News from the Penders/Ashcrofts in an Email Thread

The following is an email thread with Des Herlihy and and our relative Duncan Ashcroft. Duncan's dad Wally and his uncle Alan played for Waterloo, England and British Lions. Michael Murphy knows Alan. Great reading!
It's great to hear news form our relatives the Penders.
Please! If anyone has more information on contacts, relatives, where people moved to, where they lived etc. let me know and I will put it on the blog. Also, feel free to contact Des and Duncan whose emails are below.

Duncan, if you have any photos or any more interesting tit-bits, please send them on. My email is: maxarmagh@hotmail.com

God Bless,

Cormac


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: des herlihy <des.herlihy@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 9:30 PM
Subject: Re: Penders update
To: Duncan Ashcroft <duncan@environmenttimes.co.uk>

Duncan, This is really good news.  I have not heard from Michael Murphy.  I willsend your emails to Cormac Murphy who manages the blog.  All the best.

Des

On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Duncan Ashcroft <duncan@environmenttimes.co.uk> wrote:

Hi Des. I’ve found marriage certificate records for Mary and Michael and for Robert and Catherine, and for the Penders/O’Learys who came over from Wexford (Thomas and Johanna). There’s no doubt our families are related I feel. Note the 65 Aspinall Street address is the same as the 1911 census I sent earlier. The names are in latin common for catholic/irish type marriages of the period, so jacob type word actually means James for instance. It’s interesting to see the father’s names for Thomas and Johanna from Ireland – I’ve made contact with someone in Wexford (Ben Doyle) who knows a lot about Newbawn so I’ll be passing this info onto him. Thomas and Johanna ended up in Ford Cemetery, they died within 7 weeks of each other end 1926, early ‘27. Don’t know as yet if it’s a public grave or a family one, although their grave numbers are the same.

While on the morbid topic of graves, still a mystery about Tom and why only my dads family at the funeral in Salford in 1961. I wonder if he had fallen out or drifted away once parents died from his sister Mary and the rest of the family because of his lifestyle and the mystery Esther and my gran being raised initially by nuns. He disappeared for a number of years and a rumour circulate he was now in Salford. My dad got on his bike and found him via the seamens mission at the docks in the early 50s. Wally remembers him fondly.

Have you come across any reactions from others in the clan, Des - Michael, Conor etc?

All the best,
Dunc

PS: Strangely, while I was on the phone to Ben Doyle of Newbawn on Friday, I could see a message come in emails about the Penders. It was from Rose Pender, the widow of the boxer Paul from Brookline. I’d sent her a letter and a copy of the magazine article back in February and had given up on a response. She was very interested and amused by the article and is asking family members if there’s a link. She’s only just got the mag/note because I’d sent it wrongly to an address in Plymouth, MA where I thought she was living now, instead of the Brookline one. In my reply I mentioned our recent contact with the Murphy’s of Mullaghbawn and said that one of them had sent a letter in the past. I pasted her the link to the site.



On 27/5/14 12:58, "des herlihy" <des.herlihy@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Duncan great to talk to you last week. Your emails turned up in my spam folder which I have only just looked at.  I have seen your photo of Tom Pender. I have a copy of it which has featured in the exhibition I do for our reunions. It looks to me that we are connected.  I have forwarded your emails to Michael Murphy. He stood for parliament in St Helens during the Blair years when they parachuted a former tory minister into the constituency.  He spends most of his time in South West France now.  I think he will be delighted with your contact. All the best Des

On 22 May 2014 19:53, "Duncan Ashcroft" <duncan@environmenttimes.co.uk> wrote:

Hi Des. It was a great pleasure speaking with you earlier today. I've
attached a pdf of the article I wrote in February. Since then I've unearthed
more, my gran Maggie was born in Athol Street nr Scottie Road and her
mothers name was down as formerly Esther Pedder with Tom Pender down as the
father, however the family all think they never got married and when I look
at Tom's merchant sea records he had just come back before Christmas as a
fireman stoker from Australia with a big pay packet, my gran would have been
conceived before his next trip and the signing on the birth certificate was
three days into a trip he was on to Boston! Esther is a mystery, so is the
catholic orphanage Maggie was put into in Liverpool.

I've also attached the first census records with others following in a
separate email because of MB size.

I notice from Mick Murphy's wiki entry that he played rugby union at
Waterloo, both my Dad Wally and Uncle Alan played there as well as England
and British Lions, but it was mostly Alan for Waterloo. Dad took on
reorganising Liverpool St Helens Rugby club (nr East Lancs Road, Windle
Island) together with his mate Ray French (of rugby league fame). I'll ask
Alan about Mick. Maggie had four children, three still alive. For their
troubled background they all did well, but Maggie was a very determined
ambitious lady (if not embittered because of thwarted talent). Douggie
graphic artist for cosmopolitan magazine lived in London, got mental illness
and died in 1970s. Alan rugby plus art school teacher at Liverpool college
and also ran with wife Ashcroft's garden Centre, Lathom nr Burscough. My dad
Wally set up a couple of pet shops in St helens (Sutton and town centre) and
after retired became a councillor and headed Art and Culture dept, Auntie
Sue sang for a living in working clubs, and on cruise ships with stage name
'Holly Day'!

Sue always went with Maggie every weekend early to Cazzy and Paddy's market
to eye up the early clothes bargains - I had to suffer looking like Tom
Jones or Liberace as a result!

Auntie Sue has got back to me today after looking at the Murphy's blog
website "This must be the family that I told you about that was on
television I remember going with Maggie to visit them when exactly I cannot
remember. They were featured because of how well brought up and educated
they all were.I think Laura has a look of Maggie."

My Dad also remembers a relative as a 'radical' left wing politician who
tried to establish in St Helens called Murphy.

I'll pen some words for the blog, but please verify that this Tom is indeed
part of the clan otherwise I'm in danger of becoming like a deluded false
family stalker!