Friday 18 September 2015

Reuben Chappell trail, Goole

Last Friday I went to The Lowther Hotel in Goole where the official opening took place of the Reuben Chappell Art Trail.

http://www.goolecivicsociety.org.uk/reuben-chappell-art-trail/

This was the culmination of a lot of work by the small but enthusiastic Goole Civic Society who have mounted replicas of some of Reuben Chappell's paintings on sites around the town. The booklets which accompany the trail are beautifully produced and freely available in Goole Library and Museum.

I have written about Reuben Chappell elsewhere on my blog.

http://www.howdenshirehistory.co.uk/goole/reuben-chappell-artist.html

But I was interested to meet on Friday not only Reuben's great grandson who had travelled to Goole from Cornwall [Reuben moved to Cornwall from Goole for his health as he had bronchitis] but also some of the Chappell family of Goole.

Reuben was born in 1870, the fourth of the six surviving children of his parents and in 1871 was living with his family in Turner's Yard which was off Doyle Street in what is now Goole but was then part of the parish of Hook.

His father, George, a native of Goole,  was then described as a wheelwright and Reuben already had three older brothers John William, Alfred Edwin and George. Reuben's mother was called Sarah [formerly Sarah Elizabeth Thrash] and had been born in Doncaster. She and George married in 1861.

By 1881 the family was living in Scott's Square off South Street. George was a joiner and eldest son John was working as an iron works labourer. Reuben now had two younger sisters Clara and Blanche and his youngest sister Rhoda was born in 1882. Sadly Clara died in 1886.

I have briefly traced what happened to Reuben's brothers and sisters

John William married Sarah Dews and was living in 1891 in St George's Terrace He  was a locomotive foreman.  He eventually rose to be an engine driver and lived in Henry Street. He and Sarah had a family of eleven children, three of whom had died by 1911. I have found 9 of them - Ada, George, Miriam,  Edith, Elsie, Wilfred, Joseph, Clifford and Selina.

Alfred Edwin was a general labourer and seems not to have married, remaining with his parents, latterly at number 9 Jackson Street [next door to Reuben and his wife who were at number 7 until their move to Cornwall]. Alfred died in 1935.

George married Alice Redford and lived in Pasture Lane, later Road. He had sons Claud, Reuben,  Ernest, Charles and Cyril. He eventually became a furniture dealer at number 67-69.

Blanche Chappell married Joe Addy in 1898. In 1911 they were living at 23 Fifth Ave. Joe was away at sea and Blanche was at home with Ivy, Ida, Roy, Eric and baby Signa.

Rhoda, a dressmaker, married George Lister in 1922. They had a daughter Audrey and a son George.

George, Reuben's father, died in 1913 and his mother the following year in 1914.







2 comments:

  1. I too attended the opening of the Reuben Chappell Trail and am grateful to the Civic Society for the work they had done to honour my great uncle. Reuben's younger sister Rhoda was my grandmother.
    It was also a pleasure to meet Reuben's great grandson, David Dixon and to learn more about the extended family. I recall that we did visit Cecil in 1959 when holidaying in Cornwall but have only been close to the family of Blanche Addy (Reuben's daughter) from Hull.
    I have been in regular contact with David since that meeting and he then gave me an address for his cousin Caroline in Ecuador. She is a granddaughter of Cecil. Although growing up in Australia and living there for most of her life, she moved to Ecuador a few years ago with her husband. We were lucky enough to meet her in February when visiting the country and spent a wonderful day together. Had it not been for the Chappell Trail, our paths may never have crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Alice’s surname was Bedford, not Redford. She was my mum’s great aunty 😊

    ReplyDelete