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St Vincent De Paul, Liverpool
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My usual disclaimer – all this information is “to the best of my knowledge” My great grandfather, John Alexander Ralston, was thought to have been Scottish; he spoke with a Scottish accent and pronounced sixpence as “saxpence”. Mum says that he had a very bad temper, would deliberately frighten his wife and the children, that the mothers of his apprentices were so angry with him that they called him a “street angel, house devil”. But he seemed to like my mother and would give her (as a little girl) ‘saxpence’ for sweets, possibly because he approved of her father who ‘had a trade’ as a marine engineer. When we typed “Ralston” into Google’s search engine, we didn’t expect to find a Ralston living in Liverpool as far back as 1832, but there, in the Liverpool Poll Book, was Alexander Ralston, a block maker, of Upper Frederick Street, Liverpool. A block maker could have been involved in the making of blocks and tackle for the ships; Upper Frederick Street is close to the riverside, in a line with Salthouse Dock, amongst others, and many of the inhabitants of Upper Frederick Street and nearby streets were engaged in marine related industries and businesses. Alternatively, a block maker could have been involved with the making of blocks for printing presses – the family history makes either possible at the moment. With all the Scottish connections we were again surprised to find that great grandfather John Alexander Ralston was born in Liverpool, as was his father, David Ralston, who was born in Liverpool in 1830. David Ralston was also a blockmaker, just like his father, Alexander Ralston, in 1832. It may well have been Alexander Ralston who came to Liverpool from Scotland, and more research is required. Starting with Alexander Ralston
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Ralston Tree
Jim Salthouse was a marine engineer, he served in the Merchant navy in WW1. He married Gertrude Maud Ralston (Maud) at the Liverpool Register office. For many years they lived in Liverpool and had a cycle shop on Lodge Lane called Jim’s Cycles. They lived in Birmingham for a while and later moved to North Wales. Alexander Ralston’s family probably came from Edinburgh but he was born in Liverpool and married Amelia Ellery in Liverpool. They had seven children. It is believed that one of the grandchildren emigrated to Australia John Alexander Ralston m Miss Amelia Ellery
Uncle Willy’s wife was Ethel, they had 2 children, Doris died at about age 18 of infantile paralysis, Raymond Ralston was a compositor on the Daily Post at Liverpool. He is believed to have emigrated to Australia.
Auntie Milly had been engaged to George Voss who emigrated to America and married someone else!
Albert Ralston was a batman in the Army in WWII. Died of cancer. Living with Aunty Milly when he died because Doris had already left and married. He had been living at Shellingford Road.
Doris and Jack lived in Poole, Dorset. When they got married he was 21 but she was about 41, however, she put her age on the marriage certificate as 31. They were married in London, where his family lived. He was a manager of the furniture department at a big multiple store.
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Hilary's History Pages 