The Fraser Family Album
William Hughes and daughter Elsie outside the family corner shop at 30 Wellington Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, 1930s
This page shows pictures of the Suffolk Hughes Family.
The purpose of this small web-site is to share the family pictures I've inherited myself or received from other members of my extended family. I still need information on many of the people pictured. For my complete family tree, see here.
Revised: 07 March, 2024
My grandfather William Hughes was born in Nayland, Suffolk, in 1884. He married Mabel Elizabeth Hatten in 1905 in Nayland, Suffolk, and died in Ipswich, Suffolk, on 30 Jan 1947. He was a grocer with a shop at 30 Wellington Street, Ipswich, in the 1930s and 40s. The children of William Hughes and Mabel Elizabeth Hatten were Cyril William (1905-86), Marjorie Mabel (1906-97), Mildred Elsie (1909-2007) and William Charles (1912-45).
"Stream House", Fen Street, Nayland, Suffolk, where my mother
Marjorie Mabel Hughes was born in 1906, photographed in Sep 2016
Tradition in the Hughes family is that they were descended from Welsh drovers who brought sheep from Wales to the Suffolk wool markets. Andrew Malcolm Hughes has traced the family back to Thomas Hughes, born 1750 in Aberystwyth, Mid Wales, who married Elizabeth Green in Layham, Suffolk (near Hadleigh), on 5 Nov 1772. The family names is spelled "Hughes", "Hewes", "Hews" or even "Hues" in documents and censuses. Sometime brothers living in the same street even have their names spelled differently, but I have used "Hughes" throughout my family tree. William Hughes was the son of Philip Hughes and Eliza Vince, and the Hughes and Vince families were related by marriage to other South East Suffolk families such as Grimsey and Hynard.
Philip Hughes, born 1854 in Nayland, Suffolk, was the son of William Hughes (1829-1901) and Jane Baalham (1828-1905). He was named after her father Philip Baalham, who was a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Philip was born at Polstead near Nayland in Suffolk and joined the Army in Colchester on 7 Mar 1809, with his age given as 15. The most likely Philip Baalham was the son of Benjamin Baalham and Ann Hazell, christened in Polstead on 18 Mar 1794. Benjamin Baalham was christened on 19 Aug 1759, in Polstead, Suffolk, parents William and Ann Baalham, while Ann Hazell (not "Harell" as listed in some records) was christened on 14 Nov 1756, in Boxford, Suffolk, parents John and Hannah Hazell. I have more work remaining to discover the maiden names of Benjamin and Ann's mothers. Benjamin and Ann married in Boxford on 30 Sep 1783. Philip had these siblings: William (christened 7 Sep 1789), Ann (christened 12 Aug 1791), and Sarah (christened 17 Aug 1797), maybe more.
Philip's service record was pretty eventful as he enlisted in the 20th Regiment of Foot who fought all through the Peninsular War including the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, after which the Allies invaded France and he was forced to abdicate in April 1814, being exiled on the Italian island of Elba. Thanks to Tim Lovering of "Family Tree Magazine" for the following information from "A History of the Lancashire Fusiliers (Formerly XX Regiment) Volume 1: 1688-1821", by Major Benjamin Smyth, 1903 (the 20th Foot - the "XX" Regiment - became the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1881): "The 20th Regiment of Foot sailed for Ireland from Polliack (Polak near Toulouse in southwest France) on 22 Jun 1814, disembarking at Monkstown just south of Cork on 7 July. They marched to Cork that night and then marched on to Mallow, where they stayed until 21 July. They then marched to Waterford, arriving on 1 August. Here the regiment was involved in suppressing meetings, enforcing payment of rents, and seizing illicit whiskey stills. The regiment remained here until 22 Mar 1816, when they marched in two separate detachments for Sligo and Boyle. From there, smaller detachments were posted out to various locations. The whole regiment converged on Dublin about 15 Jan 1818, being stationed at Dublin Castle Barracks, although detachments were stationed at Naas and Wicklow. The regiment finally marched from Dublin to Fermoy in December 1818, and eventually sailed from Cork to garrison the Island of St. Helena (where Napoleon was now exiled) in June 1819." Philip was discharged in Dublin on 27 Oct 1818, before his regiment was posted to St. Helena.
Philip married Mary, daughter of James Steward, at some point and they had a daughter Ann born in Dublin in 1819 (she married Edward King, son of James King and Lucy Crooks, in Polstead in 1840 and her birthplace appears on subsequent censuses as Dublin). Their second daughter Margaret was born in 1820, but she died in 1840 aged only 20, so I don't know where she was born, although Dublin is most likely. In 1820-21 the family left Dublin and sailed to England, probably Liverpool. Philip, Mary and their two small girls must have been making the arduous journey from Liverpool to Polstead on foot without any money because they appear in a record on The National Archives site from 19 April 1821 when Philip, Mary and their two daughters were served with a Vagrancy Order in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and transported to Philip’s home parish of Polstead! The authorities almost certainly did them a favour getting them back to Philip's home, but the incident shows how badly ex-soldiers were treated in those days. Philip then became an agricultural labourer. They had more children in Polstead including my great-great-grandmother Jane in 1828 and Philip died in 1837, with his age given as 45 (if he had been born in 1794 he would only have been 43). Mary married again to Thomas Mathams in 1840, and on the 1841 Census her birthplace is shown as Ireland and age 40 (this is only approximate). Her father's name of James Steward comes from her second marriage certificate from 1840. I can't find Mary or Thomas Mathams after 1841, when she and three of her children (Thomas aged 15, Jane aged 12 and Philip aged 9) were living with Thomas in Polstead. Of the other children, Ann was married, Margaret had died, and Elizabeth aged 18 was living in Fen Street, Nayland (the street where my mother was born), with several other young women in what looks like a boarding house run by a Mary Lee, 77. Also resident with Thomas and Mary in Polstead was a 15 year old boy called James Rice, who may have been Thomas' son.
Philip and Mary's eldest daughter Ann Baalham and her husband Edward King lived in Stoke-by-Nayland and had nine children: Elizabeth (1845), Charles (1848), Mary Ann (1850), Eliza (1853), Henry (1855), Henry (1857), Emmany or Emeny (1859), William (1865) and Alice (1868). Alice is listed as a granddaughter aged 3 in 1861, but as a daughter aged 13 in 1871! It's possible she was the daughter of one of the three older girls, as Ann was 49 in 1868. Ann died in 1888, listed as aged 68. In 1871 Eliza married Robert Flack Oakes (1845-1927), the great-uncle of Mabel May Oakes (1885-1951), daughter of George Flack Oakes and Louisa Guyes, who married Ernest William Hatten in 1906 (this is why Eliza was already on my tree, see the Hatten page, and also because she was a witness to the marriage of her first cousins Philip Hughes and Eliza Vince in 1876). George Flack Oakes was the son of John Flack Oakes born 1842, the elder brother of Robert Flack Oakes, and Louisa Coker. Eliza and Robert had a son Arthur Robert Oakes born 1890. Lieutenant Arthur Robert Oakes of the Indian Army aged 54 died on 31 May 1944 and is buried in the Delhi War Cemetery. He was the great-grandfather of Nicola Clapp, who gave me much information about the Oakes family, again see the Hatten page. Up to Jan 2017 I didn't know I was related to Nicola, but her mother Patricia is my fourth cousin! Nicola sadly died in Sept 2019. Eliza's brother Emmany (a surname known in Stoke-by-Nayland) King married Harriet Rolfe in 1881. They had five children and their descendants are probably still living in the area today.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Baalham born in Polstead in 1823 married William Gardiner in Boxford, Suffolk, on 25 Dec 1849 with her sister Jane as one of the witnesses. William and Elizabeth had at least eight children: Jane (1845), Mary Ann (1847), Thomas (1849), Eliza (1850), John (1852), Susannah (1855), Sarah (1857) and George (1859). They lived in Hadleigh. A ninth child, James born in 1867, is listed on the 1881 Census, but I suspect he may have actually been a grandson! Again, they almost certainly have living descendants. Thomas Baalham born in Polstead in 1827 worked as an agricultural labourer all his life and died in Aldham, Suffolk, in Jan 1901 aged 77. I don't think he ever married. Philip Baalham junior was born in 1832, the second of his name, the first Philip Baalham junior was born in 1825 and died in 1827. I believe he is the Philip Baalham who was a Private serving with the 1st Battalion 12th Foot (East Suffolk) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1861, but I have no evidence of any marriage or children. Their youngest daughter Jane Baalham born 1828 had a son Charles Baalham (later Charles Hughes) in Polstead in 1850, and married Thomas Hughes in Stoke-by-Nayland on 12 Jan 1851, with Philip being born in 1854 and a third son Walter born in 1866, who married Emma Watts in 1889. Walter and Emma had four children: Harry (1887), Elsie (1894), Ethel (1900) and Gertrude (1907). Harry was listed as Harry Watts, Walter's stepson, on the 1891 Census, but as Harry Hughes on the 1901 Census, although I can't find him as either Harry Watts or Harry Hughes on the 1911 Census.
On 29 Oct 1876 my great-grandfather Philip Hughes born in 1854 married Eliza Vine, a widow with a son Thomas Fidget Vine, born 1873. One of the witnesses was Eliza Oakes née King, see above, first cousin of both Philip and Eliza.
This chart shows the relationships between Eliza King (later
Oakes) and Eliza Vince on the left, and Eliza King and Philip Hughes on the
right. Eliza K was the first cousin of Eliza V because her father and Eliza V's
mother were brother and sister. Eliza K was the first cousin of Philip Hughes
because their mothers were sisters. Eliza V and Philip were not related! For
more about Eliza K's descendants, see the
Hatten page.
Philip's wife was born Eliza Vince in Nayland in 1849, daughter of William Vince and Sarah King (the sister of Edward King who married Ann Baalham above), and first married George Vine, a private in the 10th Hussars, in 1872. Thanks to Helen Tovey of "Family Tree Magazine" for information that the 10th Hussars were in India from 1873 to 1878. They left Portsmouth for Bombay on 10 Jan 1873 aboard the troopship "Jumna", and were stationed at Muttra in Bengal until 1878. Beverly Hallam of FIBIS (Families in British India Society) has found a GRO Marine Death record for George Vine for 1876, so he must have died at sea.
My aunt Elsie Hughes (pictured at the top of this page), born 1909, remembered Philip living nearby in Nayland when she was a child. In the 1911 Census Philip was a widower aged 57, because Eliza had died in 1905. Philip Hughes died in Colchester, Essex, in 1927. Philip and Eliza had seven children: Ernest Philip (1887-93), Annie Eliza (born 1880, married Charles Willie Markham in 1901), Frank Henry (born 1882, married Agnes Rice in 1904), William (1884-1947), Martha Mary (born 1886), Ernest Philip (1887-88) and Richard Arthur (1891-1974, married Ada Eliza Wiseman in 1914). I don't have any marriage details for Martha, although she had a son, Clarence Richard Hughes, born 1907. In 1911 Clarence was living in Bury St. Edmunds with his aunt and uncle Annie and Charles Markham. Richard also moved to Bury St. Edmunds and inherited the shop at 30 Wellington Street, Ipswich, after my grandfather William died in 1947.
My Hughes Photographs
The family of William Hughes and Mabel Elizabeth Hatten
Picture taken around 1930, maybe at Catalpa House, Needham Market, Suffolk. From left: Mabel Elizabeth Hughes née Hatten, unknown woman, Mabel's aunt Eleanor Agnes Cooper née Brook (see the Hatten page). In front is my mother Marjorie Mabel Hughes |
Picture also taken in the 1930s. My grandfather's younger brother Richard Arthur Hughes (1891-1974) and his wife Ada Eliza Hughes née Wiseman (1891-1968) on the left with my grandmother on the right |
William Hughes (1884-1947) and Mabel Elizabeth Hughes née Hatten (1880-1950) |
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From left: William Hughes, Mabel Elizabeth Hughes née Hatten, unknown, Marjorie Hughes, Elsie Hughes |
Suffolk, 1930s: Elsie Hughes, Mabel Hughes née Hatten; Marjorie Hughes, unidentified boy (too early to be me, probably Gordon Hatten, see the Hatten page) |
Cyril Hughes (1905-82) at left of bottom row |
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At the seaside, 1930s. From left: Dora Hatten (see the Hatten page), Elsie Hughes, Charlie Hughes, Marjorie Hughes |
At the seaside, 1930s. From left: Charlie Hughes, possibly Cyril Hughes, unknown |
Cyril Hughes (1905-82) on left in World War II |
Cyril Hughes (1905-82) |
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Elsie and Marjorie Hughes, ca. 1924 |
Elsie Hughes' confirmation, St. James' Church, Nayland, Suffolk, 24 Apr 1928 Elsie is fifth from right in the back row |
Elsie and Marjorie Hughes, 1928 |
William Charles Hughes "Charlie" (1912-45) |
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Elsie Hughes with Olive Hatten's dog, Swanage, Dorset, 1930s |
Elsie Hughes with Olive Hatten's dog, 4 Grosvenor Road, Swanage, Dorset, 1930s |
Elsie Hughes, Swanage, Dorset, 1930s |
Harold Fraser, Marjorie Fraser née Hughes, Elsie Hughes, 1974 |
Wedding of Ronald Hughes (son of Cyril Hughes and Daisy
Parker) to Christine Manning, Ipswich, 1955
Thomas Sharman Hughes
Thomas Sharman Hughes, also listed in Censuses and other documents as Thomas Sherman Hughes or Hewes, was born in Polstead, Suffolk, in 1825, the second son of Edward Hughes and Elizabeth Bakes. Thomas married Sarah Wymark from Stoke by Nayland there in 1848. Thomas was a maltster and the family lived in Back Street, Stoke by Nayland, and their son James Thomas Hughes was christened there in 1863. The family moved to Coggeshall in Essex around 1865, and their son John Hughes was christened there in 1867. On the 1881 Census Thomas is again a maltster and he and Sarah are living in West Street, Coggeshall, with four of their six children. In 1891 Thomas and Sarah are living on their own in Watchmaker's Square, Robinsbridge Road, Coggeshall. Thomas died in 1899 and in 1901 Sarah was a widow living in the Almshouses, Queen Street, Coggeshall. She died in 1902. Their son Edward Thomas Hughes, born in Stoke by Nayland in 1852, is the great-great-grandfather of Annette Newlove from Coggeshall who has contributed much information to my tree. Their younger son Thomas Hughes, born in Stoke by Nayland in 1863, moved to Kent and married Roberta Emma Smith in Gravesend in 1887. They had six children, all born in Gravesend between 1889 and 1901, and it's possible their descendants still live in Kent today.
The Story of Anne Last
Anne's youngest son James Thomas Hall born 1858 subsequently became a well-respected grocer in Riddiford Street, Wellington, New Zealand, from the 1890s. He and his wife Sarah Ann Myall married in Dunedin on 7 Nov 1879 and had four children between 1880 and 1886. In 1931 James, described as aged 73 and a widower, married Theresa Andrews aged 23! He died in Wellington in 1941.
Jesse Eastwood had another daughter: the “West Coast Times” reported on 6 Jan 1869 that the wife of Jesse Eastwood had given birth to a daughter at her residence, Waimea Track, on 2 Jan 1869. However, since Jesse spent so much time away from his family, it’s possible that this unnamed “Mrs Eastwood” was not in fact Anne (who would have been aged 47)! I can’t find an Eastwood birth record for 1869 but sadly there is an New Zealand death record for an “Adah” Eastwood in 1870, aged 15 months, and an Ada G Eastwood was buried in Hokitika Cemetery on 13 Apr 1870, so the dates fit. Jesse moved to New South Wales around 1880 to work as a miner, and died in Sydney of "self-inflicted wounds" in 1890. His will left all his property to his daughter Charlotte Martha Eastwood, Anne was not mentioned.
Anne's youngest daughter Charlotte Martha Eastwood born 1864 married Charles John Peterson in Dunedin on 9 Mar 1892 They had no children, and moved to Picton in the North of the South Island after her mother’s death in 1903. Both Charlotte and her mother Anne Eastwood signed the New Zealand Women’s Suffrage Petition in Cumberland Street, Dunedin, in 1893. Charles is mentioned twice in the memoirs of Clara's daughter Annie Hughes King, which includes the story of a trip that members of the family including her Uncle Charlie made to Rotorua, North Island, in 1916. Charlotte Martha Peterson died on 6 Jan 1914 aged only 49, while Charles died in 1926.
Clara Anna King née Hughes' tenth child was George Alexander Last King (1892-1969), who was the grandfather of Mirren McLeod, née King. George was a prominent citizen of the Northwest South Island area, a printer and newspaper editor who also served as Mayor of Greymouth.
The last two photos come from Warren and Suzanne Barnaby. Warren is the grandson of Kenneth Mabey Barnaby (1906-82) and Louisa Chaster Richards-Reed (1912-2010). Also shown above is Mirren Florence Richards-Reed (1918-2005) who married Lindsay Noel Manning.
For information about the eventful life of Anne Last, thanks to her descendants Warren Barnaby, Pam Codlin, Ian Campbell Hemingway, Mirren McLeod, Peter Reed and Gwenda Mirren Russell. Thanks also to Katherine Blakely of the New Zealand Women's Suffrage web-site.
Other Hughes-related Photographs
Members of Suffolk families related to the Hughes (various spellings) and Vince families. Thanks to Deborah Waters, Richard & Leonie Logan, Jeremy Taylor and David Peck for pictures.
For my complete family tree, see here.
If you have any more information or pictures to share please contact me: alanfraser87@gmail.com
You will be credited for every picture included.