Ellaway, Arthur

Gender: Male

Arthur Ellaway was visited by Gwilym and Carol Davies on 3 and 5 September 1977 at his house at Horsefair Street, Charlton Kings, when he was living there with his wife and son, Gerald, caretaker at Charlton Kings Infants School. He sang them End of me Old Cigar, The Graveyard Song and Somerset Fair. Arthur Ellaway was blind but entertained at the local clubs.

Arthur Ellaway was born on 23 July 1902 in Lydney. In 1911 he was living with his grandparents, Thomas and Mary Ellaway, at 25 Tutnalls Street, Lydney where Thomas was working as an excavator. It is not clear who his parents were – on his marriage to Susan Gladys Muriel Cook on 23 July 1932 at Charlton Kings no father’s name was given on the marriage entry, so he may have been the child of one of the following daughters of Thomas Ellaway: Mary Jane, born 1861 in Alvington, Clara Ellen born 1865 in Stroat or Florence Emily born 1882 in Lydney. Thomas had another daughter, Emily, but she was already married to Thomas Lloyd at the time of Arthur’s birth. Other children of Thomas Ellaway are shown below.

Arthur Ellaway married Susan Gladys Cook of 5, Bank Terrace, Cudnall Street, Charlton Kings on 23 July 1932 when he was a basket maker living at Frankville, Cudnall Street, Charlton Kings. As well as Gerald Martin Ellaway who was born on 22 November 1945 they had another son, David A. Ellaway, who was born on 25 February 1937, both in Cheltenham. According to a family tree on Ancestry.com, David Ellaway married on 1 September 1956 at Cheltenham Register Office and had two daughters and a son. David Ellaway died on 19 December 2004 in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Arthur Ellaway died in 1991 in the Cheltenham registration district.

Arthur’s family lived for many years in the village of Alvington, near Lydney. His great great grandfather, Jonas Elway (this was the spelling used at the time) was born in Wolves Newton, Monmouthshire in 1771, the child of William and Anne Alway (William Ellaway was born in 1752 in Monmouthshire). Jonas moved to Alvington in 1805 on his marriage to Mary Morris, who was born in Alvington. She was variously described as fifteen or eight years younger than him. They had at least five children in Alvington including Arthur’s great grandfather, William, who was born and baptised there on 18 May 1806. In 1841 and 1851 Jonas and Mary were living in Alvington with two lodgers where in 1851 Jonas was working as a hurdle maker. Jonas Alway died in Alvington in 1854.

Arthur’s great grandfather, William Ellaway, married and had two daughters, Mary Jane who was baptised in Alvington on 27 March 1836 and Elizabeth who was baptised in Alvington on 29 April 1938. Neither daughter appears in the 1841 census. In 1841 his wife, Jane, who was born in Coleford, was living at Rowley Mill, Alvington with one son, Thomas, born 1840. William was not at home at the time of the census but they apparently had three young lodgers including a niece of Jane’s. William and Jane then had two more children, Emily, baptised in Alvington on 26 February 1843 and Jane, baptised in Alvington on 10 May 1846. William died in 1848 at the age of 42 and by 1851 Jane as a widow was still living in Alvington and also had another son living with her, George Ellaway, born in Alvington in 1836. Her niece, Eliza Cooper, was still living with her and she also had a lodger.

Arthur Ellaway’s grandfather, Thomas Ellaway, lived at home until his marriage to Mary Nash, the daughter of a gardener, on 14 October 1860 in Alvington. By 1861 they were living in Alvington where Thomas was working as a coal miner and their daughter, Mary Jane, had been born. In 1871 they were still living in Alvington where Thomas was then working as an agricultural labourer and they had three more children: Thomas, born 1863 in Alvington, Clara Ellen born 1865 in Stroat and William, born 1870 in West Dean. By 1881 the family had moved to Bream Road, Lydney where Thomas was working as a stone quarryman and they had four more children, Isaac born 1873, Emily born 1875, Josiah born1877 and George Edwin born 1880, all born in Lydney. Their two eldest children, Mary Jane and Thomas, were no longer living at home at that time. Their youngest child, George Edwin, died at just under three years of age in 1883 when the family were living in Bream Road, Lydney. By 1891 the family were living at Soilwell Farm, Lydney. Thomas was working as a general labourer and the only children still at home were Josiah, who at age 14 was working as a labourer possibly in an ironworks, and Florence who was still at school. Thomas continued to work as a general labourer and he and Mary continued to live in Lydney. In 1901 they were living there at 13 Naas Lane. Thomas Ellaway died in 1911 and was buried in Lydney on 22 July 1911.

Thomas’ son, Josiah, married and in 1901 was living at 112, Raglan Street, Newport, with his wife, Alice, who was born in Caerleon and their nine month old son, Ernest, working as a builder’s carter. By 1911 Josiah was a builder’s labourer working on scaffolding and he and his family had moved to 96 Henry Street, Newport. By then they had another two children, George E. J. Ellaway, born about 1908 and Doris Ellaway born about 1910, both born in Newport. They had also taken in two lodgers. They had not had a child called Arthur so were not Arthur’s parents. A Josiah Ellaway born in 1877 died in the Evesham registration district in 1932.

Thomas’ son, Thomas, was probably the Thomas Newman Ellaway who was living at 93 Henry Street, Newport in 1911 with his wife, Mary Ann, born in Cardiff, with their daughter, Florence Emily, a domestic servant born in Cardiff and a son also called Thomas Newman, born in Newport.

Thomas’ daughter, Emily Harriet, married Thomas Lloyd in Chepstow in 1894, She had a son, Sidney Victor Lloyd, born 1895 who had two sons and four daughters and between 1901 and 1911 lived at 74 James Street, Bristol. She died in Bristol in 1941.

Thomas’ son, Isaac, served with 2^nd Gloucesters and was discharged time expired in 1899. He reenlisted on 25 August 1914 in the reserves at age 39 years 5 month when he was living at 1 Smith Buildings, Thomas Street, Chepstow. He had served 2 months imprisonment in Usk. He was discharged from the army on 18 January 1916 at age 43 years 10 months as no longer physically fit for war service. He married Eliza Ann Jones and they had eight children all born in Chepstow, none of whom were called Arthur.

Thomas’ daughter, Florence – a Florence Ellaway married either James Henry Hargest or William Henry Roe in Chepstow in 1908.

Notes by Carol Davies with thanks to the Ellaway family trees on Ancestry.com