2f. Ellen (Nellie) Beech Kelland.

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1 2f. Ellen (Nellie) Beech Kelland. Ellen Beech Ellen (Nellie) Beech was born on the 18 th March 1874 at 19, Ash Street, Oldham, England. I am not going to do a great deal of research into Ellen, but will check for her parents and her siblings. The first census on which she appears is the 1881 Census and at that time she was living at 159, Glodwick Rd., Clarksfield, Oldham, with her parents and some of her siblings. (John and I actually lived in Clarksfield, Oldham, some 40 years ago.) 1881 Census for Glodwick Rd., Oldham, Lancashire, England. From the above it can be seen that Ellen s parents are Hugh and Ellen Beech with Hugh working as a greengrocer. Both parents on this census are shown as being born in Stockport, Cheshire, about 15 miles from Oldham. It can be seen that Ellen is the first of their children to be born in Oldham. Her brother Hugh, born in 1872 was born in Stockport, so they moved to Oldham between 1872 and Checking on the Lancashire BMD site for births in Oldham with a surname Beech, it is easy to find Ellen, Adeline, Rhoda and another daughter Minerva born in This site also gives the mother s maiden name which in this case is Bailey. 1

2 I next checked for the family in 1871 in Stockport and I found them living at 18, Canal St., Stockport, but on this census Hugh is shown as an Iron Moulder. There is also another child Alfred, shown as being born between Mary E. and George, in This is still some six years after Mary s birth which would lead one to believe that maybe at least one child was born and died in-between the 1861 and 1871 census. This is not easy to check. The 1871 Census for Canal St., Stockport, Cheshire, England. Ten years earlier the family was still living on Canal St., but at number 43 not 18. The 1861 Census for Canal St., Stockport, Cheshire, England. On this census Ellen s mother is shown as being born in Black Rock, Cheshire. Their daughter Mary Elisabet is only two weeks old and Hugh is still working as an Iron Moulder. As Hugh is only 24 years old and Ellen is only 21 years old, they were obviously not married when the 1851 census was taken. The 1851 Census for Berry s Building, Cheadle Bulkeley, Stockport. This is the only record on Ancestry for a Hugh Beech, born 1837 in Stockport. His father is shown as a Moulder, which was Hugh s initial occupation, so I am assuming this is the correct family, at this moment in time. The 1841 census is interesting, as can be seen below. Again there is only one suitable Hugh Beech shown on Ancestry, but the father is shown as William! 2

3 The 1841 Census for Wellington St., Stockport, Cheshire, England. I wonder if this is the same family, with perhaps an error on the census record, or maybe Hugh s father had two Christian names? The following Christening record was also found on Ancestry, which is another indication that Hugh s father was called Isaac. Then, found on the I.G.I. records is a marriage between an Isaac Beech and an Elizabeth Bancroft at Manchester Cathedral on 22nd October 1821, which would be at the right time considering the ages of Hugh s siblings. This record does have the surname as Beach and not Beech, which was an acceptable way of spelling at that time. 3

4 Extracted from the Cathedral records. Batch M This line could be traced further back as there is an Isaac Beech, son of John Beech and Hannah, born 22 nd April 1802 and Christened 16 th May at St. Mary s, Stockport, but I am leaving it at this point. On Ancestry.co.uk there is a Rimmer-Kenyon Family tree which has traced the Beechs back to 1721, for those who are interested. Having made a quick check for Ellen Bailey before the 1861 census, it is not possible to identify the correct one, as this is a common name in this area, so I am leaving the search here. I shall now concentrate on taking the family forward in time from the 1881 census Census for Glodwick Rd., Oldham, Lancashire, England. The above information was recorded on two pages and the first page was not straight when it was scanned. It shows that by 1891 Ellen Beech Snr. is now a widow and running the greengrocers with her son George. It also states that she was born in Stalybridge, Cheshire, which is quite close to Stockport. On this census there is also her grand-daughter Florrie B Mullen living with her, and she is the same age as her own youngest daughter. 4

5 Checking for the death of her husband Hugh, he died in 1884, aged 46 years. Hugh died just a year after the birth of their daughter Minerva. So, Ellen, aged 43 years, was left with a shop to run and five of her nine children aged 12 years or under. Life really must have been hard. Their nine children, who survived infancy, were as follows:- Hannah born 1859 Mary Elisabet born 1861 Alfred born 1967 George born 1869 Hugh born 1872 Ellen born 1874 Adeline born 1876 Rhoda born 1879 Minerva born 1883 This photograph was taken while Ellen Beech lived in England; she is the one on the far left of the picture. Who the others are is not known, one might speculate that they are three of her sisters! 5

6 In 1895/6 Ellen Beech Jnr. had a son Harold who was born out of wedlock. In those days this would have been seen as bringing a great deal of shame onto the family and Ellen would have been seen as a fallen woman, (how opinions have changed today!) The 1901 Census records are interesting as firstly it shows Harold born in Gorton, Manchester, and not in Oldham where the family are living. Secondly, Harold is living with his grand mother and her family in Oldham, while his mother Ellen is living in Stalybridge, Cheshire, where her mother was born! 1901 Census for 18 Salisbury Rd., Clarksfield, Oldham, Lancashire, England Note the surname is spelled Beach Census for 82 High St., Stalybridge. Cheshire, England. This is the only photograph that I have of Harold Beech. It was taken in America. It was sometime in 1904 that Robert Kelland arrived in Oldham from Oregon, USA, to visit his sister Mary Ann Kelland Bland, (my great grandmother). While in England he met Ellen Beech and told her that if she would go to Oregon, he would marry her and raise her son Harold. He was 61 years old and Ellen was 30 years old. 6

7 He returned to Oregon in September 1904 and presumably Ellen and Harold followed soon afterwards as he and Ellen were married in Oregon on 3 rd December Did she take this photograph with her? A picture of her mother Ellen Bailey Beech. Most of Ellen (Nellie) Beech Kelland s story for the next 30 years is included in her husband Robert Kelland s story and I have no wish to repeat myself. I will include one or two pictures that I have not included previously This is said to be a photograph of Nellie s two daughters, Margery Ruth and Dorothy Jean. 7

8 Margery Ruth was born 9 th January 1906 and Dorothy Jean was born 21 st December Margery Kelland, Dorothy Kelland and their mother Ellen (Nellie) Kelland. As can be seen by the stone in the picture this photograph was taken in 1910 in Oregon, where Nellie and the family lived for the first 12 years of her married life, before moving to San Diego, CA. Nellie and the girls would often take trips and holidays without Robert while he used to go to the Re-unions of the Company with which he fought during the Civil War. 8

9 Ellen (Nellie) Kelland sitting in the front seat at the Rose Parade, Oregon. Although Ellen and Robert s marriage was not a match made in heaven, I am sure her quality of life, firstly in Oregon and then in San Diego was a great deal better than it would have been living in Oldham in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1916 the family moved to San Diego because the climate was much more temperate. San Diego is said to have one of the best climates in the entire world! There is no comparison between the clean air, sun shine and blue skies that it enjoys with that of all the smoke from the factory chimneys and smog and damp and clouds of Oldham at that time. Plus, no doubt Robert was reasonably prosperous. Ellen did keep in touch with her family back in Oldham and below is a copy of a letter she wrote to her brother (probably Hugh) and sister (don t know which one) in

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11 Hope you can read this and get a little idea of how she felt. 11

12 In this letter Ellen mentions her son Harold, to say that he got married in Although her husband Robert Kelland said he would care for Harold, I have been told that they did not get along and I believe Harold was sent away to school at some time. I have not made any attempt to trace Harold but must mention that in a letter dated March 1949, written by Ellen s daughter Dorothy, she wrote that My brother, Harold, who had been ill for some time, died several months ago. I do believe he had children, maybe even twins, but I am not taking this line any further. Her brother George and his family emigrated to Canada but eventually went to San Diego to live. From a Family Tree on Ancestry I have copied the pictures below as both he and the café are referred to in the letter above. George Beech, Nellie s brother. George Beech s café at Cardiff, CA. 12

13 Obituary of George Beech who died December The family did keep in touch with their Beech relatives in England and are still in touch with their English descendents today. After Nellie stopped writing, her daughter Dorothy kept up the correspondence. In a letter from Dorothy dated 1944 it mentions that mother s health is certainly exceptional for her age. My children love all the good things she bakes, especially her cakes and cookies. Robert Kelland died 2nd December 1934, just one day before their 30 th wedding anniversary. Nellie lived for another 23 years with her children and grandchildren around her. She died on 9 th March