Arthur Victor Davies (1885 - 1967)

Born 3 Aug 1885 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died 31 Jan 1967 at age 81 in Teignmouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom

Biography

Arthur always claimed to be born on the day of Queen Victoria's Jubilee,^[1] he never said which Jubilee, and was in fact born 3 August 1885 in Wrexham, Wales.^[2] He was at least the eleventh child born to his parents, there are some gaps where there may have been sillborn babies or infant deaths. One sister was born after him but she died as an infant.

Employment

The first reference to Arthur's employment is in 1901 when he was a brass finishing apprentice.^[3] Fairly soon after his apprenticeship ended he became a Locomotive fireman, this was noted in 1909 ^[4] and in 1911.^[5]

He was later promoted to Locomotive Driver (machinist, engineer) and carried on with this work until he retired in 1950. He claimed to hold the world record for the fastest steam train, a few years before any official record was attempted. He claimed his passenger train from London to Manchester was delayed in starting, but he made up the 20 minutes delay between Birmingham and Manchester. He checked his speed from the mile markers using his pocket watch and said he was quicker than the official record set by Mallard. No evidence at all for this.^[1]

After his retirement He and his wife moved to live on the South coast of England, but not being content to sit around doing nothing he opened a fruit and vegetable shop in the old market. The market had been destroyed by bombing in the war and was now used as a car park. Arthur's shop was the only shop left and being in a car park and the nearest shop to the beach gave him a good trade. He also managed gardens for people and grew a lot of his stock himself.^[1]

Homes

When he was born the family lived at Hope Street, Wrexham, Denbigh, Wales.^[6] Most of the children had left home and his father had died early in 1891. Most of the time the family had had at least one live in servant, but obviously things got worse with the death of Arthur's father and the remaining family had moved to Rhosddu Road, Wrexham, before 1901 and had several boarders. ^[3] By 1909 they were living at 45 Smithfield Road, Wrexham.^[4]

After he married, Arthur and his wife lived at 3 Shropshire Terrace, Greenfield Terrace, Rhosddu, Wrexham although in the 1911 census he was alone.^[5] His wife and her mother were visiting Gertrudes brother, William George Jones at Glen River View, Nant Y Felin, Llanfairfechan, Bangor, Carnarvonshire. Williams wife was about to give birth, his mother was also there with sister Matilda.^[7]

They moved for some unknown reason across Britain during the war and had their fist child in Immingham, Lincolnshire, after the war they moved back West to Ashton under Lyne and had a second child before they settled in Manchester,

Between 1952 and 1957 he and his wife lived at several address' in Teignmouth, Devon including a caravan at Minadab, 1 Alta Vista Close and 12 Salisbury Terrace. ^[8]

His last address was at 25 Bickford Lane, Teignmouth, he moved their so his son could move from Manchester with his family to live at 12 Salisbury Terrace, near them.^[8]

Marriage

The marriage of Arthur Victor Davies and Gertrude Florence Jones was on 30 June 1909 at Wrexham Congregational church in Wrexham, Denbigh.^[4] As can be seen on the certificate he gave his fathers name as Richard W. Davies, following the census trail back to 1881 shows his father was Robert W. Earlier census images show his fathers name as Robert William or William Robert, most of his siblings seem to swap first and second names from census to census.

Children of this marriage were

Arthur Davies August 21, 1917 in Immingham - July 2, 2000 in Exeter

Joan Davies March 8, 1920 in Ashton under Lyne - February 1993 in Torquay

He died 31 January 1967 at Teignmouth Hospital of Bronicle pneumonia caused by Influenza, had been senile for a few years before and had been admitted to the hospital where he died about 1963.^[8][9]

He was cremated in 1967 at Torquay Crematorium, Torquay.

Research

Continuing work is being done on his, and his families, life in Immingham during the first war.#N1

There was a Harold Davies, a watch repairer, who lived in Wrexham all his life. Rhian Geleick met him many times, the Davies family stayed with him in Wrexham occasionally and he, with his family, had several holidays in Teignmouth. He was always known as uncle Harold and his wife was aunt Peg, so far there is no family connection found.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} as told to Rhian Geleick and anyone else
2. ↑ Birth certificate of Arthur, copy held by Rhian Geleick
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 1901 census RG13 5224 40 22 Wrexham
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Marriage certificate of Arthur Victor Davies and Gertrude Florence Jones.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} 1911 census RG14PN34056 RG78PN1965 RD621 SD3 ED29 SN48
6. ↑ 1891 census RG12 4617 116 14 Wrexham
7. ↑ 1911 census RG14PN34507 RG78PN1995 RD631 SD3 ED4 SN41
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} From the memory of Rhian Geleick
9. ↑ Death certificate of Arthur

Notes

Note 1: Immingham was a major port in the war and it is possible that Arthur was transferred there for rail operations, moving troops and equipment from inland bases to the port. It seems he was not enlisted as he had a reserved occupation. Research into this is being done by Immingham Museum.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to R Geleick for creating WikiTree profile Davies-2203 through the import of direct anc.ged on Jul 24, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by R and others.