Arthur Cornelius WEST (1865-1948) and Anne Eliza DEVONSHIRE (1864-1931) - Warren and Ford Family History

Born      1864, July in Hendon, Middlesex, UKL

Father    Jesse Vine

Mother   Eliza Devonshire

Death     1931, October 18 at 53 Broad Street, in Clifton, Bedfordshire, UK

2.  Harriet Ada West (1887 - 1958)

3.  Sarah Jane West  (1893 - 1941)

4.  Emily West (1896 - 1976)

5. Clara May West  (1898 - 1980)

1866 - Birth

 Arthur Cornelius West or Cornelius Arthur West, as he was variously called was the 14th child born to William West and Lucretia, nee Webb.  

He was born in Clifton in Bedfordshire and rarely, if ever, left Bedfordshire.  The population in Clifton at this time was about 1,500 people.

The West family was a large, extended family, with cousins and uncles and aunties and grandparents, mostly centred around Clifton.  Happily for this family history researcher, many generations of the West family remained in the area making the record searching so much easier.

Clifton School

The All Saints Parochial School was built in 1859.  It accommodated 201 children from Clifton and 64 infants from Clifton Fields.  The master, William Edwin Hall taught the 60 to 90 children reading, writing and arithmetic.  Latin and geometry as well as more practical subjects were taught, the School Logbook for 1863 noting : "Took the first class out for a practical lesson in land measuring."

 

L : All Saints Parochial School, Clifton           R : An All Saints' School Class about 1890

At this time, fees were one penny a week for under-fives and two pence for those over that age.  Children had to provide their own equipment, the master noting that one of his pupils - "will not be allowed to attend the school after the present week except he be provided with a slate and a long pencil."

Hall had a ferocious reputation and was renowned for applying the birch with regularity.  Children not only had to worry about their master, diseases such as blister pox, scarlet fever and smallpox were a danger to life.

Hall was replaced in 1866 by Henry Gration who remained under 1883 and was, by contrast, a kindly man and attendance numbers quickly rose to well over one hundred.  Arthur Cornelius and his siblings would have attended during these years.

1871 - Census - Morgan's Cottages, Clifton, Bedfordshire

 The Census of 1871 showed Arther Cornelius, aged 5 years, living at home with his parents and siblings in Morgan's Cottages, Clifton.  Also listed were two grandchildren.

 William West              53 years     married      Head       Agricultural Labourer     BP Clifton, Bed'shire

 Lucretia West             50 years     married      Wife        Straw Plaiter                  Elsley, Cambr'shire

 Eliza West                  22 years     unmar        Dau         Straw Plaiter                        "    "

 Henry West                16 years                       Son          Agricultural Labourer          "    "

 Bertha West               13 years                       Dau         Straw Plaiter                        "    "

 William West              11 years                       Son          Agricultural Labourer            "    "

 Frederick West            9 years                       Son          Scholar                                  "    "

 Arthur West                 5 years                       Son          Scholar                                 "    "

 Mary Ann West          12 years                      G.Dau      Straw Plaiter                        "    "

Lizzie I                         5 years                      G.Dau      Scholar                                 "    "

 William West        63 years     married     Head    Agricultural Labourer       Clifton, Bedfordshire

 Lucretia West      60 years     married     Wife      Straw Plaiter                       Elsley, Cambr'shire

 Cornelius West   15 years      unmar       Son       Agricultural Labourer        Clifton, Bedfordshire

 Elizabeth Jane West  15 years               G.Dau     Straw Plaiter                       "    "

Clifton

Clifton in Arthur Cornelius' time before his marriage is a small village in the county of Bedfordshire.  The first recorded reference to Clifton is in the year 944 when it was referred to as "Clliftune."  Clifton was also mentioned in the Domesday Book.

There was also a small factory producing bottled drinks - Harwoods Mineral Waters Factory, which operated from 1880 until 1947.  Harwoods produced Hops Bitters, Cherry Cider, Stone Ginger Beer, Lime Juice and Soda, and Ginger Ale and sold these products to the pubs and shops of all the surrounding villages.

Straw Plaiting

Clifton today is largely residential, but in the past it was a centre for straw plaiting.  The original All Saints school was a Straw Plait School where children were expected to learn to straw plait from as young as 4 years of age.  They would also be taught to read.

Straw plaiting is a method of manufacturing textiles by braiding straw.  Straw can be plaited for a number of purposes including thatching for roofs, to create a paper-making material, for ornamenting small surfaces as a "straw mosaic", for plaiting door and table mats, mattresses and for weaving and plaiting into light baskets and to create artificial flowers.  Straw is also plaited to produce bonnets and hats.

The plaiting of straw in the county of Bedfordshire and surrounding counties formerly gave employment to many thousands of women and young children, but this had largely ended by the beginning of the 20th century.  The number of English plaiters was not more than a few hundreds in 1907 as compared with 30,000 in 1871.

The straw of certain varieties of wheat cultivated in the region of Bedfordshire, is in favourable seasons, possessed of a fine bright colour and tenacity and strength.  The straw is cut as in ordinary harvesting but is allowed to dry in the sun before binding.  Subsequently, straws are selected from the sheaves and of these the pipes of the two upper joints are taken for plaiting.  The pipes are assorted into sizes by passing them through graduated openings in a grilled wire frame, and those of good colour are bleached by the fumes of sulphur.

Spotted and discoloured straws are dyed either in pipe or in plait.  The plaiters work up the material in a damp state, either into whole straw or split straw plaits.  Split straws are prepared with the aid of a small instrument having a projecting point which enters the straw pipe from which radiate the number of knife-edged cutters into which the straw is to be split.  The straws were put through a small mangle to flatten them.  They were then braided to produce a woven strip which was sold onto the makers of hats, baskets and other wares.

The plaiting was carried out by women and children who were taught the skills in plait schools.  At its peak in the 19th century a woman could earn more by plaiting than a man could earn on the land.  There was concern that the industry led to dissolution and idleness in the menfolk.

The English industry was eventually killed by free trade from 1860 which allowed cheap imports of plait from Italy and later China and Japan.

Annie Eliza Devonshire's Early Life

1864 - Birth

Anne Eliza Devonshire was the daughter of Eliza Devonshire, born out of wedlock when her mother was about 25 years old.

1865, December - Marriage of Mother, Eliza

The following year in 1865, her mother married Jesse Vine who was possibly our Annie Eliza's father, although Annie Eliza kept the surname of Devonshire and did not take Jesse Vine's name after her mother's marriage.

1867, September - Birth of Brother

Eliza gave birth to a son - Alfred Vine - born in 1867.

1871, April  - Census - 52 Main Road, Henlow

On the night of April 2, 1871 when the census was taken, Anne E. Devonshire, the 8 year old daughter of Eliza Vine was living at 52 Main Road, Henlow with her mother Eliza, a straw plaiter, and her 4 year old brother, Alfred Vine.   

Jesse Vine was not at home on this night - he was visiting his younger brother, William and his wife Jane Vine at Cudworth in Yorkshire.

In the house across the street from Eliza Vine and her two children at 51 Main Road, lived Jesse Vine's parents - William Vine, aged 60 and his wife, Mary A. Vine, age 54.  William was an agricultural labourer and Mary was a straw plaiter.  Two of their children, Charles, 16 and Fanny, 14 were also home that night.

1871, May - Death of Jesse Vine

Jesse Vine was working on the railways when he was killed, aged 32 years on May 8, 1871 in Cudworth.  He had been working as a labourer on the railways had had been digging holes for semaphore poles during the day.  At knock off time, he and other workers had walked along the lines when they were notified by waving hands that a train was coming.  Other workers leapt out of the way but into the path of another train coming from the opposite direction.  They then dodged out of the way of the second train.

Jesse however, new at the job, at first warning leapt the wrong way, then back again, right into the path of the first oncoming train.  His body was flung into the path of the second oncoming train, leaving him instantly dead with serious head injuries.

This left Eliza Vine nee Devonshire and her two small children a widow.

1878 - Remarriage of Mother

Annie Eliza's mother, remarried on November 23, 1878 to Henry Wright at Henlow.  Consequently, Eliza, nee Devonshire, aka Eliza Vine, now became known as Eliza Wright and step-mother to several of Henry Wrights' children, who appear in the 1881 census, as well as Alfred Vine from her previous marriage to Jesse Vine.  More in the notes for Eliza Devonshire.

1881 - Census

Perhaps our Annie Eliza was an embarrassment to her mother or perhaps her new husband didn't want to take responsibility for two additional children, one of whom (Annie Eliza) was base born, when he already had several children of his own.

So, our Annie Eliza, aged 17 years was sent to live at the school house in Clifton where she worked as a domestic servant in the household of Henry Gration.  

1883 - Marriage

Annie Eliza Devonshire married Cornelius Arthur West in the All Saints Church in Clifton in the Spring on April 7, 1883.  Cornelius was 18 years old and his bride was 20 years old.

The newly-wed couple settled down to married life in Clifton where all their children were born.

Arthur Cornelius West and Annie Eliza Devonshire - Their Life Together

1883, April - Marriage

On April 7, in 1883, at the age of 18 years, Cornelius took Annie, aged 20, as his wife.  Neither had been married previously.  Cornelius gave his occupation as Labourer, residing in Clifton and his father as William West, also a labourer.

Annie also lived in Clifton, but did not provide the name of her father.  Neither was there a clue to Eliza’s parentage with the names of the witnesses to their marriage – William and Eliza Roberts.

The West Family Church in Clifton, Bedfordeshire

1891 - Census - 65 Admiral Square, Clifton

 By the census night of 1891, Arthur and Annie had two children.  They were living at 67 Admiral Square in Clifton, Arthur, 25 years old working ass an agricultural labourer.

 

 Arthur C West     25 years    married    head    Agricultural Labourer    BP Clifton

 Annie E West      27 years    married    wife

 Alfred J. West       7 years                     son    Scholar

 Harriet West         3 years                     dau

 Arthur West       35 years      married   head     Labourer Brickyards        BP Clifton    

 Annie West        37 years     married    wife                                              BP Clifton              

Arthur J West     17 years      single      son      Labourer General Farm   BP Clifton

Harriett West      13 years     single      dau                                               BPClifton

Sarah West          8 years     single      dau                                               BP Clifton

Emily West          4 years      single      dau                                              BP Clifton

Clara M West      2 years      single      dau                                              BP Clifton

 Arthur West       45 years     married    head    Permanently Injured,Formerly Labourer Brickyards   BP Clifton    

 Annie West       48 years     married    wife                                                                                          BP Henlow              

 Arthur J West    27 years     single      son      Bricklayer's Labourer                                                    BP Clifton

 Clara M West   12 years                    dau       Scholar                                                                         BP Clifton

 Alfred John West, 28 years old, bachelor, labourer of Henlow Road, Clifton,

Father Arthur Cornelius West, labourer,

Married Mary Gertrude Tindall, 35 years old, spinster, 71 Denmark Street, Harrogate,

Father John Tindall (deceased), carver and gilder.

Witnesses included Alfred's sister, Harriet Ada West.

1914, November - Marriage of Daughter, Sarah Jane West

Sarah Jane married George Dixie Ford on November 14, 1914 in the Registry Office in Edmonton.

1918, September - Marriage of Daughter, Harriet Ada West

Harriet married on September 15 in 1918 at Palmers Green, St. John the Evangelist Church in Enfield.  Her husband was Oswald Terry, a police constable.  He was 28 years old and his father was Henry Terry (deceased).  

Harriet's father, Arthur Cornelius signed the marriage register as one of the witnesses to the marriage.

1919 - Marriage of Daughter, Emily E. West

 Emily married Charles Frederick Black in 1919 in Biggleswade.

1931, October - Death of Annie Eliza West, nee Devonshire

Annie Eliza West, nee Devonshire, died on 18th October, 1931 at home at 53 Broad Street, Clifton. Her son, Alfred J. West was present at her death and was the informant. His address at the time was 31 Clifton Road, Henlow.

Annie Eliza died from cardiac failure. Also listed was chronic cardiac disease with oedema of legs and mitral regurgitation.

1938, November - Letter from Arthur Cornelius West

 This letter was written from 53 Broad Street, Clifton and was dated November 19, 1938.   The letter was addressed to Mr. Robert Warren, 266 Queens Parade, North Fitzroy, Melbourne.  Robert Warren was the husband to Rene Ford, (Muriel Irene Ford), daughter to Sarah Jane Ford, nee West and therefore grand-daughter to Arthur.  It reads -

My Dear Grandson and Grand-daughter,

 I have great pleasure in writing to you.  I am so glad that (you) don't forget me.  It would be so nice if we were able to meet again to see you, but as we cannot, I have your photo to look at.

 Thank you so much for the snaps and also for the photo I have received o the 28th.

Now Dear Irene, I wish you all the Happyness that your Husband and you can have and good health and may you live many years to enjoy it.

 I am very glad to tell you that I am quite well and happy.

 Dear Irene, I dare say you will have heard that your Aunt Eliza is dead.  I have wrote to your mother and told her, also Clara, so you may have heard.

 Now I must tell you that I have taken your letter down to Emily's and let them read it so that Irene could see it and read it if she likes.  They are all quite well and they send their love to you both and they said you look very nice in your photo and as your mother sent two I shall give her  one of them but I shall keep you and Robert as I am sure it would be your wish.

 Dear Irene I am so pleased to hear that your mother was much better and that she was able to come to see you both.  I no doubt that when she sees her grand-child it (will) cheer her up.

 You know, Irene, I love children.  I love Irene's.  She (has) a dear little girl.

 Dear Irene, you say that your husband was a motor driver.  That is what most people have to to do and some of them are going to London every night to take vegetables for the market.

 Now I might say that Violet is quite well and she goes out to do day work.

 Dear Irene, if you please will you next time write your address a little plainer as I am not sure of it.

 Do forgive me.  This is all for now, so I will close with my very best Love to you and Robert.

 From Grandad, A. West.   

 Arthur West      65 years     widower head Labourer Brickyards Retired   BP Clifton    

1948        DEATHS on the Sub-District of BIGGLESWADE in the County of BEDFORD

No -                                          97

When  and Where Died -         Sixth October, 1948 97 Broad Street, Clifton

Name and Surname -              Cornelius Arthur WEST

Sex -                                         Male

Age -                                         83 years

Rank or Profession -                 Formerly a General Labourer

Cause of Death -                      Carcinoma of Rectum.  Certified by N.W. Irish

Signature, Description

 & Residence of Informant -     Emily C. Black, Daughter, 97 Broad Street, Clifton

When Registered -                    Eighth October, 1948

  In loving memory of Annie Eliza West died October 18, 1931 aged 68 years

     Safe in the arms of Jesus,

     Safe on his gentle breast,

     There by the love o'er-shaded,

     Sweetly my soul shall rest.

   Also Cornelius A. West died October 6, 1948 aged 83 years

     Home at last.