THIS selection of treasured family photographs has been sent in by Steve Wood. Readers may recall that last April Steve told the story of the death of his ancestor John Lovell, who was killed in 1894 by a blow to the head during a fight at a Dudley pub over the share of money from the sale of a horse some five years earlier.
His attacker, Henry Arnold, a gipsy hawker, was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six months hard labour. Steve has once more explored his family’s past and has supplied us with photographs of John Lovell’s daughter and some other pictures that may be of interest to readers.
Steve writes, “A little while back I researched my family tree and found out about the story of my great-greatgrandfather John Lovell, who had been killed in the Old Inn, Eve Hill, Dudley, on 27th December, 1894.
“The story of the incident and the ensuing trial at Worcester Crown Court of Henry Arnold, the assailant, were told in issue Bugle 1025.
“John’s daughter Epselina, my great-grandmother, who was 17 years old when her father died, later married Robert Henry Wood, a pavior by occupation, who had been born in Manchester. She is shown on the wedding photograph, along with her children Joseph, Robert and Elizabeth.
“Interestingly, the two brothers, Joseph and Robert, married two sisters, Olive and Gladys Cotterill.
Business “Grandfather and his brother went on to build their own business, R.H. & J.H.
Wood, Paving Contractors, which had its head office in New Street Dudley.
“The occasion is the wedding of Epselina’s granddaughter Joan Wood (Robert’s daughter) to Leonard Henry Beattie in 1945.
“The people are from left to right: “Aunty Beryl, (Father’s sister); my great aunt Elizabeth, (grandfather’s sister); my grandfather, Joseph Harold; Great Aunt Elizabeth’s husband, Fred Cherrington; Robert Cherrington (child); my great uncle Robert Henry (Grandfather’s brother); the groom, Leonard Henry Beattie; Mary Avey (a distant relation); the bride, Joan Wood (Father’s cousin); Aunty Hazel (Father’s sister); my Great Aunt Gladys (my grandmother’s sister, Robert Henry’s wife); my grandmother, Olive; my greatgrandmother Epselina; the bride’s sister, Rita.
“I enclose another picture of my great-grandmother Epselina. She was my grandfather Joseph Harold’s mother; the daughter of John Lovell and Elizabeth (nee Shaw). John was killed by Henry Arnold, in the Old Inn, Eve Hill Dudley, on 27th December 1894.
“My grandfather Joseph and grandmother Olive are seen in another picture at the wedding of my uncle Joseph in 1959.
“Grandfather had an elder brother, John Thomas Henry Wood; he died aged three years, when grandfather was two years old.
“My grandfather’s sister Elizabeth and husband Fred Cherrington were the licensees of the Vine in Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, and later the Sledmere public house for many years.
During this period they were also members of the Licensed Victuallers Association. During the year it was customary for a day out, on this particular day in 1952 they visited Gwrych Castle, Conwy, north Wales.
“My grandfather Joseph is on the right of the front row, and Fred Cherrington, grandfather’s brother-in-law, is the third from the left on the front row.”
