Family of Maria Roberts

Since my post about Maria Roberts I have had shared with me another two photos of her, one of her sister Martha and found another brother of hers while researching her maternal aunt’s family in London.  This photo is of Maria with her daughter-in-law Clara Leonora Kent and her three daughters Lottie Elizabeth, Clara Leonora and Alice Fern.  Clara was my great-grandmother and Clara Leonora Kent my three times great grandmother.  A wonderful photo to have, thank you to Roger Baldwin.

 

 

Maria Roberts, Clara Kent, Lottie, Clara and Alice Baldwin

 

As mentioned previously Maria was the eldest child of Robert Roberts and Sarah Ann Pease (Pearce) Barnes.  Her father, Robert was born in Great Warley, Essex and moved to London with at least one of his brothers Edmund (Edward) Bower Roberts.  Their parents were John and Martha.  They were both whitesmiths.  Their siblings were John, Elizabeth, Ann, Mary, Sarah and Jane.  Elizabeth, Ann and Mary had all died before they reached the age of one in 1790 and 1791.

Sarah Ann Pease Barnes was born in London and baptized at St Giles Cripplegate church without the walls, London.  Her father was James Barnes, a painter and her mother was Mary Warman.  Mary’s mother was Elizabeth Pearse which explains one of Sarah’s middle names.

Sarah had at least one sister Winifred Mary born in 1799 who married Charles Casbard, an ivory turner, in 1816.  They had at least ten children, John George, Charles Robert, Charles George, William John, James, Samuel Henry, Elizabeth Adelaide, William, George and Henry.  Winifred died in 1872 in London.

Her brother John Charles Kellick Barnes was born in 1804 and married Mary Kellitt in 1825.  I have yet to find out anything more about them.  He was the witness to one of his nephew’s weddings in 1845.  He probably had a son Charles born in 1825.

On my previous post about Maria I mentioned some of her siblings briefly.  Maria was born in 1822 while her sister Martha was born in 1828.  Martha married James Dartnall, a grocer. They had eight children, Eliza born in 1850, James born in 1851, Jamie Maria born in 1852, Thomas born in 1854, Martha born in 1857, Sarah born in 1860, Stephen Robert born in 1863 and Herbert Henry born in 1866.

I have not found anything more about Eliza Sarah born in 1830.

William John was born in 1834.  He was an actor and comedian.  He married Ann Maria Griffiths in 1854 and in subsequent years she was also said to be a comedienne.  They had a daughter Eliza Maria  born in 1855.  He remarried in 1898 to Clara Louisa. In 1911  his daughter, Lily Bowman, an actress was living with him.  I’m guessing this was the stage name of his daughter Eliza but have not proven this.  Lily was performing at the Globe, London in December 1888 in Editha’s Burglar, a comedy.  She was described as ‘a delightful little girl, with a natural aptitude for the stage … a most natural and lovable Editha’.

Mary was born in 1836, she married Henry Eyre in 1857.  He was a carpenter and a joiner.  They had three children, Walter Henry born in 1858, William James born in 1861 and Robert born in 1864.  Walter married Louisa Harriet Fenton and William married Charlotte Seal.  William and Charlotte were living with Charles Barnes in 1881.

It was while investigating Sarah’s sister Winifred Mary Barnes who married Charles Casbard that I found another sibling for Maria Roberts.  Robert George Roberts was baptized at St James, Shoreditch, Middlesex on June 2, 1850 along with his cousin one time removed, Catherine Casbard.  The two families were living at the same address, 25 Chapel Street.  Her father, Charles, was a bone turner.  Robert George Roberts was born in 1842.  He became a Wesleyan minister.

Robert George married Elizabeth Atkinson and had eight children.  The first two were born in Ireland, Mary Evelyn Barnes in 1876, William Smith in 1879, then the rest were born in the north of England, Florence Elizabeth in 1880, Robert George in 1882, Stanley Halford in 1883, Mabel Frances in 1885, Frank Atkinson in 1887 and Arthur Welsley in 1893.

At least two of his children spent part of their lives in Canada.  William Smith was a rancher at Grizzly Bear in Battle River, Alberta before returning to England with his family.  Frank Atkinson was also in Alberta prior to WW1.  After WW1 he married Muriel Louise McLaren in Ottawa.  The others seemed to remain based in England.  Robert George was an architect and Arthur Wesley was a Professor of Music traveling to South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Canada as a music examiner.

What an interesting family they were.  What an interesting range of occupations for the siblings and their spouses from one family.  From humble beginnings their descendants have followed many varied paths.

As always I’d love to hear from anyone connected with any of these families and especially love to see any photos, letters, documents etc.