George Henry Mason (bm's gf)

[Phoenix]

Name - "official" name and what they were known as
George Henry Mason
Date and place of birth
Southwark, 10 November 1883
Names of parents
Thomas Henry Mason & Emma Elizabeth Wall
Details of each of his or her marriages - if any - and any divorces
Lillian Grace Eleanor Searle
Occupation(s) - if any
Boot porter
Bioscope operator
Worker in Royal Arsenal, Woolwich
Cinema manager
Stocking repairer
Military service - if any
Yes
Addresses where they lived - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on, if applicable.
1891 88 Castle St Battersea with parents, two younger brothers, Grandmother Wall and "Great Granny Lanning"
1893 39 Verney St (school admission reg)
1901 20 Shield Street, Peckham with parents, two brothers and sister
1911 24 Colegrove Road Peckham with parents, brother and sister
Date, place and cause of death
1972 Dartford RD
Date and place of burial / cremation.
Bexleyheath Cemetery
Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable
Memorial inscription - if any
(Best mate should have the later details - have visited his grave with her)

We have most of George's life mapped out, including where he lived up to the mid 1930s. His service record does not survive.

One story he insisted on was that he went to Australia, didn't like it, and returned. Most of his tales have a hint of truth in them, but we cannot substantiate this. As his eldest daughter was born March qtr 1913, we assume that it must have happened before this, if it happened at all, as the girls never added to the story - as they must have done if it had affected them.

[kiterunner]

I was going to ask when he and Lillian got married, so I could look for him on passenger lists to and from Australia, but looking at FreeBMD, it seems they married in 1916. I shall look at passenger lists before 1913!

[Phoenix]

They got married just before the birth of their third daughter, but we suspect they were "interested" in each other before her first husband died in the June quarter 1911.

[kiterunner]

I had no luck with the passenger lists.

[Phoenix]

Thanks for looking, Kite.

He was a terrible old rogue, with a fund of tall stories. A lot, as we have investigated, proved to have a germ of truth in them. But a trip to Australia ought to have left some trace.....

Unlike his tale of dressing up as a woman, complete with makeup, and visiting a ladies' lavatory! As he was tall, with a beaky nose, he would have made a most unlikely woman! But that's one story we shall never know the truth of.

[James18]

What does bm stand for in this instance? I've been trying to work it out, and I know it's going to be something really obvious... but... no. :D

[Janet]

James... :)


(Best mate should have the later details - have visited his grave with her)

[James18]

Thank you, Janet. It's obvious now I've seen it. :D