Early life

Alice Eliza TREASE was born in the spring/early summer of 1860 in Burton-on-Trent, the daughter of John Trease and Eliza Spencer and the granddaughter of John Trease and Esther Whitehouse. She spent her early childhood with her family in Burton-on-Trent where her father worked as a Brewery Traveller or Agent probably for one of the brewery companies based there. Her Aunt, Jane Trease, who was a schoolmistress in Burton on Trent, lived with her family for a while and would have ensured that Alice received a good education.

Sometime after 1871 and before her mother's death in 1876, the family moved to Ashby de la Zouch which was where her mother's family lived. She was only 15 when her mother died. After her mother's death, she and her younger sister helped run their father's home at Ashby for a further 6 years until he died in 1882.

Work

After her father's death, Alice found work with the family of Edward and Margaret Freeland. The father, Edward, was in the Brewery Trade and had come up to the Midlands from the suburbs of London to run his own brewery at Fazeley around the end of 1875/ beginning of 1876, which was around the time Alice Treases' mother died. It is surmised that Edward Freeland may possibly have already known of Alice either through her father or those of her Trease uncles, who like her father, worked in the brewery trade. The Freelands had five surviving daughters and one son. Their oldest child, Edward junior, had been educated at the public school in Bloxham and had chosen to follow a career in the legal profession. He must have been very intelligent and have driven himself hard in his legal studies as he was to become, at 19, the youngest solicitor of the time to be admitted to the Law Society.

The arrangement with the Freelands was that Alice was to stay with them and be governess to their five daughters. However her duties appear to have strayed off course and extended to include the extra curricula duties of being "a great comfort to Edward junior when he was studying late at night", as one of his descendants so nicely phrased it. As a result Alice found herself pregnant. Such events seem fairly common and inevitable in Victorian and Edwardian times where young female servants were in constant close proximity to males in the same household. In this case, unlike many, the right thing was done. The marriage of Edward Fricker Freeland and Alice Eliza Trease in Tamworth Registration District and the birth of their son Edward Claude Freeland in West Bromwich Registration District both occurred in the last quarter of 1890.

Married Life

Alice and Edward went to live in Aston, Warwicks. By the mid 1890s, Edward had become a partner in a firm of Solicitors called Bowen and Freeland who practiced from Lincoln's Inn, Corporation Street, Birmingham and the family had moved to 18 Wills St. Hunters Road Birmingham, possibly a bigger property to reflect their growing prosperity. In late 1894/early 1895, Alice gave birth to their second son, Clement Trease Freeland. By 1901 they had moved again and were living at 139 Hall Road, Handsworth, where they seemed to settle. In the census of that year, Edward's unmarried sister, Eliza, aged 23, was shown living with them. Eliza would have been 12 years old when Alice, who was now almost 40, was last her governess. On the 3rd October that year Alice, as she was the eldest surviving close relative, was granted administration of the estate of her younger brother John Spencer Trease who had died aged only 35 in Ashby de la Zouch.

Little more is known of Alice. Family legend is that she may have liked having a drink or two in her later life. Like her brother and her mother before her, she died young in 1909 aged only 48.

Edward's 2nd marriage

After Alice's early death, Edward stayed in Hall Road Handsworth and in 1910 he married for a second time to Mabel Greenwell nee Miles, a 46 year old widow who was past childbearing age. Mabel's previous marriage had been in Wolverhampton in 1887 to a Walter Nicholas Greenwell and she had had children from that marriage including a son, Walter Noel Maddison Greenwell, who was, at the time of her second marriage a 21 year old schoolteacher, and possibly other children. Edward and Mabel's family recorded in the April 1911 census at their home in Hall Road, included Edward's two sons from his previous marriage, Mabel's son, Walter, from her previous marriage, Mabel's brother and two servants.

In 1912, three years after their mother died, Edward's two sons Edward and "Clem" decided to up roots and emigrate to Canada where it is thought other Freeland relatives may have been living.

In 1919, after only 9 years of marriage, Edward's second wife, Mabel, like his first wife, died young, aged only 56 from, it is believed, cancer.

Edward's third marriage

The year after Mabel's death, Edward married for a third time. His third wife, Alice Amelia May, was at 29, almost twenty years younger than Edward. They got married in the summer of 1920 in Yarmouth and spent their honeymoon in North America, almost certainly visiting Edward's two sons in Canada. They had children and it appears they were very happily married. In the summer of 1927 they went to Cape Town presumably for a relaxing holiday but tragedy was about to strike for a third time. In December 1928, Edward's car skidded on an icy road and crashed. Alice was taken to hospital where she died leaving her husband, who was then in his late fifties, with a young family to bring up.

Edward's fourth marriage

In 1933, 5 years after the death of his third wife, Edward was to marry, for a fourth and last time, a 38 year old widow, Doris M Smith nee Cronin. She appears to have been born in Kings Norton in 1895 and had married her first husband Cyril B Smith in Kings Norton in 1922. Edward and Doris went on their honeymoon to Las Palmas in February 1933. Unfortunately Edward's last marriage was to be an unhappy one, according to a descendant, but nothing else is known of his last wife including where and when she died.

In 1947, to add to Edward's troubles, disaster struck his solicitor's practice of Freeland & Passey of 71 Temple Row, Birmingham when it was discovered that one of his clerks had embezzled huge amounts of his clients' monies. After that, he went to live with his daughter-in-law Beatrice Ruth Freeland at Shirley. From then on until his death in 1959, aged 87, Edward was looked after by his daughter-in-law, apart from a short period when she went to live awhile in Canada where the rest of her family lived.

Children

Alice and Edward Fricker Freeland had two sons: -

• Edward Claude Freeland was born in 1890. In 1912 he emigrated to Canada where he became a Silver Fox Rancher. In 1916 he got married in Brant, Canada. His wife died in 1933 and did not give birth to any children. In 1934 he married again in Canada, came to the UK for his honeymoon and never returned. His new wife was 20 years his junior and they had a family. Edward died in 1945.
  
  
• Clement Trease Freeland was born in 1894 and emigrated with his brother to Canada in 1912 where he became a mechanic/millwright. He married in Canada in 1926 and returned to the UK in 1935, shortly after his brother decided to stay. After the War he returned to Canada where he and his wife died around 1950. They had no children.

RETURN TO START OF LIFE STORY

Birth

Edward Claude FREELAND was born in 1890, the son of Alice and Edward Fricker Freeland in the year of their marriage. When small, he became permanently blinded in his right eye while chopping some wood. He trained as a legal clerk, possibly with a view to joining his father's practice, but in the summer of 1912 he decided to go to Canada with his brother Clem with the intention of them both becoming farmers. It seems highly probable that he and Clem had friends or relatives, currently unknown, already living in Canada. The name Freeland frequently appears at that time in the area where they settled.

Marriage

In 1916 he married Francis Mary Lillian Newland, "Mary", at Brant. Mary had been born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the 27th June 1882. Her father, Henry, had been born in the USA and her mother, Edith Olding, had been born in England, so Mary's was a fairly cosmopolitan family. Both Edward and his wife were at the time working as bee-keepers in Onondaga township. His wife was apparently also a very talented artist but this does not seem to have been her main occupation. Edward and Mary's marriage was to be childless. Edward became a silver fox rancher at Onondaga and began making regular short visits to the UK from 1928. On the 18th January 1933, Mary died at Galt General Hospital, Waterloo, aged 51.

In 1934 he came over to England and stayed for about two and a half months, returning back to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 21st December. Later that same month, he married, for a second time, in Galt, Ontario. His second wife, Beatrice, was over 20 years younger than him. Three months later, on the 22nd March 1935, Edward is recorded arriving at Liverpool, England with his new wife, Beatrice, on the "Duchess of Bedford" from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Apparently they came to England for their honeymoon, intending to stay only for a short while, but, in the end, decided not to return to Canada. Edward took a job at the Rover works in Solihull and they had a family.

Later Years

Edward was only 55 when he died in 1945 at 24 Malcolm Road Shirley leaving his wife, who was 33, with a young family to bring up. After his death, Beatrice returned to Canada as all her relatives were there. However she was unable to settle and returned to Malcolm Road, Shirley, England. She died in Solihull in the 1980s.

RETURN TO START OF LIFE STORY

Birth

Clement Trease FREELAND, 'Clem', was the son of Alice and Edward Fricker Freeland, and appears to have been born in 1894, as although his birth was not registered until the first quarter of the following year, a surviving christening cup bears the legend : -

"Clement Trease Freeland
St Clements Day
Nov 25th 1894"

Married Life

In the summer of 1912 he emigrated to Canada with his brother with the intention of becoming a farmer but seems to have ended up a mechanic, as this was his stated occupation on the 25th March 1926, when he married Edith Alice Harper in Brantford, Brant, Ontario, Canada. Edith had been born in Worcester, England in 1900, the daughter of Henry and Esther Harper nee Bull, and she was about 7 years older than Clem. One of the witnesses to the marriage was "M. L. Freeland of Middleford, Ontario". This person was, almost certainly, a relative of Clem's and may have been his aunt, Margaret Louisa Freeland, but so far there is no firm evidence that that is so.

In 1935, when his brother Edward decided to return to England with his newly married wife, Clem and Edith decided to do likewise. Their ship berthed at Liverpool on the 13th July 1935, three months after that of his brother. At that time Clem had been working as a millwright in Canada and he seems to have sought similar work in the UK. By 1939 he was working in a B.S.A. munitions factory.

Later Years

After the end of the Second World War and about the same time that his late brother's wife, Beatrice, returned to Canada, Clem and Edith also decided to leave England. A descendant takes up the story from then and states they "returned to Canada in 1949 but they found it very difficult to get either employment or accommodation. It was not a happy situation and Clem died after about 15 months. Edith who was considerably older than him, died very soon after".

Two documents relating to his return to Canada have been located. The first is of the arrival of Clem and his wife in New York on the 31st October 1947 on the "Queen Elizabeth" bound from Southampton. The second is of a 1949 electoral list showing them both living at 115 Norfolk Avenue, Waterloo South, Galt, Ontario, and Clem working as a machinist. Public records of their deaths have yet to be found. Their voyage to New York is a bit puzzling. It is possible that they tried their luck in getting work in the USA or simply took the opportunity of doing a bit of touring before proceeding to Canada.

RETURN TO START OF LIFE STORY

Alice Eliza TREASE

Spouse - Edward Fricker FREELAND

Son - Edward Claude FREELAND

Son - Clement Trease FREELAND

RETURN to START of DATA for ALICE ELIZA TREASE

Edward's parents
1872	b. Florence Mary Freeland (Kingston RD Apr-May-Jun 1872)
1875	b. Jessie Louise Freeland (Kingston RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1875)
1876	b. Mary Helen Freeland (Tamworth RD Apr-May-Jun 1876 6b 483)
1877	b. Eliza Freeland (Tamworth RD Jul-Aug-Sep 1877 6b 448)
1878	b. Margaret Louisa Freeland (Tamworth RD Oct-Nov-Dec 1878 6b 448)
1888	Fazeley. Edward Freeland, Brewer and Maltster (Kellys GHL)
1892	Fazeley. Edward Freeland, Brewer and Maltster (Kellys GHL)
1896	Fazeley. Edward Freeland, Brewer, Maltster, Wine & Spirit Merchant (Kellys GHL)
1922	d. Edward Freeland 80 (Walsall RD Apr-May-Jun 1922 6b 735)
1922	21Jul1922 Probate
1923	d. Margaret L Freeland 82 (Walsall RD Oct-Nov-Dec 1922 6b 702)
1923	13Dec1923 Probate
Spouse. Edward Fricker FREELAND
1871	b. Edward F Freeland (Kingston RD Mar-Apr-Jun 1871 2a 262)
1871	02Apr1871 Census. Sch 17 Grove Rd., Kingston (RG10/860 f100 p7)
	Edward Freeland Head 28 Brewer's assistant b. Soke D'Abernon, Surrey Margaret Louis Freeland Wife 29 b. Kingston, Surrey Edward F Freeland Son 1mo b. Kingston, Surrey Sarah Amelia Saunders 61 Nurse Jane Cook 17 General Servant
1881	03Apr1881 Census. Headmaster's house, "All Saints School", Bloxham, Oxon (RG11/1522 f67 p11)
	Edward Freeland 10 Scholar
1891	05Apr1891 census - with Alice and family
1895	Edward F. Freeland 18 Wills street Hunter's road (Kellys CHA) Edward Fricker Freeland, solicitor, see Bowen & Freeland Bowen & Freeland, solicitors, Lincoln's inn, Corporation st
1901	31Mar1901 Census - with Alice and family
1910	m. Edward F Freeland and Mabel .. (W. Bromwich RD Apr-May-Jun 1910 6b 1146)
1862	b. Mabel Miles (Wolverhampton RD Jul-Ag-Sep 1862 6b 35/89?)
1887	m. Mabel Miles and Walter Nicholas Greenwell (Wolverhampton RD Oct-Nov-Dec 1887 6b 913)
1911	1911 Census Sch88 93 Hall Rd., Handsworth, Birmingham (RG 14/17219)
	Edward Fricker Freeland, Head, 41, Solicitor, Working on own account b. Kingston, Surrey Mabel Freeland, Wife, 47 b. Enville, Staffs Walter Noel Maddison Greenwell, Stepson, 22, Schoolteacher b. Enville, Staffs Edward Claude Freeland, son, 19, Law clerk, b. Handsworth, Staffs Clement Trease Freeland, son, 15, Scholar, b. Handsworth, Staffs Owen Miles, brother-in-law, 38, clerk Henrietta Clement Alice Ball
1919	d. Mabel Freeland 56 (W Bromwich RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1919 6b 1348)
1919	28Mar1919 Probate. Mabel Freeland of 93 Hall-road Handsworth Birmingham (wife of Edward Fricker Freeland) died 5 February 1919
	Probate London 28 March to the said Edward Fricker Freeland solicitor. Effects £552 18s 6d.
1920	m. Edward F Freeland & Alice Amelia May (Yarmouth RD Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 4b 17)
1920	08Aug1920 Arrival Quebec on "Metagana" and border crossing Canada to USA
	Edward Freeland 48 Solicitor Father: Edward Freeland 3 Birmingham St., Walsall Alice Freeland 28 Wife
1927	04Aug1927 Arrival at Southampton from Cape Town (UK Incoming passenger lists)
	Mr Edward Fricker Freeland 56 Solicitor of Cobham Barnt Green Worcs Mrs Alice Amelia Freeland 36
1928	d. Alice Amelia Freeland 37 (Evesham RD Oct-Nov-Dec 1928 6c 300)
1929	Alice Amelia Freeland of Cobham Barnt Green Worcestershire (wife of Edward Fricker Freeland) died 15th December 1928
	at the Cottage Hospital Evesham Worcestershire Administration Birmingham 18th February to the said Edward Fricker Freeland solicitor. Effects £577. 9s. 0d
1933	m. Edward F Freeland & Doris M Evans or Cronin (Bromsgrove RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1933 6c 321)
Details of 4th wife
1895	b. Doris M Cronin (Kings Norton RD Apr-May-Jun 1895)
1922	m. Doris M Cronin and Cyril B Evans (Kings Norton RD Apr-May-Jun 1922)
1933	27Feb1933 Arrival at Liverpool on "Alondra" from Las Palmas originally embarked at Liverpool so round trip (UK Incoming passenger lists)
	Mr E F Freeland 61 Solicitor Barnt Green Cobham Worcs Mrs E F Freeland 35
Death of sister Mary Helen
1934	d. Mary H Freeland 58 (Birmingham RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1934 6d 473)
1934	Probate: Mary Helen Freeland of 2 Finmere road School road Hall Green Birmingham spinster died 5 February 1934
	Probate Birmingham 23rd March to Edward Fricker Freeland solicitor and Margaret Louisa Freeland spinster Effects £2,403 16s
Death of sister Margaret Louisa
1947	d. Margaret L Freeland 68 (Birmingham RD Apr-May-Jun 1947 9c147)
1947	Probate: Margaret Louisa Freeland of 813 Walsall road Great Barr Staffordshire spinster died 3rd May 1947
	Probate Birmingham 20 August to Elsie Kate Bates spinster Effects £2,963 12s 6d
Death of Edward Fricker Freeland
1959	Death register: March 1959 Edward F Freeland 87 (Solihull RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1959 9c 1361)
1959	Probate : Edward Fricker Freeland 24 Malcolm road Shirley Solihull Warwickshire died 27th January 1959

RETURN to START of DATA for EDWARD FRICKER FREELAND

1922 Probate of the Will of Edward Freeland

Probate register: Edward Freeland of Lune (Lime?) House 3 Birmingham-road Walsall Staffordshire died 24th June 1922 Probate London 21 July to Robert Nevell solicitor and Joseph Henry Kinson farmer. Effects £11,313 16s. 1d

Will (summary only): Edward Freeland of Fazeley near Tamworth in the county of Stafford Brewer

Exors: Robert Nevill of Tamworth & Joseph Henry Kinson of Park Farm Kettlebrook near Tamworth

Bequests:
£20 to Joseph Henry Kinson
Remainder of estate to be realised in cash and shared equally between
Wife - Margaret Louisa
Daughters - Florence Mary, Jessie Louise, Eliza, Mary Helen, Margaret Louisa

Signed: 30th November 1918

Witnesses:
George R Jennings Solr
H. Emery with Messrs Nevill & Matthews, Solicitors, Tamworth

RETURN to DATA for EDWARD FRICKER FREELAND

1923 Probate of the Will of Margaret Louisa Freeland

Probate register: Margaret Louisa Freeland of Lime House 3 Birmingham-road Walsall Staffordshire widow died 23 November 1923 Probate London 13 December to Florence Mary Bates (wife of Samuel Bates) and Robert Nevill solicitor. Effects £1,822 14s 3d

RETURN to DATA for EDWARD FRICKER FREELAND

Son. Edward Claude FREELAND
1890	b. Edward Claude Freeland (W Bromwich RD Oct-Nov-Dec 1890 6b 704)
1912	19Jul1912. Arrival: Quebec on "Royal George" (Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry)
	Claude Freeland. 21. Clerk. Destination: Ouidale. Intended occupation: Farming. Clement Freeland. 17 .. details as before..
1916	m. 19Sep1916 Brant (Canadian Marriage Registers - Ancestry)
	Edward Claude Freeland, Bachelor, Apiarist of Onondaga Township, 25, son of Edward Fricker Freeland and Alice Elizabeth Trease, b. England, Religion: CofE Francis Mary Lilian Newland, Spinster, Apiarist of Onondaga Township, 33, daur of Wm Augustine Newland and Elizabeth Anne Olding, b. Argentine, Religion: CofE Witnesses: Mrs D W Jones of Brantford, C.T. Freeland of Onondaga Township
Visits to UK
1928	07Jan1928. Arrival: Liverpool on "Minnesota" from St. John, Newfoundland (UK incoming passenger lists - Ancestry)
	Edward C Freeland. 37. Proposed address: E.F.Freeland, Cobham, Burnt Green, Warwicks
1928	18Mar1928. Arrival: St John, New Brunswick on "Minnesota" (Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry)
	Edward Freeland, 37.
1929	02Feb1929. Arrival: Liverpool on "Montrose" from St John, New Brunswick (UK incoming passenger lists - Ancestry)
	Edward Claude Freeland, 38, Silver Fox Rancher. Proposed address: Barnet Green, Worcester. Intended Residence: Other part of British Empire ie not UK
1930	11Jan1930. Arrival: Liverpool on "Montrose" from St John, New Brunswick (UK incoming passenger lists - Ancestry)
	Edward Claude Freeland, 39, Rancher. Proposed address: Cobham, Barnet Green, Worcester. Intended Residence: Other part of British Empire ie not UK
1930	16Mar1930. Arrival: St John, New Brunswick on "Duchess of York" (Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry)
	Edward Freeland, 39.
Death of 1st wife
1933	d. 18Jan1833 Mary Frances Freeland at Galt General Hospital, Waterloo age 51(per Ancestry image)
	b. 27Jun1882 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Father's surname: Newland b. USA. Mother's surname: Olding b. England.
	Informant: Edward C Freeland, 120 Main Street, Galt, husband.
	i. 20Jan1933. Mount View Cemetery
1934	21Dec1934. Arrival: Halifax, Nova Scotia on "Duchess of Bedford" from Liverpool (Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry)
	Edward Freeland, 44, of 39 Oak Street, Galt, Ontario (away from Canada since 04Oct1934)
Return to UK with wife
1935	22Mar1935. Arrival: Liverpool on "Duchess of Bedford"(UK incoming passenger lists - Ancestry)
	Edward C Freeland. 44. Salesman. Proposed address: 2 Fenmere Rd., Hall Green, Birmingham Beatrice R Freeland. 24. Housewife.
1945	d. Edward C Freeland 55 (Solihull RD Jul-Aug-Sep 1945 6d 673)
1946	11Feb1946 Edward Claude Freeland of 24 Malcolm-road Shirley Warwickshire died 11 August 1945
	Probate Birmingham 11th February to Beatrice Ruth Freeland widow. Effects £1,114 12s 5d.
1948	Arrival: 21Jan1948 on Empress of Canada, at Liverpool, from St John, New Brunswick.
	Beatrice R Feeeland, 24 Malcolm Rd., Shirley. (UK incoming passenger lists - Ancestry)
1983	d. Beatrice Ruth Freeland b.24Sep1911 (Birmingham RD Jul-Aug-Sep 1983 32 1196)

RETURN to START of DATA for EDWARD CLAUDE FREELAND

Son. Clement Trease FREELAND
1895	b. Clement Trease Freeland (Aston RD Jan-Feb-Mar 1895 6d 381)
1912	19Jul1912. Arrival: Quebec on "Royal George" (Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry)
	Claude Freeland. 21. Clerk. Destination: Ouidale(?) Intended occupation: Farming. Clement Freeland. 17 .. details as before..
1926	m. 29Mar1926 Brantford, Brant. (Canadian Marriage Registers - Ancestry)
	Clement Trease Freeland, Mechanic of Brantford, Bachelor, 25, son of Edward Fricker Freeland and Alice Elizabeth nee Trease, b. England Edith Alice Harper, Spinster of Brantford, 31, daughter of Henry Harper and Esther nee Bull of Brantford, b. England Witnesses: M.L.Freeland of Middleford, Ontario, G. Hillgartner of Brantford
?	b. Edith Alice Harper ()
1935	13Jul1935. Arrival: Liverpool on "Duchess of Bedford" from Montreal, Quebec (UK incoming passenger lists) 142 Clement T Freeland, 40, Millwright and Edith Alice Freeland, 47, Housewife. Proposed address: 125 Cattell Rd Birmingham
1947	31Oct1947. Arrival: New York on "Queen Elizabeth" from Southampton (per Ancestry)
	Clement Freeland, Millwright, 52, b. Birmingham, Edith Freeland, 59, Housewife, b. Dudley
1949	Voters List. 115 Norfolk Avenue, Waterloo South, Galt, Ontario (per Ancestry)
	No. 237. Clement Freeland, Machinist. No. 238. Mrs Edith Freeland.

RETURN to START of DATA for CLEMENT TREASE FREELAND

Data Change History

GO TO LIFE STORY