Family Vignette—Frank Adams

 


Frank Adams was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England on September 2, 1862 and was baptised at the parish church of St. Margaret’s in Lowestoft on February 1, 1863.  He was the eldest of twelve children born to Francis Adams 1837-1915 and Elizabeth Mewse 1841-1916  His father, Francis was a Mariner, but by 1891, as he grew older, he became a coal dealer.  It is from this profession that Frank followed in his father’s footsteps.

Francis and Elizabeth were the parents of twelve children, of whom only five survived to adulthood.  Their children were:

1.      Frank Adams 1862–1934

2.      Alice Elizabeth Adams 1864–1868

3.      Joseph John Adams 1866–1944

4.      Alice Maud Adams 1868–1870

5.      Mary Ann Elizabeth Adams 1869–1962

6.      Edith Annie Adams 1872–1872

7.      Hannah Elizabeth Alice Adams 1873–1874

8.      Samuel Charles Adams 1874–1940

9.      Alice Maud Mary Adams 1878–1878

10.  Elizabeth Eleanor Adams 1879–1879

11.  Eleanor Elizabeth (Bessie) Adams 1881–1956

12.  Ernest William Adams 1884–1885

At the time of the 1971 census, Frank was 8 years old and staying with his grandparents, John Barber Mewse 1810-1887 and Mary Ann Crispe 1813-1891.  Frank was not found in the 1881 census reports and was next reported in the 1891 census when he was 28 years of age and working as a coal dealer.  He is shown in the census with his wife, Mary Ann, 25, and his daughter Ethel Anna Adams born on September 9, 1889 in Lowestoft.  Ethel Anna was a sick child and Frank’s aunt Hannah Campling came to help provide nursing care for the child.  In addition, Mary Ann’s 19 year old sister, Gertrude Beckett was helping out as a domestic servant for a short while.

The 1891 census is important, because it is the first time we can identify the family surname for Mary Ann.  The online marriage registration data shows Frank Adams married in October 1886, and it shows his wife as Mary Ann Cable.  There have been several spellings of Keable-Keeble-Cable between different family groups.  Mary Ann's mother was Caroline Taylor. Caroline Taylor married Samuel Keable in 1856. She and Samuel had two children, Henry and Samuel. Her husband died in 1862. Mary Ann Keable / Beckett was born in 1866. Her mother married William Beckett in 1870. So, Samuel Keable is not her father because he had died 4 years prior to Mary Ann's birth. 

It may be possible that William Beckett is the father but since Caroline wasn't married, the child would have been registered as Mary Ann Keable/Cable which was her mother's married name at the time of birth. In the 1881 census, she was listed as Mary Ann Beckett, daughter of William Beckett. She wasn't listed as a step-child as were Caroline's two sons from her first marriage. Had she been adopted, the marriage would have been registered under Mary Ann Beckett. So, it is likely that William was her natural father and she was base-born. In addition, her father William named Frank Adams, her husband as exucutor of his estate and not to his other children. So having her listed as Mary Ann Cable/Keable may be correct, but her father was not Samuel Keable. Rather her parents were Caroline Taylor and either William Beckett or an unknown father.


Frank Adams and Mary Ann Beckett 1866-1928, had a total of six children.  Only three survived to adulthood.  The infant Ethel Anna died in 1893 at jus 4 years of age.  Their children were:

1.      Ethel Annie Adams 1889–1893

2.      Hilda Florence Adams 1892–1894

3.      Francis Stanley Joseph Adams 1894–1977.  Francis Stanley Joseph Adams was born October 9, 1894 in Lowestoft and died in Oulton Broad on February 20. 1977.  He married Annie Susannah Saunders on December 20, 1920.  They had two children:  Frank Samuel Adams, 1921-1994 and John William Adams, 1924-1995.

4.      Gladys Mary Adams 1897–1986.  Gladys Mary Adams was born on August 12, 1897 in Lowestoft and died April 19, 1986 in Camberley, Surrey England.  She married Edwin James Humphrey in April 1929 in Suffolk County.  They may have had two children of which only one is known.  Their known child was Jean Mary Humphrey, 1930-1996.

5.      Reginald Joseph Adams 1903–1903

6.      Winifred Lilian Adams 1908–1999.  Winifred Lilian Adams was born on January 28, 1908 in Lowestoft and died in Suffolk County in July 1999 at the age of 91 and is buried in the Lowestoft Cemetery.   It is not known if she married or had any children.  She was listed as a single woman at the time of the 1939 Register. 

Frank Adams died on October 1, 1934, at St. Audrey's hospital/asylum in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.  His wife, Mary Ann Keable/Beckett died on May 24, 1928 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. 

Genealogy:  Frank Adams 1862-1934 was the son of Francis Adams 1837-1915 and his father was James Adams 1799-1883 and his brother was John Curtis Adams 1797-1873 and his son was William Frederick Adams 1848-1907 and his son was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.



 

 

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