Quest To Find ‘The Guildford Three’ And Their Families

Published on: 22 Feb, 2021
Updated on: 23 Feb, 2021

A call goes out to trace members of a Guildford family by the name of Parker and in particular three sisters – Julia, Christine and Angela. David and Pauline Huckle would like to make contact with them again or their families. Like heir hunters (after the TV series of the same name) you often have to go back in family history in able to move forward. Here is David’s story…

The Parker sisters when children. Click on Images and charts to enlarge in a new window.

Researching family histories has two hurdles that are obvious only as you start it.

It is of more interest at later years of life by which time many of the interesting stories are lost because the older generation was never asked.

The whole scheme is like an hour glass with the start at the neck. Going up a couple’s family becomes four families through the parents and doubles each generation back. Going forward it expands depending on the number of children of the couple and other close relations.

There may not be many generations going forward but the sources of readily available information are less, such as no available censuses and limited parish records and hard work going through on-line electoral registers, which brings us to the present challenge.

We can go back to the great-grandfather level (and in fact back to the 16th century!) of the “girls” and us the searchers. But as a good starting point it is, the link we have through James and Jane Score Maidment, whose picture is below, are all our great-grandparents.

Jane Score Maidment, circa 1885.

The family had moved from Mere, Wiltshire, where James’ father had been through a period in the workhouse in the mid-1840s, but like many people at this time moved from the country toward London.

In his case via Gravesend, which had become a tourist spot after Queen Victoria visited and Princess Alexandria arrived there from Denmark to later marry Edward VII.

Job flexibility was easier than in the present day with James moving from being a coal merchant to a taxi driver by 1911.

James and Jane had four daughters and three sons born on the west side of London, ending up in Chiswick.

It was also the start of a theme of greengrocers and confectioners as the leading jobs which carried through to the father of the ‘girls’ with a shop in Barnes before moving to Guildford.

He is also a link to events of the 20th century as he was a Japanese prisoner of war!

The parallel line of our family involved more on the marine side including being an engineer for Marconi and his yachts (my mother ended up being born in Italy). The family links are shown in the chart and illustrate the point about families widening and how they have moved around the country.

The Maidment family histories featuring the Parkers.

These points and the chart show how the two families are linked and we are second or third cousins. The three girls are shown in the picture above when young, but as in the chart would now each be in their seventies.

We met quite regularly until my wife and I married and we became just too busy with our own lives and really lost touch in the 1960s and 70s, although Christine was our bridesmaid in 1965.

On and off over the last 10 years we have been trying to track them and their families down – they are almost certainly grandmothers by now.

From various sources we have put together what we think has happened but have little idea of where they are now, if they are still alive and how and where their families have developed.

The possible links are shown in the second chart.

The Maidment family histories including the Huckle family.

Julia Parker married David Glynn Jones on March 30, 1968 at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford , with a M. Jones as witness.

Julia (nee Parker) and David Glynn Jones on their wedding day.

She was aged 21 at the time and a state registered nurse living at 15 Woodlands Avenue, Guildford. Her husband was 25 years old and a bricklayer living at 16 Riverside, Bellfields, Guildford.

Likely children are: Belinda, born June 1969, and Helen Lindsey, born March 1976, both births registered in the south-west Surrey registration district. It is possible that Julia died in November 2006 aged 66, her death being registered in Sutton, Surrey.

Christine Parker most likely married Michael Newell in the south-west Surrey registration district in the third quarter of 1974.

Their children could be Martin Andrew, born March 1976, and Faye Elizabeth, born March 1978, both births being registered in the north-west Surrey registration district.

Angela Parker likely married Timothy Sherwood in October 1980 in Surrey. Children could be Adam John, born January 1985, and Hannah Louise, born September 1989. Angela and Timothy lived at 199 Cabell Road, Bellfields, Guildford, at least from 2003 to 2009.

As my wife and I approach 80 years old, time is running out to close the missing links for a typical family, but with some interesting stories and not too many scandals. We might also find out about the last days of Rita Farr?

David Huckle would be pleased to hear from anyone connected to the families. Email him at dh@a-b-a.co.uk