The Meadows Family Tree The descendants of William Meadows The early career of William Meadows 18th century actor and performer The later career of William Meadows Ann Meadows & John Massey Wright Artist and illustrator Mary Meadows & Richard Johnson "of Baker's Farm, Sible Hedingham, and Queen's County, Ireland" Edward Killingworth Johnson Engraver, artist and illustrator Mary Ellen Edwards ('MEE') and her family Artists, illustrators and inventors Margaret Meadows 19th century actress and performer The early career of James Meadows Scenic and Marine Artist The later career of James Meadows Scenic and Marine Artist William Meadows Landscape artist James Edward Meadows Landscape artist Alfred Meadows Actor and Artist Ann Edwards née Meadows Edwin Meadows Landscape artist Frances Self née Meadows Arthur Meadows Marine Artist

Ann Edwards

James Meadows' fourth child and eldest daugher, Ann, was born in Mountnessing in about 1835. Ann married Charles Edwards (c.1834-1878) at St Dunstan's Church, Stepney on the 9th October, 1856.

In 1861, Ann and her family were living with her brother James and his family at Acton Green House. At this time, Charles Edwards was employed as a clerk at Vickers Distillers. However the four children of Charles and Ann were all born in Mile End or Bow, between 1858 and 1865.

Ann Edwards née Meadows
(Reproduced by kind permission of Lesley Hayward).

By the time of the 1871 census, Charles had become a corn clerk, and the family was living in Tredegar Road in Bow, close to the last family home of James Meadows Snr in Coborn Street. Ann Edwards died in 1870, aged only about 35, but her husband was not left alone to raise the children. Charles' widowed mother-in-law, Ann Meadows (the widow of James Meadows Snr), came to live with the family, and Ann Meadows died at the Edwards house in 1874. Four years later, in 1878, Charles Edwards also died.

Following the deaths of their parents and their grandmother, three of the Edwards children lived together until at least the end of the 19th century.

The children and grandchildren of Ann & Charles Edwards

Charles Stanley Edwards, born c.1858 in Mile End, became a commercial clerk. In the 1881 and 1891 censuses, he is recorded living with his sister Florence's family.

Jessie Ann Edwards was born c.1862 in Bow.

Sidney James Edwards was born in 1865 in Bow. In the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses, he too is recorded living with his sister Florence's family. Sidney also became a commercial clerk, and in 1901 he was "secretary of a public company". The photograph below of Sidney is reproduced by kind permission of Lesley Hayward.

Florence Edwards was born in Bow in 1860. In 1880, she married Herbert Walter Fairweather (born 1860 in Knightsbridge). Herbert's father had a varied career, first as an agricultural labourer in Norfolk, then as a "house steward" in Sloane Street in London, and by 1871 running a pub in Poplar. In the same year, Herbert was recorded as a pupil at Hill House Boarding School in Theydon Garnon near Epping. Like his Edwards brothers-in-law, Herbert subsequently became a corn clerk, and then a commercial clerk. Between 1881 and 1901, Herbert, Florence and their family lived in West Ham, East Ham, and Ilford. Herbert and Florence had four children:

Kenneth Herbert Fairweather, born 1881 in Stratford.

Ethel Florence Fairweather, born 1883 in Stratford.

Percy Edwards Fairweather, born 1885 in Forest Gate.

Cecil Edgar Fairweather, born 1893 in Forest Gate.