james garrett frost + margaret emilie hills
James was born in the spring of 1859 and he was the only surviving son of Robert Frost and his wife Jane Frost. James grew up in a large comfortable house on Queen’s Park Road in Chester along with his four sisters and enjoyed a priviliged upbringing in a wealthy mercantile family. His grandfather, Francis Aylmer Frost, established a successful flour mill in Chester and James’ father and uncles carried on working in the family business.
When he finished school, James also went in to the family business and worked alongside his father as a corn miller. On 28 October 1885, James married Margaret Emilie Hills at Chester Cathedral. Emilie was born on 1 June 1866 in Ramsgate, Kent and she was the daughter of W.A. Hills, a solicitor. The wedding was reported in the Liverpool Echo on 29 October 1885:
Fashionable marriage at Chester - Yesterday at Chester, the marriage took place of Mr James Garrett Frost, son of Alderman R. Frost JP of Chester and Broughton (Flintshire) and Miss Emilie Hills, daughter of the late Mr. W. A. Hills, barrister at law, Ramsgate and niece of Dr Stubbs, Lord Bishop of Chester. Great public interest was manifested in the event. The ceremony which took place at Chester Cathedral in the presence of a large congregation, was conducted by the Bishop of the diocese and Archdeacon Darby.
Their first daughter, Margaret Constance, was born on 12 September 1866 and baptised at St Paul’s in Chester on 9 October. Their second daughter was stillborn on 18 April 1888 and it does not appear they named her as her birth and death were registered under the name ‘Female Frost’. Maud Hester was born on 11 June 1889 and baptised at St Paul’s on 19 July.
In 1891, James and Emilie were living at 12 Sandy Lane in Chester and James was still working for the family business as a corn merchant. Their two young daughters were also with them along with four domestic servants. Their first son, Robert, was born on 25 July 1892 and baptised at St Paul’s on 23 August.
By 1901, they had moved to the Hall in Boughton and James was listed as a corn miller and a Justice of the Peace. It appears that Emilie had given birth to son James Garrett only hours before the census enumerators completed the form — he had not even been named and was listed as ‘son (0 hrs)’ in the census return. Their daughters, Margaret and Hester, were staying at the Imperial Hotel in Llandudno, Wales along with their aunt, Lilla Hills, while 9 year old Robert was attending a private school in the village of Heswall, 11 miles north of Chester.
Boughton Hall
The original hall was built in 1565 but destroyed by fire in 1643 along with the entire village when the Chester Garrison razed it to the ground during the English Civil War. The hall was rebuilt in 1655 and originally consisted of a two storey, E-shaped building before considerable alterations were made in the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1945 to 2000, the Hall was used as a Dr. Barnardo’s children’s home before it was taken over by the Cheshire Social Services as a home for teens with behavioural issues. The hall then lay derelict until it was converted into flats and several new buildings were added when the site was redeveloped as a luxury retirement village. Although it is now a listed building, many original features were removed through the years but fortunately the original 17th centure fireplace was retained.
In 1911, James and Emilie were still living at Boughton Hall in Boughton along with their daughter Margaret and son Robert and James was still working as a corn miller and merchant. Boughton Hall was described as having 30 rooms in the census return and the Frosts employed 6 servants including a cook, two housemaids, a kitchen maid, a lady’s maid and a footman. Their youngest son James was not with the family as he was attending the Summer Fields Secondary School in Summertown near Oxford while daughter Maud has not been found elsewhere in the census.
Their daughter Maud married Edward H. Darby at Chester Cathedral on 12 September 1911. Edward’s father was the Dean of the Cathedral and officated at the ceremony. The reception was held at Boughton Hall after which the couple left for their honeymoon in the Italian Lakes.
One year later, James died at 3 Stanley Place which was just inside the city walls. It is not known if they sold Boughton Hall and moved back in to Chester or if James also maintained a house in the town. Four years after James died, Emilie was living at Newton Hall to the north of the town of Chester.
Eldest daughter Margaret married John G. Fawcus at Chester Cathedral on 14 April 1915 and the ceremony was again officated by Very Reverend John Lionel Darby and Margaret’s uncle the Rev. Canon Beanlands. Margaret and John had one son, Robert John, in July 1916.
Robert married Evelyn Swetenham in Chester in the spring of 1923. Evelyn was born in Hawarden, Flintshire in 1900 and she was the daughter of Henry Swetenham and his wife Katherine. Evelyn was born near the village of Kinnerton where the Frost’s had their holiday home and in 1911, the family was living on Lower Park Road in Chester, not far from Robert’s grandparents’ house in Queen’s Park. Robert and Evelyn had one son born in 1924. Evelyn died in Chester in 1974 but Robert’s death record has not been found.
Margaret Emilie Hills died in Chester in the fall of 1941, aged 75 years, and five years later, her eldest daughter Margaret died in Rugby. It does not appear that James Garrett ever married but he does appear in several passengers lists as a civil servant travelling to the Caribbean and Africa. He died in Tavistock, Cornwall in 1989. One year later, Maud Hester died in Chelsea.