Robert Arthur Moulton was the son of Robert & Elizabeth Mouton, nee Cross, who had married in Great Boughton in the June Quarter of 1860. (Gt. Boughton 8a 490). The district Gt. Boughton is an alternative name for Great Boughton and it spans the boundaries of the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. He, I believe was baptized on the 21st December 1873. (Robert Arthur Moulton in the England, Select Cheshire Bishop’s Transcripts, 1598-1900 FHL Film Number: 1647517)
They started their married life living in Pepper Street, Chester and by the 1861 census their daughter Louisa had been born, she was 3 months old on the census, Robert was age 24, a Furnace Man and had been born in chester, as Louisa had. Elizabeth, 20 had been born in Wigan.
Robert Arthur didn’t appear until circa 1874 and the family, by then had moved to Saltney, living at 8, Anchor Row, Saltney, Chester (San Dist – Hawarden) (St. Mary’s) on the 1881 census. Robert (Snr), 43 was a Forgeman, Iron and Elizabeth, 39, had increased their family. Daughter Ann Jane, 15 was a Dressmaker and son Thomas, 14 , an Office Boy had both been born in Chester. The rest of the family had been born in Saltney, Flintshire. Frederick, 12, Elizabeth, 11, Robert , 7 and Florence were all scholars.
The 1891 census shows the family now living in High Street, Saltney, Robert, 53 was still a Forgeman, Elizabeth now 50. Son Thomas, 24, Single and a Craneman, Frederick, 22, Single, a Railway Labourer (Plate), Elizabeth, 21, Single, Robert A., 17, single and a Labourer in Ironworks, Florence, 16, daughter Jessie, 7, a scholar and a Grand-daughter Gertrude E. Moulton, 7 and a scholar.
I believe that Elizabeth could have died, but Robert Arthur had Elizabeth down as the sole Legatee for his money from the Army, and he had married Jane by then.
I have 2 sources for Elizabeth’s sad death, both in 1898, one on FreeBMD, giving her age as 55, in the March Quarter of the year (Chester Vol. 8a, Page 294) and North Wales BMD (Flintshire, (Mold)HAW/27/8). Saltney was sometimes in Flintshire and sometimes in Cheshire, as it is on the border of both counties.
Elizabeth could have died, but Robert Arthur had Elizabeth down as the sole Legatee for his money from the Army, and he had married Jane by then. See his Army Records below.
Robert (Snr.) married Caroline Broadhurst in a Civil Marriage (or Registrar Attended) in 1899 in Chester (Cheshire West ROC/39/62), but sadly she was to die in 1902 and again her death is registered in Hawarden (Flintshire (Mold) HAW/29/71)
They are seen on the 1901 census living in Saltney Road, Lache – cum – Saltney, Chester. Robert (Snr.), 63 now a retired Forgeman, his wife is shown as Caroline, 48, born in Chester. Florence, 26, Single, Gertrude Ellinor*, 17, Single a School Teacher, Jessie Agnes, 17, Single a Dressmaker’s Apprentice and Caoroline’s son John Broadhurst, 17, single and an Apprenitice (I cannot read census, a mark has been placed through the word by enumerator!).
* Gertrude Ellinor was a Grand-daughter on the 1891 census with the family.
The 1911 census sees Robert (Snr.) living at 1 Park View, High Street, Saltney, he is 73, a widower and a Retired Forgeman, he was living with his daughter Jessies, 26, single and Housekeeper.
On the same census, Robert Arthur was living at No 2, Park View, High Street, Saltney, either next door or across the road? He in the meantime, in 1901, had married Jane Jackson in St. Oswald’s Church in Chester (Cheshire West CE15/9/459) and as he appears on the 1901 census with his family, he must have married before the census was taken on the 31st March 1901.
1901 sees the family living at 52, Curzon Street, Lache – cum- Saltney, Chester, Robert A. Moulton, 27 was a General Manager, his wife Jane, 24 had been born in Chester, as had their son Arthur, 2 months old.
The 1911 census now at No 2, Park View, High Street, Saltney, sees the little family had been suffering losses, as Robert Arthur, 37 a General Labourer at the Caudle Works and Jane, 34 had been married 10 years, but little Arthur had died and a daughter, Edith Emily, age 5 was the only remaining child out of 3 children born.
I cannot find any Army Service Records for Arthur, as he had two regimental numbers he may have served with the army previously and as I said above his mother Elizabeth is given as his next of kin, but she died in 1898, so it may have been before then.
Robert Arthur Moulton in the UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 confirms his regimental details and tells us his birth and residence was in Saltney, Chester.
Robert Arthur Moulton in the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 give us the mystery, or a clerical error – Sole Legatee mother Elizabeth MOULTON £17 11s 2d (Includes War Gratuity of £10 10s 0d) paid out on 8th August 1919
Robert A Moulton in the British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 gives 2 regimental 3789 and 241517, but does not tell us where his first Theatre of War was nor when he entered it.
Any information would be gratefully received.