Albert Jacques Cheeper's Family

This directory contains information and documents about the children of Albert Jacques Clarke, by his two wives.

For details of Albert Jacque Cheeper (1862-1937) and his two wives, see his own page. Albert's parents and descendants are shown in this rough family tree.

This page documents what we know about the four children by each of two wives.

Children of Albert Cheeper and Evangeline Amy Leigh/Lee (married? 1884?-1896?)

Albert claimed to have married Evangeline Amy Leigh/Lee on 15 March 1885 or 1886. We infer that because their children's birth entries show him, and they were given his surname. She was known as Amy, and according to the 1901 Census was born in Manchester. She is shown as 38 in that Census, impying she was born 3 Apr 1862 - 4 Apr 1863. During this time, the family appears to have moved with Albert's employer, from West London, via Chester, to Queensferry in Scotland.

Albert was 22-34 during their time together, and she appears to have been the same. Albert and Amy had four children between 1885 and 1893, the first of whom died as a baby. Albert appears to have abandoned the household by the end of 1896. Presumably he was posted out of Scotland. he left Amy with children aged 9, 7 and 3.

We infer that Amy remarried, although, if so, that may have been even more short-lived, c. 1897-1900. This is because, in the 1901 Census, she is in East London, and shown as wife (although not as widow), but also as head of household, and as dressmaker, with the surname Raymond, together with her 3 children.

In the 1911 Census, aged 49, she says she is a widow, being married 11 years.

1. Reginald Albert Leigh / Cheeper (1885-1885)
   His birth certificate shows that he was born 31 January 1885, at 34 Gowrie Rd, Battersea, Surrey, with the birth registered on 12 March.
   He died in the same year
2. Raymond Charles Leigh / Cheeper / Raymond (1887->1901)
   He was born 10 May 1887, at Chester Castle, Chester.
   We assume that he was in the household in Queensferry, Linlithgow (on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, about 10 miles NW of Edinburgh) in April 1891.
   (The census entry refers to a 3-year-old, as Raymond would have been; but the name given is Reginald instead of Raymond).
   He is in the 1901 Census, as Ray C. Raymond, aged 13, with Amy, at 21 New Gravel Lane Dwellings in Shadwell (East London).
   m. as Charles Raymond, 25 Dec 1907 – certificate
   m. Violet Maud Payne, aged 20(?), of 22 Dorset St (West End, just north of Oxford St)
   The church was, St. Thomas, Stepney (Tower Hamlets, East End). This was at Arbour Square, but was bombed out in 1940. There's no sign of a church there now, so presumably it was replaced by a park.
   On the marriage entry, Charles' father is shown as Albert Jacques RAYMOND (dec'd), Customs Officer. Charles is shown as 21 (actually 20 and 7 months). His address was 232 Oxford St. He was shown as a Clerk.
   Anne has their 1911 Census entry.
   1. Charles D. Raymond, 1911-1992
      b. 3 Jun 1911? – Sep qtr 191 W.Ham 4a 633 (East London)
      We're not aware of any marriage, or children.
      d. Jan qtr 1992, aged 80 – Southend on Sea 9 3112 192, i.e. in Essex
   2. Arthur Albert D. Raymond, 1914-2000
      b. 27 Aug 1914? – Dec qtr 1914 W.Ham 4a 614
      m. Mar qtr 1935 – Rochford 4a 1049
      m. Doris M Smith
      We're not aware of any children from the marriage.
      d. Dec qtr 2000, aged 86 – Southend on Sea 4751C C7C 229 12DD
3. Ellen Amy Leigh / Cheeper / Raymond (1889->1925)
   She was born 2 November 1889, also at Queensferry 670/00 0096.
   The census entry in April 1891 shows her as a 1-year-old in the household in Queensferry.
   She is in the 1901 Census, as Ellen A. Raymond, aged 11, with Amy, at 21 New Gravel Lane Dwellings in Shadwell (East London).
   m. 20 Nov 1915 to Heskett Bland Fletcher (Registry Office, Epsom, Dec qtr 1915 2a 109)
   He was recorded as being 29, a bachelor, and a draper's assistant.
   She was 26, and also shown as a draper's assistant.
   Both were shown as being resident at 6 London Rd, Cheam (on the SW edge of London).
   His father was shown as Thomas Henry Fletcher, plumber, deceased.
   They had two children.
   We have no further knowledge of Ellen or of Heskett B.
   1. Heskett W. Fletcher (1916-1942)
      b. Mar qtr 1916 – Epsom 2a 39
      Anne found an entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database.
      He was a musician in the Royal Marine Band
      [which, from other family experience, suggests that he was 'orphaned' into the Marines
      at about age 12-14, on an extremely long and unbreakable contract of service]
      m. Kathleen Maud Chappell, Mar qtr 1940 – Surrey Mid.E. 2a 515
      d. 18 Nov 1942 aboard HMS Arethusa, aged 26.
      She was a cruiser 1934-50, for much of 1941-42 in the Med on the Malta convoy runs. Wikipedia says "While on operation 'Stoneage', a torpedo from an Italian aircraft struck her on 18 November 1942 and caused heavy casualties". That was a fortnight after El Alamein.
      His name is engraved at Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Southsea Common.
      This is for the 14,918 naval dead with no known graves.
      (Southsea Common is very familiar to our family, and I was there in mid-July 2009).
      Kathleen re-married, to Norman Laidlow, Mar qtr 1949 – Cambridge 3a 498.
      Anne made contact with John Clark, who married Jill Chappell, the granddaughter of Kathleen Chappell's brother, and established that ...
      Kathleen Laidlow, nee Chappell, formerly Fletcher, d. Aug 1960.
      There appear to have been no children, from either marriage.
   2. Marion A. Fletcher (1925-?)
      b. Mar qtr 1925 – Wandsworth 1d 1006
      We have no further knowledge of her
4. Catherine Alice Leigh / Cheeper / Raymond (1893->1914)
   She was born 24 Apr 1893, also at Queensferry 670/00 0019
   She is in the 1901 Census, as Catherine A. Raymond, aged 7, with Amy.
   They were then at 21 New Gravel Lane Dwellings in Shadwell (East London).
   m. 25 Dec 1912, so aged 19 – Poplar 1c 1013, i.e. East London – certificate
   m. Harry Thomas Arthur MAYS, also aged 19.
   He was then a meat porter. They were both of 23 Stafford Rd (East End, near Upton Park).
   Her father is shown as Albert Jacques RAYMOND (dec'd), Excise Officer
   1. Harry C. Mays, 1913-?
      b. Jun qtr 1913 – Mile End 1c 814
      We have no further knowledge of him
   2. Catherine A. Mays, 1914->1934
      b. Sep qtr 1914 – Bethnal G. 1c 257
      m. Dec qtr 1933 – Poplar 1c 711
      m. Arthur B. CLINTON
      • 1A. Arthur A. Clinton, b. 1934
        Twin, b. Sep qtr 1934 – Finsbury 1b 701
        We have no further knowledge of him
      • 1B. Bernard E. Clinton, b. 1934
        Twin, b. Sep qtr 1934 – Finsbury 1b 701
        We have no further knowledge of him

We've not made any contact with any people in these lines.

Children of Albert Cheeper and Jane Dawson (married 1897-1937)

On 28 April 1897, Albert married Jane Dawson. At the time of their marriage, he was 35 and she was 19.

Albert and Jane had four children:

• 5 – Thomas Hunter Cheeper (1898-1962)
  b. 8 Feb 1898, at Wentworth Place, Allendale, near Hexham, Northumberland.
  He was always known as Hunter. His story is in a separate document
• 6 – Ursula Mary Cheeper (1901-1974)
  b. 15 Sep 1901, at Wentworth Place, Allendale, Northumberland – birth certificate
  m. 13 May 1920, to William GRIGOR, in Glascow.
  He was a student of engineering, 26 years of age.
  William's father was also William Grigor, a wine merchant, and his mother was Christine McIntosh, deceased. Ursula was then an 18-year-old typist.
  William dies not appear again, and the Ursula's next entries are in London.
  Ursula had 1 child, b. 10 Jan 1927, but no father's name appears on the entry.
  m. 15 Jun 1929, to William TATMAN, 28, a coal porter – certificate
  At the Registry Office, Wandsworth, South London
  At that stage, Ursula was 28, with a 2-year-old child.
  She presents as a domestic servant and spinster, and says her father was Albert Grigor, with an Occupation consistent with that of her father Albert Cheeper.
  They were at two different addresses in Streatham.
  Ruth Phillips never knew her, but believes that she had a pub in Somerset.
  Ruth thinks that there was only one child.
  Ursula Mary Tatman d. 11 Aug 1974, Bedford General Hospital – certificate
  Consistently with Ruth's memory, she is listed as 'Widow of William Tatman, Publican'; but not in Somerset, but at 14 Marsh Lane, Milton Ernest, Bedford (which, at least in September 2009, is a house not a pub).
  The informant was c/- The Vicarage in that village.
  The village is 5 miles north of Bedford. (Completely separately, my mother's family was from Houghton Conquest, 10 miles south of Bedford).
  The date and place of birth were vague ('about 1901, England'), suggesting no next of kin were involved at the end.
1. Nance Grigor, b. 10 Jan 1927 – certificate
   We know nothing more about her
   Mother Ursula Mary Grigor formerly Cheeper, a Waitress of Lewisham.
   The address is Sydnenham Hill.
   No father is listed.
• 7– Dorothy Elsie Cheeper (1909-1983)
  b. 4 Jun 1909, Aberlour/Banff 145/00 0028 (50km E of Inverness, Speyside).
  At that stage, Albert was 47 and Jane was 31.
  Albert was listed as a supervisor for the Inland Revenue.
  The family appears to have been at Inverness through the period of Dorothy's early childhood, because certificates in Ruth's possession show that Dorothy took piano exams with the Franciscan Convent, Inverness, each year from 1919 to 1923 (at ages 10 to 14).
  She passed her Junior Local Examination at 16 in December 1925 (at 16), and her School Certificate Examinations at 18, in December 1927 (at 18).
  The certificates refer to the 'Centre' as being Bournemouth, and Bournemouth High School, suggesting that the family moved south in 1924-5.
  Dorothy did nursing at King's College Hospital Nursing School in London from 1934-37, aged 25-28, winning first place in the final exams and the Monk Memorial Prize.
  There is a photo of her in 1936, with her father and others of the family, at Deal in Kent.
  Ruth and David both say that she did not marry, and she had no children.
  She was near Falmouth in Cornwall during WWII.
  Ruth says that Dorothy chose to have no contact with the family, apparently because of some (all-too-common!) embarrassment about pre-marital relationships.
  She either stayed in Cornwall, or returned there, because she died in NW Cornwall.
  d. Mar qtr 1983, at the age of 73 (or 74 or 76) – Mar Qtr, 1983, Camborne-R 21 008).
  David ended up with some photos from her estate dated in the 1850's – so quite probably of Anthony Jacques Cheeper and Catherine Spilsbury; but they were of people he didn't know, so regrettably he disposed of them.
• 8– Kathleen Jean Cheeper (1913->1945)
  b. 1913, at Kiltearn/Ross and Cromarty 070/00 0009 (25km N of Inverness)
  m. James (Jim) Meadows, Sep Qtr 1947 Hendon MX 5f 557
  It appears that they had no children.
  Jim had a son by a previous marriage, Tony Meadows.
  Tony was a Concorde pilot, presumably b. in the 1930s?
  Ruth knows that Jean was burnt in a fire resulting from an air-raid in WWII.
  During WWII, she would have been 26-32.
  Jean presumably died some years after WWII.
  By 2005, Ruth was no longer in contact with Tony.
  Tony lives in Boreham, near Chelmsford, Essex.

The only issue we're aware of from these four children are Ursula's child, Nance Grigor, and Ruth Cheeper-Phillips and her considerable family (see the separate Thomas Hunter story).

We're missing a lot of information; and we'd love to know more!

This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann

Created: 15 October 2005; Last Amended: 27 September 2009