DAVID ADAMS
FAMILY HISTORY
PRE 1900s
On the back of this picture it reads: “Carlton Ferry, River Trent, England, June 14, 1892”
This is, I believe, the oldest family picture that I am aware of. I don’t know which family is involved, but it is an interesting insight on what seems to be a leisure activity and transportation at that time.
INTRODUCTION
I don’t really know a lot about the people in our family who lived in the 1800s and before. There are a few names and dates, some of which is confirmed by copies of documents, photographs positively identified by family members, things written down and left by relatives, second and third hand information related by word of mouth. While some information is concrete, many bits and pieces are simply possibilities.
What little I do have is more factual rather than something that speaks of what it was actually like to be, for example, Charles James Adams in the late 1800s. There were no stories handed down about that era of our family history that gave any idea of what life was like for any of these people.
EARLIEST HISTORY
My father, David, passed down to me two pieces of information, which had been passed down to him by his own parents, Stella and Charlie, which in turn had been passed down through the generations in their own respective families, all by word of mouth.
One side of Charles George Adams’ family is descended from a family by name of HEINEMAN, who came to Britain from Germany in the 1830s. Whether this is on the Adams side or the Finch side I don’t know.
One side of Stella Mozley’s family, whether Mozley or Lewis I don’t know, is descended from the Picts. Some of the family, on the Lewis side, my father thought, settled in Wales.
ADAMS SIDE OF THE FAMILY
Pictured here is Charles James Adams looking to be in his 20s, perhaps in the late 1890s?
In amongst some old photos, cousin Leslie Anderson found a tattered piece of paper which stated that Charles James Adams’ mother died in either 1907 or 1909.
I can find no birth date for Charles James, nor can I find the names of his parents, nor do I know if he had any brothers or sisters.
I do know that in 1901, he would celebrate the New Year by marrying Annie Florence Finch and that Charles George Adams would be born the following year.
THE FINCH FAMILY
The copies of two death certificates tell me that George and Annie Finch were both born in 1846 or 1847. George died at age 50, December 23, 1897, while Annie Finch “went to sleep” at age 68, August 31, 1915. While I am not 100% sure, I think there’s a strong possibility that these people were Annie Florence Finch’s parents. I have no birth date for “Flo” Finch.
This, I believe, is a family portrait of the Finch family taken in 1898 or 1899, or perhaps 1900 Given the dark dresses, I wondered if they might Still be in mourning for father George Finch. Back row: an unknown brother, inset father George, brother Herbert Front row: sister Jessie, unknown sister, mother Annie, Annie Florence.
Flo Finch
Brother Bert Sadly, Bert would only live 29 years, his date of death being July 6, 1906, placing his date of birth at 1876 or 1877.
Jessie Finch
THE MOZLEY SIDE OF THE FAMILY
Sadly, there are no pictures whatsoever from the Mozley/Lewis side of the family before the turn of the century.
Stella Adams (nee Mozley) was born in 1898, daughter of Walter Harrison Mozley and Maude Mozley (nee Lewis). There is a discrepancy about WH Mozley’s birth date. His WW1 enlistment form states that he was born January 17, 1871, but their marriage certificate indicates that he would have been born in 1866. Which one is correct, I’m not sure. From their marriage certificate, I know that Maude Lewis was born either 1872 or 1873.
Also, from the marriage certificate, I know that Stella’s paternal grandfather was Edward Mozley, while her maternal grandfather was Thomas Lewis (known to his daughter, Maude, as “Pater”, as seen in Stella’s postcard collection.) On the above mentioned form as well as on Stella’s baptismal certificate, it is not clear whether “Catherine Lewis” was indeed Stella’s maternal grandmother, but it is my guess that she was.
Again, on the marriage certificate, where it says that the marriage was solemnized “in the presence of”, listed are:
- Charles Ernest Mozley
- Patrick Dayrell
- Catherine Lewis
Could Charles Ernest Mozley have been Walter Harrison Mozley’s brother?
Perhaps Patrick Dayrell was a cousin? a brother of Catherine’s? Possibly Dayrell was Catherine’s maiden name? Currently, these are unknowns.
It is known from memories of family members that Maude Mozley had at least two sisters, Dollie (Dorothy) and Leigh (Edith), and perhaps another sister named Mary.
The marriage of Walter Harrison Mozley and Maude Lewis took place on April 24, 1897, at Walthamstow, Essex, England, and 10 months later, Stella Maude Mozley was born on February 17, 1898.
