Person:Florence Timothy (1)

Florence Timothy was born on 7th December 1896 in Manchester, daughter of Anne Webb and Peter Vincent Timothy, a physician and surgeon. Florence's parents were not married at the time of her birth - her father was not free to marry her mother as he had a wife from whom he was separated. Florence had six surviving much older half-siblings from her father's first marriage, although it seems unlikely that Florence had much, if any, contact with them. Florence's parents did eventually marry in 1905, after her father's first wife had died.

By 1900 the family was living at Longton in Staffordshire, where Florence's older brother died aged five, and where the family appear in the 1901 census living at 50 Uttoxeter Road. The family moved again shortly afterwards, settling around 1903 in Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast. The 1911 census finds Florence living with her parents and siblings at 33 South Quay in Great Yarmouth.

On 7th August 1917, aged 20, Florence married Charles Bernard Wilson (who was known by his middle name). They married at the Registry Office in Great Yarmouth. He was serving in the army in the First World War at the time. The year after their marriage he transferred to the newly-formed Royal Air Force, and appears thereafter to have pursued a career as a pilot.

Florence and Bernard had two daughters together. The first was born in 1918 in the Great Yarmouth area. The next year, Florence's parents died a few weeks apart: her mother on 3rd March 1919 and her father on 22nd April 1919. Florence appears to have then gone to live near Bernard's family in Cheshire, where their second daughter was born in 1920.

Florence and Bernard separated in the mid-1920s. It appears that from at least 1924 onwards he lived and had children with a woman called May Bessie Clarke. In 1928 Florence initiated divorce proceedings against Bernard. After those went through, Bernard and May Bessie (who was also known by her middle name) were free to marry, which they did in 1930.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Florence and at least one of her daughters were living at a house called Summerhill on Greenfield Road in Hoole, just outside the city of Chester. Her ex-husband Bernard's mother was also living with her.

In 1949, Florence married again. Her second husband was Charles Hart Coppack, an architect. He was from Chester, so it is likely they met there, although he appears to have moved to the Weston-super-Mare area of Somerset during the 1940s, where his first wife had died in 1948.

After their marriage, Florence and Charles moved to North Wales, settling at a house called Gwelfor on Garth Road in Old Colwyn in the borough of Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire. Charles died there on his 67th birthday in 1961. Florence survived Charles by nearly fifteen years. She continued living at Gwelfor until her own death on 11th March 1976, aged 79. She did not die at home, but in the neighbouring Rhuddlan district, which had recently been transferred from Flintshire to the newly-created county of Clwyd.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Florence TIMOTHY, March Quarter 1897, Prestwich Registration District, Volume 8d, page 421, mother's maiden name Webb

2. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 2617; Folio 90; Page 42, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 50 Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Staffordshire
   Peter V. Timothy, head, married, male, 69 [1831/2], Physician, own account, working at home, b. City of London
   Annie Timothy, wife, married, female, 41 [1859/60], b. Knutsford, Cheshire
   Ernest A. Timothy, son, single, male, 15 [1885/6], b. Liverpool, Lancashire
   Maude E. Timothy, daughter, single, female, 13 [1887/8], b. St Helens, Lancashire
   Percy L. Timothy, son, single, male, 11 [1889/90], b. Wigan, Lancashire
   Gertrude Timothy, daughter, single, female, 9 [1891/2], b. Wigan, Lancashire
   Ethel M. Timothy, daughter, single, female, 7 [1893/4], b. West Ham, Essex
   Florence Timothy, daughter, single, female, 4 [1896/7], b. Manchester, Lancashire

3. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 11068; Schedule 300, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 33 South Quay, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
   8 rooms occupied
   Peter Vincent Timothy, head, male, 79 [1831/2], married 26 years, 7 children born to marriage, 5 children still living, Physician & Surgeon, own account, b. Cripplegate, London
   Annie Timothy, wife, female, 51 [1859/60], married, b. Knutsford, Cheshire
   Ernest Augustus Timothy, son, male, 25 [1885/6], single, Plater, working for employer, b. Liverpool
   Percy Lionel Timothy, son, male, 21 [1889/90], single, Engineer Apprentice, working for employer, b. Wigan, Lancashire
   Gertrude Timothy, daughter, female, 19 [1891/2], single, Home work, b. Wigan, Lancashire
   May Ethel Timothy, daughter, female, 17 [1893/4], single, Home work, b. London
   Florence Timothy, daughter, female, 14 [1896/7], Scholar, b. Manchester

4. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Hoole Urban District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Hoole Urban District
   Address: Summerhill, Greenfield Road, Hoole, Cheshire
   Wilson, Ada / female / 16 Jul 1862 / widow / Unpaid Domestic Duties
   Wilson [later changed to Coppack], Florence / female / 7 Dec 1897 / divorced / Paid Domestic Duties & [rest obscured]
   Wilson [later changed to Parfitt, then Luke], Barbara Toinette / female / 15 Aug 1918 / single / Trained hairdresser
   [one record closed]

5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Florence COPPACK, March Quarter 1976, Rhuddlan Registration District, Volume 24, page 779, b. 7 Dec 1896

6. ↑ England. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1858 onwards. (Ancestry.com).

   COPPACK, Florence of Gwelfor Garth Rd Old Colwyn Colwyn Bay died 11 March 1976 Probate Sheffield 7 July £32572
   763101982Z