This family has probably been the easiest to research because much the work had already been researched by a distant cousin in USA, Karen Steel, who had put all the information into her own website and who I found via the Genforum website on the internet under Beach. Her entry stood out because it said – "all Beach researchers look here", her cousin had put this on and she was a bit embarrassed by it. However when I looked at the website there was a section Beach’s in Enfield and from there is was pretty much plain sailing. Karen has also been a tremendous help with other census look ups and was the one who found Harry Harris in Bedford for me.
So with Karen’s research I am able to trace my Beach connections back to before 1770 with the birth Thomas Beach. I do not have his birth but he married Katherine Borkett in the Parish Church of Hatfield, Herts on 11th October 1786. They had 5 daughters and 2 sons, Mary born 18th July 1787, Ann born 5th April 1789, Elizabeth born 14th Sept 1791, Martha born 23rd March 1797, George born 23rd October 1798, James born 19th May 1807 and Charlotte born in 1813.
Of the above children it is the last son, James, who we are interested in, he being one of my great, great, great, great grandfathers. James was born in Monken Hadley, Herts and when he was 19 years old he married Martha Cheadle, at St Andrews, Church in Enfield.
So far as we know the couple had 5 children, all boys. John born 1827, William born 1828, James born 1831, Joseph born 1834 and John born 1st August 1838.
By 1841 the family were living in Cockfosters and Karen Steel has found their details on the 1841. Still living with the family is James mum, Katherine aged 75. Below are the details from Karen’s email 25th July 2002.
1841 Census Enfield, Middlesex, Cockfosters
Enumeration district-"Chase division from Slade's on the Chase to Cock Fosters by Duckworth's to Paris's."
Name Age Prof Born in the county
Katherine Beach, 75, No
James Beach, 38, Ag Lab Yes
Martha Beach, 42, Yes
William Beach 12, Ag Lab, Yes
James Beach 9, Ag Lab, Yes
Joseph Beach 6, Yes
John Beach 3 Yes
Charlotte Jackson, 29, Yes
Sophia Jackson, 3, Yes
Mary Jackson, 2, Yes
Charlotte Jackson, 1, Yes
It is at this point that Karen Steel’s family and mine split. Karen’s comes from the son John born 1838 and mine comes from the son William born 1828.
When William was 22 he married Mary Anne Nash. The wedding was on 29th December 1850 and was held in the Weld Chapel in Southgate. An interesting thing to note on the certificate is that William’s father James is shown on there as being a Shepherd.
I am fairly certain that the same Mary Anne Nash later married the father of Sue Seymour who herself married one of William and Mary Anne’s children. It was confusing until I got it straight in my head.
Weld Chapel as well as being the Church where William Beach and Mary Ann Nash were married, was also to be the sight of many christenings for the Beach Family over the years. It is no longer there, now replaced by Christchurch, but was situated in Southgate on Waterfall Road. Below are some sketches of the Chapel from a local history book.
The Chapel was built in 1615 when Sir John and Lady Weld arrived in the area and found that villagers had a lengthy walk to All Saints Church in Edmonton for their regular worship. To that end Sir John began work on building the chapel on his own grounds, at the time the place was called Arnolds, later renamed Arnos Grove. The Chapel served the area well for 247 years before it was finally replaced by the current Christchurch which stands there now, and in which a future Beach, Emily Ann married Thomas Boatwright on 22nd May 1904.
On the 1851 census we think we have found William and Mary staying as borders at the home of Henry and Mary Pye in Cockfosters. William is 22 now so the age would be right, Mary his wife is shown as a needlewomen.
Information again supplied by Karen Steel and extract from her email 25th July 2002 is below.
1851 Census Cockfosters
William Beech, Lodger M, 22, Ag Lab, Middlesex, Enfield
Mary Beech, Wife, M, 22, Needlewoman, ditto
Lodging with Henry and Mary Pye and their 5 children. {Did not take notes on the Pye fam.}
Also in 1851 Karen has found William’s parents on the 1851 Census
Name Rel St Age Prof Birthplace
James Beech Head M 44 Shepherd Middlesex, Enfield
Martha Beach Wife M 50 Ditto
James Beach Son 20 Ag Lab Ditto
Joseph Beach Son 16 Ag Lab "
John Beach Son 12 Farmer's Boy "
Mary Jackson Niece 12 "
Charlotte Jackson Niece 10 "
Over the years William and Mary had at least 5 sons and 4 daughters, all born in Southgate and all christened at the aforementioned Weld Chapel. All the following dates are christening not birth dates. First to arrive was William James Beach born 8th April 1852, (thanks to Jacqui Grimley for this information), the following are all christenening dates, not birth dates. James was next 9th April 1854, John Beach 1856, Henry Beach 1858, Emily Ann Beach (1), not my great grandma 29th April 1860, Thomas Beach 1865, Eliza Alice Beach 16th Nov 1862, Martha Elizabeth Beach 3rd March 1867 and Louisa Beach in 14th Nov 1869. All of the above are shown on the IGI.
Some slight confusion now arises. On the 1881 census William James Beach is shown living with Susan Seymour in Chelmsford Road, 3 Chase Vale Gardens, Southgate. They are not married, William is shown as the head and there is a boy William J, shown as son of head but with surname Seymour. Louise Cook has confirmed to me this is because he was born before William and Susan were married.
He took the name Seymour, but this caused problems at his later wedding as Louise Cook writes in her email to me on 25th August 2004. She says "William also had to change his name before marriage as my great-grandma (Rosalind Brown who married him) insisted (apparently) and lied on his marriage certificate as to the name of his father to make it match!"
Dwelling: Chelmsford Rd 3 Chase Vale Gardens
Census Place: Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Source: FHL Film 1341338 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1390 Folio 116 Page 45
Marr Age Sex Birthplace Rel Occ
William BEECH U 28 M Southgate, Middlesex, England Head Labourer
Susan J. SEYMOUR U 20 F Southgate, Middlesex, England
William J. SEYMOUR 1 M Southgate, Middlesex, England Son
Benjamin J. SEYMOUR 14 M Southgate, Middlesex, England Boarder
For some reason, Karen, who was looking this up for me, decided to see who was living next door and I think I find Susan Seymour’s father and I think Mary Ann Nash, William’s mum.
Dwelling: Chelmsford Rd 3 Chase Vale Cottages
Census Place: Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Source: FHL Film 1341338 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1390 Folio 115 Page 44
Marr Age Sex Birthplace Re Occ
Benjamin SEYMOUR M 40 M Aspenden, Hertford, England Head Labourer
Mary SEYMOUR M 46 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Wife Charwoman
John SEYMOUR 20 M Winstone, Middlesex, England Son Labourer
Ellen SEYMOUR 14 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Daur Nursemaid
Louisa SEYMOUR 9 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Daur Scholar
Charles SEYMOUR 7 M Southgate, Middlesex, England Son Scholar
Ada SEYMOUR 6 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Daur Scholar
Louisa BEECH 11 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Step Daur
Eliza BEECH 13 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Step Daur
Annie BEECH U 20 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Step Daur
Alice BEECH U 17 F Southgate, Middlesex, England Step Daur
The reasons for this assumption are the Beech children listed above all showing as Stepchildren to Benjamin Seymour. Louisa aged 11 is the right age to be the Louisa born to William Beach and Mary Ann Nash in 1869. Eliza aged 13 is the right age to be the Martha Elizabeth born to William Beach and Mary Ann Nash in 1867. Annie aged 20 is the right aged to be the Emily Ann born to William Beach and Mary Ann Nash in 1860. Alice aged 17 is the right age to be the Eliza Alice born to William Beach and Mary Ann Nash in 1862.
So we can assume one of two things either William and Mary Nash were divorced or William had passed away. On 17th July 1881 William and Susan are married. Benjamin is there as Susan’s father shown as a Labourer – he is also a witness. For William his dad is correctly shown as William but it also gives a profession of Labourer. Had he died the entry should show as deceased, so I would assume that William and Mary were in fact divorced. However Louise Cook writes in an email to me " Divorce would have been unheard of in those days, and as well as being expensive you could not attend church and would have been ostracised. Stretching the truth on marriage certificates seems to have been a family trait!" So who knows really where William was. William's death certificate, when we find it, will hopefully resolve the issue,
William’s grandparents James and Martha are still around in 1881. Living in Hadley Wood, James is 75 and Martha is 81.
In 1882 my great grandmother, Emily Anne Beach is born to the couple. Very strange this is, as I cannot find a record of her birth at the family records centre. I have searched through from 1878 to 1883 but I cannot find anything.
William and Susan had a further four children before the next census, in order they are Minnie 1883, Mary Jane 1885, Benjamin Thomas born 24th May 1888 (thanks to Jacqui Grimley for this date), and Edith Sylvia Louisa 1890.
By 1891 the family had moved to 1 Providence Row, Winchmore Hill, London, a couple of miles from Cockfosters, shown on the Census above, and below a couple of maps showing the location then and now.
On the 24th August 2004 Louise Cook contacted me through Genes reunited, she is my 3rd cousin, descended from William Seymour (son of William Beach and Susan Seymour before they married). Louise had another child Ethel Maud born 1885, maybe she had passed away before 1891 census.
Louise also provided details of the following children some are on the 1901 others are not.
Albert Ernest born 1893(not on 1901 census)
Sophia 1896 – think she married George Packer.
Ethel Charlotte – born 1898 (not on 1901 census)
James born 1900 – married Florence
After 1891 the couple had their last child Sophie Beach, although I do not have any more details.
The 1901 census shows William and Susan as living at 38 Travers Road. Travers Road was a turning off Chelmsford Road, it has now been replaced by Ivy Road, and where previously you could get from Chelmsford Road to Chase Road, through Travers Road, you cannot now as the Chase Road end is blocked off. Louise Cook very kindly let me know why Travers Road name was changed. In an email dated 25th August 2004 she writes "Travers Road was renamed as Ivy Road as it had such a bad reputation in the late 1880s the council thought a name change would improve it! My great grandma Emily Ann Beach is shown on the census as Annie.
Louise then provided one more child Charlotte Lucy born 1902.
Family Group Sheet
Subject* William James BEACH (189)
Birth* __ Feb 1852 Southgate, London.
Christning: 2 Mar 1852 Weld Chapel, Southgate, London.
Marriage* 17 Jul 1881 Southgate, London.
Witness: 22 May 1904 Marriage; Thomas BOATWRIGHT (23) and Emily Ann BEACH (22); Christchurch Church, Southgate.
Father* William BEACH (448) (bap. 20 Jul 1828, d. Sep 1872)
Mother* Mary Anne NASH (449) (b. 1828, )
_______________________________________________________________________
Spouse* Susan Jane SEYMOUR (190)
Birth* 20 Jul 1863 Back Lane, Southgate.
Christning: 9 Aug 1863 Weld Chapel, Southgate.
Death* after __ ___ 1930
Father* Benjamin SEYMOUR (455) (b. 16 Dec 1838, d. 6 Sep 1905)
Mother* Eliza PHILLIPS (764) (b. 1841, d. 9 Dec 1876)
_______________________________________________________________________
Twelve Known Children
_______________________________________________________________________
M William James SEYMOUR (499)
Birth* 10 Feb 1880 3 Chase Vale Gardens, Southgate.
Daughter: __ ___ 1910 Dorothy SEYMOUR (975)
Marriage* 16 Jan 1910 Rosalind BROWN (974) (b. 1882, d. 1968)
Death* 17 Nov 1960 Southgate, London.
_______________________________________________________________________
F Emily Ann BEACH (22)
Birth* __ ___ 1882 Southgate.
Name-Var: __ ___ 1901 Annie
Son: after __ ___ 1904 Peter BOATWRIGHT (27)
Marriage* 22 May 1904 Thomas BOATWRIGHT (23) (b. after Apr 1879, d. 25 Jun 1963), son of Thomas WATERSON (193) and Matilda Elizabeth STANFORD (782); Christchurch Church, Southgate.
Son: __ ___ 1905 Thomas William J BOATWRIGHT (26)
Daughter: 23 Feb 1908 Amelia Emily Doris BOATWRIGHT (24); 41 Travers Road, Southgate.
Son: __ ___ 1910 Frank BOATWRIGHT (28)
Daughter: __ ___ 1916 Sue Alice Hilda BOATWRIGHT (25)
Death* 22 Feb 1961
Burial* __ ___ 1961 Southgate Cemetery, New Southgate.
_______________________________________________________________________
F Minnie BEACH (343)
Birth* __ ___ 1883 Southgate.
Marriage* after __ ___ 1898 ? GOVIER (424)
_______________________________________________________________________
F Ethel Maud BEACH (970)
Birth* __ ___ 1885
Death* __ ___ 1894 Southgate, London.
_______________________________________________________________________
F Mary Jane BEACH (346)
Name-Var: Pol
Birth* __ ___ 1885 Southgate, London.
Marriage* after __ ___ 1900 Walter CRIPPS (347)
Son: Alfred CRIPPS (348)
Son: Harry CRIPPS (349)
Daughter: Lil CRIPPS (350)
Daughter: Violet CRIPPS (351)
_______________________________________________________________________
M Benjamin Thomas BEACH (501)
Birth* __ ___ 1888 Southgate.
_______________________________________________________________________
F Edith Sylvia Louisa BEACH (502)
Name-Var: Lou
Birth* __ ___ 1890 Southgate.
Marriage* __ ___ 1916 Charles FELTON (1384); Southgate, London.
_______________________________________________________________________
M Albert Ernest BEACH (971)
Birth* __ ___ 1893
Death* __ ___ 1895
_______________________________________________________________________
F Sophie BEACH (345)
Birth* __ ___ 1896 Southgate, London.
Marriage* __ ___ 1917 George PACKER (1385)
_______________________________________________________________________
F Ethel Charlotte BEACH (972)
Birth* __ ___ 1898 Southgate, London.
Death* __ ___ 1899 Southgate, London.
_______________________________________________________________________
M James BEACH (779)
Birth* circa __ ___ 1900 Southgate, Middlesex.
_______________________________________________________________________
F Charlotte Lucy BEACH (973)
Birth* __ ___ 1902
Death* __ ___ 1903 Southgate, London.
_______________________________________________________________________
The next event is on 22nd May 1904 when Emily Ann Beach marries Thomas Boatwright at Christchurch Church in Southgate. At the time Emily Ann is shown to be living in 21 Travers Road.
You can see below the location of Travers Road and also how near Providence Row is, although it is not marked on this map from around 1896 and may even have been demolished by then. This could indicate why the family had moved to Travers Road.
Map of Southgate around 1896
Between them the couple had 5 children. In order of those I know are Thomas born 1905, Amelia Emily Doris 1908, Frank in 1910, and Sue in 1916. The other child was Peter, who I do not yet have a birth year for but one could assume it to be between Frank in 1910 and Sue in 1916.
Travers Road was very close to Chase Side. The photo below is of Chase Side, looking up it, Chelmsford Road would have been a turning on the right and Travers Road was a turning off Chelmsford Road.
This concludes the section on the Beach family, only to say that Emily Anne Beach died on 22nd February 1961 aged 79. This is what is shown on the gravestone in New Southgate Cemetery in Waterfall Road Southgate, she appears on Ken and Avis Wedding photo shown in the Harris section, 3rd from the left, and below is a blown up picture of that.
