The Pearson Family 1930's

[StephMartin]

I'm looking for information on Clara/Clarie Pearson, born 1895, daughter of Thomas Pearson who owned a few hotels in Conwy.

Clarie married Leonard Curtis in 1921 and ran The Towers, on Trinity Square with him.

Leonard Curtis is my great-grandfather.

Rumour has it that there was a daughter, Cynthia. I don't know if Leonard was her father. I can't find a birth record for Cynthia, I don't even know when she was born.

Claire died in 1931 and apparently, Leonard took Cynthia with him when he moved away from Wales in the mid 30's.

If Cynthia is Leonard's daughter, that makes her and her descendants relatives of mine and I would love to know more and possibly track them.

I live in Norfolk so can't access a lot of records that may be held in Conwy, I hope to visit soon though!

Any help would be very much appreciated!

[Hugo]

I've tried www.RootsUK.com  but there is no registration of a birth for Cynthia Curtis in the Conwy Registration District during the years you have mentioned.   In fact out of the 18 listed in the years mentioned there are no entries for anyone in Wales
It is of course possible that if there was a birth that it could be registered somewhere in England.

[Hugo]

I was in the Conwy Archives today and had a look at the Burial Index for St Tudno's Church on the Great Orme but didn't find a grave for Clara Curtis but did find her grave under Clara Pearson.  This is a copy of the inscription on her headstone at Plot G210:-
"  In affectionate remembrance of Clara the beloved daughter of Mr & Mrs T Pearson of Coventry who passed away Nov 19th 1931 aged 36 years.
We miss her most, who loved her best"

I looked at the Llandudno Advertiser (  Llandudno's local paper then) and in the photo you can see the obituary notice from Nov 1931.    It mentions her bereaved husband Leonard Curtis but doesn't mention any family members which seems strange.

[Hugo]

I was hoping that the obituary notice may have provided something about Cynthia but it didn't and actually provided more questions than answers.    So I went back to the Archives today.

I looked at the 1922 Street Index and it showed Mrs Curtis at The Towers Trinity Street (as it was called then)

I then looked at the Llandudno Baptism Register from 1917 - 1943 and could find no entry for a Cynthia Curtis or a Cynthia Pearson.   Clara died in 1931 but I continued to look through the Register and found this interesting bit of information:-
No 928  29th January 1933
Merfyn Leonard Maurice   son to Leonard and Edith Barbara Curtis of Curtis' Hotel Trinity Square Llandudno    Leonard Curtis' occupation Hotel prop.

I have already checked on line and cannot find any record for the birth of a Cynthia Curtis or Cynthia Pearson at Llandudno and the fact that there was no entry in the Llandudno Baptism records does not prove that she never existed so it remains a mystery.

You can see from the Grave headstone that it must have been paid for by Clara's parents and not her husband and the obituary notice seems more about Leonard Curtis than his deceased wife which is strange.    Leonard has obviously got married and had a son within a very short time after his wife's death and I may be wrong but something has happened to cause what appears to be a rift between Clara's parents and Leonard Curtis.

I don't know what more I can do to help you here but I know Dennis Pearson whose parents had the Towers and if I see him I'll ask him if he knows anything

[Cambrian]

Just a thought Hugo, was there anything in the previous edition given the comment "whose death was reported last week"?

[Hugo]

That's a good point Cambrian and thanks for pointing it out, but I did check it out and there was nothing there, it was just a very brief announcement so that's why I didn't have it photocopied.
I did read the obituary notice though after my visit to the Archives today and found something out and wished that I had noticed it before I went to the Archives.
The Baptism records I looked at were for Llandudno but there was a separate one for St Andrews Church and I didn't look at that.   When I reread the obituary notice I could see that he had earlier connections with St Andrews Church and if Cynthia was born in the early part of the marriage she may have been Baptised there at St Andrew's.
I'll pop over to the Archives again on Tuesday next after my coffee morning in Llandudno, so fingers crossed that something may turn up.

[Cambrian]

Thanks Hugo.  St Andrew's was a temporary building at the junction of Dyffryn Road and Trinity Avenue (some flats there now).  It was an outpost of the parish of Llanrhos to cater for the King's Road/Alex Road area which was in that parish rather than Llandudno Parish.
The boundaries were altered some time in the 1930s and followed the railway line. Some of the old original boundary stones are still extant eg in Albert Street and St David's Place.

[Hugo]

I remember the building as being a low corrugated iron one.  I think that it may have been red in colour but my memory is vague on that point.
I've seen those boundary stones that you are referring to, I bet a lot of people don't even know about them.  I'm glad that they have kept them because they are part of the town's history

[suepp]

[Hugo]

That's a lovely old photo Suepp, can you remember whether that main entrance was in Trinity Avenue or that side road?

[Cambrian]

Subject to what anyone else might say, it looks to me as though the houses on the left of the church are the back of King's Place. That being so, the entrance is off Dyffryn Road.

[Hugo]

I was thinking that, but was it on the corner of Lees Road and Trinity Ave?

[SDQ]

I was thinking that, but was it on the corner of Lees Road and Trinity Ave?

It would have to be Lees Road as that is between King's Place & Dyffryn Road.

[Cambrian]

I agree it is Lees Road - I recall Dyffryn Dairies being on the corner which confused me!

"Streets of Llandudno" records:  The name (of St Andrew's Avenue) comes from a 1908 church, affectionately known as the "Tin Church".  It became disused in 1960 when costly repairs were needed.  The site was sold to fund the building of a church hall at Church of Our Saviour at West Shore to which the congregation transferred. The church was burnt down on 9th August 1963 make way for the erection of the residential flats called Trinity Court on Trinity Avenue.

[Hugo]

You probably know this already but according to Roots UK    Leonard Curtis married Clarie Pearson in the Foleshill Registration District in the Quarter Oct to Dec 1921

Clara ? Clarie  died 19th Nov 1931

Leonard Curtis married Edith B Maslin in the Conwy Registration District in the Quarter Jan to Mar 1932

It appears therefore that Leonard remarried within a few weeks of Clara's death