The births of eight children with the surname Yeo were registered in England between 1897 and 1911 with their mother’s original surname recorded as Gillott. These registrations were in various different districts, suggesting that their father moved with his work.
The births and registration districts are as follows (for more detail see further down this page):
– Mary Winifred Yeo (Bath, 1897)
– Bernard Yeo (Liverpool, 1900) [note 1]
– Agnes Yeo (West Derby, 1901) [note 2]
– Vincent Yeo (West Derby, 1902)
– Mildred Mary Yeo (Wandsworth, 1905)
– George Yeo (Fulham, 1906)
– Herbert Yeo (Chelsea, 1908)
– William Yeo (Battersea, 1911).
Sheila identified the parents of these children as Samuel Yeo and Elizabeth Gillott but there is no registration of a marriage of a couple with those names. To complicate matters further, she recorded Samuel as a widower who had previously married Charlotte Paice (see Samuel Yeo and Charlotte Paice) – yet there is no convincing evidence of Charlotte’s death [note 3].
Further investigation is clearly needed. Did Samuel and Elizabeth marry at a Catholic or nonconformist ceremony that somehow missed civil registration? Or did they live together without marrying but behave as though they had married when they needed to provide information for official forms?
The 1911 census records the family at 26 St Anne’s Street, Battersea, with Elizabeth as the name of Samuel’s wife. The return states that they have been married for fifteen years, dating their marriage (if it took place) about 1895.
The 1921 census for Battersea records Samuel Yeo (age 65, a widower born at Bridgwater, Somerset) still at 26 St Anne’s Street, suggesting that Elizabeth had died by then [note 4]. Listed with him are his daughter Mildred and his sons Bernard, George, Herbert and William – providing confirmation that this is the right family.
Somerset-born Samuel Yeo died in 1926 [note 5].
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More is known about the children listed above:
– Mary Winifred Yeo died 1899
– Bernard Yeo – see below
– Agnes Yeo married Alfred Andersen, died 1995
– Vincent Yeo died 1902
– Mildred Mary Yeo married Harold Beswick, died 1994
– George Yeo – see below
– Herbert Yeo married Catherine Regan, died 1990 (five children)
– William Yeo married Adelaide Elizabeth Clarke, died 1985 (two children).
Bernard Yeo (1900–1975, son of Samuel Yeo) married Winifred Alice Winter in 1924. Their two sons were born in London:
– Frank Bernard Yeo (1925–2001, married Joyce Haddow, two children)
– Anthony Robert Yeo (1926–2011), married Edith Mary Grier in Yorkshire in 1951, two children).
George Yeo (1906–1982, son of Samuel Yeo) married Alice Louise Beadle in 1929. They had seven children, including:
– George Frederick Yeo (1930–2018, married Vera Bessie Biddle, four children)
– Charles Victor Yeo (1931–1994, married Angela Dovey, four children)
– Lilian Adrienne Pauline Yeo (1934–2015, emigrated to New Zealand, married Maurice O’Connell)
– David William Yeo (1939–1999)
– James Michael Yeo (1946–2015, married, two children).
Notes
1. Bernard’s birth certificate reveals that he was born at 1 Channell Road in the Elm Park area of Liverpool on 5 November 1900, son of Samuel Yeo commission agent and Elizabeth Yeo formerly Gillott. Samuel registered the birth on 12 December.
2. Agnes was baptised at the Catholic church of St Clare in Arundel Road, Liverpool; her mother is recorded in the church register as Elizabeth Yeo, formerly Gillott.
3. A 44-year-old Charlotte Yeo was buried at Buxton, Derbyshire in April 1895.
4. The only feasible match is an Elizabeth Yeo who died 1919 (registered at Chelsea, first quarter, age recorded as 42).
5. Registered at Wandsworth in the fourth quarter, age recorded as 72. This age is good match for a Samuel Yeo whose birth was registered in the Bridgwater registration district in 1854, the youngest of five children of George Yeo and Hannah Pierce.