chambers family from small heath area

[johnny chambers]

hi i have just joined so im not sure what to do ,i was born in a house in 1961,4 back 23 ,tilton road ,small heath, from what my mum said it was a shared property ,and you could see the football ground from the attic window, my farther was called anthony roy chambers ,he was born in a workhouse in brum in the 1920s, he was not a nice person ,my mum came from the isle of man to find work in the 50s ,she worked in the co op and woolies ,and in the b s a factory , they married in the late 50s i was the 4th child and last one born in birmingham ,they had a further 5 in the isle of man, we were told that we had a half brother born in the mid 50s ? as i said he was not a nice person and mum divorced him in the 1970s ,my mum passed away 5 years ago and because she did not tell us much about the chambers side of the family it has been a bit of a void that i would like to find out more about now that the questions cant upset her, please if any one has any information on the chambers family from the small heath area ,(there could be a connection to chamberlain ),i would like to find out why my farther turned out the way he did ,may be the work house up bringing has some thing to do with it ? i would be greatfull for any info any one may have ,thanks for reading ,johnny.

 

[MWS]

Are you certain he was born in Bham? There is no birth registraton.

Reason being there is a Anthony R Chambers living at 86 Byron Road (Small Heath) in 1957 with a Robert F and an Ann A Chambers.

Robert Francis Chambers was born 1899 in Hereford and married Ann Alice Jones in 1925 in Bham. There were no Chambers/Jones registered.

However there is a birth registration for an Anthony R Chambers Dec qtr 1926 in Hereford, mmn is also listed Chambers on freeBMD. On freeBMD this can mean illegitmate, so maybe a son of a sister of Robert.

There is a death registration for an Anthony Roy Chambers in Hereford 2007, birth year listed as 1926.

 

[MWS]

There is also a marriage listed for a Anthony R Chambers 1951 Bham to a Patricia Booth and there appears to be one son, Christopher J, registered Dec 1951 Bham.

 

[johnny chambers]

hi master brummie ,wow thank you very much for the info , i have found out more now than i have in the last 50 odd years ! you are probably right with the hereford connection ,i do remember hearing my mother mentioning hereford, and talking about an uncle bob and aunt ann, as a family we had heard he had died but did not know where or when ,thank you , the other son we had sort of heard of but were never really sure because we were also told his name was christopher ! and that is the name of our eldest brother ! so it must have been true after all , do you know how i can find out any more info on his early life ,and his death, resting place etc ? as i have said he was not a nice person ,a drunkard ,wife child beater, thief , but he must have had some good points at some stage in his life ,so something must have turned him into a monster ?,i cant thank you enough for the help you have given already, thank you kind regards johnny.

 

[MWS]

Robert Francis Chambers had 3 sisters - Beatrice Mary Maud, Lilian Emily & Hilda Annie - and on the 1939 register Hilda is listed as being in the Public Assistance Institute in Hereford which could mean she is the most likely as Anthony's mother. You could obtain his birth certificate to confirm.

There are a number of other Chambers/Chambers children registered in Hereford. How many of them are significant I don't know, though the eldest - Monica, registered 1925 - is likely to be a sister or a cousin because she is with her grandmother in 1939.

You mentioned Chamberlain in your original post and one of Robert's brothers - Albert Charles Victor - married a Lilian Chamberlain.

 

[MWS]

It wouldn't be easy to work out what his early life would have been like from what records are available. There might be records for the home/institution available if that's where he was born. He might have fought in the second world war, probably just old enough.

For how he died again you could obtain the certificate but not sure how you'd find Hereford burials or cremations.

His grandfather was Thomas Leonard Barrow Chambers b1874 in Oakengates, Shropshire to Herefordshire parents. In 1911 he's listed as a house painter.

 

[johnny chambers]

very interesting thanks , i will speak to my brothers and see what info they have and try and put all the info together and see what else we can find out cheers for your help kind regards johnny.

 

[MWS]

Doubting whether it was Hilda who was Monica & Anthony's mother, she would have been very young 15/16.

Lilian Emily didn't marry until 1928, so it could have been her and Hilda the mother of the later Chambers/Chambers children if indeed they were illegitimate.

Lilian married a Walter B Davies and moved to Leicester. Had other children.

Hilda also moved to Leicester and married a Rowland A Timpson. Had other children.

Not sure what happened to Beatrice Mary Maud.

A brother of Hilda, George Percival, was also in the Public Assistance Institute in 1939.

 

[johnny chambers]

good morning, the plot thickens,all the info you have passed on to me is new and really interesting its quite a story building , its a pity that the covid -19 situation is on going because i am unable to travel about off the island yet, you are right about him being in ww2 ,he served in the R N, we know this because our oldest brother who was in the R N married a girl from kent who's dad was also in the R N during ww2 told him he remembers our farther because he was always getting into trouble for being awol ,drunk ,and fighting ,small world ,so do you know how many aunts and uncles he had ? thank you for all your help so far its been a real eye opener for me thank you kind regards johnny.

 

[MWS]

Thomas Leonard Chambers married Ellen Jane Jones 1896 Hereford & had 10 children...

Albert Charles Victor 1897 - 1956 Hereford (2 sons and 1 daughter)
Robert Francis 1899 - 1980 Derby (no children)
Beatrice Mary 1901 - possibly emigated to Australia
George Percival 1902 - 1943 Weobley (unmarried)
Lilian Emily 1905 - 1999 Leicester (3 sons, 3 daughters ?)
Hilda Annie 1909 - 1961 Leicester (2 sons, 2 daughters)
Thomas Leonard 1910 - 2000 Leeds (1 son, 3 daughters)
Sydney William 1913 - 2002 Hereford (2 sons, 3 daughters)
Leslie Burrow 1914 - 1944 WWII Burma (The King's Regiment Liverpool) (no children)
Cyril Edward 1918 - 1918

Children above are registered after respective marriages and are an educated guess, some are more certain that others, especially Lilian's (Walter B Davies).

There are also 8 Chambers/Chambers children registered in Hereford that could be illegitmate children of Beatrice, Lilian or Hilda.

Thomas' wife was Kathleen Chamberlain possibly a sister of Albert's wife.

 

[johnny chambers]

wow ! amazing i cant believe how much info you have found out in such a short space of time, when i first started on this voyage i did not think it would lead to anything ,how wrong i was , i really cant thank you enough, the chambers family that i come from over here was quite big and expanding all the time, well over 50 direct descendants from A R chambers, and sad to think that he never got to see any of his grandchildren or great grandchildren because of the way he was,thank you once again .

 

[paulinehorton]

Tilton Road Small Heath. As a Bluenose of some 66 years, I thought I knew most of Small Heath, but, I attach a map showing Tilton Road and circled in red, a Church in the location of what I thought was Williams drop forgers !
can anyone shed any light on this church ?
Thank you.

 

[MWS]

Only in 1937 is it listed as a Church, prior to that it is listed as a Hall and in 1950 as a Club.

There appears to be a mention in a 1955 Bham Daily Post of 'the Tilton Road Unionist Hall'.

 

[paulinehorton]

Only in 1937 is it listed as a Church, prior to that it is listed as a Hall and in 1950 as a Club.

There appears to be a mention in a 1955 Bham Daily Post of 'the Tilton Road Unionist Hall'.

Thank you MWS, you learn something every day.