Julia (Jude) Rolfe

Julia was born in Wickham in 1888 and nothing is known about her until 1918 when she marries Alfred Colmer, a veteran of the first world war, in Hartley Wintney registration district (as Farnborough came under Hartley Wintney I'm sure that the marriage took place in Farnborough where the family appear to have lived). 


In December 1925 Julia arrived in Southampton from South Africa, where she and her husband  were living. Accompanying Julia to England were her sister Flossie and young nephew Maurice. They had obviously come to visit the family. Early the following year the Colmers emigrated to the United States from Cape Town, living for a while in North Hillside Avenue in Chatham, New Jersey. It wasn't long before they travelled, yet again, to visit Flossie in South Africa calling in at London on their way back. They arrived in the UK on the 4th August aboard the SS Dunluce Castle and by the 28th August they were boarding the RMS Mauretania for their journey back to the United States. 

RMS Mauretania

I've no idea how enjoyable their trip on the Mauretania was but they were not welcomed with open arms on their arrival in New York. They were detained by the Immigrant Inspector as "aliens held for special inquiry". The reason for detention appeared to be that they were considered "LPC" or those who were likely to be a burden on the public purse - LPC standing for Likely Public Charge and "PH" which appears to denote a physical handicap. They were two of the luckier ones and after only 30 minutes of interrogation they were allowed entry in to "the land of the free"!

By 1930 they were renting a house in Livingston, New Jersey where Alfred worked as a carpenter and joiner in the building trade. That year they decided to return to the UK on board the Mauretania and gave their intended address as 6 Alhambra Road, Southsea.


By the 1940's they were living in St John's Wood in London.

The Family

As I'm more interested, at the moment, with finding out what happened to my grandfather's brothers and sisters than with going back further and further in time I'll start with a run-down of the family.


Henry Rolfe was born in Shalbourne, Berkshire and married Sarah Bailey on 22 January 1876 in the church of St Lawrence, Hungerford.
They had at least eight children:

1. Alfred b. 1876
2. Agnes May b. 1877
3. *Edith Florence (Flossie) b. 6 Jan 1880
4. *Henry Stephen (Harry) b. 1881
5. *William James b. 12 June 1885
6. Julia b. 1888
7. Philip Lewis (Phil) b. 1891
8. Mabel Alice b. 1899

*Those with an asterisk next to their name I know have descendants alive today. 

Sarah Rolfe, nee Bailey, mother of Alfred, Agnes, Flossie, Harry, William, Julia, Phil and Mabel.

The Rolfe family on the 1891 census are living in four rooms in a house in Wickham village in Berkshire:

Henry Rolfe	Head	35	Sawyer of Timber	Berks Wickham
Sarah	Wife	34		Hungerford
Alfred	Son	14	Sawyer of Timber	Hungerford
Agnes	Dau	13	Kitchen Maid	Wickham
Florence	Dau	11	Scholar	Wickham
Henry	Son	9	Scholar	Wickham
William	Son	5	Scholar	Wickham
Julia	Dau	2	Scholar (stet)	Wickham
Philip	Son	4mo		Wickham

Only Mabel who wasn't born until 1899 is missing from the 1891 census.

I think by 1911 the family had moved to Farnborough in Hampshire but won't know for certain until I can look at the census details.

Now it just remains to be seen if I can find out what happened to them all, where they lived, what they did, if they had any children and are there any unknown relatives somewhere waiting to be discovered? 
At the moment I'm working on the theory that after Henry's death Sarah married a Thomas Shersby in 1926. I know she married again (but I haven't been given a name) and died after a fall down the stairs at her son Alf's home in 1939 in Southsea, Portsmouth.