Coates Geneology

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Great Uncle Fredrick Coates

Ernest Coates with his mother Jessie Coates (c. 1890)

With this I went to the National Archives in Dublin, and examined the 1901 & 1911 Census returns. From these documents I was able to get the approximate ages, and therefore the dates of birth of my great grand father (Ernest Coates), and of my great great grand mother (Jessie Coates). I was also able to get an approximate date for the marriage of Jessie Coates and my great great grand father (thought to be Albert Coates). I also found that Jessie was a professor of music.

1901 census of Ireland	1911 census of Ireland

 

The Census records before 1901 were destroyed during the civil war. I therefore had to use Ancestry.co.uk to pick up the trail before 1901.

Violet Coates (c. 1900)

I always believed that my great great grand fathers name was Albert Coates, however William had no brothers called Albert. I then used the marriage date for Jessie Coates and could not find any marriage between Jessie and an Albert Coates.

Being a little confused, I decided to cross reference all the marriage dates and names of the wives of Williams brothers. Both Benjamin and William were marrid to Marys. John never married and the records just said that Joseph Jennings was married. I then trawled through the marriage records for 1876 and found a record for Joseph Jennings Coates in Exeter, Devonshire for that date.

Marriage record of Joseph Jennings and Jessie Coates

I was amazed to find out that my great great grand father was actually called Joseph Jennings. Using this information, I then went to find out where he was on the night of the 1881 census, when his wife Jessie and daughter Vilolet were staying with his brother William. I located him bording with his cousin George Coates in the 1881 census of Kiddeminster, where he was working as an organist.

1881 census returns of Kiddeminster

I then sent away to the British Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths and ordered the Marriage Certificate of Joseph Jennings Coates and Jessie Coates, using the reference I found. When it arrived, I was able to see Jessie Coates maiden name, which was Mardon. This made sense as I remembered my father telling me that the family opened a factory for Mardon pianos in Ireland (a sort of Dixons of the day considering pianos were like the ipods then). I also learnt that Jessies father was called William Mardon, and his professon was a piano manufacturer.

Marriage Certificate for Joseph Jennings Coates & Jessie Mardon

I then used these details to search for the family of Jessie and found them in the Census of 1871. This document said that William was a piano manufacturer, his wife Betsy was a Professor of music, and that Jessie had sisters called Charlotte, Rose, Eliza, Flora and betsy. It also said that at 20 years old, Jessie worked as a piano tuner.

Census for Exeter 1871

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Ernest (My great grand father) was the second child born to Joseph & Jessie in 1883 in England.
	Four years later, his second son Albert was born in Ireland in 1887.

Therefore, the family moved to Ireland to set up their business (The Mardon Piano Factory) between 1883 and 1887. It is possible that on the night of the 1881 census Joseph had to work away to raise enough capital to set up his new venture in Ireland, while Jessie stayed with his brothers family in Yorkshire. When they moved to Dublin, they bought a house in Annesley Park in Ranelagh.

7 Annesley Park, Ranelagh

Since then the family have always had a very musical background. His son, Ernest and his wife Emily (my Great Grand-Parents) were also pianists and music teachers. Most of their children including Harold, Richard (My Grand-Father), John and Frederick became musicians, able to play, repair and tune many instruments. In time both Richards, John and Fredericks children followed in their footsteps, forming several bands that played all over England and Ireland. Today, Joseph and Jessie's great great grand kids carry on this musical tradition (see Coates main page for photos).