This directory contains the limited information and documents we have about Kate and Anthony Clarke's 5th child Edward Bertie.
For details of Kate's life, see her own directory.
For details of Kate’s very interesting first husband Anthony, including his families with other wives, see the AJCheeper/Clarke directory.
Edward Bertie was born on 23 Jan 1890, while the family was living at 24 Edwards Tce, St John Cardiff. His father's profession was shown as commercial traveller. (All details are as per his immediately older sibling, Frederick).
He appears on the Census entry in 1891 (left-side, right-side), where he is shown as Edward B., born in Cardiff, and 1 year old.
Anne found his Baptism record on 17 Oct 1897 at Waverley Park Mission, Nunhead, jointly with siblings 3-8. But it records his name as Bertie Frank – a name not otherwise known.
He appears again in the 1901 Census entry (page 1, page 2), where he is listed as Edward B, born in Cardiff, and aged 11.
He was a witness at the marriage of his older sister Kate, on 12 January 1915, at the Parish Church, Camberwell.
He was married on 9 March 1916, to Beatrice Winifred ELKS (23) spinster, Barmaid, of 4 Conway Road, Tottenham, father Charles Elks (deceased), Ironmonger's Assistant. The ceremony took place at The Register Office, Edmonton, MX.
The marriage registry entry shows him as Edward Bertie Clarke (26) bachelor, Barman, of 96 Glenwood Road, Tottenham, MX, father Anthony Clarke (deceased) Book Publisher's Traveller. The witnesses were A.H. Liddell and F. Ford. (At this stage, his father was still alive, but he was 79, possibly already in penurious circumstances, and there may have been no contact between them for over a decade).
We've been able to acquire very little further information about him.
I vaguely remember a remark from my Aunt Kath or Aunt Enid about him never recovering from the effects of the Great War. He would have been 24-28 years old during that period.
In 2018, Anne found this transcription of a military record and this hospital entry (line 3). Together, they indicate that he entered service in 2016, as Private 24215, and was in "Squadron 41" (?) of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey). He was admitted to "No 11 Casualty Clearing Station", presumably in France, on 13 Jul 1918. The term 'NYD-N' means 'Not Yet Diagnosed - Nervous', indicative of shell-shock (or a dodge). He was transferred to "4 Staty Hp" in GB on 8 Oct 1918, and discharged 19 Oct 1918. (Although this is not consistent with "41 days under treatment").
We've found no evidence of any children of the marriage to Beatrice (Elks). It appears to have not lasted very long.
Anne's research into his death suggests that he subsequently took up with Beatrice
(Betty) Mary Spence nee Davies.
Betty was b. 1896 (or 21 Apr 1895, according to the 1939 pre-War
Census), in Kerry Montgomeryshire.
In the 1901 Census, aged 5, she was with her parents and 3 sisters at Oak Cottage,
Kerry, Newtown, Montgomeryshire (just outside the tiny village of Sarn,
SW of Shrewsbury).
In the 1911 Census, aged 15, she's a nursemaid domestic, with the family at
Post Office Cottage in Sarn.
Betty m1. in Cardiff in Sep qtr 1915
to Herbert Davies Spence (Cardiff 11a 771).
Herbert
H. Spence
(the same one?) d. Mar qtr 1923 (Edmonton 3a 579).
[Betty's father Richard Davies was b. 1870, in Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire, 5mi East of Kerry.
[Bertie's mother Kate's
2nd husband Philip Davies was b. 1865, in Kerry. In
the 1881 Census, he was there, aged 16.
Philip was in Tottenham in the 1901 and 1911 Censuses, blacksmith, married
to Jane, with 4 daughters (Charlotte, Florence and Eva) son Philip b. 1895,
also a blacksmith,
and a younger son John, b. Harringay.
So he'd been in London for quite some years when
he married Kate in 1923.
Anne's yet to find the family link between Philip and Betty, but they came from
the same area on the Welsh Borders.]
There's thought to be at least one photo of Bertie in this album – Shot 1 (1928-30?).
David Clarke said that he's person 2, top-left, partly obscured, with his partner Betty at 3.
But in 2009, Dot was sure that 2 was Fred, and Bertie was the man seated at 19. She also said that Shot 4 (1916?), Shot 5 (1919?), Shot 6 (1926?, with Bett) and Shot 11 (1930?) were also of Bertie and Bett; but Anne argues that they're all Bertie's elder brother Fred, in Shot 11 with his somewhat simple wife, and in Shot 6 with (who knows??).
Edward Bertie's death certificate dates his demise as 28 January 1937, aged 47. His address was shown as 34 Park Rd, Tottenham. The cause of death was given as 'syncope' (a condition of fainting from blood-loss to the brain), and influenza and hyperpicsia (which appears to be high blood-pressure, i.e. the opposite. So perhaps the stated cause was a medical euphemism for unhealthy circulation sufficiently serious to warrant no autopsy being undertaken). His occupation was given as labourer (paper mills). The informant was D.G. Davies, of 34 Park Rd, Harringay N. (His mother Kate had died over 5 years earlier, and her second husband was Philip Davies; so we'd speculated that D.G. Davies may have been a step-brother of Bertie's, son of Philip with an earlier wife. But see later).
Anne located Bertie's probate, including his will. Probate is dated 11 February 1937, and his will 27 Jun 1935. It showed the same address as the death certificate, and the same date. His executor was his younger brother, Lawrence, labourer, of 6 Winkley Court, St James Lane, Muswell Hill. The estate was valued at 114 pound. He appointed as Executors A.H. Killby (spelling?), carpenter, of 55 Russell Ave, Wood Green N22, and Lawrence, Grocer, of 1 Virginia Villas, Boyton Rd, Hornsey N8. He left everything to Beatrice Mary Spence, of his own address, including some "assurance monies".
Betty would have been 41 at the time of Bertie's death, to Bertie's 47. 2-1/2 years later she was living at 7 Priory Ave., Hornsey, with Dorothy G. Davis, b. 9 Nov 1911 (so 28), a shop assistant (Neckwear Department) and Gwendoline A. Davis, b. 1 Nov 1913 (so 26), shop assistant (Hosiery), both single. Anne found Gwendoline's birth entry in Dec qtr 1913 (Cardiff 11a 703). Dorothy was born when Betty was 15 or 16, and Gwen when Betty was 18. They carry the Davies surname, so it's possible that they were Betty's daughters; but it's more likely that they were sisters or cousins. (Betty's mother Catherine was b. 1873, so she would have been 38 and 40 at the time of their births; but the 1911 Census, 7 months prior to Dorothy's birth, shows the youngest child in the household as James, b. 1903, and a break of 8 years followed by two further children seems unlikely. So cousins seems to be favourite).
The informant on Bertie's death certificate, D.G. Davies, was presumably Dorothy G. Davies, not a son of Phillip.
Anne's located the death entries for Betty in 1975 (aged 79/80, intestate), Dorothy in 1996 (aged 84/85), and Gwendoline in 2004 (aged 90/91).
We know very little about Edward, and any branch he created, and would love to know more
This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site
Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann
Created: 4 October 2005; Last Amended: 1 September 2006, 17 Aug 2009 (1901 Census), 24 Feb 2016 (baptism), 18 Apr 2016 (probate, photo links), 20 Jan 2019 (WWI medical record)
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