The Beasor connection

A fascinating start to 2012 and the addition of a Beasor family page to Cutlock & Co. A cousin to my nephews uploaded some old Beasor photos to Ancestry.co.uk following a Christmas visit to his (and their) gran. Almost as soon as I created a link to these on my Ancestry tree, my dad’s second cousin Muriel spotted them and realised she knew this Beasor family.

Rear row: on left, Olive and John Long, May Segain. Next row: Alan and Brenda Crace, ?, Ethel Beasor (with hand on Frank Beasor snr), Elsie Segain, ?, Dora Cullum, Frank Beasor jnr, ?. Front adult row: John White (‘Uncle Jack’), Frank Beasor snr, Charles & Florence Clothier, Winnie Clark, ?. Children: Hazel and David Clark on the right.

The church photo in Muriel’s possession helps to tell the story, taken at Deptford Church of Christ (old scout hut). The date could be early 1950, but perhaps more likely 1957 or 1958, shortly before the church relocated to Avery Hill (Eltham) {2}. The new building opened in 1958 and is now part of United Reformed Church.

In this photo, Muriel’s mother Dora Cullum (nee Briselden) is in the second row from rear, third from right. The young chap with his hand on her shoulder is Frank Beasor junior. Frank Beasor senior is in the next row forward, second from left, with second wife {1} Ethel Taylor straight behind, her hand on his shoulder.

Muriel also has photos of a seaside trip by her own family with Frank Beasor junior’s family.

The remarkable thing is that Frank junior’s eldest daughter would later marry the eldest son of Dora’s husband’s (half) cousin, at the church in Avery Hill. The couple met at secondary school, not knowing that there was already this connection between the families. Or that their fathers also knew each other from school days.

Does anybody recognise other individuals in the photograph? In particular, who is the other lady with Frank junior’s hand on her shoulder?

UPDATE July 2017: The comments about the Beasor clan, which were on the ‘photo attachment page‘, have been moved to below, for ease of reference. Click on the photo to see Muriel’s further info on the people shown in it.

Notes

1. Frank Cornelius Beasor re-married late in 1950, after the death of his first wife (Maude Miller), to Ethel Taylor (registered in Oct-Dec quarter, Deptford).

2. Since this was written, the main URC website has lost its info on local churches to which this linked. There is however a mention of the Avery Hill church in the Eltham URC history page (they combined in 1993).

Posted

8 Jan 2012

Beasor, Cutlock/Cullum, family history, Howes, London, Photos

Tags:

Comments

10 responses to “The Beasor connection”

Hugh

9 Jan 2012

Wow excellent find! I’d love to see the seaside trip photos you mention.

Reply
Karen James

13 Jan 2012

Hi, to your fanily,

I am a desendant of Alexander Henry Beasor, I have a family tree on ancestry, and have been reseraching the beasors for a long time now. The Beasor line is on my nans mums side going back to deptford and rotherhithe, as far as I know they were all coopers, and I have seen barbara brown page, about the whaling ships. I have read her article about Hugonots who were a prosatant group from france also, very interesting. karenx

Reply
Rhiannon (formerly Georgina Liddle) Daniel

7 May 2013

Hi to all the other Beasor descendants. My Nan was Ellen Elizabeth, d 1987 sister of Frank, Bob, Harry and others. I remember Harry, and his wife May. Nell died when I was 37 so I knew her well. She’s my Mum’s mother, my Mum is still alive, 93 this year. She was a twin, George was the other, and they had an older brother Fred, one son each, Bob from Fred, Neil from George. I have a brother Fred, now 59, he has an MOT centre in Lewisham Way, but I moved away from London and am in Brighton. My Nan always told me strange stories about her aunts and sisters, she had someone called ‘Aunt Polly Dally’ no idea who she was. Even more intriguing, she always maintained to me that HER great grandmother was a Jewish woman who ‘married out’ so I do sometimes wonder if I am Jewish! The other lovely thing for me is that Nell’s dad apparently made his own violin and played it around Deptford and was known for it. When I was five I became fascinated with the instrument, I’m 62 now and still playing, although classically trained rock nowadays. I like to think somehow I got my music from him. My Mum always said Beasor was a French name, my Nan’s mother does look very French in the photograph that my cousin Bob has given me of them. The best story about my Nan however, is that the Beasors adopted by grandfather aged 4, the child of neighbours, who died in a bad flu epidemic leaving him orphaned. They took him out of the orphanage because Mrs Beasor did not like the way he was being neglected. She was expecting my Nanna Nell, and they grew up together, but I’m not sure why they got married except that he proposed from China, where is was in the Royal Navy, co opted from the Merchant, in the Boxer Rising of 1913. They were married more than 60 years. After WW1 he was a Police constable and later an electrician.They retired in the fifties and moved to Hastings. If anyone wants more, it’s a bit hearsay now, but interesting, it’s ok to email me.

Reply
1. Cutlock And Co
  
  7 May 2013
  
  Brilliant stuff Rhiannon. Took me a little while to place everybody you mention (not being a Beasor myself) but that gives some interesting insights.
  
  Dalley was the maiden name of Fred Bath (senior)’s mother. I haven’t done any work on the Dalley family so can’t give you anything on Aunt Polly right now.
  
  I’ll pass your email address on to Hugh (down as a nephew on Facebook!), who is a Beasor, and will send you a quick note direct myself.
  
  Reply
Muriel Shephard

16 Mar 2020

On reading his again, your suggestion of 1957 or 8 for the Deptford church photo is likely correct as Roy and I were in Cincinnati then. Earlier than 1956 we would likely have been present.

Reply
Sarah Ella

30 Apr 2023

Hi, I am the Granddaughter of George Frederick Beasor (b1900) who married Alice Emma Gilbert in 1927. Yes, they were first cousins. George’s (and Great Uncle Frank’s and all the others’) mother Sarah Gilbert was Alice’s aunt.
They adopted their daughter Susan (my mother) in 1944 when she was six weeks old.
Although she always new she was adopted (and the apple of her dad’s eye) the circumstances of her adoption was never passed on to her. It was a private adoption, so no agency was involved.
Any family members who could shed any light on this would be most welcome.
I know George and his little brother Frank were always close and he was also close to many of his sisters (particularly great Aunt Daisy in Australia) but less so with his brothers, presumably because he was so much younger than them and the disruption of WW1.

Reply
1. Cutlock & Co
  
  3 May 2023
  
  Great to hear from you Sarah, and thanks for the info. I’ll make sure a Beasor or two gets to read your comments, although I doubt they will have any insights around the adoption.
  
  Reply
Sarah

20 Jun 2023

Hi Rhiannon,
Your Nan, was my Grandads sister. He was George, married to Alice. I know they visited your Nan and Grandad in Hastings in August 1957 with their 13 yr old daughter (my mum) Susan. Susan got caught in a rip tide and the chief of police tried to save her, but being in full uniform got into difficulties himself. So George (your great uncle) managed to save them both and was given an award from the Royal humane society.
I also remember the name Aunt Polly Dally, being mentioned but have no information on that one either.
So your mum and my mum were first cousins.
Does that make us second cousins?

Reply
1. Cutlock & Co
  
  20 Jun 2023
  
  Not sure that Rhiannon is still following these comments, and the email address she gave may be out of date by now, but I’ll send a note for you.
  
  Reply
Rhiannon

21 Jun 2023

I’ve only just seen this comment, after ten years, having had an email from somebody Beasor just today. Thanks.

Reply