George William Lawes

George William Lawes was a footman to the Duke of Norfolk. The 15th Duke of Norfolk was Henry Fitzalan-Howard 1847-1917. George William Lawes later owned the gentleman's club, Duke of York, 10 York Street, Westminster. There is a cigarette box from G W Lawes, which boasts that the Duke of York has the grandest Billiard Saloon, York Street, St James Square, London. George William Lawes was born in Norwich and in the 1861 census, he is living with James& Frances Lawes at 47 Mill Lane Norwich, Norfolk. His father is described as a Gardener & his mother as a Silk Weaver. In the 1891 census, he is a married man & a publican in Westminster, London. In the 1901 census, there is a couple George & Ellen Lawes living at 1 Ormond Yard, which sounds like George William & Ellen his wife. He gives his birth date as c 1860 , Norwich, while Ellen Lawes is 30 years old & a dressmaker. His occupation is given as Publican, own account, not working at home. Above their entry is a note about a Club at 10 York Street, St James's Square. George William visited South Africa & there is a ship's record for his second wife Ellen Maria Lawes, accompanied by two stepdaughters Leovina & Lelguard leaving London for Cape Town on the Delphic on October 30th 1902. From a photograph taken in Molteno, we know that Ellen & George William Lawes spent some time in the Eastern Cape while running a dining room & bar, situated on the railway station at Molteno. This was usually a profitable site for a dining establishment as travellers on the train, including tourists would need refreshment on a regular basis. However, his daughters are not visible in this photograph. It is possible that a son Edward, who did not survive, was born in South Africa, but his date of birth is not known. This was a troubled time in South Africa & records were not always kept. The Lawes family know that Ellen's second child Simona was born in March 1905 in Simonstown, a Naval dockyard for the British Navy & South African Navy, near Cape Town on the coast. After her birth & possibly after Leovina's marriage to Harold L Shaw, George & Ellen Lawes and their young daughter Simona returned to England, where George's eldest daughter Eva was living. George & Ellen & Simona Lawes arrived in St John, New Brunswick, Canada on the ship "Lake Manitoba" from Liverpool, England 23rd March 1906. George W Lawes is described on the entry forms as a labourer, Canadian Pacific Rail & farming. Lewis Norman remembers that the family first moved to a land grant in Saskatchewan & tried farming. In 1910, George William Lawes is listed in the Henderson BC Gazeteer as a resident of Field, British Columbia. Eva Elisabeth Irene Lawes took her time to move to Canada, arriving in Montreal in 1908 from Liverpool.