121 – Looking for the Hoylake School (and Richard Roberts) Part 1: 15 December 2024

Richard Roberts and Eleanor Edwards established the Hoylake School located at “Newlands”, Clydesdale Road, Hoylake, Cheshire.  The Postcard sent by Alfred Pearson was addressed to Eliza Hankin at “Newlands” in Clydesdale Road, Hoylake. 

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Richard Rees Roberts was born at Bryn Penmachno on 15 April 1863.  His birth was registered as “Richard Rice Roberts” by his father “Rice Roberts” of Bryn Penmachno on 25 May 1863 in the Yspytty sub district of the Llanrwst registration district in the Counties of Caernarvon and Denbigh.  Rees Roberts, father of Richard Rees Roberts, was a “Slate quarrier” who was unable to read or write; he made his “mark” on the birth record.

Bryn Penmachno was the name of the house where the family of Richard Rees Roberts lived when Richard was born.  The house was located in the Penmachno area but I have not yet been able to precisely locate it.

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The hamlet of Cwm Penmachno is accessible only by a single lane road wich starts in the village of Penmachno.  Penmachno village is tiny but Cwm Penmachno makes Penmachno seem very large.

The road to Cwm Penmachno follows a valley carved out of the Welsh countryside by the River Penmachno.  The scenery between Penmachno and Cwm Penmachno is astonishingly beautiful.

I took this photo on 19 September 2024 while driving from Penmachno to Cwm Penmachno.

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 When the 1871 Census took place on 2 April, Richard Rees Roberts was recorded with his parents at 1 Rhiw Bach Terrace, Penmachno, Llanrwst, Caernarvonshire, Wales.  Richard was then aged 8.  This is a summary of the 1871 Census for this address.

 

Name	Family Relationship	Marital Status	Stated Age	Calculated Year of Birth	Occupation	Where Born	Deaf and Dumb, Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile or Idiot
Rees Roberts	Head	Married	33	1838	Quarryman	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Alice Roberts	Wife	Married	33	1838	Not stated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Richard Roberts	Son	Single	8	1863	Scholar	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Rowland Roberts	Son	Single	6	1965	Scholar	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Ellen Roberts	Daughter	Single	4	1867	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Idiot
Robert Roberts	Son	Single	3	1868	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Jane Roberts	Daughter	Single	1	1870	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Evan Evans	Boarder	Single	21	1851	Quarryman	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire	Unstated
Catherine Jones	Servant	Single	16	1855	Domestic servant	Festiniog, Merioneth	Unstated

 

1 Rhiw Bach Terrace was not a street number but the house number in Machno Terrace where the Roberts family lived.  Rhiw Bach Terrace is a group of houses running at right angles to the only street in Cwm Penmachno (Tanrallt Street).  Tanrallt Street is a dead end street.

I took this photo of 1 Rhiw Bach Terrace on 19 September 2024.

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In the 1881 Census, Richard Rees Roberts was recorded at age 17 as a “Scholar”.  This confirms that there was indeed a school in Cwm Penmachno in 1871.  Richard’s parents had married in the “Licensed School Room” at Cwm Penmachno in 1861.

In 1881, Rees Roberts and Alice Evans, the parents of Richard Reece Roberts, were recorded at 7 Rhiw Bach Terrace, Penmachno, Llanrwst, Caernarvonshire, Wales when the Census took place on 2 April.  This is a summary of the 1881 Census return for that address.

 

Name	Family Relationship	Marital Status	Stated Age	Calculated Year of Birth	Occupation	Where Born
Rees Roberts	Head	Married	42	1939	Slate quarryman	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Alice Roberts	Wife	Married	44	1837	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Richard R Roberts	Son	Single	17	1864	Scholar	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Rowland R Roberts	Son	Single	16	1865	Slate quarryman	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Ellen Roberts	Daughter	Single	14	1867	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Robert R Roberts	Son	Single	12	1869	Scholar	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
William R Roberts	Son	Single	8	1873	Scholar	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Margaret J Roberts	Daughter	Single	4	1877	Unstated	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Evan Evans	Brother in law	Single	28	1853	Slate quarryman	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Arthur J Roberts	Servant	Single	17	1864	Carter	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire
Mary J Jones	Servant	Single	16	1865	General servant	Penmachno, Caernarvonshire

 

Number 7 Rhiw Bach Terrace is located at about ¾ of the way along Rhiw Bach Terrace.  Between 1871 and 1881, the Roberts/ Evans family had moved from number 1 to number 7 Rhiw Bach Terrace.

This 1881 Census indicates that Richard Rees Roberts was an outstanding scholar.  Richard was still attending school at age 17 – even though his brother Rowland, who was one year younger, had started working as a quarry man in the Cwm Penmachno slate quarry.  Rees Roberts, father of both of the Roberts boys, worked in the local slate quarry and had done so for many years.

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The Cwm Penmachno slate quarry is no longer operational.  It was carved out of the astonishingly beautiful mountains surrounding Cwm Penmachno.  I walked through the remains of Cwm Penmachno quarry of 19 September 2024.  The silence in the quarry that day was profound.

 I took this photo (taken 19 September 2024) when I was about 3/4 of the way up the mountain that once housed the quarry.

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The houses at Rhiw Bach Terrace were built to provide accommodation for the quarry workers.  Before the Rhiw Bach Terrace housing was built, the quarry workers lied in crude accommodation within the quarry itself.  The row of slate walls visible in the photo below is what remains the accomodation that once existed within the quarry a.

 

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The photo above (taken on 19 September 2024) shows a closer view of the remains of the quarry housing.  I visited the quarry on a day when, unusually for Wales, it was not raining.  It must have been bitterly cold and damp living in the slate slums that once housed the quarry workers at Cwm Penmachno.

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The 1881 Census indicates that Richard Rees Roberts was an outstanding scholar.  Richard was still attending school at age 17 – even though his brother Rowland, who was one year younger, had started working as a quarry man in the slate quarry.  Rees Roberts, father of both of the Roberts children, had worked in the local slate quarry for many years.

 

120 – Looking for Eliza Hankin Part 1: 14 December 2024

My search for the Moon Man began with my search for the antecedents of Eliza Hankin.  I reasoned that if I found out where Eliza came from, it might lead me to the Moon Man.

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Eliza Hankin was a distant relative of mine and she was born on 6 February 1895 and baptised on 10 April 1895 at Saint Leonard Anglican Church, Bootle.

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Saint Leonard Church was founded in 1889 but was destroyed by Nazi bombing in World War II.  This is a photo of Saint Leonard Church before the Nazis destroyed it.

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This is a photo I took on 24 September 2024 of the more modern “new” Saint Leonard Church.  it is much more modest looking than the destroyed Saint Leonard.

The sign above the red car on the right of the photo says this.

St Leonard’s Church   Services here every Sunday at 11 am Come & join us

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At the time of her baptism, Eliza’s parents lived at 62 Marsh Lane, Bootle and her father John Hankin was a labourer.  John Hankin had been born in Bootle on 12 July 1872.  That John Hankin outlived his daughter Eliza; he died in 1954, 5 years after Eliza.

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Eliza’s paternal grandfather (the father of John Hankin) was Joseph Hankin.  Joseph was born on 7 July 1835 at Bispham Green.  Bispham Green is near Hoscar Moss, which is part of Lathom.  Hoscar Moss is where the Hankin family farm was located.  The original family farm is still a family farm called Sandyways Farm.

Lathom (of which Hoscar Moss was a part) is not a town but the name of a geographical area which is close to the town of Ormskirk.  Ormskirk is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Liverpool. 

Eliza’s grandfather Joseph Hankin from Bispham Green, died on 4 February 1883.

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Eliza Hankin’s great grandfather (the father of Joseph Hankin) was Thomas Hankin, who was baptised on 3 April 1806 at Bispham Green. 

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Eliza Hankin’s great, great grandfather (the father of Thomas Hankin) was also John Hankin.

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My personal family connection to Eliza Hankin is some generations back from Eliza Hankin.  My four times removed great grandfather was Thomas Hankin who owned what is now Sandyways Farm.  This Thomas Hankin was born in 1753 and lived until 1828.  He farmed the family farm carved out of the swamplands in Hoscar Moss.  

Before the Lancashire farmers turned this part of England into the very fertile farmland it is today, swamplands used to surround Ormskirk and most of the countryside around Ormskirk.  The Hankin family farm was in easy walking distance of Martin Mere – or it would have been if the land had not been so full of water that wading rather than walking would have been required. 

Martin Mere had ancient connections with the legends of King Arthur.  When Arthur lay dying, he directed his sword called Excalibur to be thrown into Martin Mere.  When it was, a female under the water lifted her arm and caught it.  Excalibur has never been seen since.  

Although there is still a lake called Martin Mere, the current lake is a faint echo of the mighty lake that once existed in this region.  The first comprehensive attempt to drain Martin Mere took place as early as 1697.  In October 2024, I drove over what was once the lakebed of Martin Mere.  The road runs for miles across very flat land with farmland on either side.  The land is so flat it is obvious that if the pumping station ever fails, the former Martin Mere will return very quickly.  Modern technology is the only thing preventing the return of King Arthur’s legendary lake.

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Eliza Hankin had these siblings were.

·         Thomas Hankin was baptised 25 August 1893 in Saint John Church Bootle.

·         John Hankin was born in March 1898 but died in September 1898.

·         The birth of George Hankin was registered between 1 July and 30 September 1901.

·         Joseph Hankin was born on 1 December 1905.

·         The birth of John Hankin was registered between 1 October and 31 December 1910.

·         Harold Hankin was born 16 February 1917.

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When Eliza’s parents married on 24 May 1893, they were living at Richmond Row, Liverpool. 

When Eliza’s brother Thomas was born in 1893, the family was living at 38 Chaucer Street, Bootle. 

When Eliza was born in 1895, the family lived at 62 Marsh Lane, Bootle. 

When Eliza’s (first) brother called John was born in 1898, the family was living at 71 Gray Street Bootle.

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Gray Street Bootle is perhaps five minutes’ walk from the new Saint Leonard Church

I took this photo of Gray Street on 24 September 2024.

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This is a photo of 71 Gray Street (painted red) on 24 September 2024.  The current 71 Gray Street may or may not look the same as the 1898 version of 71 Gray Street.

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 By the date of the 1911 Census, the family was living at 76 Beechwood Road, Litherland.

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It is obvious that Eliza’s parents rented all of the houses they lived in at these addresses and that the family often had to move frequently.  Throughout all of these house moves, Eliza’s family continued to live in Liverpool - mostly in Bootle and Litherland.