John Robert (Jack) NIXON

1891 Census   Sun/Mon 5/6th April 1891
Source:       FHL Film  TNA Ref RG12
              Piece: 2792;  Folio: 116;  Page: 23;  Sched:
Dwelling:     52 Hyde Road
Place:        Bredbury, Cheshire, England

Name             Rel Mar Age Occupation              Status  Birthplace
John Nixon      Head  M  45  General labourer        Worker  Cambridgeshire, March
Mary J Nixon    Wife  M  39                                  Lancs, Haughton
Benjamin Nixon   Son  U  15  Hat maker               Worker  Lancs, Oldham
Mary H Nixon     Dau     12  Scholar                         Lancs, Blackburn
John R Nixon     Son      8  Scholar                         Cheshire, Woodley
Gertrude Nixon   Dau      4                                  Cheshire, Woodley
Jane Andrew     Boar     81  Boarder                         Cheshire, Woodley

The 1891 census suggests that John NIXON Snr had travelled across England perhaps, like John Harper CROMPTON, to the 'new town' of Hyde where he could find employment as a general labourer.

His wife Mary Jane FURNESS had been born in the hatting town of Haughton, 1.4km north of Wooodley. She married John NIXON in the fourth quarter of 1874 (GRO ref: Stockport 8a 108). 52 Hyde Road, Bredbury is in the parish of Woodley 1.370km from Auburn Street, Bredbury. It is probable that Jack NIXON was born here. Number 52 is not recorded in the Royal Mail Post Code finder. However, not far along Hyde Road is a mill, now for sale. This may have been Woodley Mill, a hat felting factory? Right: Mill at Hyde Road, Woodley

1901 Census   Sun/Mon 31st March/1st April 1901
Source:       FHL Film  TNA Ref RG13
              Piece: 3283; Folio: 10; Page: 11; Sched: 68
Dwelling:     65 Travis Street
Place:        Hyde, Cheshire, England

Name           Rel  Mar Age Occupation                   Status  Birthplace
John Nixon     Head  M  55  Steward of Social Club       Worker  Cambridgeshire, March
May Nixon      Wife  M  49                                       Lancs, Haughton
Ben S Nixon     Son  U  25  Felt hat hardner             Worker  Lancs, Oldham
Mary A Nixon    Dau  U  22  Felt hat trimmer             Worker  Lancs, Blackburn
John R Nixon    Son  U  18  Engine makers iron turner    Worker  Cheshire, Woodley
Gertrude Nixon  Dau  U  14  Gives out at felt hat works  Worker  Cheshire, Woodley
Kate Rodgers   Niece     7                                       Lincolnshire, Bourn

1852info4a, sheet 2

Above: Travis Street, Hyde Number 66 is the white door on the left. Number 65 would have been located in the tree area

Whilst the girls followed their mother into the local hatting industry, the 1901 census shows that Jack had already started his engineering trade as an iron turner. John NIXON Snr had become a steward of a social club, effectively a publican perhaps in a local Workingman's Club. However, Jack, on his wedding declaration records his father's occupation as ' caretaker'.

Stockport and Denton, with the neighbouring town of Hyde [...] became the main centre for producing felt hats. [Whilst Stockport concentrated on rabbit fur, the Hyde area made a lot of wool felt hats. [...] The union adopted a very practical attitude towards female labour. At the outset it took in all women who were working on a skilled processes. [...] An auxiliary union, the Felt Hat Trimmers' and Wool Formers' Association was formed in 1884, its officers and rules being broadly the same as those of the men's' union, although there [were] lower subscriptions and benefits.
Source: Silverman HA, 'Studies in Industrial Organisation', Routledge, 2013 Hatting?s heyday were about 1875 to 1935. A large factory could produce about 5000 felt hats a week. Was a 'felt hat hardner' responsible for the shape and strength of a bowler?

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Fanny CROMPTON

1911 Census:           Sun/Mon 2nd April/3rd April 1911
Source:   TNA Ref:        RG14 PN21338  
          Reg. Gen. Ref:  RG78 PN1269  En.Dist: 14; Sched: 87
          RegDist: Stockport SubDist: Hyde
Dwelling:              18 Thornley Street
Place:                 Hyde, Cheshire
Rooms in dwelling, other than scullery, landing, lobby, closet, bathroom: 7
Years married:         35
Children:              Alive 9, dead 3

Name                   Rel Age Mar Occupation     Status  Birthplace 
John Harper Crompton  Head  58  M  Builder        Employ  Yorks, Bridlington
Sarah Jane Crompton   Wife  60  M                         Yorks, Newbald
Florence Crompton     Dau   33  S                         Yorks, Market Weighton
Henry John Crompton   Son   29  S  Bricklayer     Worker  Yorks, Holme on Spalding Moor
Fanny Crompton        Dau   25  S  Cotton weaver  Worker  Yorks, Holme on Spalding Moor
Jessie Crompton       Dau   24  S  Confectioner   Own a/c Yorks, Holme on Spalding Moor
Agnes Crompton        Dau   23  S  Dressmaker     Employ  Cheshire, Hyde
Lottie Crompton       Dau   21  S  Dressmaker     Worker  Cheshire, Hyde
Mary Cecelia Crompton Dau   20  S  Dressmaker     Worker  Cheshire, Hyde
Maggie Crompton       Dau   16  S                         Cheshire, Hyde
Margaret Radcliffe    Vis   22  S                         Cheshire, Marple

Fanny arrived Quebec aboard the RMS Tunisian 13 May 1911 from Liverpool as a spinster to be married to John NIXON of Toronto. John Robert NIXON does not appear to have been on the same ship, though many of the alphabetical name list are damaged. There is no obvious record of a John Nixon landing in Canada between 1906 and early 1911. Ancestry's Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935

Above: A composite image of the Tunisian's passenger list for Fanny Crompton. Click on the image for a full size document on a new page Source: Canadian Passenger Lists 1865-1935

Fanny's entry is endorsed 'To be married J Nixon 5 months'. She is recorded as a Methodist. Right: RMS Tunisian

1852info4a, sheet 4

Above: A composite image of JR NIXON and Fanny CROMPTON's wedding entry 15 May 1911 Click on the image to open the original on a new page

Above: Jack Nixon and Fanny Crompton's marriage record in Ontario Source: Archives of Ontario Series: MS932_187; Reel: 187 Click on the image to open a full size document on a new page

1852info4a, sheet 5

Fanny assured the Registrar that the reason for the marriage taking place in Toronto 'was not in order to evade .....'. The witnesses at their wedding were Baptists, Charles and Maria Emma HANKIN, aged 26 and 25 respectively, of 168 Dovercourt Road, Toronto sub-district 98 ward 6, who arrived from England in 1906. Their son, Benjamin, was born in July 1910. Charles HANKIN's occupation was listed as 'machinist', the same trade as Jack. John Robert NIXON is not listed on the UK 1911 census dated 2nd/3rd April 1911. Neither John Robert or Fanny appear to be in the Canadian Census of 1911 dated 01 June 1911. Were they Hankin's unregistered boarders? Right: 168 Dovercourt Road, Toronto

Fanny and Jack's first child, John Harper, was born at 55 Caledonia Road, Toronto, on 14 October 1913. Whilst the certificate has the wrong marriage year, it does confirm Jack's continued occupation as a machinist. 55 Caledonia Road appears to have been redeveloped. Right: A composite image of John Harper Nixon's birth registration. Source: Ancestry, Archives of Ontario MS929/238

1852info4a, sheet 6

At the start of World War One Fanny NIXON put her foot down and said she was going back to be near her family during the hostilities. In Bredbury, Jack's occupation was an iron turner: presumably this was a 'reserved occupation'. They had another four children: Hilda Mary, born at 10 Auburn Avenue, Bredbury was born in the first quarter of 1916 (GRO ref: Stockport 8a 43); Marion, born at 10 Auburn Avenue, Bredbury was born in the fourth quarter 1917 (GRO ref: Stockport 8a 35); Dorothy was born in Canada; at the same time as Dorothy's twin brother who died. 'One of the family stories is that Hilda and Marion used to gang up on Jack the older brother when out of my grandparents earshot. Jack would try to bring them back into line using whatever older siblings inflict on the younger to do so. All of that was to no avail. Hilda and Marion would stubbornly refuse all the while taunting him with " Englishmen never give up!" Jack of course was Canadian. That pretty much describes my mothers later years and we used to quote it to her.' Source: Jim Keron Right: Fanny and John Robert, thought to be at the time of their wedding.

Above: Marion NIXON's baptism register at Hoviley Brow Primitive Methodist Church. Source: Manchester City Archives: Hoviley Brow Primitive Methodist Baptism Record - 1909-1953 Ref: Box C22/5 C22/24 (Accessed: 29 February 2020)

There is no obvious record of Hilda's baptism.

1852info4a, sheet 7

Their life at 10 Auburn Avenue, Bredbury

Above: The location of Auburn Avenue, Bredbury, where Fanny and John lived and where Hilda and Marion were born

The 1911 and 1928 maps of Bredbury shows that the area around Auburn Avenue was an industrial area. The area opposite Auburn Avenue was a disused colliery. Between Marian and Stockport Road there was a second disused colliery and a narrow strip of land known as Rope Walk. The extensive Bredbury Steel Works and Rolling Mills were entered by Lyndhurst Avenue and bounded by the railway line. Another foundry was located at the junction of Stockport Road and The Broadway. In 1917 Jack, the iron turner, could have worked in either of these two units.

Above: Map of Bredbury in 1923 showing the local industry, with Auburn Avenue in yellow. Scale 1:10,560

1852info4a, sheet 8

'They said that Great Uncle Jack was a very specialist turner, a long lathe turner, someone who can handle long pieces of turning metal where due to the length there is some play on the metal along its length which the turner must cope with (ie fantastic co-ordination hand to eye) to get a straight finished article. The story went on that even once he had retired the company in Canada would call him up for specialist jobs and that he only went when the weather suited him - they had to wait on him as there was no-one else who could produce these pieces. (Source: Alison Warner)

Fanny's father, John Harper, build two rows of houses both named Auburn Avenue. His Bredbury development was off the busy A560 Stockport Road, which leads to Hyde. It is about two miles (3km) to the Knott Lane area, where Mary, Agnes and Henry john lived. The building style is similar to Hyde: there are good quality facing bricks and a rougher 'common' brick on the gable end and back faces. Right: Fanny and Jack's home at 10 Auburn Avenue, taken August 2009

	Left and Below: A general view of Auburn Avenue, Bredbury, in 2009. Number 10 is by the disabled notice fastened to the front wall.

1852info4a, sheet 9

Auburn Avenue faces a modern Bredbury Medical Centre and its wire fenced car park, built on the old colliery site. At the end of the Avenue is a wire fenced industrial area containing one factory, which appears, in some form, on the 1923 map.

Almost one year later the family returned to Canada on the 'Megantic'. The ship was bound for Montreal and the family to Quebec.

Above: A cropped image of the NIXON's emigration 17 October 1919 on the Megantic. Click on the image to open A4 landscape image of the whole width. Source: TNA BT 27/899, page 16

Megantic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1908 for the Dominion Line as the Albany. She was turned over to the White Star Line, prior to launching, to serve the the Canadian route and renamed Megantic after Canada's Lake Megantic. In 1910, when Scotland Yard's Inspector Dew arrested the infamous Dr. Crippen and his mistress Ethel Le Neve in Quebec, they were escorted back to England aboard Megantic. Megantic served as a WWI troop transport. In 1919, after reconditioning, she resumed her regular Liverpool to Montreal passenger service. She carried 230 first class passengers, 430 second class and 1000 third class.

Above: The White Star Line RMS Megantic of 18474 tons

1852info4a, sheet 10

Above: NIXON immigration to Quebec 1919 on board Megantic, landing Quebec 26 October 1919 at 09.30. Click on the image to open a scalable pdf map in a new window Source: Canadian passenger lists 1865-1922, page 42 (Accessed 29 February 2020)

This lists introduces certain interesting facts:

The columns 'When', 'Where', 'How long' are headed by 'If so'. The response to the preceding column is 'Yes' but it is not possible to read the column heading. The sign implies 'ditto'.

In late April 1956 John and Fanny boarded one of Cunard's newest and most luxurious liner RMS 'Ivernia' in Montreal, landing in Liverpool on 5 May 1956. Their destination, for a three month holiday, was 213 Dowson Road, Hyde, the home of Maggie and William Boote (as defined by the address of Malcolm Boote's birth).

The passenger list describes John as retired and Fanny as a housewife. Both were Canadian citizens, with a Canadian passport.

Above: UK Immigration record from in-bound passengers to Liverpool, dated 05 May 1956, page 31

The RMS Ivernia, at 21,716 tons, was built in 1955 in Clydebank for Cunard Line's Dominion service to Canada. She was the second of the Saxonia Sisters quartet designed for luxury and speed. Carrying 929 passengers and 461 crew and cargo at 20 knots, they would be the largest ships to operate up the St Lawrence River to Quebec and Montreal. Right: A post card, contemporary with the Nixon's voyage, illustrates RMS Ivernia

1852info4a, sheet 11

The RMS Ivernia maiden voyage began on 1 July 1955 arriving in Montreal on 7 July 1955. After a successful career she was rebuilt and restyled, in 1963, to make her more suitable for cruising and was renamed RMS Franconia. She was laid up until 2004 where she was towed to Alang, India and was scrapped.

In June 1966 Patricia, her mother and brother and grandma Hilda, visited the families of Nellie (Wyril's daughter) and Alec SHAW. In the late 1970s Hilda, Marion and Jack NIXON, then in his nineties, visited families in England, and the place where they were born. Marion KERON, the last living child of Fanny NIXON, did not have a second name despite the fact that her three siblings did. She was simply Marion NIXON. The reason was that when she was born the doctor told her mother to "just give her a name to bury her by because she won't be with us long". The family never heard what the problem was but the diagnosis was out a little. Marion died in the second week of January 2014 at the age of 96. She was living in her own home up to a week before her death. She too seemed to have caught the Crompton longevity gene and was a mind of family history. Left: The wedding of Marion NIXON and Roy KERON, November 1940 Source: Jim KERON, who has provided many documents for this page

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass			Version A20 Updated 29 February 2020