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David Trevor - Help

The Mr & Mrs Jones mentioned in the guest list are David, the bride's father's sister and brother in law - the landlords of the Garrison Tavern, Birmingham.
 
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Many thanks for the additional information - I shall take a closer look.

Some notable absences from the list of present-buying guests at Edith's wedding. David's oldest child (from first marriage to Jane) Phoebe (aka Ellen) Oakes and husband Samuel, and his only son Harry Trevor (from second marriage to Elizabeth) and wife Helen, who lived in Ashby at the time. Possible tension within the family regarding David's rapid third marriage to Mary Jane? Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but there is evidence of a family bond between step-siblings Phoebe and Harry. When Harry joined the army in 1884 aged 20 he cited David and Phoebe as his next of kin, but not his step-mother Mary Jane, with whom he'd lived since he was 5.

Since posting the photo in #54 I've noticed that the older and younger pairs of daughters each appear to be wearing identical clothing. I don't know if that's significant.
 
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Regarding the spectacular wedding of David's daughter Edith (shown in the family photo and reported in the newspaper both above), she is the one who I had discovered had initially gone on the stage as her father's assistant and had a promising stage career having got good reviews, then had become side-tracked when she had fallen for and married a musician.

EDITH ISOBEL TREVOR, b. 25 Feb 1879, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire; m. JAMES EDWARD (EDWARD) FEARNS, 1903, Ashby de la Zouch; he was b. 16 Apr 1876, Ashworth, Derbyshire.

James Edward (known as Edward) Fearns is shown eight years later on the 1911 census as living at Burton Road, Ashby de la Zouch. He is still a musician, they have no children, it is a 6 room house and his wife is away that night visiting her parents.

Edward had grown up with just his mother and his siblings. She ran a grocer's shop as well as bringing up her children on her own as her husband had (presumably unexpectedly) walked out and left her when Edward was 15. She was so incensed that she asked for that to be recorded (for posterity) on the census return. This type of comment is most unorthodox.
 
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In 1864, David is looking to hire what appears to be a location scout. See second column right of Domestic Servants Wanted.
 

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In 1902, a strange thing happened when David was performing his Punch and Judy show. It made the newspapers. See the fourth full column.
 

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David was a member of a secret society called The Odd Fellows. It it still in existence today.


Here is a reference to a dinner he attended in 1876. Column 3 half way down.
 

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Thank you again. David's son Harry joined the RAOB around the outbreak of WW1, shortly before David passed away, so I was curious about whether or not fraternal lodges were a family tradition. It's a good job Jim Mace saw the funny side of the 1902 Punch and Judy show, given his distinguished background in boxing!

The earliest newspaper references I have so far found to David are from 14 & 21 Feb 1852 in S Wales when he performed a 'Bloomer Concert' alongside a 'Miss J Barnum, of New York'. One has to wonder if a bit of artistic license and mimicry are being applied here, as his he married his first wife Jane (of Warwickshire, not New York) that same year. Could 'J Barnum' be a stage name?

Monmouthshire Beacon 14 Feb 1852 Trevori.jpg

Crickhowell 14 Feb 1852 Bloomer concert.jpg

Interestingly, the 'Swedish Nightingale', who's songs were sung by a local artiste on the following evening (according to the second article), was Jenny Lind, who's successful 1850-52 American tour was promoted by none other than P T Barnum. This is why I find the 'J Barnum' name a little more than coincidental during a period known for its 'Lind Mania'.

David would have been around 24-25 then, so allowing for time spent at the Polytechnic Institute and learning his instrument making trade abroad, I imagine this was quite early in his stage career. It's interesting to note that he is referred to as Signor De Trevori which may have been an early version of his stage name (and a curious mixture of French and Italian). Either that or a local news reporter getting the name wrong, as they often do.
 
Here is another obituary for David in The Era newspaper. This national newspaper ran from 1838 to 1939. It started off being aimed at licenced victuallers but with different ownership and as time went by it broadened its scope to include the entertainment industry which eventually became its main specialism. It may have been similar to Variety or The Stage newspapers today. It was considered to be the actors' Bible and it was the done thing for theatricals to walk about with it tucked under their arm.
 

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I have found a photograph on a family history web site which I believe is of David Trevor although it was credited with someone else's name. He looks quite elderly. I would be intrigued to know the significance of what he is holding. Maybe MSB can throw some light on this?
 

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I have found a photograph on a family history web site which I believe is of David Trevor although it was credited with someone else's name. He looks quite elderly. I would be intrigued to know the significance of what he is holding. Maybe MSB can throw some light on this?
It is definitely David Trevor. He's holding a copy of The Great War magazine. I have a copy of an almost identical shot taken at the same sitting, but being a photo of a photo the magazine title is indistinct. There is also a third photo from the sitting with David, son Harry and oldest grandson Sydney - three generations of Trevors. Best guess is the magazine is included to date the photo to some time between late 1914 and his death in 1916, almost as proof that he'd made it that far - maybe a photo intended for future generations? The magazine's cover features a Dreadnought in the design, and the cover design changed at a later stage of the war to a more sober one. I have been through photos of every job lot I can find that's been sold on eBay trying to identify the specific cover to put a date on the photo, and so far no luck. Many of the magazines featured senior officers on the cover so distinguishing one WW1 general from another isn't easy! I don't know if David took the photo himself or if son Harry took it, or if it was at a third party studio - both were professional photographers during their lives. David would be into his late 80s by this time and living back in Birmingham, so I'm not sure if he'd still be up to a trip to Harry's home in Ashby.
 
Tomorrow I will try and get to the big pile of Great War magazines which are at the back of all the stuff in my spare room (left by my grandfather), and see if I can find the image.
 
Good luck with that, Mike. I found the rather small images of 107 issues but couldn't find a good match with any of them. Not a lot of detail in the image of the one on David Trevor's lap. At least no hat to worry about.

Maurice :cool:
Photo David Trevor.jpg
 
From the same family history web site, here is a photo of David's eldest surviving child, Phoebe Ellen Trevor via his first wife Jane Holtom (assuming the attribution is correct. She resembles David to my mind). Born 1853 reg. Evesham - died 1921 Birmingham. She married and had six children.

Considering David was a photographer and so was his son, it seems a shame that the only photographs of him seem to have been taken later on in his life. I don't know when he first added photography to his extensive CV.
 

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I think I have found the issue of the Great War in the photograph. I tried enhancing the image in post 69 and show it below compared to the the cover. It is issue no 54 dated 28th aug 1915, and the photo is General sir Archibald Hunter, Commander of then third army. The issue is mainly concerned with "Germany in the First Year of the War" and is full of mention of "The Hun","German lairs" and similar very pejorative terms. Very interesting photos. I think, if I can find time, will have to have a good look at all 282 of them. Have not looked at all at them for over 30 years, and then only volume one (which are the only ones bound)

Photo David TrevorA.jpgGreat War cover part 54.Aug 28th 1915.jpg
 
Good work, Mike. That was not amongst the 107 images I found online.

They were obviously produced in large numbers as they seem to appear regularly on eBay and other sites, and one seller on eBay sold 9 of them for as little as £3.50 the lot. The postage probably cost more! So you're obviously not sitting on a fortune, but it must be a nice graphic collection.

Maurice :cool:
 
Maurice. I was a bit fearful that I would go through the lot and not find it because it was one of the ones in volume one, where the covers were not bound with the rest
 
Thank you Mike, that is an amazing piece of detective work and quite unexpected. It just goes to show, if we keep things in our archives, they may well come in useful one day.
 
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I think I have found the issue of the Great War in the photograph. I tried enhancing the image in post 69 and show it below compared to the the cover. It is issue no 54 dated 28th aug 1915, and the photo is General sir Archibald Hunter, Commander of then third army.

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Brilliant work there @mikejee - many thanks for taking time on that.

28th August 1915, the date on the magazine, was also David Trevor's 87th birthday, so it's quite possible that the photo session was a celebratory occasion, hence the three generations picture taken at the same time (ie "C'mon Sid, let's get one with your old Grandad while he's still with us"). He made it to 88, then passed away at the end of 1916.

From the same family history web site, here is a photo of David's eldest surviving child, Phoebe Ellen Trevor via his first wife Jane Holtom (assuming the attribution is correct. She resembles David to my mind). Born 1853 reg. Evesham - died 1921 Birmingham. She married and had six children.

Considering David was a photographer and so was his son, it seems a shame that the only photographs of him seem to have been taken later on in his life. I don't know when he first added photography to his extensive CV.

It would be nice if the photo was correctly attributed, but I believe that's the family tree where David is wrongly identified as Phoebe's husband Samuel Oakes, so caution is needed there. Phoebe used her second name Ellen some of the time and one of her sons was christened Harry David, the same as her step brother. I think there was a good family bond between Phoebe and younger step brother Harry - both had lost their mothers in childbirth when they were young children. What I'm not so sure about was their bond with David's third wife Mary Jane, who was only five years older than Phoebe, and whom David married less than a year after Harry's mother Elizabeth's death.

As for photos - we have a few of Harry's, mainly postcards, and there are CdV and Cabinet type photos out there with David Trevor branding on them, but sadly nothing family-related. Having happily bought up random collections of old photos in the past and studied them for clues as to why and where they were taken, I'd give anything to stumble across an old pile of my great great grandad's glass plates, but I think the likelihood is slim. As eldest member of the current generation I've inherited the family 'archive' such as it is, but there aren't that many photos. At some point it might be worth trying to trace any surviving descendents of the four daughters from David's third marriage. I'm currently using this family line based approach to locate some missing photos in a different local history context, and contact has been made.

One possibility might be the museum at Ashby de la Zouche, when more normal circumstances resume.
 
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At some point it might be worth trying to trace any surviving descendents of the four daughters from David's third marriage. I'm currently using this family line based approach to locate some missing photos in a different local history context, and contact has been made.
Slim pickings...

Edith marries James Edward Fearns (a musician), doesn't appear to have any children, d1957.

Elsie marries Victor Blocksidge ( a relative), doesn't appear to have any children, d1967.

Constance marries Tom Adey, has 2 sons (John Trevor & Tom), d1964.

Don't think Ida married, d1967.
 
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I am still amazed that my idol curiosity about a publication held by David Trevor in a photo could produce such an accurate response.

At this point, may I revisit my connection to him. I am not related. I grew up three doors down from the granddaughter of his elder brother (although I did not know that then). From infancy, I became friends with one of her granddaughters via her family’s visits. In 2017, having a hobby of genealogy I offered to look into her ancestors and discovered the fascinating David Trevor.

MSB is hoping that one of David’s daughter’s descendants by his third wife may have some photographs of him when a younger man. I have been trying to trace what happened to them for you following on from MWS's efforts. I don’t know how much you know of his direct descendants already. I believe you are descended from his second wife and are therefore familiar with that tree.

There is a fairly extensive tree on-line descending from his first wife. I presume you are familiar with all of that?

As to his third wife Mary Jane Lester, this is what I have found so far.

By 1911 they had had eight children. I have only found five. However, four had already died. So we have four daughters. Thus far:-

The eldest, Edith Isobel who had the big society wedding in 1903 I believe did not have children. There are non shown on the 1911 census and none living with her and her husband (who became a piano tuner after being a musician) nor on the 1939 survey.

The youngest, Ida May never married. She went to live in north London and moved house regularly in that area. Her last residence was in Mill Hill. She died 10.9.1967 and left £5684. Probate was in 1968. I have no details. You would need to order the will or full probate record.

Yes, Elsie did marry, to a Victor W Blockside (variants) but I haven’t investigated that yet. It may lead to nothing.

Constance 1881 – 1964 throws up a possibility.

She married Tom Adey at Aston, 1908. She became a milliner and he a colliery agent. They had one child as far as I can see: John Trevor Adey 1909 – 1982. Born at Marsham he became a carpenter. When Tom died he left Constance £1721.10.11. When Constance died she left her son £443. John married Phyllis Marshall in 1932 in Badby. They had two children as far as I could find soon after. They could still both be alive including one not already mentioned so I will contact you off line. I can’t find what became of one, but the other is listed in 2012 on the 192 address and ‘phone number web site and may still be living and in your neck of the woods. Even if they are deceased you may be able to trace any photos from contacting the address or the family the person was living with in an earlier listing.
 
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