Back again....

...and with a bit of a bump too!

As you might have realised I've been neglecting this site over the last few months, partly through a lack of Yelf items on ebay and partly through having my attention on other things. Not wishing everyone to think it was 'dormant' (it isn't dormant, just resting) I thought I might post up a scan of an invoice for fish sales by Frederick Yelf on the Isle of Wight just to keep things ticking over for a while. Well I'll put that one up a bit later because I was a bit startled by what I found when I had a look over the site.

When I was poking about in the back of the site (not a technical term but a fair description nonetheless) I was surprised to see a collection of Draft postings. Some of these were obviously spam - such as the hypnotherapy courses in Surrey over Christmas - but some were Yelf related.

Some time ago I had enabled a feature letting readers set up their own postings - you can see the address at the top. What I didn't realise was that I hadn't set up any way of notifying me that you'd done so and as I haven't been looking in the Draft postings section I was totally unaware that any postings had been made. Now I find half a dozen postings going back to last October. So many, many apologies to the following and I'll get onto these over the weekend and get the show back on the road.

Anje Yelf and Richard Yelf - Very sorry to hear the news. I'll be in touch shortly.

Winona Kent - I'd be happy to see what I can come up with but I couldn't see a reply email in your post though...

Paul Keatley - Many thanks for the picture and I'll try posting it up over the weekend

Apologies once again and now I'm off to tinker in the back of the site to make sure this doesn't happen again!

Keatley/Yelf Article

One of my 'missing ' posts was this one from Paul Keatley who kindly sent a scan of a newspaper page from the mid 19th century. The original is below but as it's a little small,even when viewed in its own window, that I've cut and pasted an enlarged copy below

Hi,
Just come across this newspaper article while researching my Keatley line.
You may find it interesting
Regards
Paul

Ventnor, Isle of Wight - Keatley's Ventnor Hotel (late ???? ???) - This most desirable hotel, in immediate conexion with Yelfs Hotel Ryde, having been considerably enlarged, is now replete with every comfort and ready for the reception of visitors to this romantic and delightful Watering Place. The lawns and pleasure gardens surrounding the house are extensive and the hotel is situated at the western extreme of Ventnor in the most sheltered part of the Undercliffe. The proprietors beg to announce that Families may be provided with private appartments and boarded on reasonable terms and that a spacious coffee room offers to tourists and gentlemen every convenience during their sujourn. Communications to and from London by coach, steamer and railroad in eight hours. Choice win, spirits, ales porters etc. Carriages and post-horses. An engraving of the above delightful hotel may be seen at the above office.

I'm intrigued by the connection between the two hotels, especially as they are not even in the same town!

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Tracing members of the Yelf family

Dear Clive

Thank you for maintaining the valuable blog page on the Yelf Family. Here is an update for the family history.

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My Mother Eileen Joyce Yelf died recently in Torquay hospital, Devon, on the 22 October 2008. I flew over from Australia and was holding her hand at that time. She was 86 years old.

We have buried her with ceremony and dignity at St Mary's Parish Church, Dartington, near Totnes Devon on the 1 October 2008. She is buried next to her husband (my father) Jack Dallin Yelf who died in 2003. They were married for 54 years, and had three children: Sarah Jill , Heather Joy and Richard Jack (in that order).

The "Order of service" and eulogies are attached. We have recorded both her service and also my fathers previous funeral service digitally onto CD. It contains a lot of interesting information about their very varied lives in Africa, Fiji and Arabia, before returning to England. We can make this available on CD (or possibly mp3 or wav files) as downloadable file if required, or send you a copy on CD.

Our parents have left me some high quality family portraits of our ancestors dating from around the early - mid-1800's.

We would like to identify and place these ancestors within the family tree. I believe they may come from Dorothea Yelf (nee Le Cren) side of the family, but am not sure. She married Francis William Yelf, who was head of Llyods Bank during WW2 and a close personal friend of Winston Churchill. I have some personal papers from Winston Churchill given to my grandfather F.W. Yelf which would be interesting for the archives. F.W. Yelf had 3 children: Jack Dallin Yelf (my father), Robert Lawrence Yelf and Margaret (Meg) Bembridge (nee Yelf).

Please would you kindly assist to identify the portraits ? I will photograph them and send you digital copies with included notes..

Richard Yelf

Yelf Births 1830-1860

A good few years ago I found myself between jobs and took the opportunity to spend the time researching the Yelfs at the old St Catherine's House. I can't guarantee the results were 100% correct, that I haven't missed any or that everything was transcribed correctly but they may be of use to those doing a little research of their own. The records were broken down in quarters as indicated. These are all YELF records unless otherwise noted. Remember the registers were started in 1837 but took a while for everyone to comply so there may be gaps. And finally, there will be more to follow...

• 1837 Sept: CLARA WHEELER (IOW)
• 1838 Mar: CLARA (IOW)
• 1838 Jun: ROBERT (WINCHESTER)
• 1838 Sept: ALFRED (IOW)
• 1839 Sept: EMILY BROOKS (IOW)
• 1840 Mar: WILLIAM (IOW)
• 1840 Jun: MARY ANN (READING)
• 1840 Dec: RICHARD ADOLPHUS (IOW)
• 1841 Jun: SARAH LOUISE (IOW)
• 1841 Sept: KATE CRESSWELL (IOW)
• 1842 Mar: EMMA (IOW)
• 1842 Jun: SARAH JANE (WINDSOR)
• 1843 Mar: HARRY SOUTHAMPTON
• 1843 Sept: 'MALE' (STH. STONEHAM)
• 1844 Mar: ERNEST MEREDITH (IOW)
• 1844 Sept: MARY JANE (STH. STONEHAM)
• 1845 Mar: FANNY (IOW)
• 1845 Sept: EDWARD GEORGE (WINDSOR)
• 1846 Jun: SARAH HANNAH (STH. STONEHAM)
• 1847 Jun: JOSEPH (IOW)
• 1848 Dec: WILLIAM THOMAS (CAMBERWELL)
• 1849 Sept: FANNY NUNN (IOW)
• 1849 Sept: GEORGE (IOW)
• 1850 Jun: CAROLINE (STH. STONEHAM)
• 1850 Dec: HARRY HAUGHTON (IOW)
• 1850 Dec: ROBERT (IOW)
• 1852 Mar: ELLEN (IOW)
• 1852 Mar: HELEN (STH. STONEHAM)
• 1855 Dec: ERNEST CHARLES (IOW)
• 1856 Dec: JANE ( RADFORD)
• 1857 Mar: ANNIE ELIZABETH (ST. GEO. HANOVER SQ.)
• 1857 Jun: GERTRUDE ALICE (IOW)
• 1859 Mar: BLANCHE EMILY (IOW)
• 1859 Mar: GEORGE HENRY (PORTSEA)
• 1860 Mar: ELIZA MARY HOLME (IOW)
• 1860 Jun: THOMAS HARRY (ST. MARTIN)
• 1860 Jun: WALTER FREDERICK (IOW)
  

Yelf Bottle top

Well it's been a while since my last post, but put that down to a lack of new items coming in and an absorption with my 'Faded London' website, which takes up quite a chunk of my available time. However a nice little item came up recently on ebay. This was for a Yelf beer bottle top, something that wouldn't only be interesting on its own merits, but because I happen to own a couple of top-less Yelf beer-bottles myself!

£2.99 and a week or so later here it is perched at a jaunty angle on it's new home.

I think that brewing some beer and bottling up with this old relic might be taking it a bit far, but it's certainly nice to have the two back together again.

Of course I didn't buy it on its own - some other Isle of Wight bottle tops came along with it
The breweries represented are

The Ventnor Brewery
Dear & Morgan - Cowes
F. Saunders - Shanklin
Henry Adams - Ryde
Randall & Co - Ryde

I suppose my other Yelf Beer bottle will have to make do with an inferior stopper for the meantime, but the vendor mentioned another exciting object to keep my eyes open for "I have a... stoneware stout bottle from Yelfs. Very collectable..." Eyes peeled then!

Death of a Yelf

Dear Clive,

It is with deep sorrow that I announce the death of Eileen 'Joyce' Yelf, wife of the late Jack Dallin Yelf.
She died at 8am on Monday, 22nd September 2008 in Torbay Hospital, Torquay, Devon. Her family were at her side when she died. She was a generous kind hearted woman, who will be sadly missed, but not forgotten.

Regards
Anje Yelf

"A Norwich House" by Harold Flemming Yelf

Another interesting acquisition from Ebay this week consists of a grey-scale water colour signed by H.F. Yelf. This would seem to be the work of Harold 'Harry' Flemming YELF an Isle of Wight Yelf who settled down as an architect in Norwich.

Harold was born on 14th March 1834 on the Isle of Wight - probably at Newport as he was one of six children born to William Wheeler YELF and his wife Jane (nee OUTRIDGE). You might recall the unfortunate demise of his father from earlier posts on here and as his brother William Richard YELF took over what must have been a business in trouble, 'Harry' might have found it politic to make a clean start far away from any lingering scandal. He married Ann BERRY at St George's, Hanover Square London had a total of seven children in all before dying in 1895 at the age of sixty in Norwich.

The item was originally listed as being by W.F. YELF, and at first glance it does look a little like a W, as you can see in the picture below.

Harry seems to
have been a pretty successful architect and his company Searle, Son & Yelf were commissioned for many buildings, including churches and the Holloway Workhouse! Altogether a very nice item to pick up and I just have to see about getting it framed now...