dear Listers: I am new to this list; i have recently received a marriage CERT for Charles Frederick Stewart TERDREY and Ellen Maud STACEY married at Portsmouth, 1907. He was "captain's valet' on HMS Flirt. She lived at 5 Cecil Grove? Southsea. Ellen Maud was from Kent and lived at Eltham in service in 1901. How she got to Portsmouth is anyone's guess! I cannot find anything in historical city directories on this family. Freebmd has a birth of Terdrey in 1908: Frank D Terdrey at Portsmouth I believe this family might have moved on to other ports...I believe young Frank was at Dover County school for Boys in 1920-1924. i am wondering if anyone can enlighten me on RN families and how they lived; other significant ports etc also,on the address cited above in 1907 at Southsea? thanks Liz of BC Canada

Hi Liz Some thoughts as I went through your message..... At 02:34 29/09/2005, you wrote: >dear Listers: > >I am new to this list; i have recently received a marriage CERT for >Charles Frederick Stewart TERDREY and Ellen Maud STACEY married at >Portsmouth, 1907. He was "captain's valet' on HMS Flirt. She lived at 5 >Cecil Grove? Southsea. Ellen Maud was from Kent and lived at Eltham in >service in 1901. How she got to Portsmouth is anyone's guess! == Answered an advert in the paper for a domestic job in Portsmouth I should think. Possibly with a naval officer's family. Got there by train. ==== >I cannot find anything in historical city directories on this family. == They may well have rented part of a house, so would not appear in directories of owners or main occupiers. ==== >Freebmd has a birth of Terdrey in 1908: Frank D Terdrey at Portsmouth == Such an unusual name suggests it is the same family, doesn't it? ==== >I believe this family might have moved on to other ports. == The major ports were Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham, which were where most naval ships were based. Of course there are many other minor ones, plus shore bases with HMS names. ==== >I believe young Frank was at Dover County school for Boys in 1920-1924. == Apart from following the father's posting around, another place the family might settle would be near where the wife's family lived. ==== >i am wondering if anyone can enlighten me on RN families and how they >lived; other significant ports etc == If my own experience is anything to go by... My father was in the submarine service, as a PO and CPO, in the 1930's and early 40's In the mid 1930's we lived at two different addresses in Portsmouth Then we moved to Lee on the Solent when my father was based at Gosport submarine base. In early WW2 we spent a period on the Isle of Man where my father was at HMS St George, a radio and radar training establishment. We shared the Island with alien internees, who were living in hotels behind barbed wire. Then back to Lee on the Solent a second time, when Dad was at HMS Collingwood as an instructor. Then living with my fathers relatives in a small village on Salisbury plain when Dad was posted to Newcastle.. Finally back to Portsmouth, where we lived when he was demobbed, and he worked at local naval establishments as a civilian radar technician. ==== > also,on the address cited above in 1907 at Southsea? == That would probably be where she was working. Sorry I can't get to a Portsmouth directory easily to see who was the owner/occupier. They probably moved to their own apartment/flat/rooms after they married. Is Frank your ancestor? Have you considered buying a copy of the 1908 birth certificate? Another possible approach. If Charles was sort of 'attached' to his captain, he might stay with him through different postings. It should be possible using Navy Lists, to follow the captain around from ship to ship, and note where each ship was based. The captain's name will be found by looking up HMS Flirt in 1907. I see Flirt was a 'Fawn' class destroyer built in 1897, sunk in 1916 by enemy action (probably one of the 8 British destroyers lost in the Battle of Jutland). ==== Cheers, Dave Jacobs ================== >thanks Liz of BC Canada > > >============================== >Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the >areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. >Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > " Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952)