Puzzles and Speculations
Bryan emailed yesterday reporting that next week at Andrew Lloyd Webber's annual festival he and Tim Rice are producing a musical--The Likes of Us-- commemorating the centenerary of Dr. Barnardo's death. The duo wrote it before they became famous. Some of their hits have been tried out first at the festival. Wonder if Webber or Rice have Barnardo connections. I'll do some poking around. I wrote the following reply to Bryan:
I've been entertaining a theory about our grandfather's disappearance. I think at heart he was probably a good man. Like many another before him, he made a mistake and fell from grace. Alfred John Gevaux and Annie Beatrice Jackson seemed to have everything going for them when they married in Bermuda in 1897, but in quick succession seven children were born to them in eight years and the young couple found themselves with nine mouths to feed.
Joseph, retired from the Royal Marines with testimonies that all spoke of his virtues--intelligent, honest, reliable, etc. The Prudential Insurance Company hired him and promoted him to their branch office in Guildford, a pretty little town in Surrey. Unfortunately, his salary of less than three pounds a week was inadeautate for his family's needs, and he began to place bets with customer's premiums. By the time his little game was discovered, he had stolen over eighty pounds. As a gambler he no doubt believed one big win would pay back the losses.
Perhaps he had no plans to desert his family when he went to London on that August Saturday morning nearly 100 years ago. Why? Because when he got there he visited his stepmother, Annie Ross. The papers I got from Barnardo's testify to that. I don't think he went to see her just to sit around and drink tea. I think hoped Annie would help him out of his serious trouble
Annie was his stepmother. They were not close. Soon after she became second wife of our great-grandfather, Joseph Alfred John joined the Royal Marines. She was much closer to her own children.
Joseph's father, Joseph Alfred Gevaux , had died a few years earlier, and couldn't be appealed to. Annie had her own draper's shop, and according to John Gevaux Ross, was successful at it but tight-fisted. If he did make an appeal to her and she turned him down, he may have felt he could not return to Guildford where a warrant was out for his arrest. Instead he felt compelled to leave England immediately and escape punishment. Our grandmother may have suffered even more if he had been sent to prison. It would have been intolerable for her to became known as a convict's wife. People were very cruel in those days.
Forces of destruction were overtaking him. Your mother said in her interview that he spoiled little Bert, and I have no doubt that he was attached to his other children. But with all those mouths to feed on three pounds a week, desperation may have led him into gambling away some of the firm's funds.
And how about that old story of the golden sovereigns he supposedly left on the kitchen table? I think it may have been apocryphal, or wishful thinking. If he didn't initially intend to leave his family, why would he leave them gold pieces? It's more likely that when he left he was almost penniless. A gambler with gold coins in his pocket would have been unable to resist throwing them into one last foolish gamble. According to the Barnardo papers, our grandmother was left with only ten shillings and sixpence.
These speculative questions can never be resolved unless somebody manages to find traces of our grandfather in archives not yet discovered.
Bryan responded to an email I wrote on the subject. He upholds the sovereign theory and provides the following argument which I must say holds water because his mother Joan had a good memory and a sound intelligence.
Your "Puzzles & Speculations" are interesting.
I follow your reasoning about our grandfather's character & possible motivation on that fateful morning when he disappeared. The visit to his stepmother is news to me, but it is plausible, including the possible reason for his visit. His frugal stepmother may well have refused to assist him. Indeed she may have criticized his actions resulting in his straitened circumstances. No doubt it was unforgiving world then! And he may well have felt it was impossible to return to Guildford where he was a wanted man.
Two items bother me.
ONE: If he left England for parts unknown, how did he get there with no money? Was he able to work his way to a faraway destination? Did he change his name & maybe his appearance? Do we have any old photos of him? I have always speculated that he may have rejoined the armed services in 1914 or shortly thereafter & been killed in action. Have you ever searched military death records? But where was he firm 1907 to 1914? With all your combined computer smarts between the two of you I am sure you would far more successful than I would be! The question still remains when, where & how did he die? I also wonder if there would be any chance of searching U.S., Australian or New Zealand death records. Or even South Africa.
TWO: Notwithstanding your hypothesis that the "gold sovereign story" is fictitious I cannot get away from the comment I heard from my mother more than once that she should "give this to your mother". I don't think she was the type of person to fabricate a comment like that. Furthermore, she you used to say it with a degree of venom in her voice. She never had much good to say about her father, but that story always sounded to me to be truthful. There is no doubt that throughout her life she continued to harbour illwill towards him, holding him in judgment for his abandonment of the family & consequent breakup of them. This was also probably a mirror image of he mother's opinion of him. Certainly, I cannot recall hearing Grandma ever saying anything, good or bad about her husband. Then again, I was probably considered to have been too young to know about such matters.
Sorry I cannot be of much positive help in resolving this void in our family history. Just to fill in the blanks would be very interesting & satisfying of our curiosity. Keep up the good work!
Another waif in the world.
I've been entertaining a theory about our grandfather's disappearance. I think at heart he was probably a good man. Like many another before him, he made a mistake and fell from grace. Alfred John Gevaux and Annie Beatrice Jackson seemed to have everything going for them when they married in Bermuda in 1897, but in quick succession seven children were born to them in eight years and the young couple found themselves with nine mouths to feed.
Joseph, retired from the Royal Marines with testimonies that all spoke of his virtues--intelligent, honest, reliable, etc. The Prudential Insurance Company hired him and promoted him to their branch office in Guildford, a pretty little town in Surrey. Unfortunately, his salary of less than three pounds a week was inadeautate for his family's needs, and he began to place bets with customer's premiums. By the time his little game was discovered, he had stolen over eighty pounds. As a gambler he no doubt believed one big win would pay back the losses.
Perhaps he had no plans to desert his family when he went to London on that August Saturday morning nearly 100 years ago. Why? Because when he got there he visited his stepmother, Annie Ross. The papers I got from Barnardo's testify to that. I don't think he went to see her just to sit around and drink tea. I think hoped Annie would help him out of his serious trouble
Annie was his stepmother. They were not close. Soon after she became second wife of our great-grandfather, Joseph Alfred John joined the Royal Marines. She was much closer to her own children.
Joseph's father, Joseph Alfred Gevaux , had died a few years earlier, and couldn't be appealed to. Annie had her own draper's shop, and according to John Gevaux Ross, was successful at it but tight-fisted. If he did make an appeal to her and she turned him down, he may have felt he could not return to Guildford where a warrant was out for his arrest. Instead he felt compelled to leave England immediately and escape punishment. Our grandmother may have suffered even more if he had been sent to prison. It would have been intolerable for her to became known as a convict's wife. People were very cruel in those days.
Forces of destruction were overtaking him. Your mother said in her interview that he spoiled little Bert, and I have no doubt that he was attached to his other children. But with all those mouths to feed on three pounds a week, desperation may have led him into gambling away some of the firm's funds.
And how about that old story of the golden sovereigns he supposedly left on the kitchen table? I think it may have been apocryphal, or wishful thinking. If he didn't initially intend to leave his family, why would he leave them gold pieces? It's more likely that when he left he was almost penniless. A gambler with gold coins in his pocket would have been unable to resist throwing them into one last foolish gamble. According to the Barnardo papers, our grandmother was left with only ten shillings and sixpence.
These speculative questions can never be resolved unless somebody manages to find traces of our grandfather in archives not yet discovered.
Bryan responded to an email I wrote on the subject. He upholds the sovereign theory and provides the following argument which I must say holds water because his mother Joan had a good memory and a sound intelligence.
Your "Puzzles & Speculations" are interesting.
I follow your reasoning about our grandfather's character & possible motivation on that fateful morning when he disappeared. The visit to his stepmother is news to me, but it is plausible, including the possible reason for his visit. His frugal stepmother may well have refused to assist him. Indeed she may have criticized his actions resulting in his straitened circumstances. No doubt it was unforgiving world then! And he may well have felt it was impossible to return to Guildford where he was a wanted man.
Two items bother me.
ONE: If he left England for parts unknown, how did he get there with no money? Was he able to work his way to a faraway destination? Did he change his name & maybe his appearance? Do we have any old photos of him? I have always speculated that he may have rejoined the armed services in 1914 or shortly thereafter & been killed in action. Have you ever searched military death records? But where was he firm 1907 to 1914? With all your combined computer smarts between the two of you I am sure you would far more successful than I would be! The question still remains when, where & how did he die? I also wonder if there would be any chance of searching U.S., Australian or New Zealand death records. Or even South Africa.
TWO: Notwithstanding your hypothesis that the "gold sovereign story" is fictitious I cannot get away from the comment I heard from my mother more than once that she should "give this to your mother". I don't think she was the type of person to fabricate a comment like that. Furthermore, she you used to say it with a degree of venom in her voice. She never had much good to say about her father, but that story always sounded to me to be truthful. There is no doubt that throughout her life she continued to harbour illwill towards him, holding him in judgment for his abandonment of the family & consequent breakup of them. This was also probably a mirror image of he mother's opinion of him. Certainly, I cannot recall hearing Grandma ever saying anything, good or bad about her husband. Then again, I was probably considered to have been too young to know about such matters.
Sorry I cannot be of much positive help in resolving this void in our family history. Just to fill in the blanks would be very interesting & satisfying of our curiosity. Keep up the good work!
Another waif in the world.
posted by Stephanie Grant Duke at 2:04 AM
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