frederick ashton + alice scantlebury
Frederick was born in Charmouth in the spring of 1867, the youngest son of John Ashton and Kezia Kenway. Following his mother’s death in 1883, Frederick left Charmouth and moved to Bristol with his brother George. Through his brother, he obtained a position as a clerk with the Post Office and when George was transferred to Wells two years later, Fred decided to stay in Bristol. In 1891, he was lodging with George and Selina Payne at 4 Marlbro Hill Place and still working as a Postal Clerk.
Fred married Alice Maud Scantlebury in St Just in Roseland, a small village south of Truro, in Cornwall on 19 September 1895. Alice was born on 11 October 1868 in Wick St Lawrence in Somerset, the daughter of John Scantlebury and Susan Fudge. Her father was a Chief Officer in the Coast Guard and was stationed at St Mawes, Cornwall in 1891 — which may explain why Alice and Fred married in Cornwall rather than Bristol.
Fred and Alice appear in the 1901 Census at 45 Sefton Park Road in Bristol along with their daughter, Phyllis Eileen, who was born on 25 October 1900, 5 months before the census was taken and Fred was still working as a Clerk in the Post Office.
Frederick Kenway Ashton died between 1901 and 1906 but his death record has not been located. His wife, Alice, remarried at St Luke, Brislington in Gloucestershire on 20 May 1906 to William Edward Nott with her brother John Creswell Scantlebury standing as one of the witnesses. In 1911, they were living at 47 Sandy Park Road in Brislington along with Alice’s ten year old daughter Phyllis and William was employed as a Boot Manufacturer. The census return also notes that the family was occupying five rooms and that William was an employer rather than a worker and that he operated his business from his home.
William died in 1934 and in 1939, Alice moved to Weston-super-Mare where she rented rooms at 31 Ashcombe Park Road. She returned to Bristol, most likely after the war, where she died at the Stapleton Hospital on 27 October 1951.
Phyllis married Roland Tottle in Keynsham in 1925 but it does not appear that they had any children. In 1939, they were living at 185 Wick Road in Bristol and Roland was working as a Senior Clerk in an iron works. Roland died in Bristol in 1967 and following his death, Phyllis moved to Weston-super-Mare where she died on 4 February 1981.