Algenon Percy FORD (1884-1926)
Family Stories > 4th GENERATION > Joseph S. Ford's Family
2. Algenon Percy Ford - 1884 - 1926
Spouse : Ethel May Wyatt - 1887 - 1975
1. Nola Irene Warren
2. .... Iris Ella Ford & George Ernest Edward Warren
3. .... .... George Dixie Ford & Sarah Jane West
4. .... .... .... Joseph Samuel Ford and Marianette Kingham
... Children 1. Wallace Ford & Elizabeth Rose Warman
2. Algernon Percy Ford & Ethel May Wyatt
3. George Dixie Ford4. Rose Ellen (or Rose Helen) Ford5. Stanley James Ford6. Ella Ford7. Hilda Gladys Ford8. Herbert Cyril Ford9. Aubrey Reginald Ford
Algernon Percy Ford (about 1903)
Algernon & Ethel Ford (date unknown)
ALGERNON PERCY FORD Birth January 29, 1884 - Luton, Bedfordshire, UK Baptism January 19, 1890 – Birmingham, Warwickshire, UK Marriage June, 1909 - Edmonton, Middlesex, UK Spouse ETHEL MAY WYATT Death May 9, 1926 at Heatherton Sanitorium, Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia Cause of Death Phthisis Pulmonalis (Tuberculosis) & Asthma Age at Death 42 years Burial May 10, 1926 at St. Kilda Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Emigration 1920, June 17 Departed London, England on “Beltana” of P & O Line for Sydney, Australia Occupations 1901 Meat Packer Brass Finisher Residences 1890 - Back 92 Town Street, Birmingham, UK 1891 - 10 Henry Street, Luton, Middlesex, UK 1911 - 159A Gladstone Avenue, Noel Park, Wood Green, Middlesex, UK 1923 - 76 Andrew Street, Prahran, Victoria, Australia |
ETHEL MAY WYATT Birth 1887 - Edmonton, Middlesex, UK Father JOSEPH WYATT - GREEN GROCER (c1835 - 1891) Mother KATE EMILY TAYLOR 1895, Kate Emily Taylor, nee Taylor remarried to George William Bulley in Edmonton, Middlesex Paternal Grandfather THOMAS WYATT - FARMER Maternal Grandfather JOSEPH TAYLOR - INSPECTOR OF POLICE Marriage #1 June, 1909 - Edmonton, Middlesex, UK Spouse #2 ALGENON PERCY FORD Marriage #2 Spouse #2 ALBERT COOMBS Death December 31, 1975 – “Karana”, 55 Walpole Street, Kew, Victoria, Australia Age at Death 88 years Cremation Albury Crematorium, Albury, NSW, Australia Siblings 1. JOSEPH S. WYATT (1868 - ) 2. GEORGE H. WYATT (1869 - ) 3. HARRIET C. WYATT (1889 - ) |
ALGERNON PERCY FORD – EARLY YEARS
Much of Algernon Percy Ford’s early years have been documented in his parent’s story – Joseph Samuel Ford and Marianette Kingham. Therefore, suffice to touch on the basics only here –
1884 – Birth
Algernon was the second born child in Joseph Samuel Ford and Marianette Kingham’s family, after his brother Wallace Ford. Algernon was born on January 29, 1884, in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Name: Algernon Percy FordRegistration Year: 1885Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-MarRegistration district: LutonInferred County: BedfordshireVolume: 3bPage: 470Source: FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Whilst the Ford family lived in Luton, Bedfordshire, the children, Wallace, and Algernon Percy were joined by George Dixie Ford in 1886 and Rose Helen Ford in 1888. Then Joseph Samuel Ford took his family back to his birthplace, Birmingham in Warwickshire.
1890 – Baptism
Whilst in Birmingham, all four of the Ford children – Wallace, Algernon Percy, George Dixie and Rose Helen - were baptised at St. George’s Church.
Baptism Register - Ford Family, Birmingham, Warwickshire
1891 – 1901
Sometime after the family baptisms of 1890, the Ford family made their way back to Luton, Bedfordshire where they lived until about 1895. The census of 1891 showed Joseph Samuel Ford, aged 31, working as a Brass Finisher, living with his wife, Marianette aged 32 and children, Wallace 8 years, Algernon Percy, 6 years, George Dixie, 4 years, Rose Elizabeth, 2 years and baby Stanley James, 2 months at 10 Henry Street, in Luton, Bedfordshire.
During this period, three more siblings were born – Stanley James in 1891, Ella in 1893 and Hilda Gladys in 1895. During this time, one sister, Rose Hellen, aged 3 years, died from measles in 1892 in Luton and another, Hilda Gladys, in January,1897 at 1 year old in Edmonton, Middlesex.
Sometime around 1897, the family moved to 197 Gladstone Avenue in Noel Park, Middlesex. There followed the birth of more children – Herbert Cyril in 1897 and Aubrey Reginald in 1899, who died shortly after birth.
Algernon Percy Ford’s parents, Samuel Joseph Ford and Marianette, nee Kingham had produced nine children with the loss of three babies, so the household with six children must have been busy and hectic.
At age eighteen years, Wallace Ford was working as a Machinist / Printer.
ETHEL MAY WYATT – EARLY YEARS
1816 – Marriage of Parents
Ethel’s parents, Joseph Wyatt, 49 years, a widower and Kate Emily Taylor, 30 years, a spinster, married on July 3, 1816. Joseph was a Green-grocer and Kate’s father was a Police Inspector.
1816 – Marriage Registration – Kate Emily Taylor and Joseph Wyatt - Hornsey, Middlesex
ALGENON PERCY FORD & ETHEL MAY WYATT – THEIR STORY
1909 - Marriage
Name: Ethel May WyattRegistration Year: 1909Registration Quarter: Apr-May-JunRegistration district: EdmontonInferred County: MiddlesexVolume: 3aPage: 1095Name: Algenon Percy FordEthel May WyattSource: England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 ancestry.com
1909 Marriage Registration - Algenon Percy Ford and Ethel May Wyatt, Edmonton, Middlesex
1911 – Census
Algenon Percy Ford was living with his wife, Ethel May Ford, his mother-in-law, Kate Bulley and his sister-in-law, Vera Kathleen Bulley at 159 Gladstone Avenue, Wood Green. Algernon was 26 years old and working as a brass polisher at a brass foundry. Ethel May was 23 years old and a housewife. Ethel’s mother, Kate Emily Bulley, was 54 years old, a widow and working as a Ladies’ Attendant at a Café. And Vera Kathleen Bulley, just 12 years old, was still at school.
1911 – Census – Algenon Percy Ford – Wood Green
1920 – Australia
Algenon Percy Ford had no relatives in Australia, so what prompted him and his wife to make the drastic journey to the other side of the world to re-start their lives?
Before World War One, Britain was the world’s economic superpower. With rapid growth and a vast empire, the country enjoyed significant levels of wealth and resources. But it wasn’t ready for the economic impact that war would have.
When war erupted in the summer of 1914, Britain faced market panic and a massive financial crisis. Government had to steady markets and prepare itself for the huge economic demands of total war.
There were three main means to achieve this – 1) increase taxes; 2) borrow money from international sources as well as from the British public (war bonds); and 3) print money,risking inflation.
Although Britain was ultimately victorious, the effects of war would be felt for many years to come. Foreign trade, a key part of the British economy, had been badly damaged by the war. Countries cut off from the supply of British goods had been forced to build up their own industries so were no longer reliant on Britain, instead directly competing with her. In 1920/21, Britain would experience the deepest recession in its history.
It is likely that Algenon Percy Ford became unemployed just after the end of WW1 and may have seen the ‘writing on the wall’ predicting the recession to come. In any case, he and his wife made the very brave decision to risk all and head for Australia to start a new life.
On June 17, 1920, they boarded the P & O Line ship “Beltana” at the dock in London and sailed from England bound for Sydney, Australia.
On arrival in Sydney, Australia they travelled to Melbourne where Algenon and Ethel Ford, rented a house at 76 Andrew Street, Prahran. The photo shows the house as it is in 2019, quite a bit different to what it must have looked like in Algenon’s time. He would have been shocked to discover the house he lived in is now worth well over one million dollars.
76 Andrew Street, Prahran, Melbourne
Whilst in Australia, Algenon worked as a brass polisher.
1923 - Assisted George Ford & family to Australia
Life in Australia for Algenon and Ethel Ford seemed pretty good. In fact, so good that Algenon convinced his brother, my grandfather, George Dixie Ford and his family to also make the trip to Australia.
But unfortunately for both brothers, Australia was about to experience a severe recession.
Life was very hard for them in those years, and neither could afford to own a house – they rented and found jobs as best they could.
1926 - Heatherton Sanitorium, Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia
Algenon Percy Ford succumbed to the metal industry disease, tuberculosis, at the Heatherton Sanitorium in Cheltenham on May 9, 1926, leaving his wife Ethel May Ford. They had no children.
1926 - Death Certificate for Algenon Percy Ford
Memorial Card for Algenon Percy Ford
1927 – Re-Marriage of Ethel May Ford
Name: Ethel May FordGender: FemaleMarriage Registration Year: 1927Marriage Registration Place: Victoria, AustraliaSpouse: Albt Wm CoombsReference Number: 10464Source: Victoria, Australia, Marriage Index, 1837-1950 www.ancestry.com
Algernon’s widow, Ethel May Ford remarried the following year to Albert William Coombs.
1975 – Death of Ethel May Coombs
Ethel lived in Ivanhoe, Melbourne and then in Kew with her husband until her death in 1975 on December 31.
She was cremated at the Albury Crematorium in Albury, NSW.