 1865 -
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| Name |
John Frost |
| Birth |
12 Aug 1865 |
Taunton, Somerset  |
- Date of birth provided by Susan Milroy 23 Oct 2008.
|
| Gender |
Male |
| Census |
2 Apr 1871 |
Taunton, Somerset, England [1] |
| 1871 census, Taunton St Mary, Somerset. Andrew Frost, head, 34, born London; Harriet, wife, 26, born Ilminster, Somerset; John, son, 7, born Taunton; Charlotte, 4; James, 1. |
| Census |
3 Apr 1881 |
Kingswood Reformatory, Oldland, Bitton, Gloucestershire, England [2] |
| 1881 census: John Frost, inmate, aged 16, scholar, born Taunton, at Kingswood Reformatory, Oldland, in Bitton parish (Keynsham registration district), just east of Bristol. Ancestry links this record to the same John Frost who later lived in Newport. |
| Notes |
- PARENTS AND FAMILY (added 2 Nov 2026 from the 1871 and 1881 censuses): Andrew Frost (born London c1837) and Harriet (born Ilminster c1845; maiden name probably Salter), married Taunton early 1864. Brothers and sisters: Charlotte, James, Frederick, Andrew and Bessie.
THE "BRISTOL APPRENTICESHIP". His daughter Min's letter (c1977) says he left home early and was apprenticed to a tailoring firm in Bristol, where he was treated so badly that at 17 or 18 he ran away to Newport, to a firm whose advertisement he had seen in a newspaper. He asked the way of a pretty girl with golden curls down her back: Minnie Parker, his future wife. Her mother took pity on the lonely boy, they went to the same church, and he became one of the family.
In the 1881 census John, 16, was an inmate of Kingswood Reformatory, just outside Bristol. INFERENCE: this is very probably the "apprenticeship". Reformatory boys were taught trades (tailoring was common) and were usually released or licensed out at 16-19, which fits his running away to Newport at 17-18. He was a tailor's cutter by 1901. Why he was sent there is not known. He is not in the Criminal Registers, as expected for a juvenile; the Kingswood admission registers (Bristol Archives) and the Taunton Courier c1876-80 may say.
BIRTH DATE: TNG has 12 Aug 1865. The censuses suggest a little earlier (aged 7 in April 1871, 16 in April 1881), i.e. 1863-65. Not changed; a birth certificate would settle it.
|
| Person ID |
I513973347 |
Walsh - Wilson Family Tree | Marjorie |
| Last Modified |
23 Oct 2008 |
| Family |
Minnie Parker, b. 13 Jul 1868, Weston Super Mare, Somerset d. Mar 1948, Tiverton, Devon (Age 79 years) |
| Marriage |
Jan 1890 |
Newport, Monmouthshire [4] |
| Children |
| + | 1. Louisa Gertrude Frost, b. 09 Feb 1891, Pontypool. Monmouthshire |
| + | 2. Alice May Frost, b. Abt 1894, Pontypool. Monmouthshire |
| | 3. Reginald I Frost, b. Abt 1895, Newport, Monmouthshire |
| + | 4. George C Frost, b. Abt 1897, Cullompton, Devon |
| + | 5. Frederick James Frost, b. 25 Feb 1899, Cullompton, Devon d. May 1995, Exeter, Devon, England (Age 96 years) |
| | 6. Minnie Alexandra Frost, b. 17 Jul 1902, Cullompton, Devon d. Feb 2004, East Devon, Devon, England (Age 101 years) |
| + | 7. Gordon Stanley Frost, b. 16 Jun 1911 d. Dec 2002, Exeter, Devon (Age 91 years) |
| | 8. Ivor Frost |
| + | 9. Evelyn Frost |
|
| Photos |
 | John Frost, Wife Minnie (Parker) Frost, and Eldest Daughter Louisa Gertrude Frost
Circa 1892. Photographed A.V.G. Taylor, Wesley Chambers, Newport, Monmouthshire. Photograph courtesy of Susan Milroy. |
| Family ID |
F505778190 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
1 Sep 2013 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Marriage - Jan 1890 - Newport, Monmouthshire |
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| Documents
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 | 1901 UK Census - John Frost and Family - Cullompton, Devon
The 1901 census shows John Frost, a cutter (age 35) living at Pen-y-dre, Cullompton, Devon with his wife Minnie (age 32) and his children Louisa G. Frost (age 10), Alice Frost (age 7), Reginald Frost (age 6), George C. Frost (age 4), and Frederick J. Frost (age 2). 1901 England Census; Class RG13; Piece: 2133; Folio: 20; Page 21. |
 | Page 1 - Minnie Frost James 1977 Letter
Family letter by Aunt Min, Minnie Alexandra (Frost) James (1902-2004), c1977. Pages 2-5 survive; page 1 and the last page are missing. Summary of this page (2 Nov 2026):
Her father's parents (the reader's great-great-grandparents Frost): she was a Somerset country woman; he came from Kent and, according to her father, was a ne'er-do-well whose family paid him to stay away: lazy, good-natured, weak and easily led. His wife brought up the large family. Her father (John Frost) left home early and was apprenticed to a tailoring firm in Bristol. He was treated so badly that at 17 or 18 he ran away to Newport, to a firm whose advertisement he had seen in a newspaper. He asked the way of a pretty girl with golden curls down her back, her mother (Minnie Parker). Minnie's mother pitied the lonely boy; they went to the same church, she invited him to Sunday lunch, and he became one of the family.
Records: John's parents were Andrew and Harriet Frost of Taunton. In 1881 John, 16, was an inmate of Kingswood Reformatory near Bristol, very probably the "apprenticeship" (inference). |
 | Page 2 - Minnie Frost James 1977 Letter
Family letter by Aunt Min, Minnie Alexandra (Frost) James (1902-2004), c1977. Pages 2-5 survive; page 1 and the last page are missing. Summary of this page (2 Nov 2026):
Minnie Parker's mother's maiden name was MORGAN (Sarah Ann Morgan). She was said to descend from the old Princes of Wales and was proud of it; a forebear served under Nelson on the Victory, so that branch was called "the Victory Morgans". She had friends in landed and titled families but had married beneath her: they called in their carriages but had nothing to do with her husband Clement Parker, and dropped the family when she died in 1902. One of them, "Lady Lyons - or perhaps Lines", was godmother to Minnie. Most of this came from "Auntie Louisa, my mother's sister".
Records: Sarah Ann Parker's death is probably the one indexed Jul-Sep 1902, Axbridge (Weston-super-Mare), age 58. The noble connections are unsupported; her father was a collier. |
 | Page 3 - Minnie Frost James 1977 Letter
Family letter by Aunt Min, Minnie Alexandra (Frost) James (1902-2004), c1977. Pages 2-5 survive; page 1 and the last page are missing. Summary of this page (2 Nov 2026):
Clement and Sarah had a large family, including twins who died in infancy. Girls: Minnie (the eldest), Louisa, Alice, Sarah and Gertrude. Boys: George and Alfred, and the twin sons. GEORGE was meant to be a teacher but stowed away on a ship to the West Indies, helped the captain in a mutiny and did well. He went to Ceylon and India, was librarian and secretary to a Maharajah, then joined the Indian Civil Service, became an engineer and helped build the Punjab canals. He married, had several children and died young, about 1906; his family went back to her people and contact was lost. ALFRED worked in London and had 9 children (5 boys, 4 girls); the family lost touch when they moved out of London.
Records: George married Gertrude Verschoyle Rose at Umballa in 1901, had three children 1902-05, and died at Tonk, Rajputana, on 2 May 1906, State Engineer, aged 31. |
 | Page 4 - Minnie Frost James 1977 Letter
Family letter by Aunt Min, Minnie Alexandra (Frost) James (1902-2004), c1977. Pages 2-5 survive; page 1 and the last page are missing. Summary of this page (2 Nov 2026):
Cousin FRANK, now in Adelaide, was Auntie SARAH's only surviving child; she married an Irishman. Auntie LOU never married. Aunt GERTIE died tragically young, a talented musician and artist; the writer was "only about 4 or 5" (really nearly 8: Gertie died in 1910). Aunt ALICE married a schoolmaster, Jack Thomas, and had a son and two daughters. "Your grandfather Bailey... your Mum can tell you all she knows." The reader's grandmother spoke of visits to great-aunts who were Quakers in Weston-super-Mare, probably Clement Parker's aunts.
Records: Sarah's other child was probably Horace Parker Wilson, born and died 1912 in Birkenhead. |
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| Sources |
- [S64] 1871 England Census, RG10/2370 f41 p11, schedule 52 (Reliability: 3).
- [S63] 1881 England Census, RG11/2447 f66 p38 (Reliability: 3).
- [S4901] U.K. General Register Office, GRO marriage index, Jan-Mar 1864, Taunton district, vol. 5c p. 608 (Andrew Frost) (Reliability: 3).
- [S4907] Free BMD Index.
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