Edward Fricker Freeland & Alice Eliza

see Family Tree

(generation 21 EF&A Alice = Edward)

Alice Eliza Trease was born in 1860 in Burton-on-Trent, the daughter of John Trease and Eliza Spencer and the granddaughter of John Trease and Esther Whitehouse. Little is known of her early life. She spent her early childhood in Burton-on-Trent where her father worked as a Brewery Traveller or Agent probably for one of the brewery companies based there.

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 15 when her mother died. After her mother's death it appears she stayed living with her father in Ashby and helping him with the housework for a further 6 years until he died in 1882.

After her father's death she became a governess to the five daughters of Edward and Margaret Freeland in Fazeley. Edward Freeland was a brewer at Fazeley, and it is conjectured that he may have known of or have had some form of business connection with John Trease. In 1890, when she was 30, she married Edward Freeland's son, Edward Fricker Freeland in Tamworth. Her husband was only 19 and at that age became the youngest solicitor at that time to be admitted to the Law Society. It seems that Alice, in addition to looking after Edward's sisters, may also have been a great comfort to Edward when he was studying late at night.

Alice and Edward had two sons.

Like her mother before her, Alice died young, aged 48, in 1909 . It seems that in her later years she may have taken to drinking heavily. Shortly after her death, her two sons emigrated to Canada. Her husband, Edward married three further times. His second marriage was childless. He had three children by his third marriage which ended tragically in a motoring accident. His fourth marriage was childless. He died in 1959 in Solihull aged 89.

• son Edward Claude Freeland was born the year of their marriage. When small, he became permanently blinded in his right eye while chopping some wood. In 1910 he went to Canada with his brother Clem and for a time owned a silver fox ranch at Onondago. Whilst there he married Mary Newland, a very talented artist but she died young.
  
  In the 1930s, he married for a second time. His new wife is believed to have been about 20 years younger than Claude who was in his forties. They came to England for their honeymoon and decided to stay. Edward took a job at the Rover works in Solihull. They had one child.
  
  After Edward died in 1945 aged 55, his wife returned to Canada with her child as all her relatives were there. However she was unable to settle and returned to England where she died in the 1980s.
  
  
  
• son Clement Trease Freeland, 'Clem' was born in 1894. In 1910, following the death of his mother, Clem went to Canada with his brother. When in Canada, he had a childless marriage with Edith who is believed to have been much older than he was. Like his brother, he returned to England and certainly in 1939 was working in munitions at B.S.A.
  
  In 1949, at about the same time that his late brother's wife returned to Canada, Clem and Edith also returned to Canada. Unfortunately, it was very difficult for them to find employment or accommodation. It was not a happy situation and Clem died after about 15 months and Edith died not long after.