My paternal grandparents wedding, 7 August 1916. The bride was Gertrude Annie Merritt, the groom was William Ernest Easter. Next to the groom is Gertrude’s sister, Kathleen Merritt, known by my father of course as Aunt Kate, and therefore always called that by myself and my sister, although technically she was our great aunt.
Behind the groom, the gentleman with the bald head and magnificent moustache is the bride’s father, George Merritt. His wife Amelia Hall is to the right, wearing a hat that always looks rather South American to me – no-one else seems to be dressed in a similar fashion!
The groom’s parents, Henry Robert Easter and Mary Ann Whitlock, don’t seem to be in this photo. Most of the people seem to be on the bride’s side, so possibly the groom’s family were taken separately. He was the third of twelve children, so there probably wasn’t space for everyone.
My grandfather was born in Peckham, and at the time of his marriage lived at 106 Haydons Road, Wimbledon with his parents. The house has been demolished, and replaced with a modern block of shops, but the houses next to it remain. They are standard Victorian terraces with small yards at the back, so it may be that this is where the photo was taken. In the 1911 census he is shown as a leather worker. His father owned a boot and shoe repair shop and we know he worked there for some years. Later he worked at the gas works in Wimbledon, maintaining the equipment.
My grandmother was born in Wimbledon, and at the time of the 1911 census was a nursemaid to a missionary’s children, living in Salisbury Street, Brondesbury, London. The only street that might match is Salusbury Road, so possibly an error in the transcription, or maybe a completely different road which has been renamed or demolished.
Easter Family Genealogy 