My apologies
for repeating some items already shown on my other web pages. It was
unavoidable because of the Australian links. TB
Ted
Dance's sister Florence's Newport family at the
time of her daughter Florence Elizabeth Griffiths's wedding to
ironworker Ben
Sefton at Maindee parish church in 1918. Florence (born 1865) is seated and the married couple
are in the centre. At the back left to right, Norah, William,
George's girl friend Winifred, George and Maggie.
Front - Gladys, Florence, Albert and Edna.
Florence Dance was born in
1866 at Redbrook in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Her
father was stonemason John Dance (1838) and her
brother was John Edward (Ted) (1864) also born at Redbrook who
migrated to the gold-fields of Australia in the 1880s.
This
photo shows her (left), Ted on the right, her father John with
young half-brother George Hamilton Dance at their Scowles, near
Coleford home in the early 1880s. The older lady is believed to be
Rosa Williams who was John's housekeeper and carer for the youngster when
his father was away.
Edward's Dance's son John the stone
mason from Scowles, Coleford 1838 - 1922.
He was a bit of a long distance traveller making at least three trips abroad, America in
the 1870s, Brazil in the 1880s and finally Western Australia.
He was very unlucky with his marriages, losing three wives between 1861 and
1879.
His first wife Zipporah Webb who was born at Cheltenham in 1839 married
John in 1861 but died soon after childbirth the same year. Their daughter
Annie only lived 5 weeks and Zipporah died less than 2 months later.
This photo was taken
at Abertillery, Monmouthshire around 1901 where he was staying with his
niece. He was there when his daughter Florence's 42 year old husband
James Griffiths died of pneumonia at 3 Albert Avenue, Newport and was the
informant for the 13th of June 1901 death certificate.
Florence was 6 months pregnant at the time and gave birth to Maggie May
Griffiths on
the 6th of September.
This photo shows the Newland headstone of his first wife Zipporah who died
in 1861. Florence and Ted's mother was his second wife Sarah Evans who was born at
Newland, Forest of Dean in 1843. She married the widower in 1863
and moved to Redbrook where John Edward (Ted) was born in 1864 and
Florence in 1866. Sarah gave birth to William Henry in July 1868 but sadly
the infant only lived for 7 months. Sarah herself dying the same year.
The headstone inscription also includes his parents Edward and Mary Ann who both
died in the village of Newland. Zipporah's infant baby Annie was buried at
the foot of the grave.
Fay
Widdicombe relates that John, who moved to Western Australia around 1910
to join his son Ted's family at Yarri,
carried this faded photo of the headstone in his wallet until he died there in 1922.
His third marriage, believed by family members to have been in America was
to Margaret Hamilton (1842-1879) who gave birth to George at the
village of Scowles, a couple of miles from Redbrook in 1878. They
had another child there, Catherine in 1879, but both mother and infant
died that year and were buried at Coleford.
The photo on the left shows the young
Florence Dance (standing) when she was a domestic servant living in
Bristol. For some of her time there she stayed with her father's sister
Mary Hodges.
The other is of her brother John Edward (Ted) before he
left the Forest of Dean for the gold-fields of Australia.
Florence Dance married
Newport born James Griffiths (1859) in 1890. They had six
children all born at 3 Albert Avenue, Christchurch,
Newport.. John Edward (Jack) 1891, Florence Elizabeth
(1893), James Harold (1894), George Reginald (1896),
William Henry (1898), and Maggie May (1901). James
Griffiths died from pneumonia in 1901. We know that
Florence's father, John Dance was close by and living with
his niece's family at Abertillery and the informant on
James's death certificate.
35 year old Florence Griffiths and her family six months
after the death of her 42 year old husband James in 1901. She was 6 months
pregnant with young Maggie at the time of his funeral.
The family at Albert Avenue, Christchurch around the time of her marriage to
Albert Hide Preedy in 1905. Of her four sons pictured here only one,
Will, would remain in England. John and George went to Australia and James
Harold died when only 12 years old.
Florence remarried at Newport
Registry Office in 1905. He was bachelor Albert Hide
Preedy, born at Neath, Glamorganshire in 1859 and
whose trade, according to their marriage certificate, was a
groom (domestic) the same as his father William Preedy.
Florence and Albert went on to have three daughters, Norah
Evelyn (1908), Gladys Ellen (1909), and Edna (1910).
This 1926-27 photo
shows the Preedy girls
grown up and Floss Sefton's daughters Cynthia and Phyllis.
Albert Avenue, Maindee.
Their first home was at number 3, two doors up from the Royal Albert.
Florence was living at number 83 (the third picture) when she died in
1955.
Ben and Flo
Sefton had three children. Cynthia who was to marry Philip Pring was born
in 1922. Phyllis (1924) married Kenneth Hewson and John
Sefton (1934) married Elaine Cutts.
Royal Oak Baby
Show around 1922. It has a X and says "our baby got third prize." That would
be Floss Sefton's first - Cynthia. Fay
Photo was taken in 1916. Back row Floss
(23) and Maggie (14). Front row. Edna (6) Albert, Norah (8),
Florence, Gladys (7)
Young Norah
Preedy
Florence aged
72
Ted &
Florence in 1926
Ted returned to South Wales and the Forest of Dean for a 7 month holiday in April 1926. On the passenger
list he gave his destination as his sister's home at Maindee, Newport. MikeKohnstamm of Harriett Dance's family, recalls "my
mother remembered a time when she lived with her parents at one end of
Risca, and her grandparents John Roberts and Eleanor (nee Powell) ran a
pub at the other end of the town.
Apparently there was a very great commotion one day, and the
reason was that a Ted Dance had come visiting from
Australia."
Jack (right) with his
grandfather John, and Ted's family at Yarri, Western
Australia.
Jack Griffiths son of
Florence and James 1891-1918
Jack and sister
Floss.
His grave at Bellicourt British
Cemetery
Florence Ellen’s Eldest son John Edward (Jack) came out to Western Australia
and lived with my grandparents and their children for about5 years. Fay
Jack Griffiths joined the
Army in Australia and was killed in action
late in the war on 8th October 1918. His military record
lists him as being killed at Wiancourt, France, he was 27
years and 3 months old. see
Life & Death of an Anzac
His brother George Griffiths
(born 1896) also served in World War 1 and we have two of the
postcards he sent to his grand-father John Dance. He married
Winifred Westacott at Newport in 1920 and they had two children
Kenneth in 1921 and Aileen in 1926. They moved to Western
Australia, probably around the late 1920s. Fay recalls that he
first worked for his cousin Ted Dance at their Kalamunda store
near Perth. They settled in Mosman Park, Perth. He and
Winifred are both buried at Karrakatta. He was in
the grocery business all his life according to Linley his grand daughter
who lives in Queensland. He could have been a sales rep. Fay
"With Best wishes and kind regards from your Loving
G'son George - Egypt 13/11/1915"
George Griffiths
George with Winifred
and baby Kenneth
Florence and Norah
Gladys &
Norah Preedy with Floss's daughter Cynthia Sefton
Gladys and
Cynthia
A photo of Maggie
Griffiths (born 1901) -. She did
not marry. When she was a teenager many of her male friends,
and her brother Jack, did not survive World War 1, and
another photo of Norah with her mother.
A Newport grocery
wholesaler's staff outing to Wembley. (Maindee Griffiths family)
Florence, Will and Mag marked with a X
From the Wholesale grocers Mag
worked for. Staff and families went on an outing to Wembley. George is
standing behind Will on one side and Mag and Florence Ellen are in front
row. I have no idea when it was taken. Fay
