Seeking closure for William Henry Ball

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

William Henry Ball has been my man of mystery for sometime now. Recently, I've been scouring UK death registrations in the hopes of finding him sometime between 1932 and 1947, when his wife, Matilda Kate Bowcher, remarried. This is, of course, assuming that he did, in fact, die before her 1947 marriage to Bertram Cox.

Based on what I have learned from a family member, William may have met a tragic end involving a jump from a railway bridge, at an early age. However, finding evidence of that tragedy has been difficult. Initially, I had thought that his demise may have tied to some involvement in the Great War or military service, but I could not find any evidence showing his enrollment, discharge or death. After learning that he was married in 1921 and still alive in December 1931 when his father died, I decided to throw the net a bit wider and further. Could William have died tragically outside of Penarth or Cardiff?

Searching several death registration indexes for the UK, I did find one that matched his birth year and age. The certificate was indexed with the name "William H. Ball", so I was not sure if I would find a William Herbert or Horace listed. With some trepidation, I ordered the certificate in late November. It arrived this past Friday.

Much to my delight, the full name on he certificate shows "William Henry Ball". Of great interest, the place of death is listed as Ealing Broadway railway station. Sadly, the cause of death are injuries sustained due to a fall in front of a train - confirmed by a coroner's inquest. Is this my William Henry? What was he doing in Ealing in 1941? Could this have been a suicide? An accident? I cannot say at this point. I've started the process of tracking down an obituary and news stories of the event and will post once I have more information.

Stay tuned...

Cheers, K.

Visions of family sporting glory... shortlived

Well.. my hope that Swansea football star, Billy Ball, was one of my elusive Ball cousins has been dashed... Based on inquiries that I made to the Local Studies Department of the Swansea Central Library and the 100 Years of Swansea City FC Project at Swansea University I can safely presume that Billy Ball, was not one of my William Ball cousins, born 1892 and 1893 in Glamorgan.

Philip Bethell, Project Officer from the Department of History and Classics from Swansea University indicated that Billy Ball, of Swansea FC fame, had been transferred to Swansea Town in 1912 from Stoke, and had played for Swansea until 1920. Ball remained in Swansea until his death in November 1960, at the age of 72 (estimated birth year late 1887 or 1888). My William Spickett Ball died in 1982 and William Henry died sometime before July 1947.

Local Studies Librarian, Gwilym Games, Swansea Central Library, confirmed the above information, and noted that the Swansea Club recruited established players from all over the UK to ensure that the club got off to a good start. It is possible that Billy was the same Billy Ball from West Derby, who played for Manchester United in 1904-1906, and was born in 1886.

Many thanks to Gwilym and Philip for all of their help! One mystery laid to rest, but always another one around the corner...

Cheers, K.

A bit of a flutter about Billy Ball

A couple of weeks back, one of my distant Welsh cousins sent me a scan of a brief history tidbit which noted that the "aptly named Billy Ball" had scored the first goal for the Swansea City football (otherwise known as 'soccer' to those of us in North America) team in their opening match on 7 Sep 1912 against Cardiff (game ended in a 1-1 tie).

While it was a very long shot, I started on the hunt for Billy Ball - knowing that we had two cousins in the family, both named William Ball (one Wm Henry and the other Wm Spickett), who were born in 1892 and 1893 respectively, which would have put them around age 19-20, when the match was played. According to the 1911 census, they were both working in a Cardiff bakery, operated by the Evans family, who were related to the mother of William Henry. After 1911, the trail went cold, but I found them later in life.

My father always talked about my great-grandfather, Thomas Ball, having played rugby for Wales. I grew up thinking that there was some great sporting legacy in the family. However, since starting this journey, I haven't been able to place Thomas in any rugby league or on any team. There are a couple of years in his late teens for which I have no information. In the back of my mind, the lost sporting glory may be lurking in these shadows... but without any proof, I remain open to the possibility that the story may be fiction or misunderstood by Dad. When the news of Billy Ball came to light, I thought that maybe this was the sports legacy retold so many times by my father.

So what of Billy Ball? The newspaper site, WalesOnline, carried an article mentioning Billy Ball. I was able to find a wonderful online archive of Swansea City FC on the 100 Years of Swansea City FC blog. I was also able to find a photograph of him on the Swansea University Flickr site. I've made a few inquiries about him and will let you know what I can find out.

Cheers, K.

Matilda Ball's Second Marriage and the elusive William Henry Ball

Tracking down the elusive William Henry Ball has frustrating, but I am beginning to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I took a chance and ordered a marriage certificate for Matilda K. Ball that appeared in the 1947 England/Wales marriage index.

Much to my delight - the certificate arrived and confirmed my suspicion... that Matilda had remarried in 1947. On 30 July 1947, Matilda Kate Ball married Bertram Cox in the Church of St. Mary in the parish of Cadoxton Juxta Barry, Glamorgan, Wales. Bertram was 54 years old, a widower, whose occupation was given as "Engineer". His father, John Cox (deceased), was also listed as an engineer. Matilda is listed as a widower, with no occupation. Her father, Charles Thomas Bowcher (deceased) is noted as a tipper. Bertram and Matilda were married by banns. Their witnesses were Grace M. Houd and Arthur W. Bowcher. Arthur, Matilda's brother, had witnessed her 1921 wedding to William Henry Ball.

Matilda and Bertram were noted as living at 17 and 19 Guthrie Street, Barry Dock. This is a map of their neighbourhood:


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and a link to a street view of Guthrie Street.

With Matilda's marriage, it now means that William Henry likely died between 8 December 1931, when he appeared as the informant on his father's death certificate, and 30 July 1947, when Matilda remarries. At least, I now have only a 16 year window to search!

Cheers, K.

My mystery man - William Henry Ball

In going back over some research notes, I came across William Henry Ball, son of Henry Ball and Anne Evans. Given the propensity to hand down names in the Ball family (especially, the name 'William'), I was particularly flummoxed in my early days of research with sorting out which William was who. (I should be honest and say that the legacy of repeating names is not purely a Ball tradition. I am named after my mother's sister, who named one her daughters after my mother - my poor Grandma never got my name right on the first try - I learned to answer to both names - it just made life easier for her...)

William Henry Ball was born on 7 November 1892 in Newton, Brigend, Wales, in the area near Porthcawl:


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His father, Henry, was a dairyman. His mother was Ann Evans. Henry's address was given as 52 Windsor Road, Penarth and it is noted "as per Declaration dated 21 December 1892". William Henry's birth was registered on 28 December 1892, almost 2 months after his arrival in Newton.

Sorting out his identity from of his cousin, William Spickett Ball, was bit of a tangle as they both often appeared in the census as "William Ball". They appear to have worked together in the Evans (a relation to William Henry's mother, Ann, I suspect) bakery in Whitchurch, Cardiff in the 1911 census.

Family lore had it that William Henry had died in the Great War or by tragic circumstances, at a young age. He turned up as the informant of the death of his father, Henry, on 8 December 1931. There's a William Henry Ball listed in the 1937 Western Mail Directory for Cardiff, living at 8 Bridgend Street, Splott, one of the four inner city suburbs of Cardiff, born of the industrial revolution.

Recently, I came across a marriage registration for William Henry Ball, of 96 Plassey Street, Penarth, dated 26 Dec 1921. He was married to Matilda Kate Bowcher, who lived at 34 Plymouth Road, Penarth. The marriage took place in the Parish Church in Penarth. Interestlingly, the witnesses to the marriage were William Spickett Ball, Henry's cousin and Arthur William Bowcher, Matilda's older brother.

I have not yet been able to find a death for William Henry Ball - but now know that he had been married. My next steps are to trace down any possible children and Matilda's death or second marriage. I will be sure to let everyone know if anything turns up.

Cheers, K.

Death of Henry Ball (1863-1931)

Sadly, Henry Ball passed away, at age 68. He died at his residence, 96 Plassey Street, Penarth, on 8 December 1931. His occupation was given as “Dairyman”. The cause of death was given as “Bronchial asthma” and “Exhaustion”. The notation “No Pm” indicated that no post mortem was conducted. His son, William Henry Ball, who resided at 18 Cumberland Street, Cardiff, attended the death and also was the informant. The death was registered on 8 December 1931 and H.G. Belton is noted as the Registrar.

Henry’s address may ring a bell as it was the same house where the family was living at the time of the 1891 census:


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As you may recall, Plassey Street played a large role in the lives of Henry and his father, William Huxtable Ball, while they lived in Penarth. I found this image of a sunset on Plassey Street on Paul Dyer's Flickr site and thought that it seemed to say it all…:

Cheers, K.

Henry Ball (1863-1931), marriage and a growing family

The year 1891 was a watershed in the life of Henry Ball. While recorded as living with his parents in April 1891, Henry seemed to embark on some big life changes - namely marrying Annie Evans in late 1891. Annie was born about 1868 and was from Cwmavon, Glamorgan, a small hamlet east of Swansea, close to Port Talbot. Their marriage was registered in the 4th quarter (Oct-Dec).

By the time of the 1901 census, Henry and Annie had a family of 5 children: William Henry, born in 1893, Lily Mae, born in 1895, Lettice Charlotte, born in 1897, Doris Charlotte, born in 1898, and Gladys Margaret, born in early 1901. They lived at 96 Plassey Street, Penarth. This is a Google map of their address:


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And this is a street view of the house:


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If you look across the street and down a little bit, you can see the Plassey Street Baptist Church, which played a big part in the life of Henry's father, William Huxtable Ball.


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I suspect that Henry and Annie were married at this church, but will need to do some more digging to confirm it.

Cheers, K.