Category Archives: Grove

Mary Allen 1871-1951 and George Bacon 1878-1944

Published: April 17, 2008    Last modified: May 22, 2022

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Left to right: Helena (Nellie) Bacon, Mary Bacon (née Mary Allen), Florence (May) Grayson (née Florence Bacon)
Photograph courtesy the family of George and Mary Bacon

A few weeks ago, through this website, a grand daughter of Mary ALLEN 1871-1951 (Mary is sometimes shown as Sally ALLEN) contacted me regarding Mary ALLEN 1871-1951 and George BACON 1878-1944. This was wonderful news and has solved a few of the mysteries surrounding this branch of the family.

Mary ALLEN 1871-1951 was a sister of my great grandmother Ziller JACKLIN (née Ziller ALLEN 1858-1949) and is one of the sisters about whom I had little useful information.

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Left: John (Jack) Bacon, Third from right: Everatt Bacon
Right with pipe: George Bacon
Photograph courtesy the family of George and Mary Bacon

The research is very interesting, so with permission, I have published it here:

"I have been researching my tree for several years but couldn't find anything on my grandmother as there seemed to be two Mary's registered for that year but neither appeared on the 1881 census. I did find a Mary on the 1891 census living with the Hopkinson family at Mill House Farm, Hodsock, Nottinghamshire. This gave her place of birth as Little Gringley, Nottinghamshire.

I then sent for her marriage certificate and this gave her father's name as John Allen - gardener. One of the witnesses was Elizabeth Stockdale. I checked the 1891 census and found the Allen's neighbours were Benjamin and Elizabeth Stockdale. The 1901 census showed the Allen's living in Grove, Nottinghamshire and John as being a garden labourer. I already knew that she gave birth to a son just prior to her marriage, the place of birth being given as Grove, Nottinghamshire. I also discovered that Elizabeth Stockdale's maiden name was Allen but I think she was probably a cousin and not her sister.

Then I took a good look at the 1881 census again and I believe the name given as Sally is actually Polly and I am assured by several people that this was a common nickname for Mary. However this didn't solve the problem of the two Mary's so I sent for both birth certificates - one was the Mary above and the other was born to Elizabeth Allen of Moorgate, Clarborough, Nottinghamshire and no father's name given. This child was born in August 1871 and there is a recorded death of a Mary Allen in September 1871 (aged 0 years) so could be the same person.

My grandmother married George Bacon on October 29th 1894 at Ordsall Parish Church and lived the rest of her life in Everton where George was born and brought up." - Courtesy the family of Mary Allen.

I am extremely grateful to this descendant of Mary ALLEN 1871-1951 for sharing her research and hopefully other descendants of the ALLEN line may see these pages and make contact.

Notes:
I was aware of Elizabeth ALLEN 1865-1946 marrying Ben STOCKDALE, but have few other details than those from the England and Wales Census 1891.

As a child whenever we drove through Everton my father would say "this is where my Aunt lives". Since his father Wilfred JACKLIN 1896-1967 had no siblings then perhaps he meant his Great Aunt. Could this have been Mary ALLEN 1871-1951?

Conveyance from Allen to Eyre: Little Gringley

Published: August 6, 2007    Last modified: November 26, 2016

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Little Gringley, Clarborough, Nottinghamshire

A recent online search for "Allen Little Gringley" found these documents in the 'Manuscripts & Special Collections' of the University of Nottingham.

The title of this document caught my eye:

"Conveyance from Allen to Eyre of cottage and garden in Little Gringley, Nottinghamshire; 1827"

Maybe this is one of my ALLENs or maybe one of Juanita's ALLENs selling a cottage and garden to the Eyre family, which if I am correct is the family that once owned 'The Manor of Grove' and nearby Grove Hall.

"The Eyre family had estates in Adwick le Street and Laughton in Yorkshire, which they sold in the 1760s. They also held lands in Rampton and Treswell in Nottinghamshire, as well as the Manor of Grove. The latter was purchased by Anthony Eyre in 1762. Along with Grove, the Eyres also acquired lands in Little Gringley and Ordsall, Nottinghamshire. The Grove estate passed to Granville Harcourt Vernon, seventh son of George, first Baron Vernon, who married Frances Julia, one of the daughters and heirs of Anthony Hardolph Eyre of Grove (d 1836)." - University of Nottingham

Many more documents, papers and maps relating to the 'Manor of Grove' and its various owners, and nearby villages such as Little Gringley are available in this collection:

"Estate Papers of the Eyre family of Grove, Nottinghamshire, 1500-1849"

Updates:
2016-11-08 All the above links are now broken so have been removed. Searching online may find new locations. Local Authorities and Universities seem to be the worst 'offenders' for 'moving things about'!

2016-11-26 Quite by accident I found a more recent link to the "Manuscripts and Special Collections" and "Eyre of Grove" at the University of Nottingham. Most of the links in my original article can be found browsing the sub-sections i.e. Little Gringley.

William Crofts and Louisa Loveday

Published: January 13, 2006    Last modified: November 6, 2016

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Headstone: Louisa Crofts (née Louisa Loveday)
Church of Saint Helen, Grove, Nottinghamshire

This could well be another sad story.

In the churchyard of the Church of Saint Helen, Grove Nottinghamshire, is this headstone for Louisa CROFTS (née Louisa LOVEDAY), wife of William CROFTS of Little Gringley. I remember taking this photograph with the intention, at a later date, of determining Louisa CROFTS' maiden name. I thought she may well be an ALLEN. Unfortunately I had to face my camera into very strong sunlight, as a result this photograph is of very poor quality. If at sometime in the future I have the opportunity to return to Grove, I will locate the headstone and try again.

A search online with appropriate dates reveals just one wedding for the district of East Retford (the most likely district). The March quarter of 1875 returns the following marriages:

CROFTS, William
HUTCHINSON, Mary Jane
LOVEDAY, Louisa
OSTLER, Aaron

So did William CROFTS of Little Gringley marry Louisa LOVEDAY? If so was Louisa already sick and likely to die? Is this the reason they married? Or was Louisa just unfortunate to die immediately after her marriage.

Or is this all just conjecture! Perhaps I will never know.

Updates:
2006-01-13 A search of marriages after 1875 in the district of East Retford returns these for the June quarter of 1879:

BOND, Jane
CROFTS, William
EBSWORTH, Algernon Frederick
VERNON, Mary Frances H

Is this the same William CROFTS? Did he marry again? Interestingly the owner of Grove Hall at this time was a VERNON. Is there a connection?

This definitely is conjecture!

2006-01-14 Well I was correct about the link between VERNON and Grove Hall. Mary Frances HARCOURT-VERNON married Algernon Frederick EBSWORTH on the 24th April 1879. Certainly this couple would have had a rather different lifestyle to poor William CROFTS.

Read more about Mary Frances HARCOURT-VERNON and Reverend Algernon Frederick EBSWORTH at thePeerage.com.

I presume William CROFTS married Jane BOND. This may be of use to other researchers.

2007-03-11 I did indeed take another photograph of this headstone. When Juanita and Al Lewis visited the UK we visited the Church of Saint Helen at Grove and I came across this headstone again. Unfortunately we were short on time and the sun was positioned exactly as the year before. Consequently the later photograph is more over exposed than the original!

Elizabeth Allen

Published: April 27, 2005    Last modified: March 8, 2015

I am aware of Ziller (Zillah) ALLEN living in the household of George SMITHSON at East Drayton, Nottinghamshire but when I carried out a search for ALLEN on the England and Wales Census 1881 I also found an entry for an Elizabeth ALLEN in this household.

FHJ Ref: 6
Census: England and Wales Census 1881
Place: East Drayton, Nottinghamshire, England
Household: John Scott

Surname First name(s) Rel Status Sex Age Where Born Occupation Remarks
Scott John Head U Male 74 E Drayton, Nottingham, England Retired Farmer
Salmon Jane Sister M Female 66 E Drayton, Nottingham, England Housekeeper
Scott John (Junior) Nephew U Male 30 E Drayton, Nottingham, England Farmer of 56 Acres Employing 1 Lab
Allen Elizabeth Serv U Female 17 Grove, Nottingham, England Domestic Serv General

To view this table full width please click here.

I note this Elizabeth ALLEN's birthplace is given as Grove, Nottingham, England.

Grove, Nottinghamshire

Published: April 10, 2005    Last modified: February 4, 2017
Church of Saint Helen,Grove, Nottinghamshire

Church of Saint Helen, Grove, Nottinghamshire

Our final visit of the afternoon took us back towards Little Gringley and on to Grove. Wandering around the Church of Saint Helen graveyard we came across an headstone for a Marjorie ALLEN which seems to suggest some other members of the ALLEN family may be buried here. I took a reference photo of this gravestone to enable research at a later date.

We explored most of the headstones but once again many were too badly eroded to make out names and dates.