The Christian Family

Arthur Harold Christian

photograph courtesy of Robert King

Arthur Harold Christian, second from right, with his 2nd cousin Emily Winifred Ford, right

photograph courtesy of Robert King

Birth: September 1887, in Islington, Middlesex, England

Father: James Jesse Christian

Mother: Elizabeth (Wood) Christian

Married: Irene Gertrude Upward on 2 October 1915, in the Florida Road Congregational Church, Durban, Natal, South Africa
Arthur Harold Christian is recorded as a bachelor, aged 28. He is an engineer, resident in Durban. Irene Gertrude Upward is recorded as a spinster, aged 25, resident in Durban. The marriage was performed by Thomas Downham and witnessed by Walter Noël Clarence and Ethel Upward.

Irene was born in 1899-1900, the daughter of George Henry Upward and Ada Mary (Cheverton) Upward.
Addresses:
1915: Durban, Natal   (marriage registration)

Occupation: Engineer (1915); Electrician

Notes: Arthur is recorded on the manifest of the Ifafa, sailing from London to Port Natal on 4 January 1904, aged 16. He travelled in 1st class, along with his two sisters, Louisa Ann and Alice.

Death: 3 December 1960 in Port Shepstone Hospital, Port Shepstone, Natal, South Africa, aged 73.
The cause of death is listed as Hodgkin's disease, of duration 5 months.

Cremation: Crematorium, Durban, Natal, South Africa

Census & Addresses:
1891: Cornwall Road, Hornsey, London
1901: Corsica Street, Islington, London
1915: Durban, Natal   (marriage registration)
1922: 22 Rosetta Road, Durban, Natal   (probate of mother Elizabeth)
1960: North Shepstone, Port Shepstone, Natal   (death registration)

Sources:

Birth: England Birth Index (3Q1887 Islington vol 1b p231); exact month from death registration; exact place from 1901 census
Parents: 1891 census
Marriage: Natal civil registration Marriages 1915 Durban #40; Irene birth from age 25 at marriage in 1915; Irene parents from father's death notice with mother's surname from England Marriage Index (3Q1888 I. Wight vol 2b p1000)
Occupation: Natal civil registration Marriages 1915 Durban #40; South Africa civil registration Deaths 1960 Port Shepstone #158/60
Death: South Africa civil registration Deaths 1960 Port Shepstone #158/60
Cremation: South Africa civil registration Deaths 1960 Port Shepstone #158/60
FamilySearch Family Tree: Arthur Harold Christian

James Jesse Christian

Birth: 1842-5 London, England

Married: Elizabeth Wood on 26 December 1867, in the house of Mr. Wood, Durban, Natal, South Africa
James Christian is recorded as a bachelor, aged 24. He is a saddler, resident in PMaritzburg. Elizabeth Wood is recorded as a spinster, aged 21, resident in Durban. The marriage was witnessed by Henry Green Wood, Arthur Stead and Selina Wood.

Children:

James Funnell Christian (1868/9 - 1930)
William Christian
Louisa Ann Christian
Alice Christian
Annie Christian (1876 - 1877)
Arthur Harold Christian (1887 - 1960)
Robert Henry Christian

Occupation: Saddler (1867); Masking Sub Manufacturer (1891); Manufacturer Marking Ink (1901)

Death: 27 July 1903 at 23 Corsica Street, Highbury, Middlesex, England, aged 58

The grave of James Jesse Christian in Islington and St Pancras Cemetery, Islington, Middlesex

photograph uploaded by Terry Dowling to FamilySearch

Burial: 31 July 1903, in Islington and St Pancras Cemetery, Islington, Middlesex, England
James Jesse Christian is recorded as aged 58, of 23 Corsica Street, Islington
The inscription on the headstone reads:
Peace Perfect Peace
In Loving Memory of
JAMES CHRISTIAN
late of Natal
who fell asleep in Jesus
July 27^th 1903 Aged 58
Forget him - no we never will.
We loved him here and love him still,
Nor love him less because he's gone
From here to his eternal home

Probate: Granted 11 August 1903 to Louisa Ann Christian and Alice Christian
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1903 p68
CHRISTIAN James of 23 Corsica-street Highbury and of 6 Gray’s Inn-road Holborn both in Middlesex died 23 July 1903 at 23 Corsica-street Probate London 11 August to Louisa Ann Christian and Alice Christian spinsters Effects £210 17s. 4d.

Census & Addresses:
1868: Pietermaritzburg, Natal (Natal civil registration Marriages Durban 1867 #111)
1878: Commercial Road, Pietermaritzburg, Natal (death of John Dyer Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1878 #302 and Pietermaritzburg death register 1878 p95 #37)
1891: Cornwall Road, Hornsey, London
1901: Corsica Street, Islington, London
1903: 23 Corsica Street, Highbury, Middlesex (probate)

Sources:

Birth: Aged 24 at marriage on 26 December 1867 from Natal civil registration Marriages Durban 1867 #111; aged 46 in 1891 census and 56 in 1901 census; place from 1891, 1901 census
Marriage: Natal civil registration Marriages Durban 1867 #111; marriage license dated 24 December 1867
Children: Death notice in Pietermaritzburg Estate Files #20920
Occupation: Natal civil registration Marriages Durban 1867 #111; 1891 census; 1901 census
Death: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1903 p68; England Death Index (3Q1903 Islington vol 1b p194); death notice of wife Mary
Burial: Finchley Burials 1903 p21 #116409
FamilySearch Family Tree: James Jesse Christian

James Funnell Christian

James Funnell Christian
(click for full group picture)

photograph uploaded by Terry Dowling to FamilySearch

Birth: 1868-9, in Pietermaritzburg, Natal

Father: James Jesse Christian

Mother: Elizabeth (Wood) Christian

Married (1st): Gertrude Alice Trenowth in 1889 in St Giles district, London, England
James was Gertrude's second cousin - her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Funnell, was a sister of James's maternal grandmother, Naomi Funnell.

Ada (Goulden) Christian
(click for full group picture)

photograph uploaded by Terry Dowling to FamilySearch

Married (2nd): Ada Goulden in 1925, in Hampstead district, London, England

Ada was born in 1873, in Manchester, Lancashire, the daughter of Isaac and Goulden and Mary Collard. She was baptised on 28 May 1876, in St Luke, Chorlton upon Medlock. In the 1901 census, Ada is listed as a book-keeper, and in 1911 as a manageress in the restaurant and confectioner's industry. Ada is described in the manifest of the Missanabie in 1914 as 5' 7" tall, with fair complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. Ada died on 2 July 1946 in Stockport district, Cheshire, aged 73.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1946 p178
CHRISTIAN Ada of 10 Cranbourne-road Heaton Moor Stockport Cheshire widow died 2 July 1946 Probate London 17 October to Ada Mary Worthington single woman and Archibald Thomas Crocker solicitor. Effects £3999 18s. 2d.
Census & Addresses:
1881: 21 New York St, Chorlton upon Medlock, Lancashire
1891: Hyde Grove, Chorlton upon Medlock, Lancashire
1901: Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire
1911: Blackpool, Lancashire
1926: 12 Charminster Road, Bournemouth   (electoral register)
1946: 10 Cranbourne Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire   (probate)

Occupation: Agent Commissioner (1891); Commercial Traveller (1901); Manufacturer's agent (1911); Merchant (1914, 1915)
In 1917, James was listed in the International Trade Developer p550 as the sales agent in England of Kyoto Kosho Kaisha toilet brushes.

Notes: James Funnell Christian is listed on the manifest of the Mauritania, sailing from Liverpool on 21 January 1911, arriving in New York on January 27th. James is listed as a manufacturer's agent. He is aged 42, born in Pietermaritzburg, resident in London, and his final destination is Montreal, Canada. James is listed as 6' tall, of fair complexion with brown hair and grey eyes.
James is also listed on the manifest of the Missanabie, sailing from Liverpool on 7 October 1914, arriving in Quebec on 15 October, and entering the US at Rouses Point, NY, on 19 October, along with his "wife Ada" even though James and Ada did not actually marry until 1925, after the death of James's first wife, Gertrude in 1925. James is listed as a merchant, aged 45, born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, resident in London, England and bound for New York, New York. His nearest relative in England is listed as Ada's sister Mrs Worthington of 19 Withington Rd, Manchester. James is described as 5' 11" tall, with fair complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. Ada is recorded as his wife, aged 40 born in Manchester, England, with the same residence, nearest relative in England and destination. She is described as 5' 7" tall, with fair complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. James and Ada are also found on the manifest of the Orduna which sailed from Liverpool on 12 October 1915 and arrived in New York on 21 October 1915. Ada is again listed as James's wife and this time Mrs Worthington is explicitly listed as his sister-in-law and Ada's sister. Here James is a half inch taller at 5' 11½", while Ada is an inch shorter at 5'6".
We see James on the manifest of the Caronia which sailed from Liverpool on 22 February 1919, arriving in New York on 6 March 1919. He is listed as 50 years old, a merchant, resident in Bournemouth and bound for Montreal. His nearest relative in England is Mrs. Christian, of 12 Charminster Road, Bournemouth.

Death: 26 February 1930, in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, aged 60

Probate: granted 20 May 1930 to Ada Christian
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1930 p607
CHRISTIAN James Funnell of 21 Sutton-road Bournemouth died 26 February 1930 Probate London 20 May to Ada Christian widow Effects £481 3s. 10d.

Census & Addresses:
1891: Denbigh Street, St George Hanover Square, London
1901: Roseleigh Avenue, Islington, London
1926: 12 Charminster Road, Bournemouth   (electoral register)
1930: 21 Sutton Road, Bournemouth, Hampshire (probate)

Sources:

Birth: Aged 70 at death in 1930 from England Death Index (1Q1930 Bournemouth vol 2b p1020); aged 26 in 1891 census; aged 32 in 1901 census; aged 42 in 1911 (manifest of the Mauritania); aged 45 in 1914 (manifest of the Missanabie); aged 46 in 1915 (manifest of the Orduna); place from 1891 census and manifest of the Mauritania
Parents: Death notice of mother in Pietermaritzburg Estate Files #20920
Marriage (1st): England Marriage Index (3Q1889 St Giles vol 1b p1027)
Marriage (2nd): England Marriage Index (2Q1925 Hampstead vol 1a p1484); Ada birth from England Birth Index (3Q1873 Chorlton vol 8c p729) with exact place from 1891 census; Ada parents from parish registers of St Luke Chorlton upon Medlock Baptisms 1876 p91 #721 with mother's surname from England Marriage Index (3Q1866 Chorlton vol 8c p647); Ada baptism from parish registers of St Luke Chorlton upon Medlock Baptisms 1876 p91 #721; Ada occupation from 1901, 1911 census; Ada death from England Death Index (3Q1946 Stockport vol 10a p421) with exact date from England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1946 p178
Occupation: 1891 census; 1901 census; manifest of the Mauritania; manifest of the Missanabie; manifest of the Orduna
Death: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Wills 1930 p607; England Death Index (1Q1930 Bournemouth vol 2b p1020)
FamilySearch Family Tree: James Funnell Christian

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