Menzies - Aston, Kings Norton, Sparkhill (ca. 1870 - 1955)

[Warwickshire Traveller]

Alfred Menzies, born ca. 1870, Lambeth, Surrey (London) married Eliza Kirk in circa 1892, Handsworth. Eliza's father was a butler to Mr Harding, JP and stockbroker, Harborne, and some of Eliza's brothers fared well in the jewellery and banking sectors. In the 1890s to early 1900s Eliza was working in the rag trade in Jamaica Lane.

Alfred and Eliza had two sons: William Dennis (born ca. 1899) and Francis ('Frank', born 1901). William married in about 1926 in South Birmingham and emigrated to Australia in about 1950. Frank had two children from his first marriage and married his second wife, Iris Maud Teasdale, in 1946 in Birmingham. One of their daughters ('Audrey Frances') is my mother. Iris' father was John Teasdale, the master tailor from Pleck, Walsall, who made all of the local police uniforms.

Any further information about this family would be warmly welcomed. Thank you.

 

[Astonian]

hi traveller
i was wondeing whether or not are these the same people or family should i say called menzies whom was the london news agents out lets
from around london and then the midlands areas ; way back in the early years up until at least the 1950s best wishes Astonian;;

 

[Warwickshire Traveller]

Hi Astonian,

Thanks.

I've already researched this angle and can confirm that the (lucrative) newsagent chain was owned by another (Scottish) family with the same surname. I appreciate that the surname is Scottish in origin and my research indicates that my forebears on that line left Scotland in about the late 18th century and headed to what is now South London. Afterwards, not long afterwards really, they moved to Birmingham and generally stayed there.

Nor is this branch of the Menzies in any way immediately related to the former Australian Prime Minister, although the facial similarities between our families and body build are actually quite striking so there could well be a very distant connection.