This is the earliest photogragh I have of my father, Jim Ellis,
with his parents - my grand mother and father. They lived in a farm on Hope Mountain, which is located in Flintshire, North Wales.
Incidentally, I attended the same school some 20 years later.
He grew up on a farm on Hope Mountain in North Wales
Here he is with his mother, my grandmother - Ann Ellis - at the farm
His father died at an early age, so his mother worked "in service" for a local family at Pen-y-wern Hall
....where he became chauffeur/gardener
A brief history of the Ellis family ......
..... and where he met my mother, May, who was also "in service" at the hall.
However, in 1941 Jim was called up to serve in WW2 which, tragically, he did not survive. He died at age 28 - a prisoner of war working on the infamous Siam - Burma railway. (See link)
Following their marriage in 1938, they moved to Rose Cottage, Tir-y-fron, on Hope Mountain. This is where I was born in 1940.
In 1948, my mother married again, to a wonderful man named Bill Jones.
I thereby acquired both a loving stepfather, and a step sister - Marjorie
(to Bill's right - that's me to my mother's left). Incidentally, Marjorie is now a grandmother, living in Courtmacsherry, near Cork, Ireland.
Here's a later picture of May and Bill taken sometime in the 60's
And lastly, here is a picture spanning four generations, taken in 1970 after Bill's untimely passing. The youngsters are my son and daughter - Jonathan and Patricia.
Shortly after this my mother and my grandmother also passed on.
The rest of us now all live in Texas.
Thanks for staying with me - and enjoy the photographs of the current Ellis generations on the various other pages.
This was probably taken about 1920
The next is this (digitally enhanced) school photograph. Abermorddu is close to Caergwle (shown approximately in the center of the map of Flintshire).
This is the unrestored copy of the last photograph taken just prior to Jim's departure for the "Far East", and which he carried with him through his ordeal. It was returned to my mother following her notification of his death.
Rhes-y-cae is approximately top center on the map of Flintshire. We then moved to Bill's home in Pen-y-ffordd, then later to Buckley, which can also be seen on this map.
Click here for an expanded version of the above, from David's grandparents through to early photos with Margaret.
After viewing the albums, return to this page by closing the album window.
The slide show option on this photo albums is best when viewed using a high speed connection
And here for a series of photos of Margaret's family from her Great Grandparents until the early photos with David
