Rose Lily Kebbell nee Ivall (1885-1965) and her children

Rose was a sister of my grandfather George William Ivall. She was born on 14^th September 1885 in Somers Town, an area of London west of St Pancras Station. Her parents were George Ivall and his wife Alice. They had five children, Rose was their fourth. She was born the year after their third child (called Rosa) had died aged 5 months.

The 1891 census shows George Ivall (aged 38, a cabinet maker), Alice (36), Alice (13), George (10), Rose (5) and Albert (2) living at 51 Freeling Street, Islington. Charles Booth did a poverty survey of London in 1891. He classified the inhabitants of Freeling Street as being in the category “Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family.”

By 1901 the family were living at 125a Holly St, Hackney and consisted of George (aged 49, still a cabinet maker), Alice (47), Alice (23, a theatre bar manageress), Rose (15) and Albert (12). The inhabitants of Holly St are classified in the 1898-9 Booth poverty survey as being “Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings.”

The 1911 census shows Rose (25, a restaurant waitress) living at 76 Princess May Rd, Stoke Newington with her father George (57, a general cabinet maker), mother Alice (55) and brother Albert (22, a general cabinet maker). Later that year, Rose married Walter Edwin Kebbell in Edmonton. He was aged 27, a brewer’s clerk, born in Hackney, a son of Edward Rhodes Kebbell (1834-1915), a carpenter and joiner. She was 26.

Rose and Walter moved to Newport, Isle of Wight, where they had two daughters, Joyce (known as Joy) Lillian Kebbell, born on 18^th January 1914 and Winifred (known as Wynne) Rose Kebbell, born on 6^th May 1915.

 Rose, Wynne, Joy and Walter in 1918

The 1921 census shows the family living at 9 Medina Avenue, Newport. Google Street View shows this to be one of a terrace of Edwardian houses. Walter (aged 37), Rose (35), Joyce (7) and Winifred (6) are listed at the address. Walter's occupation is recorded as "Brewer's manager, bottling dept" working for Whitbread Co Ltd at the Wighthall Brewery, Quay St, Newport. This is about half a mile from 9 Medina Avenue. Also listed are Rose's parents George (aged 67, a retired cabinet maker) and Alice (65). The census was taken in June 1921, so presumably they were visiting their daughter for a summer holiday. 

Clockwise from bottom left : Rose, Charles Alexander Luxford (Rose’s nephew), George Ivall (Rose’s father), Walter, Alice Eliza Ivall (Rose’s mother) and Wynne, c 1929.

Rose’s daughter Joy went to university, which was quite unusual for women at this time. During World War Two, she was a children’s welfare officer, her role being to place evacuees into homes. Phyllis Luxford, the wife of her cousin Charles Luxford, and their two young children were evacuated to live with her in Yeovil.  

Joy in 1933

 Walter and Rose, c 1940

Wynne (aged 30) married Frederick Charles Edwards (aged 34) in February 1946 at St Andrew’s Church, Hove. I have a copy of an item in the Sussex Daily News about the wedding. It says that Fred was recently demobilised from the RAF after nearly four years’ service in the Middle East. Wynne was a school meals organiser for the Brighton Education Committee. The attendants were Wynne’s sister Joy and Gillian Luxford (aged 7), her cousin. The best man was Albert C Gunn, Fred’s brother-in-law. The reception was held at Hove Town Hall and the honeymoon was in Torquay. The article gives Rose and Walter’s address as 46 Langdale Road, Hove and says

“The bride, whose family formerly resided at the Isle of Wight before taking her appointment as school meals organiser for Brighton, established the Yeovil school canteens so satisfactorily that her work drew Ministerial commendation.”

Fred and Wynne on their wedding day

Fred was a wine merchant. Phone books show that he had a shop at 47 Reginald Road, Bexhill-on-Sea in 1950 and 1952. By 1959, his business was located at 6 Collington Mansions, Bexhill-on-Sea.

Rose and Walter had moved to 62 East Street, Brighton by 1950, where they lived until 1962. They then moved to 3 Thornbank, Collington Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea. I have a vague memory of visiting them there with my parents and noticing that there were several grandfather clocks in the house. Walter died on 19^th January 1964 at St Helena Hospital, Hastings aged 79. Rose died on 15^th February 1965 at Bexhill Hospital, also aged 79. Probate on Rose’s estate (£1,748) was granted to Wynne.

Joy, Fred and Wynne in 1984

My parents kept in touch with Wynne and Fred. They had no children and lived above the off-licence that Fred ran in Bexhill-on-Sea. I remember being told off by Wynne for climbing on their sofa during a visit to them, when I was a young child ! In 1966 they moved to Heather Bank, Winchelsea Bank, Guestling, northeast of Hastings. The house had a largish garden on different levels, which they found difficult to maintain as they got older. Fred died in 1991 aged 80, Wynne on 29^th April 1997 aged 81.

Joy never married. I don’t know much about her life but am told that she was rather a serious person, difficult to relax with. My father commented that Joy was a misnomer for her ! Phone books and/or electoral registers show her living at 128 Wightman Road, South Hornsey, London in 1953. By 1961 she was living at 3 Heathville Road, Islington and by 1966 her address was 48 Barrington Court, Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill. By 1975 she had moved to Bexhill-on-Sea and was living at Lamberley Court, Barnhorn Road. When she died on 21^st February 1998 aged 84, her address was Ledsham Court, 314 The Ridge, Hastings.