Alexander “Sandy” Ival (1831-1911), farmer and ancestor of Canadian Ivalls

There are a significant number of people with the surname Ivall who live in Canada. They are descended from Alexander (also known as Sandy) Ival. This profile of his life is based on research done by Margaret Ivall Bymoen and published by her in 1983. As far as I know, Alexander is not related to me or to other English Ivalls.

Anne and James Dey emigrated from Scotland to Canada c 1837, bringing with them Alexander Ival, who was then aged about five years old. The name Ival / Ivel was quite common in the Moray area of Scotland at this time and this is probably where Alexander was born in about 1831. Anne Gauld had married James Dey in Botriphinie, Banff County, Scotland in 1833. Alexander could (as Margaret Bymoen suggests) have been Anne’s son from an earlier marriage, although there is no marriage, birth or baptism record to support this theory. I think it more likely that he was Anne’s brother. Anne is shown (with James Dey and their children) in the 1851 Canada census as “Anny Ivell”, aged 40. This census records married women under their maiden names. The Dey family (and Alexander) settled in the Cote St Gabriel area (near Saint Jerome) about 50 miles NW of Montreal in Quebec.

On 16th December 1850 Alexander (aged about 19) married Jane Kerr (aged about 17) in a Scottish Presbyterian Church at Chatham, Ottawa River, Quebec. Jane was born in 1833 in Quebec, the daughter of Patrick Kerr, a farmer from Ireland. Alexander and Jane went on to have ten children (eight boys and two girls), namely John (1852-1918), James (b1853), Alexander (1855-1922), George (1856-1947), Robert (1858-1929), William (1860-1940), Samuel (1863-1919), Mary Ann (b1865), Jane (b1868) and Edward (1870-1955). John, their first son, was born on March 10th 1852 and baptised in September 1852 at St Andrews Wesleyan Methodist Church in St Jerome.

The 1861 census shows Alexander Ival (aged 30, a farmer) living at Mille-Isles, County of Argentueil, Quebec with his wife Jane (aged 27) and children John (11), James (9), Alexander (7), George (5), Robert (3) and William (1).

In 1871 the family were still living at Mille-Isles and consisted of Alexander Ival (40, a farmer), Jane (37), John (20, a blacksmith), James (19, a farmer), Alexander (15), George (14), Robert (12), William (8), Mary Ann (6), Jane (3) and Edward (6 months).

Margaret Bymoen writes

In those years the men used to go to the bush in the winter or to build roads in the summer to make extra money. In the 1870’s the Carillon dam (on the Ottawa River) and canal was built (the work was done 1873-82). Sandy (Alexander) and one of his older boys went to work on this dam one summer. When fall came he sent his son home with the horses and said he would follow in a few days. He did not come home and it was assumed that he had met with foul play or in some way lost his life.

Many, many years later Percy Ivall (son of William Ivall) who was a conductor on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) heard that there had been an old man by the name of Sandy Ivall at Sutton, Quebec. He went there and did some enquiring but found nothing.

In 1967 I decided to write to the minister of the United Church of Canada in Sutton, Quebec and to my surprise I got a photocopy of a death certificate of “Sandy” Ivall, died in 1911. His age and all corresponds with our ancestor and I think there is little doubt it was he.

In 1881, Jane Ivall (55) was living in Mille-Isles with her children George (23, a farmer), Robert (21, a farmer), William (19), Samuel (17) Mary Ann (16), Jane (14) and Edward (11). Jane is shown as a widow. Alexander Ival (50, a farmer, born in Scotland) is shown in the 1881 census as living in Sutton, Quebec with Bell Ival (39). In 1891, Alexander (60, a farmer) was still living in Sutton with Arbelle Ival (49) and also their daughter Susan (6). Alexander and Arbelle are listed as married. It seems therefore that Alexander decided to leave his first wife and ten children to set up home with a younger woman ! If he married Arbelle, it must have been bigamously (quite possibly he told others that he was married to her, but was not). Sutton is about 70 miles SE of Montreal, about 110 miles from Mille-Isles (which is about 50 miles NW of Montreal).

Jane Ivall nee Kerr

The 1901 census shows Alexander Ival, aged 75 (he was actually about 70), a farm labourer living in Sutton township with his wife Adeline Ival (nee Hopson), aged 75 and her sister Mandy Hopson, aged 55. So it seems that by 1901, Alexander had a third wife/partner ! 

Alexander was aged about 80 when he died on 14th March 1911. This was just before the 1911 census was compiled. It showed Adeline Ival, a widow, aged 60 (born Nov 1851 in Canada), living with her sister Mandy, aged 64. It seems that Adeline's age in the 1901 census was incorrect, it should have been 50.

Alexander's first wife Jane died 18th March 1917 aged about 84. 

Robert Thomas Ivall (1812-65), coachmaker of High Wycombe

Robert Thomas Ivall was the elder brother of David Ivall (1816-67), my great great grandfather. This article contains information provided by Dennis Ivall and Christopher Low. It was published in the June 2012 edition of Origins, the magazine of the Buckinghamshire Family History Society.

Robert was born on 4 December 1812 in East Sheen, Surrey and baptised nearby at St Mary the Virgin, Mortlake on 27 Dec 1812. His parents were Thomas (1781-1835) and Jane Ivall nee Smith (1780-1866). Thomas and Jane had three other children : Georgiana Jane (1810-21), Louisa (1814-48) and David (1816-67).

Soon after Robert was born, the family moved to Bray in Berkshire. At the time of the baptism of his son David in 1816, Thomas was described as “gardener” of Down Place, Bray. This was a landed estate about 2 miles SE of the village of Bray. Down Place house was built in about 1750 and is next to the Thames. The estate was the property of Henry Harford in 1816. Thomas’s wife Jane, when widowed described herself as “formerly a gentleman’s steward’s wife”. Thomas’s will, made in 1835, describes him as a yeoman (meaning someone owning land) of Down Place. The house, which is on the banks of the Thames, still exists. It is part of the Bray Film Studios, which were used by Hammer Film Productions to make horror films between 1951 and 1966. Since then the films Alien and The Rocky Horror Picture Show were made there.

Down Place, Bray (2007)

Robert was educated at Mr Pridmore’s Academy in Camberwell. His father Thomas died in 1835, when Robert was 22 leaving him, his sister Louisa and brother David each £550 (equivalent to about £400,000 now, estimated in relation to average earnings). Thomas’s will instructed that the rest of his estate (about £1,800) be invested to provide an income for his widow, Jane, and be divided equally between his children after her death or re-marriage. Robert was an executor of the will. The death duty record gives his address as Castle Street, Bloomsbury and his occupation as coachmaker.

On May 1^st 1836, Robert married Harriet Owen at St James’s Piccadilly (his parents had been married in the same church). He was aged 23 and she was 31. They went on to have eight children: Thomas (1837-1908), George (1839-56), Robert (1840-97), Jane (1841-71), Marian (1844-1914), Owen (b1846), Louisa (1848-88) and Harriet (1850-1931). I have a copy of pages from the family’s bible giving their places and dates of birth.

The Buckinghamshire County Archive has a Deed of Covenant and Indemnity dated 5^th January 1838 in which Robert’s mother Jane (who lived in Maidenhead) agrees to give Robert £300 (half of his entitlement on her death). He agreed to pay her interest of 3.5% pa on this sum.

Robert established a coach making business in High Wycombe, Bucks where he lived from 1837 until about 1849. Directories of Buckinghamshire dated 1839, 1842 and 1847 give the address of Robert Thos Ivall, Coach Maker as High St, High Wycombe. An item in the Bucks Herald dated 28 Sep 1839 advertises the sale by auction of the lease of a house and premises, part of which was occupied by Robert. His section is described as “comprising dwelling house, yard, workshops, stable, coach-house and garden, now in the occupation of Mr Ivall, coachbuilder……This property is very eligibly situate in the High-street: has a frontage of 54 feet, and is about 417 feet in depth. The part in the occupation of Mr Ivall, produces £25 per annum.” Research shows that the location of the property was actually in Easton Street (which is a continuation of High Street heading east), on its south side. The building still exists, now occupied by Bruce, Lance & Co, Solicitors.

The first seven of Robert’s children were baptized at All Saints Church (which is at the western end of the High Street), the first (Thomas) in 1837 and the seventh (Louisa) in 1848. The 1841 census shows Robert and Harriet living in High Wycombe with their children Thomas (aged 3), George (2) and Robert (11 months).

The Windsor and Eton Express dated 17 September 1842 contains an item describing the opening of a Druid’s Lodge in High Wycombe. It says “Brother Ivall of the grand lodge and the Supreme Royal Arch Chapter was then installed as Noble Arch to the new lodge, and very highly complimented as being the first to introduce Druidism in the county of Buckingham. The brothers then entered with great glee into the amusements of the evening in that peculiar way for which Druids are so justly celebrated. The Noble Arch Ivall’s health having been drank, he replied in a very admirable speech, in which he congratulated them and himself on the final establishment of the new lodge.” It seems very likely that “Brother Ivall” was Robert. The Druids seem to have been a Friendly Society / social group having little or nothing to do with the Welsh religion.

 Robert Ivall’s Trade Card

The Buckinghamshire County Archive has a Deed of Assignment dated 12^th April 1845 stating that Robert owes his mother Jane Ivall £90 2s. He promises to pay her this sum with interest on 29^th September 1845 and in the meantime his goods and chattels (itemised in the deed) are assigned to her. This document may indicate that Robert’s mother didn’t trust him to repay the loan. Another possible explanation is that Robert knew that he faced bankruptcy and this was a way of keeping his possessions out of reach of his creditors.

The London Gazette published notice of an insolvency hearing for “Robert Thomas Ivall, formerly of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Coach Maker” to be held at Aylesbury Court House on 19 April 1847. The 19 June 1849 London Gazette announced that his creditors were to be paid one shilling and eight pence in the pound.

The Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer dated 26^th October 1895 published a report on the Annual Meeting of the Ancient Order of Foresters (Bucks and Middlesex district). This was a Friendly Society that began in 1834. Its members paid a few pence a week into a common fund from which sick pay and funeral grants could be drawn. The speaker at the meeting detailed the history of the organization, saying that Robert Thomas Ivall was elected District Secretary in 1848 and held the post for the next 17 years. He kept the minute book “in as perfect a manner as anyone could possibly keep it.”

In 1849 Robert and his wife were recommended by some 50 residents of High Wycombe for the posts of Master and Matron of the Cookham Union Workhouse. Cookham is a village on the Thames near High Wycombe. It seems that he was not appointed, as I can find no records of him living in Cookham. In 1850 his youngest child (Harriett) was baptized in Burnham, a village between Maidenhead and Slough. In 1851 he was living in Chalvey, a village which is now a district of Slough. The census that year shows Robert (aged 38, his occupation given as coach maker) with Harriet his wife (46) and their children Robert (10), Jane (9), Marian (6), Owen (5), Louisa (3) and Harriet (7 months).

The family was still living in Chalvey in 1861. The census lists Robert aged 48, a coach maker woodman with Harriet (56), Owen (15), Louisa (13), and Harriet (10). Also at the same address was Jane Ivall (80), Robert’s widowed mother who died in 1866.

The Aldershot Military Gazette dated September 3^rd 1864 contains a report of dinner held to celebrate the anniversary of Court 4151 Ancient Order of Foresters. Robert, as the district secretary, gave a speech. It included the words “There is no doubt that the system we are pursuing is doing much, not only for ourselves but also for the community at large, in the reduction of poor rates, and the prevention, when sickness or death comes upon us, of having recourse to those stern forbidding places we call union workhouses.”

Robert died on 13 August 1865 in Chalvey and was buried there. The following obituary appeared in the Foresters’ Miscellany magazine of October 1865.

“August 13^th, at Chalvey, near Slough, aged 53 years, Br. Robert Thomas Ivall, for upwards of 20 years the intelligent and respected secretary of the Bucks and Middlesex District. At the London High Court Meeting, 1861, Br. Ivall performed the duties of High Court Auditor.”

The job of High Court Auditor was in a small team of three or four chosen members, to go through the Ancient Order of Forester’s Accounts for the preceding year and make comments as appropriate. It was a post held for just that year, but brought with it a certain standing.

Allegations of fraud by Robert were made after his death. More information about these are in a separate item on this blog.

There is no record of probate being granted on Robert’s estate. Harriet, Robert’s wife, died in 1881 aged 77.

Robert was known as talented but rather eccentric and he made a reputation as a poet. Some of his poems and examples of his excellent penmanship were in the possession of his great-grandson Thomas Edward Ivall (1926-97), who was himself a writer.

Louisa Crouch nee Ivall (1855-1898)

Louisa Ivall was a younger sister of my great grandfather George Ivall (1853-1932). This profile of her life contains information from John Mottram, who is her great grandson.

Louisa was born on December 29^th 1855 at 6 Pontypool Place, Southwark. She was the eighth of nine children (five boys and four girls) born to David Ivall and his wife Elizabeth. In 1861, David Ivall’s family were living at 19 Nursery Row, Walworth (South London) and consisted of David (aged 44, a coach maker), Elizabeth (43), Georgina (17), Elizabeth (10), George (7), Louisa (5) and William (2). Nursery Row no longer exists, there is a park where the road used to be. Louisa was christened on 31 July 1867 at St John’s, Walworth. Louisa was nearly 14 by then - such a late christening is unusual. Her father David died later that year.

Louisa was a witness to her brother George’s wedding on 17th May 1875. On 6 February 1876, she married George William Crouch, at St John’s, Walworth. The marriage certificate gives his occupation as “Japanner” which means someone who applied Japanese style black hard varnish called “Japanning”. They were both aged 20 and went on to have 7 children who were born between 1876 and 1888.

The 1881 census shows George and Louisa living at 73 Bingfield St, Islington with their two eldest children George (aged 4) and Louisa (1). The occupation of Louisa’s husband is given as “Deal Furniture Maker (Cabinet Maker)”. It seems that George and his brother Alfred worked in a cabinet making business founded by their father George John Crouch. G J Crouch and Sons, Cabinet Makers, is listed in the Business Directory of London 1884 with premises at Alpha Place, Caledonian Road and York Road, Kings Cross. The York Road establishment is close to Bingfield Street, where George and Louisa lived. By 1891, the family’s address was 97 Pembroke St, Islington and consisted of George (aged 34, now a Cab Driver Groom) and Louisa (34) and their children George (14, a bradawl maker), Louisa (11), Florence (9), Charles (7), William (6), Alfred (5) and David (3).

Louisa died on 25 April 1898 aged 42 in Islington Infirmary of phthisis pulmonalis (another name for tuberculosis). She was buried at Islington Cemetery, East Finchley in an (unmarked) common grave.

The family moved to Edmonton soon after Louisa’s death, where two of her sons were accidentally drowned. The inquest was reported in the Edmonton and Tottenham Weekly Guardian, Friday 4 August 1899 :

TWO BOYS DROWNED IN A BROOK – INQUEST

On Friday afternoon last (28 July 1899), Mr Langham, deputy coroner, held a lengthy inquiry at Cemetery House, Edmonton, respecting the deaths of two lads named David Crouch, aged 10 and William Crouch, aged 14, the sons of George William Crouch, a cabman who had only resided about a week at Wimborne Road on the Church Fields Estate, Lower Edmonton and who were drowned on the previous Wednesday evening (26 July 1899) while bathing in “Salmons” brook in a hole between six and seven feet deep.

 George William Crouch, the father, said that he only moved to the present address on Monday. He never knew the boys to go into the water before. He left home to go to work about 8.10 on Wednesday evening, both boys were then at home, but must have gone out soon after.

Victor Cann, aged 8, of 4 Wimborne Rd said he met the boys across the fields and they asked him if he was going to bathe, he told them no, but he accompanied them to the brook. William went into the water first and David followed afterwards. They seemed to slip and he saw no more of them. He called out to them, but as they did not come to the surface, he ran home and told his mother and a sister of the boys.

Louisa Crouch said that she gave her brothers permission to go out. They did not say they were going bathing. Shortly afterwards the lad Cann came and told her that they were in the water and could not get out. She sent her brother and another boy to the brook and afterwards followed herself but was not allowed to see the bodies of the deceased.

Alfred Mills said he undressed and dived into the water but could not find the bodies. Some rods were obtained and soon after the bodies were recovered. The witness had seen boys bathing at that spot before.

John Newby of Ponders End, who was in charge of the Fire Station the day the council had their outing to Yarmouth, said that he heard of the occurrence and proceeded to the brook with a hitcher and pulled out both the boys. There was a hole six feet deep in the bed of the brook at this spot.

Richard Fletcher of 12 Church Lane said that he helped recover the bodies.

PC Driscoll 372N said that he and Dr Morrow attempted to restore life by artificial respiration but unfortunately failed.

The jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death adding a rider to the effect that the proper authorities should be communicated with a view to having the hole filled up.

Police Constable Driscoll drew an excellent plan of the place where the accident happened for the guidance of the jury.

George Crouch died in 1907 aged 51.

David Victor Dick (1924-2001), jump jockey

David was a son of Alice Isabel Dick nee Ivall (1900-86), who was a daughter of Percy Ivall (1877-1945), who was descended from David Ivall (1795-1850), the successful coachmaker and brother of my ancestor Thomas Ivall (1781-1835). David's father was David Purvis Dick (1897-1989).

The following obituary was published in the Independent on 21 February 2001.

David Victor Dick, jump jockey: born Epsom, Surrey 8 March 1924; married 1969 Caroline Lockhart (one son, one daughter); died Ashampstead, Berkshire 15 February 2001 aged 76.

Renowned as the hardest of the hard men, Dave Dick was one of the top jump jockeys in post-war Britain and a serious contender for the greatest jump jockey never to have been champion. His swashbuckling style and colourful character ensured he stood out in the National Hunt scene in the 1950s, an era now revered as a golden age for steeplechase riders.

Despite a constant struggle with his weight - at six feet tall, he was distinctly on the large side for a jockey - Dick partnered numerous big-race winners. Among them was one of the most dramatic victories of all-time in the 1956 Grand National, where he rode ESB. The race is better known for its runner-up Devon Loch, who inexplicably collapsed when seemingly assured of victory 50 yards from the line under Dick Francis, riding for the Queen Mother. Newsreel footage of the race has become a staple of television coverage at Aintree; seldom is it mentioned that it is Dick who careers past the stricken Devon Loch.

Dick also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup - a more prestigious race to cognoscenti than the National - on Mont Tremblant as well as many other major contests, including several at jump racing's holy of holies, the National Hunt Festival.

The son of an Epsom-based trainer, Dick was born in 1924 and attended the same school as his lifelong friend Fred Winter, who was to become champion jockey and trainer, and a racing legend in the process.

Apprenticed to his father, also named Dave, Dick started as a Flat-race rider and secured his first winner at Brighton in September 1938. In 1941 he won the high-profile Lincolnshire Handicap on Gloaming. Burgeoning weight meant Flat racing was soon to be forgotten by the young rider in favour of jumping, where more mature horses are set to carry heavier burdens, but he remains the only rider to have won both halves of the so-called Spring Double, the Lincoln and the National.

Dick shot to prominence in the National Hunt world in 1951 when he was retained to ride the horses of the leading owner Dorothy Paget, who were trained by the great Fulke Walwyn and for whom he rode Mont Tremblant to Cheltenham success the following year. The victory was particularly noteworthy as the horse was technically a novice, in that he had never won over fences before the season in question, which made winning the Gold Cup an incredible feat.

Dick's weight problems - he spent countless hours attempting to shed unwanted pounds - meant he could never rely on the numerical firepower needed to become champion jockey. But he was famed as a big-race specialist, his reputation as the strongest finisher in the sport with a courageous spirit to match combining to produce an impressive strike-rate in the top events.

Besides the "crown jewels" of the National and Gold Cup, Dick won the Two-Mile Champion Chase twice, including victory in 1965 on Dunkirk, one of the greatest two-mile specialists in racing history. He was also associated with Pas Seul, another of the Sixties' leading steeplechasers, aboard whom he won the 1961 Whitbread Gold Cup. Dick's career total of 348 jumps winners featured an unusually high quota of the sport's bigger prizes and he remained at the top of the tree for 15 years until his retirement in 1966.

By that time, his exploits and sayings had also became the stuff of legend; his close friend and former colleague Terry Biddlecombe, himself three-times champion jockey, has described Dick as "the funniest man in racing". According to the Racing Post, a typical example of Dick's wit occurred at the start of one Grand National, always a fractious time for the jockeys involved. On this occasion, a man was sighted carrying a banner which read: "Repent or your sins will find you out." Dick is reported to have given the individual a long, hard look, turned to a fellow rider and said: "If that's the case, I won't get to the first fence!" Few of his colleagues, among whom he was deservedly popular, would have disagreed.

The weighing room was undoubtedly a lesser place for Dick's retirement, though he stayed in the sport in bloodstock roles, including managing the Wyld Court Stud for Peter de Savary and later acting as racing manager to a Kuwaiti sheikh.

In his later years he slipped out of the public eye, but the warmth of the tributes which have been carried in the racing press since his death testify to the enduring legacy of the man who truly deserved the title "the last of the cavaliers". 

The 1939 Register shows David (an apprentice jockey) living with his parents at Glanmire Farm, Epsom.

Dennis Endean Ivall (1921-2006), artist and art teacher

Dennis was a grandson of William Ivall (1859-1940), who was a brother of George Ivall (1853-1932), my great grandfather. Dennis’s parents were William Charles Ivall (1883-1968) and his wife Florence Bessie Ivall nee Endean (1885-1960). I made contact with Dennis in 2004, soon after I started my research into the Ivall family. We never met, although we spoke by phone. He kindly supplied me with a copy of the excellent research on Ivall family history he had done between 1955 and 1986. This was enormously helpful.

Dennis Ivall

Dennis’s son David sent me a copy of the tribute below.

Tribute to Dennis Endean Ivall, who passed away on 6th February 2006, aged 84 years, read at his funeral at St. Piran’s Church, Perranarworthal

Dennis Endean Ivall was born in Essex in 1921, the youngest of four children.  His father was then an accountant with ICI and his mother was a member of the Endean family of St. Agnes, so he visited Cornwall for holidays from an early age.  He attended the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Chingford, and then joined ICI.  In the Second World War he enlisted in the Ordnance Corps, seeing active service in the retreat from Burma, and later in Ceylon and the Cocos Islands, where he reached the rank of Warrant Officer, First Class.

After the war he trained as an artist and art teacher, and it was at this period that he became engaged to Irene Lloyd-Jones, the sister of his best friend from school.  Although she went out to Australia for a year, he was waiting on her return, and they married in 1952.  Working at first as a freelance artist, he later became an art teacher in Barnstaple, North Devon – the nearest to Cornwall that he could get at the time.  It was while living at Barnstaple that their two sons were born – David and Gerard.
 

In 1973, Dennis took early retirement and moved to Cornwall, living at first at Ponsanooth and then for thirty years at Perranwell.  He worked as a designer, a record agent and principally as a heraldic artist and designer, only retiring from this work when suffering from illness in the last three years of his life.

Heraldic art was his great passion, and he carried out the design and painting of coats of arms for many clients across the world.  He was the author of the book Cornish Heraldry and Symbolism and, among the work he carried out in Cornwall, was the painting of the organ panels at Cuby church, the repainting of the coat of arms at St.Dennis after the fire and the design and painting of a banner for St.Agnes and, of course, the banner of St. Piran in this church.

Heraldry and his military service gave rise to an interest in army insignia and badges and, with Professor Charles Thomas, he was the author and illustrator of Military Insignia of Cornwall.  He was a founder member of the Cornwall Militaria Group, and a long serving member of the Perranarworthal branch of the British Legion.
 

His enthusiasm for heraldry led Dennis to join the Order of St.Lazarus, an international charitable order founded in the Holy Land.  He was a member of the Commandery of Avalon in the West Country, and became Judge of Arms of the Commandery, of the Bailiwick of England and then of the whole order worldwide, attaining the rank of Knight Grand Cross.   
   

His other great interest was family history, and in his researches over the years he succeeded in tracing his Ivall ancestors back to the seventeenth century in Hampshire, and his Endean ancestors in Cornwall back to the fifteenth century.  He was a founder member of the Cornwall Family History Society, a committee member for a number of years and, among his projects for the Society, he and Irene recorded and plotted all the memorial inscriptions in Perranarworthal churchyard.  He also studied the Cornish language, becoming a bard of the Cornish Gorseth, and served on the Gorseth Council. 

Although he was such a talented artist, with a worldwide clientele, he was always ready to lend his talents to local activities, whether painting scenery for Carnon Downs Drama Group, drawing posters for the Women’s Institute or touching up the lettering on the war memorial. 

Dennis is survived by Irene, his wife for over fifty years, his two sons and his elder sister in America.  He will be remembered by them as a loving, gentle man, always supportive, never criticising.  He will be remembered by everyone else as someone always cheerful, always with a friendly word or a joke (even if not a very good one), always ready to help.  We shall miss him.

William Frank Ivall (1871-1953), postman

William Frank Ivall was a great grandson of Charles Ivall (1779-1832) who was an elder brother of Thomas Ivall (1781-1835), my great great great grandfather.

William was born 10 May 1871 in Basingstoke in Hampshire, the sixth of seven children (six girls and two boys) born to Henry Charles Ivall (1827-1893, a carpenter and joiner) and his wife Mary Ann (b1834).

In 1881 William’s family were living in Church Street, Dorking and consisted of Henry (53, a carpenter), Mary (45) Henry (13) and William Ivall (9). The records of Dorking British School contain an entry dated 19 May 1881 stating exam results. Among those listed were W Ivall, who achieved the grade of "good" in the 1st grade freehand drawing exam.

British Postal Service Appointment Books show that William was appointed as telegraph messenger in March 1886, when he was aged 14. In July 1889 he became a sub postman and in December 1891 he was a postman in London Zone II. The London Gazette of 20 August 1889 contains a list of appointments including that of William Frank Ivall as a London postman.

The 1891 census shows that William (aged 19, a postman) was a boarder at 18 Ireton St, Bromley by St Leonard, Bow. In 1901, William (27, a postman) was living at 98 Eleanor Road, Hackney. At the same address were his brother Henry (33), Henry’s wife Ellen (31) and their 5 children plus two boarders.

The 1911 census lists William Frank Ivall (aged 39, a postman), his wife Sarah J (42) and their adopted son Frank (9) living at 64 Navarino Rd, Dalston, Hackney. Also at the address were William’s stepfather David Rendall (80) and a boarder. The census says that William and Sarah had been married for 4 years. In fact William did not marry Sarah Jane Coxall (b1867) until 1916. The wedding was in Hackney, he was 45 and she was 49. Records indicate that they had no children (apart from Frank).

Sarah Jane had a son, Charles Randolph Coxall, who had been born in 1891 in Hackney. His birth record has a blank for "mother's maiden name", so it seems that she was not married to his father. Charles joined the army in 1914 and was a Corporal in the Machine Gun Corps on 11 January 1918, when he was killed in France.

The census in 1921 lists William (50, a postman at Hackney Sorting Office), Sarah (52) and Frank (19, an instrument maker) at 64 Navarino Road, Hackney.  

On 9 May 1931 William, retired as a postman aged 60. The London Postal Archive has the letter sent to the Treasury stating his pension entitlement. On his retirement, William’s salary was £119.19.8 per year. The value of his uniform was assessed at £2.10.0 per year, making a total of £122.9.8. His pension was 60% of the total ie £73.10.0 per year. The letter gives his absence record in the last 5 years of his employment. It shows that he was absent due to illness 16 days in the year up to 10 May 1927, 26 days in 1928, 47 days in 1929, 33 days in 1930 and 31 days in 1931. This seems like quite a lot ! William had worked as a postman for 41 years and 8 months was recommended for an Imperial Service Medal which was a long service award to junior staff in the civil service who had an unblemished record and at least 25 years service. It is a silver circular medal bearing the effigy of the reigning monarch on one side, and the motif of a naked man resting after work with the legend 'For Faithful Service' on the other side. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. It is suspended on a ribbon of crimson with a blue central stripe. The London Gazette of 23 June 1931 reported that the medal was awarded to William on 9 June 1931.

The 1929 and 1933 Electoral Registers for Hackney Central show William and Sarah still at 64 Navarino Rd. Also in the household were Frank Ivall and his wife Dora Gardner Ivall.

The 1939 national register lists William (a retired postman) and Sarah Ivall at 64 Navarino Road.

William’s wife Sarah died 1943 aged 76 in Hackney and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery. William died in 1953 aged 81. The probate record reads

“William Frank Ivall of 64 Navarino Rd, Hackney died 18 Jan 1953 at Hackney Hospital. Administration (with will) to Annabelle Beatrice Cohen, spinster £750.”

William’s will is handwritten and doesn’t seem to be have been completed. It is signed but not dated or witnessed and no executors are named. The will reads

“I give and bequeath to my housekeeper Beatrice Cohen everything. Sydney Crewdson is to have my gun, Frank Ivall Graham Rd is to receive my Wife’s astijus (?) china in the cellar. Frank Ivall Graham Rd E8 is to receive my oil painting of old Dad. Frank Ivall Leyton is to receive my oil painting in the cupboard in the hall. I also”

The will ends at this point ! Sidney Greenhow Crewdson was living at 64 Navarino Road with William in 1949. Frank Ivall Graham Rd is William’s adopted son Frank (1901-86). Electoral registers for 1946 and 1954 show him and his wife Dora living at 124 Graham Rd, Hackney. Frank Ivall Leyton is probably Henry Frank Ivall (1896-1962), William’s nephew whose daughter was married in Leyton during 1956.

William Charles Ivall (1883-1968), accountant

William Charles Ivall was a son of William Ivall (1959-1940), who was a brother of my great grandfather George Ivall (1853-1932). This profile contains information from William’s grandson, David Ivall.

William was born on 5 September 1883 in Islington, the second of eight children (4 boys and 4 girls) born to William and Matilda Ivall. He was baptised on 23 September 1883 in St Mary’s, Islington.

The 1891 census shows William Ivall (aged 32, a plumber’s shopman) living at 44 Freeling St, Islington with his wife Matilda (33) and their children Matilda (9), William (7), Elizabeth (5), Harriett (2) and David (6 months). William’s brother George Ivall and his family were living nearby at 51 Freeling Street.

The family were still at 44 Freeling St in 1901 and consisted of William (aged 42, a plumber’s shopman), Matilda (43), Matilda (19, an artificial florist), William (17, a chartered accountant’s clerk), Harriett (12), Albert (7) and Nellie Ivall (4). Charles Booth did a survey of London in 1898-9. He classifies the inhabitants of Freeling Street as being in category 3 (out of 7) “Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family.”

A report in the Islington Gazette dated 27 June 1906 shows that William played cricket for Barnsbury Amateurs 2^nd XI in a match against Ayres 2^nd XI. He was the star player, making 30 runs (the highest score) and taking 5 wickets for 21 runs.

In 1907, William married Florence Bessie Endean in Hampstead. Florence, who was born in St Pancras but came from a Cornish family, was 22 and he was 24. They later had four children namely Doris Rose (1908-2007), Hilda Annie (1910-99), Leonard Fordham (1912-91) and Dennis Endean Ivall (1921-2006).

The 1911 census shows William (27, a bookkeeper for a firm of cartridge manufacturers), Florence (25), Doris (2), Hilda (8 months) and two boarders living at 87 Constantine Road, Hampstead. The property consisted of 5 rooms. Letters in the possession of David Ivall show that William worked for Eley Brothers, who were cartridge manufacturers with a factory and offices in Edmonton. After the war, Eley Brothers became part of the Nobel Group.

In the 1921 census, William (aged 37) and his wife Florence (35) were living at "Newlyn", Hampton Road, Chingford (in NE London) with their four children. William is shown as a "Secretary's Assistant" working for Eley Brothers, ammunition manufacturers, Angel Road, Edmonton. This probably means that he was Assistant to the Company Secretary.

 

Electoral registers for 1918 to 1925 show William and Florence living at "Newlyn", Hampton Road, Chingford. In 1926 they moved to "Hampton House", Hampton Road. In 1930 and 1931, their address is given as 71 Hampton Road, Chingford. 

Florence (William’s wife) was a student at the Trinity College of Music, London in 1929. She was a pianist and piano teacher.

William and his wife Florence

William worked his way up to becoming an accountant with Nobel’s Explosives, which became part of Imperial Chemical Industries in 1926. The 1939 national register shows William (chief accountant at works making armament components from paper and mill board), Florence and their son Dennis living at 54 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (S London). William ended his career as joint managing director of an ICI subsidiary. Telephone directories show that he was living at 54 Beeches Avenue from 1940-3.

Sport was William’s great interest - playing football, swimming, etc as a young man, miniature rifle shooting in his middle years and watching sport on television in old age.  He smoked heavily all his life and had six spoonfuls of sugar in every cup of tea (and still lived to 85!). He was a wizard at mental arithmetic.  Apparently his temper could be quite short, but his wife always said "He's good in other ways".

After his retirement, William and his wife moved in 1943 to St Agnes in Cornwall where, for a few years, they ran a clifftop café - Greencaps, Penwinnick Rd, St Agnes. They moved back to London (122 Ainslie Wood Rd, E4) in 1949, because their son Dennis was a student and his mother thought he needed looking after ! Dennis married in 1952. William and Florence then moved to Pol Major, St Agnes, running it as a café.

In 1960, William and Florence moved to Barnstaple, where their son Dennis was living. Florence died there in 1960 aged 75. William was then cared by his daughter Hilda at his bungalow at Hillcrest, Old Sticklepath Hill, Barnstaple until 1964 and then at her house, The Croggan, Polberro, St Agnes until his death in on 24 October 1968 aged 85 at Meneagh Hospital, Helston, Cornwall. William is buried in Barnstaple Cemetery in the same grave as his wife.

William’s will (made in 1961), appointed Dennis Ivall as his executor. His “gold chain and the gold watch presented to me by Imperial Chemical Industries” went to William’s son Leonard. Dennis was left a silver pocket watch. The rest of his estate (£459 gross, £342 net) was divided equally between his four children.