Lilias House

[David Brown]

Does anyone have any knowledge of a property called Lilias House which was [perhaps is] on Station Road, Bangor?

David Brown
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[David Price]

I don't know of Lilias House, but there is an Elias Garage.  Station Road is now the stretch of Telford's road linking the station with High Street, but sometimes, much of the High Street was described as Station Road.

Do you have more details - name and occupation of the occupants and any dates?

[David Brown]

Thanks for your quick reply, David.

At least two of my family members have lived in Bangor -
- Thomas and Catherine Brown [9 Ebenezer Place (1851) and 255 High Street (1881)]
- Pacific and Elizabeth Brown

Thomas was Captain of the ship 'Lilias' and his son, Pacific, was born on board during a crossing of the Pacific Ocean in 1857. Pacific was a railway porter and named his house in Station Road, Bangor 'Lilias House' after his father's ship.

Any information would be very useful.

David

[David Price]

David, I've found Lilias!

In Slater's Directory 1895 and the 1901 Census, Pacific Brown was living at 85 Carnarvon Road.  This is near the station, which explains your 'Station Road'. That part of Bangor was dominated by the railway and many railwaymen lived on Caernarfon Road [modern spelling] - the nearby St. David's Church was known as the Railwaymen's Church.

Go to Google Maps, search for 85 Caernarfon Road, Bangor, then click on Street View.  You might have to click on the arrows to locate No.85. It has a bright red door, with 'Lilias' shown quite clearly above - and the nextdoor neighbour sitting on his step!

These solid red brick terraces, known as Bloom's Houses were good family homes, but are now mostly let out to students.

Regards

David  

[David Brown]

David,

You are a good man! Many thanks for finding the house. Did you notice the spelling? - Lillias [two 'L's] and not Lilias [one 'L']. That means I have been looking for the wrong ship as there are ships with both spellings around the 1850s and will need to revisit the Maritime Museum in Liverpool again.

We intend to visit Bangor early in 2011 to photograph this house and several others for the family records and to, hopefully, establish what happened to old portraits of the family which used to hang on the walls of Lillias House. I hope we can buy you a drink while we are there.

David Brown

[David Price]

I've recorded a few graves at Glanadda Cemetery, Caernarfon Road, and fortunately I have Pacific's inscription:

In/ Loving Memory of/ PACIFIC/ beloved husband/of ELIZABETH BROWN/ died July 25th 1919/ Aged 62 years/ "Peace Perfect Peace"/ Also/ ELIZABETH/his devoted wife who died March 27th 1937 Aged 79 years/ At Rest.

I have details of a few other BROWN graves including JOHN F. BROWN, painter, d. 23.01.1893, aged 55, and WILLIAM F. BROWN, d. 30.06.1973, aged 83.

I could show you these when you visit Bangor.  The Cemetery is about only about 200 yards from  85 Caernarfon Road.

Regards

David

[David Brown]

David,

You continue to be a superb source of information anout my family. Very many thanks - again!

The other names you mention, John  1893 and William 1973, don't fit into the family tree. Pacific's parents were Thomas and Catherine Brown who lived at 8 Ebenezer Place, Bangor and 255 High Street, Bangor - with a long spell in Liverpool between these two addresses. His brother was Evan who lived in Liverpool. Pacific had no children.

Some family members plan to visit Bangor early in 2011 and would be very happy if you could be our 'guide'!

Again, many thanks for you assistance.

David

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