This document covers the Rushgroves
from the Birmingham area from about 1830 to the present. The descendents of John Rushgrove
(b.1832).
Descendants of John and Elizabeth
c.1850
John Rushgrove
(1832-1905). At the 1841 census he is recorded as a small boy aged 8 living with the
family of Joseph Rushgrove and Hannah but we do not think that he was their son as on his
marriage certificate he refers to his father as 'John
Rushgrove, Moulder'. It is not clear where
John was born; on his marriage certificate he says he was born in ‘Kington,
Herefordshire’ but there is no birth recorded for a John Rushgrove at Kingstone or
Kington.
We concluded that he is either an illegitimate child of Joseph or
Hannah or one of their older children or is an orphan from another Rushgrove family.
At the 1851 census when he was 18 John was living in Castle Street, Ludlow
with another family called Foster who ran a Chemist's shop and is described as an 'errand
boy'. On the 1851 census he says he was born in Old Swinford.
John married Elizabeth Bowen on the 4th August 1856 at All Saints, Birmingham.
He was described as a Blacksmith when he married and later in 1860 when his son Alfred was
born he was referred to as an Engine Smith. The witnesses to the marriage were Mary Ann
Hodgetts and Ann Jeff and John was living in Cumberland Street, Birmingham.
At the 1881 census they were living at Back 42 Winson Green Road in
the parish of All Saints, Birmingham. Their children Alfred, William, Elizabeth and Louisa
were living with them.(The Back and Front rows of houses formed a single block of houses
and you went up a side entry to get to the Back of the same street. The opposite side of
the street to the Front had a different street name).
John does not appear on the 1901 census but his wife Eliza does where
she was described as married (not a widow) and was living at 5 Thomas Buildings, Cape
Street, Birmingham.
John died, aged 72, at Coventry in the September quarter 1905. This
suggests that he was living with his son John and his family in his later years.
Elizabeth
Bowen was born in Ludlow on the 28th January 1836. Her father was John Bowen a Labourer
who was born in Stanton Lacy, Shropshire, in 1792, the
illegitimate son of Anne Bowen a pauper. Her mother was Sarah Hargest from Bucknell
(b.1801) and her maternal grandparents were William and Margaret Hargest. In 1851 the
Bowens were living in Broad Street, Ludlow. They had a live-in servant girl, Mary Olive,
and a lodger who may have been an old friend as he came from Stanton Lacey. By this time Elizabeth's
father seems to have become a general trader in Ludlow.
She seems to have been known as
Eliza.
Jill Canadine (Elizabeth's great
granddaughter) remembers going with her grandmother to see 'a very old lady' in Aston, Birmingham in about
1933 and this might have been Elizabeth and was possibly just after Alfred (Elizabeth's
son) had died.
Their children were:-
John Rushgrove (1857-1902).
The eldest son of John and Elizabeth. He was christened at St. Thomas, Broad Street, Birmingham
on the 22nd February 1857. At the 1861 census, age 5, he was living at Lower Mill Street, Ludlow
with a George and Margaret Davies and is described as their nephew?
At the 1881 census, age 25, he was lodging at the Provision Shop, Hamall
Lane, Coventry. The Household were John Milligan, 26, a watch finisher and his wife Anne,
age 29; with their children Anne and Ellen, and another boarder Abiashar Williams, age 37,
Engine tuner and fitter and Emma Gunn, age 24, a visitor. John is described as an Oliver
Smith?
John married Emily Bradley in the June quarter 1881 at Coventry.
At the 1901 census they were living at 7 Winchester Street, Coventry. John, age 44, was described as a 'Smith'. Also
living with them was Ethel Rushgrove, age 15, a Printer's assistant, who was their niece.
John died, aged 44, registered at Coventry in the September quarter 1902.
Emily was born in 1859 at Ludlow. Her death, aged 74, was registered
in Coventry in the June quarter 1933.
George Rushgrove (bd.1859).
The son of John and Elizabeth. He sadly died from scarlet fever as an infant only four
months old. His death was registered on the 13th January 1859 and he had died on 11th
January 1859 at Back 82 Holliday Street, Birmingham. The informant was Sarah Anne
Whitehouse of 38 Back Cumberland Street who was present at the death.
Alfred Rushgrove (1860-1933).
Alfred George known as Fred. The son of John and Elizabeth. His birth was registered in
the March quarter 1860 in Birmingham. He was living at home at the 1881 census, age 21,
not married At the 1901 census, age 40, single, he was living or staying with his mother
Eliza at 5 Thomas Buildings Cape Street, Birmingham. His occupation was given as a Cycle
maker.
Although we are fairly sure that he married Anne Canadine it looks as
though this was after 1901 and their children were born before that in 1892 and 1894.
Later Alfred was a Senior Sales Manager (or Technical Manager) for the
Enfield Engineering company (Royal Enfield) in Redditch. This factory included both
Enfield Bicycles and more general engineering including rifles, munitions and the world
famous motor cycles. We think that he moved to Redditch from Birmingham with the company
in the early 20th century as we know that Robert W Smith (d.1933) one of the founders of
Royal Enfield and Alfred were good friends in Redditch.
In later years Fred and Nancy (Anne) lived in a cottage at the top of
Parson's road in Redditch. Nancy remembered meeting Queen Victoria in Scotland, possibly
in about 1897, when she was at a trade exhibition with Alfred.
Alfred's death was registered at Bromsgrove in the September quarter
1933.
Anne Gertrude was called Annie as a young girl but was known as Nancy
in later life. She was the daughter of Reuben and Susanna Canadine. She was born in
Crabb's Cross (near Redditch) on the 20th August 1869; registered at Alcester. She is
described as a 'scholar' on the 1881 census when she was eleven. Both boys took the
surname Canadine. Anne died in 1949.
Their children were:-
Alfred Canadine (1892-1946). His birth was registered at Alcester in
the March quarter 1892. He married Theresa Symonds (1898-1959) in 1917. He was in a Cavalry regiment in the first
world war and was 'Mentioned in Dispatches' for jumping from his horse on to a runaway
ammunition train which would otherwise have crashed into a company of soldiers. He worked
with horses all this life and was later a farrier and stable groom, and a part owner of a
stables.Their children were Thelma Canadine (bc.1920) who married Ronald Barker. Douglas
Canadine (1922-1950) and Norman Canadine (1928-1966) who served with distinction in the
Army including Cyprus and Aden.
Victor Canadine (1894-1959). Known as Joe. He was born in Redditch in
1894. As a young man he joined the Royal Flying Corps as an Engineer in the First World
War. He married Bessie Curtis (1900-1969) after the war in 1919 in Redditch and they lived
at 93 Mount Pleasant. He was a brazier at the Enfield bicycle factory for many years. He
died as the result of a road accident outside his home in 1959.
Bessie Curtis was born in Redditch in 1900 and was one of the youngest
of fourteen Curtis brothers and sisters. Her father Robert was a pin maker and inventor of
a pin making machine and process. Bessie and Mavis Bennett the famous opera singer from Redditch
were good friends and did war work together in Terry's Springs factory. We think that
Victor and Bessie knew each other because he sometimes played the piano for Mavis Bennett
in her early days.
William Rushgrove (1862-1883).
The son of John and Elizabeth. He was christened at All Saints, Birmingham on the 9th
January 1863. He was living at home at the 1881 census, age 19. His occupation is
described as a Striker at Edge Tool Works. A striker was a metal Smith's assistant who
wields the heavy hammer. He died aged 21, registered in the December quarter 1883 in Birmingham.
James Rushgrove (1864-1874).
The son of John and Elizabeth. His death was registered in Birmingham in the December
quarter 1874.
Elizabeth Rushgrove (b.1872).
The daughter of John and Elizabeth. She was living at home at the 1881 census, age 9, and
is described as a scholar.
Louisa Rushgrove (b.1874).
The daughter of John and Elizabeth. She was living at home at the 1881 census, age
7.
