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Simpson family (Jack, former boxer from 1940s)

To answer the query about Jack Simpson posed at the start of this thread.
He was born in 1912 the son of George Simpson and Mary Cain. At the age of 14 he was a schoolboy Midland Boxing Champ and went on to become a professional in 1948. As a youth he did cross the law but less so than his uncle Charles (George's brother), who was also a professional boxer. After a troubled youth Charles seems to have settled down and, known as Charley "navvy" Simpson, he had considerable success in the ring. He died aged 47 at Erdington Infirmary in July1921 after 6 months of paralysis.

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Oh my word this is fantastic to read and does confirm my heritage albeit a mixed bag! I cannot thank you enough for sharing this information with me, it tells me so much about my mother's side of the family and I didn't realise boxing was passed through generations..my mother always watched the boxing on TV years ago and I suppose this is why, regret not speaking more with her now about her father's side of the family. Thank you so much
 
George's father is listed as Joseph on his marriage to Mary Cain.
My wife's maiden name is Astle and Jack Simpson's wife Alice Astle was my wife's Aunty, Alice's mother was also named Mary Cain, is this a coincidence or are Alice & Jack Simpson related, in one of the articles which was posted in a earlier post George Simpson and Thomas Astle were arrested for breaking a shop window, Alice had a Brother named Thomas Astle do you think this is the same person.
 
My wife's maiden name is Astle and Jack Simpson's wife Alice Astle was my wife's Aunty, Alice's mother was also named Mary Cain, is this a coincidence or are Alice & Jack Simpson related, in one of the articles which was posted in a earlier post George Simpson and Thomas Astle were arrested for breaking a shop window, Alice had a Brother named Thomas Astle do you think this is the same person.
Hi Gwynfor, that's strange that Alice Astle's mother was also called Mary Cain, Mary Cain is definitely appears the mother of my grandad Alfred Simpson and John (Jack) Simpson and the other brothers? I did wonder if Thomas Astle was a relation of Alice with George Simpson who was the eldest son of Mary Cain. As per my previous private message to you I will send photos of my Great Aunt Alice with my family to see if this is the same person?
 
I've just noticed in the article it is William Astle not Thomas, so not sure if that makes any difference? Here are some photos of my Great Aunt Alice with my Great Uncle Jack Simpson and my family, i.e. my mum and dad, brothers and Jack's brother Alfred and my nan, this pic was taken in the late 60s. Also a picture of a group of men who I don't know, but someone may recognise from Birmingham possibly as not sure they are on my father's side of the family?
 

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I've just noticed in the article it is William Astle not Thomas, so not sure if that makes any difference? Here are some photos of my Great Aunt Alice with my Great Uncle Jack Simpson and my family, i.e. my mum and dad, brothers and Jack's brother Alfred and my nan, this pic was taken in the late 60s. Also a picture of a group of men who I don't know, but someone may recognise from Birmingham possibly as not sure they are on my father's side of the family?
Hi Thanks for the photos they are great, I made a mistake with Thomas, William Astle was the name of Alice’s Father who was also the Father of my wife’s Father John Astle, so it could have been him in the article, we have some photos of Jack & Alice which I will post on here when I find them.
 
My wife's maiden name is Astle and Jack Simpson's wife Alice Astle was my wife's Aunty, Alice's mother was also named Mary Cain, is this a coincidence or are Alice & Jack Simpson related, in one of the articles which was posted in a earlier post George Simpson and Thomas Astle were arrested for breaking a shop window, Alice had a Brother named Thomas Astle do you think this is the same person.

It looks like that Mary Cain wife of William Astle was the niece of Mary Cain wife of George Simpson.

The younger Mary Cain appears to be the daughter of Michael Cain, the brother of the elder Mary Cain. Michael & Mary being children of a Patrick Cain.

So John/Jack Simpson & Mary Cain (Alice Astle's mom) would have been first cousins and John/Jack & Alice first cousins once removed.
 
I've just noticed in the article it is William Astle not Thomas, so not sure if that makes any difference? Here are some photos of my Great Aunt Alice with my Great Uncle Jack Simpson and my family, i.e. my mum and dad, brothers and Jack's brother Alfred and my nan, this pic was taken in the late 60s. Also a picture of a group of men who I don't know, but someone may recognise from Birmingham possibly as not sure they are on my father's side of the family?
I have attached some photos of Jack Simpson with Alice & her Family
 

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It looks like that Mary Cain wife of William Astle was the niece of Mary Cain wife of George Simpson.

The younger Mary Cain appears to be the daughter of Michael Cain, the brother of the elder Mary Cain. Michael & Mary being children of a Patrick Cain.

So John/Jack Simpson & Mary Cain (Alice Astle's mom) would have been first cousins and John/Jack & Alice first cousins once removed.
Ahh ok I see, thank you for this information...I'm really finding all of this family history very interesting and grateful for people's input with all of this, so confusing when they all have the same names too! Thanks again for this :)
 
I have attached some photos of Jack Simpson with Alice & her Family
Thank you for the photos Gwynfor. We hope to venture up to Birmingham next year and try to find the places my ancestors lived. I believe one of the pub's in Birmingham used to have memorabilia up of Jack's boxing days, but whether it is still there or not I don't know? My eldest brother remembers going to watch one of his fight's in a pub garden, with a proper ring and referee etc and Jack taking him to a back room in pub where men were dressed smartly smoking cigars...perhaps the Aston Sloggers or Peaky Blinders?! He was only around 6/7 so doesn't remember the pub name but was in Aston.
 
Thank you for the photos Gwynfor. We hope to venture up to Birmingham next year and try to find the places my ancestors lived. I believe one of the pub's in Birmingham used to have memorabilia up of Jack's boxing days, but whether it is still there or not I don't know? My eldest brother remembers going to watch one of his fight's in a pub garden, with a proper ring and referee etc and Jack taking him to a back room in pub where men were dressed smartly smoking cigars...perhaps the Aston Sloggers or Peaky Blinders?! He was only around 6/7 so doesn't remember the pub name but was in Aston.
Hi, My wife told me that she remembers going to see one of Uncle Jack's fights with her Father when she was a young girl, the fight took place at a pub in the garden, Jack & Alice lived in Cooksey Lane, Kingstanding, Birmingham for most of there married life and they used to go to the Dears Leap pub in Cooksey Lane, in the group photo Diana's Father is in the back row on the extreme right his name was John Patrick Astle, my wife was asking if you live local to Birmingham.
 
Hi, My wife told me that she remembers going to see one of Uncle Jack's fights with her Father when she was a young girl, the fight took place at a pub in the garden, Jack & Alice lived in Cooksey Lane, Kingstanding, Birmingham for most of there married life and they used to go to the Dears Leap pub in Cooksey Lane, in the group photo Diana's Father is in the back row on the extreme right his name was John Patrick Astle, my wife was asking if you live local to Birmingham.
Hi, oh really I wonder if it was the same boxing match? My eldest brother was born 1956, so he would have gone to that boxing match in 1963/64 - my other brother remembers visiting Jack and Alice at their home too and yes I have the Cooksey Lane address in my mum's old address book. Thanks, that is great you have given us the name of the pub, is that still there do you know? I live in Portsmouth with my husband, but my Grandad, Alfred, Jack's brother moved to Winchester from Birmingham many years ago in the 1920s and as a family we all grew up there. It would be great to meet one day if you are nearby?
 
My late grandmother, Lily Cain, nee Simpson was the daughter of a Jack Simpson, she had a, brother also named Jack who for many years owned a betting shop on Barnes Hill, Weoley20230201_155816.jpgscreengrab-20230201-172658.jpg Castle. The elder Jack was well known in the Aston area in his younger days as a troublemaker, constantly in and out of prison for minor offences mostly involving fights with the Peaky Blinders or petty theft. He was also regularly arrested for being a street corner bookie for which he was usually fined about ten shillings or did seven days in prison. My grandmother as a child was often employed as a lookout to warn him if a police officer was nearby. She married Martin John Cain and they lived at number 5, back of 25 Tower Street in Aston. They had four children, Lillian, John ( known as Jack), Emily and my mother Winifred. When the area was redeveloped they moved to the
then newly built Weoley Castle estate. The first picture is my great grandfather's police record card, the second picture is him in his old age.
 
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hi PC 5002 and welcome...your family story is so typical of many of our ancestors...like was tough back in the day..if you use the search box and put in tower street i think we have a thread for it with old photos...may even be one of no 25 or the back of it..always make sure you start reading a thread from post 1 so that you do not miss anything

lyn
 
Are these relations or other family members ?

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Source : British Newspaper Archive
 
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