52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #4 Emily Lily Dudley

This is my fourth posting for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.

Today's posting is about my paternal grandmother. When I was a little girl, I lived across the road from her.

Emily Lily Dudley was born 31 January 1884 in Birmingham, England, to Josiah Dudley, a bricklayer, and Sarah Mucklow. [1] Three siblings, Joseph Gilbert, Charles and Rose May, lived to adulthood.

In 1901, Lil's father died. Fourteen months later on 27 January 1903, she married William George Iles, in the Birmingham Register office.

Lily came to Canada in 1905 with her husband, baby girl, May, William's mother and his siblings. She left behind in England, her sister, Rose, her brother, Charles and her mother, Sarah. Her brother, Gilbert, had moved to the United States in 1892.

The 1911 census shows the George and William Iles families living outside Owen Sound in Derby Township. What a contrast after living in the crowded city of Birmingham. The family moved into Owen Sound, a small town, where Lil lived the rest of her life, although it looks like they moved regularly until they lived on the corner of 8th Street and 7th Avenue East.

Until her death, Lily was a member of the Salvation Army, but her husband and some of the boys left the Salvation Army to join the United Church of Canada. I have been told that she played the timbrel (similar to a tambourine).She was an active member of the Home League.

Lil is the second from the left

Lil was mother to nine who lived to adulthood: three daughters and six sons, with none living now. Her children were May (1904-1967), Ivy (1906-2008), Daisy (1908-1990), Clarence (1912-1978), Wilfred (1913-2002), Harold "Bob" (1916-1990), Clifford (1921-2011), Emmanuel "Manny" (1923-1983), and William (1926-1999). Two may have died in infancy.When her husband went overseas in 1916, she was left to look after the six children.

 During World War II, five sons served with the Canadian Armed Forces. Fortunately, all returned home. In the living room of their home. the photos of William and Lil and the boys in their uniforms were hung on the wall.

All the children married and the photograph below shows all their children with their spouses.

Back row: Wilf, Daisy, Bill, Myrt, wife of Clarence,May, Jack Litherland, husband of May, Emmanuel Kenneth "Manny", Vera, wife of Cliff, Ivy, Marion wife of Bob, and Bob

Front Row: Ethel wife of Wilf, Reg Barber, husband of Daisy, Helen, wife of Bill, William, Lil, Helen, wife of Manny, Cliff, Frank Banks, husband of Ivy (photo 1949)

Lil knit baby sets and sweaters for her young grandchildren. She was grandma to over thirty grand-children. When she got older and her vision was getting poorer, grandpa wrote out the patterns on cardboard to make it easier for her to follow.

They celebrated both their fiftieth and sixtieth wedding anniversaries. At the sixtieth anniversary family dinner celebration, their six sons and three daughters, twenty-eight grandchildren and thirty-three great grandchildren were in attendance.

In her later years, she became quite frail, but she still had the sparkle in her eyes. She said that her dark brown eyes came from her Spanish heritage. She died 13 May 1967.

[1] Emily Lily Dudley, birth registration, certified copy of an entry of birth, registered 5 March 1884 BXCB 428411. General Register Office
[2]William George Iles - Emily Lily Dudley marriage registration, certified copy of an entry of  marriage, registered 26 January 1903 #146, MXC 375982, General Register Office

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