Thursday, April 16, 2009

Edwin Thomas Oakley continued.

Edwin's first child born of his marriage to Elizabeth Turner was Albert Edward Oakley. Albert was born in Manchester on September 11, 1875, thirteen months after his parents' marriage. An advertisement appearing in the Manchester Times on July 3, 1875, informs us of Edwin's latest money-making venture to support his family:-
" HOUSE COALS, free from slack and other rubbish, promptly supplied by Edwin T. Oakley, 22 Barton Avenue, Manchester."
Edwin Oakley was certainly not one to let failure set him back on his heels for long, and must be admired for giving so many occupations a try. The London Gazette of November 4, 1879,gives light to a few others:
"In the county of Lancashire, holden at Manchester. In the matter of proceedings for Liquidation by Arrangement or Composition with creditors instituted by Edwin Thomas Oakley of No. 57 Shudehill also of No. 5 Albion Street, Gaythorn and living in lodgings at No. 7 Wasnidge St, Hulme, all in the city of Manchester, Provision Merchant and Coffee tavern Proprietor."
The 1881 census found the Oakleys living at 57 Denmark Rd, Chorlton On Medlock , Manchester, Lancashire. Edwin stated that he was 44 and a book keeper. Living with him was 31 year old wife Elizabeth, 21 year old son John, 17 year old Amy Jane and 5 year old Albert, plus a general servant, Mary Sopping.
I found no more evidence of Edwin ever again trying to run his own business. In subsequent census returns he was employed as an employee for somebody else, and his name never again appeared in association with financial difficulties in the London Gazette.
Second son from his first marriage, Harry Meabry Oakley, can be located in the 1881 Welsh census living in Newtown, Wales, and learning the wine and brewing industry with the Issard family:
Newtown, Montgomeryshire.
Thomas Issard/head/ retired farmer/ born Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire.
Charlotte Pillinger/ 52/ housekeeper to retired farmer/ born Ludlow, Salop.
Harry M. Oakley/boarder/ unmarried/18/ wine merchant assistant. Born Salop Grinshill.

Elizabeth Turner Oakley gave birth to her second child and only daughter in 1882. She was named Mabel Oakley, and was joined by brother Percy Oakley in 1887. Percy was Edwin's and Elizabeth's final child.He would have no memory of his half-siblings Harry and Amy Oakley, as they boarded a ship on October 27, 1887, and emigrated to Australia, never to return to England's shores.Their eldest sibling, John Griffith Oakley, had also moved away from home by the time of Percy's birth..he too had gone to Wales where he remained until his death.
In 1891, Edwin and his family had moved in to live with his widowed mother-in-law Elizabeth Turner in Moss Side, Lancashire.
Elizabeth Turner/ head/ widow/72/ living on own means/ b Leek, Staffordshire.
Edwin T. Oakley/ son-in-law/ married/55/ cashier/ born London
Elizabeth J. Oakley/daughter/ marr/42/ born Manchester
Albert E. Oakley/grandson/15/ clerk/ born Manchester
Mabel Oakley/ granddaughter/ 9/ scholar/ born Moss Side
Percy Oakley/grandson/3/born Withington, Lancashire.
Jessie Christian/ servant/25/domestic/ born Isle of Man.

Edwin's mother, Jane Meabry Oakley, died in 1893 in her home at No. 25 Cavendish Road West, St.Johns Wood, London. She had written her will in 1882, and the bequests that concerned her son Edwin Thomas Oakley were as follows:
"..To my sons John Jeffreys Oakley, William Alfred Oakley,Frederick Oakley and Edwin Thomas Oakley one hundred pounds each."
Jane Oakley also left instructions to invest £1,000 each for Edwin Thomas Oakley and Jane Elizabeth Grain, her daughter, and to pay them the interest arising from such investments, then upon their deaths to be put into trust for their children. In Edwin's case, however, a stipulation was made:
"But it is my wish and I hereby direct that my said son Edwin Thomas Oakley shall not have any power either directly or indirectly to anticipate or charge the said income and in the event of it being in any way charged or anticipated or if my said son Edwin Thomas Oakley shall become bankrupt or compound with his creditors or do or suffer any act whereby the said income might otherwise be attached then I direct that the said income shall be paid to or for the benefit of his children John Griffith Oakley, Harry Meabry Oakley and Amy Jane Oakley. And after the decease of my said son Edwin Thomas Oakley I direct that the said sum of one thousand pounds shall be divided amongst his before mentioned children in equal shares."

I think the mother knew the son only too well, and made those specifications to ensure that no matter what his family would always be able to rely on some income from the money invested.
I find it curious that Jane Meabry Oakley never felt the need to update her will to include her grandchildren from Edwin's second marriage to Elizabeth Turner.Edwin's eldest child Alfred was born seven years before she wrote her will, and Mabel had just been born a few months prior. Similarly, Jane never made provisions for her granddaughters from her eldest son John Jeffreys Oakley..his son Alfred John was mentioned, but not his daughters. Strange.

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