged 84 in Noraville, formerly of Roseville and England (Sydney Morning Herald 26/8/1987). He had emigrated to Australia in the 20s, became a Minister after a number of other activities. He married Una Ruth (date unknown) who died without issue in 1972
• son James Alfred 1906 born in Medway. He married Effie Lowe - Kent Family 3.
• daughter Lilian Mary Ann Isobel 1909. She was born in Gillingham and in 1934, married a Cornishman, Mr Stephens. [I can put you in touch with her son, Steve Stephens, if asked nicely]
• son Douglas 1911 born in Medway. He marries Margaret Franklin - Kent Family 4
• son Reginald Wilfred 1915 born in Medway I was not certain about this entry but in 1930 there is a PO sorting clerk in Ilford named Reginald Watts-Uglow. He later changes his name to Watts by deed poll in March 1937. This confirms that Rosabel remarried

Family 3: James Alfred and Effie Lowe

James Alfred 1906 born in Medway was the son of James and Rosa Coite and the grandson of Abel 1831 and Mary Ann Dyer

Always known as Jim, he was a sailor with Everards and master of a Thames and Medway barge, the Will Everard, from 1932-1950. He was the author of 'Sailorman: A Barge Masters Story' [Conway Maritime Press]. He was awarded the MBE for war service - he was the the only barge captain known to receive this decoration for gallantry, devotion to duty and meritorious service. Later he kept a pub, the Brown Bear in Greenhithe. He married Effie Lowe.

• son James Alan 1933 born in Medway. He died in Redditch, Worcestershire in 2011
• son John Arnold 1939 born in Gravesend. In 1960 he marries Sally Andrews in Bromsgrove. He was educated at Gravesend Grammar. He left in 1954 and joined the navy - HMS Worcester. He spent 6 years in the Merchant Navy. He worked at Austin Motor from 1963-1972.
  • daughter Mandy Jane 1961 born in Bromsgrove. She marries Mr Bradley in Birmingham in 1996.
  • daughter Wendy A 1962 born in Bromsgrove. She marries Philip Cleeton in Bromsgrove in 1981

Family 4: Douglas Ronald and Margaret Franklin

Douglas Ronald 1911 was born in Medway and the son of James and Rosa Coite and the grandson of Abel 1831 and Mary Ann Dyer . Nearly 6 feet tall and 11 stone, he was a seaman from 1935 and sailed the world as a 'sparks' with Marconi. As radio officer, he was on the Atlantic run during the 1939-1945 war, arriving in New York on the 'Nicholson' in 1941 and the 'Fort Wrigley' in 1944. After the war, he turns up on the MV Athelbeach in New York in 1950 and 1951. He marries Margaret Franklin in MIddlesbrough in 1946. Margaret was born in 1919 and dies in 1977 in Kent. Douglas dies in 2004

• son Richard Franklin 1947 born in Middlesbrough. He marries Madeleine Smith in Chatham in 1971
  
  
  • son Toby Daniel 1973 - born in Canterbury. He moved to Australia around 1996 where he has a painting and decorating business (http://www.uglowpainting.com.au). He married a teacher, Rachel Bloomfield and they have a daughter, Bonny Bee
    
    
  • daughter Hannah Danins(?) 1976 born in Canterbury - coincidentally in the same hospital and a week later than the other Hannah 1976

Family 5: Steve and Jenny Crowther

Stephen Philip 1947 was born in Bideford. I am the son of Philip Lawrence Radenbury 1912 and Olivia Vigers and the grandson of Lewin and Emily Raddenbury.

Although born in Bideford, I was brought up in Barnstaple. I went to Barnstaple Grammar and to Keble College, Oxford, reading law.  I taught law at the University of California, Central London Poly and the University of Kent. At Oxford I met and in 1971 I married Jenny Crowther, publisher and biographer. We live in Canterbury, Kent.

• son Tom Lewin 1975 born in Canterbury and educated at Simon Langton Grammar and New College Oxford. MA from Camberwell School of Art. Now works in London, for several years for the Royal Academy but now for Google. Here's his website. His partner is Nina Miall, modern art specialist and art gallery curator. They live in Sydney.
  
  
  • son Felix Lewin Miall 2011 born in Kennington, London
  • son Dashiel Oliver Miall 2014 born in Sydney, Australia
    
    
• daughter Hannah Trenerry 1976 born in Canterbury - coincidentally in the same hospital and a week later than the other Hannah 1976. She was educated at Chaucer School and Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. Following her legal practice course at the University of the West of England, she is a qualified solicitor and has worked for Bindmans, for Christian Khan and for Harman and Harman. She currently works for Canterbury solicitors, Bond Joseph, doing criminal defence work. She also teaches and is a solicitor for the Kent Law Clinic run by Kent Law School. Her partner is Pawel, the son of Maria and Andrzej Marendziuk from Kracow in Poland - they married on 24th September 2016
  
  
  • daughter Matilda Jane 2007 - born in Canterbury, Kent
  • daughter Cassandra Denuta 2013 - born in Ashford, Kent
  • daughter Esther 2015 - born in Canterbury, Kent
    
    
• son Jamie (James Joseph) 1980 born in Canterbury and educated at Chaucer and Simon Langton. Studied music production at college in Worthing. More than competent cricketer, rugby player, croupier and DJ......... His partner is Marion Brejoin and they run Le Mouton Rouge wineshop in St Dunstan's in Canterbury.
  
  
  • son Max 2010 born in Canterbury
  • son Billy 2012 born in Canterbury
    
    
• son Luke Stephen 1982 born in Canterbury and educated at Chaucer and Simon Langton. Graduating from Nottingham University in English and History of Art, Luke studied for a Masters at Edinburgh and has followed that with a PhD on the interpretation of the work of Giorgione, a 16th century Venetian artist. He successfully completed this in November 2011 and has subsequently been a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen andthe University of Manchester

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