Background Information on Lillian Smith’s Family Line.
Home Page Family History Smith Family Start 16 April 2007
The original information which oriented my research came from my mother, some years after Nan (Lillian Smith) died. Mum (Nancy Nichols) told me that:
Nan was born on the 15th of August 1884 in Stafford, her mother’s maiden name was Sarah Johnson, and she was brought up as a methodist. Nan was a slim woman, under 5 foot in height, and stayed at times with various Aunties. Mum vividly recalled the fact that Nan - ‘used to travel to Manchester with all her possessions in a pillow case’. When she was 14 years old, Nan went into service; apparently realising her intelligence the family sent her to a private girls school on the understanding that she did her tasks at night. Nan took the matriculation exam and passed all but geography. Subsequently, she went round clubs singing and reciting; she also gave elocution lessons. (As a child I can clearly remember ‘Nan’ in a deep voice quoting back at me ‘What’ and then telling me I should say ‘pardon’ - Graham).
At the age of 19 Lillian moved to Kettering with her father. She married W. Frank Nichols in the autumn of 1912. The couple lived at 215 Wood Str., Kettering (Previously William had lived at - 86, Durban Rd. (Mabel Nichols’ birth certificate) and had three children. In about 1917 the family moved to the Mill House, Doddington on the R.Nene and, on 24 March 1924 the family moved to 15 Park Rd, Wellingborough.
I knew that some years after Frank died Nan married Robert Martin (an ex-London postman who we all called ‘Pop’) on 22 April 1950 at High Str. Congregation Church, Wellingborough. Lillian and Robert took up Old Tyme Dancing and regularly entered dancing competitions.
The only information on Nan’s father came from my uncle, Bill Nichols. Bill had, on one occasion, cycled from Wellingborough to his grandfather’s shoe shop in Leicester.
The discovery that Nan’s maiden name was Smith and that she was born in a large town was to say the least dismaying. However, the fact that her father’s Christian names were unusual, at least gave some hope! Fotunately Staffordshire record office was able to tell me me that Lillian was baptised on the 22nd September 1884 at St. Mary’s Parish Church and her parents lived at Tillington St.
Fig.1 Photograph of Lillian Nichols (née Smith) (Lillian signed her marriage certificate as ‘Lillian’; her birth certificate spells her name as ‘Lilian’)
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As far as I was concerned Nan, Lillian Smith, was the perfect grandmother, an intelligent and kind woman – who stood well under five foot tall.
The archival evidence shows that the majority of Nan’s ancestors came from the Stoke upon Trent and Newcastle under Lyme area 20 miles north of Stafford. From the information in the parish marriage records studied, few if any of Nan’s ancestors in the 1700’s could read or write. Her earliest known ‘Smith’ ancestor was named Robert, a soldier in 1741.
By about 1800, the majority of the families had moved to Stafford, a bustling metropolis deeply involved in shoemaking. The dominant portion of this family history describes their lives in the 1800’s. The Smith’s and Johnson’s were cordwainers (shoemakers) and the families were friendly for many years.
The profits in shoemaking were such that Robert Willetts Smith I (note the numbers are for convenience, they were NEVER used by the individuals concerned), Lillian’s great grandfather, became relatively well off. When he retired from shoemaking, he described himself as a ‘House Agent’ and owned four properties.
Richard Johnson ultimately became a green grocer.
Much less is known of Nan’s other Greatgrandfathers. George Pierce was a tailor and John Read, a journeyman shoemaker. The latter sadly died before his daughter married at the age of 18.
Inevitably much less is documented of the occupations of Nan’s great grandmothers, though they were certainly not ladies of leisure! Apart from working alongside their menfolk, the women had families to raise in a time when there were no modern conveniences: clothes would have been washed by hand, cooking done on, at most, an iron range.
Nan’s parents marriage broke up when she was only a toddler: In the 1891 census, when she was nearly 7 years old, Nan lived with her grandmother whilst Nan’s mother had returned to her parents. Nan’s father, Robert Willetts Smith (III), moved to Kettering, where Lillian met her husband, before moving to Leicester where he owned two shoe shops.
Acknowledgements:
The initial information in this family tree was collected with the help of the records held at the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Information has also been collected during visits to Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Birmingham’s Record Office’s.
The search continues: If you need any further information, or can supply some, contact me at grahamtall@wgsmemories.org.uk
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