This page records the corrections and additions made to the Family Tree and to the stories on this site, with the evidence for each change. The newest changes are at the top.
In October 2026 the family tree moved from the Reunion program onto this website, which is now the master copy. Where the old Reunion data and the stories disagreed, the evidence below decided which was right.
15 October 2026
Records added
Record
What it shows
Added to
1921 census, household of Orestes L. Meadows
Orestes, 56, born Leytonstone, restaurant manager for Pimms Limited, 3–5 Poultry, London EC2; Flora, 52, born Acton, home duties; Violet, 22, born Bexley, bank clerk at the London Joint City & Midland Bank, 45 Ludgate Hill; Edwin Henry, 14, born Bexley, at school. The schedule cover gives the address as Brookside, Hartford Road, Bexley, Kent. The ages fit the census actually being taken on 19 June 1921, after it was postponed from April.
Each page under The Painters now opens with a short biography, drawn from the family tree and the stories on this site, with links to the full story where there is one. The pages for Arthur Joseph and Gordon Arthur also draw on published dealer biographies (Benton Fine Art) and local history research (Summerhill Road, Tottenham).
Corrections to the tree
Person
Was
Now
Evidence
Arthur Joseph Meadows
born 1843; died 1907, Kensington district
born 9 Oct 1843, Mile End; died 17 Nov 1907 at 18 Portland Road, Notting Hill
Benton Fine Art biography; consistent with the death index (Kensington, Oct–Dec 1907)
Lydia Maria Jarvis (first wife of William James)
Lynda Maria
Lydia Maria
William James’s story; “Lynda” was not in use as a name in 1850
Added to the tree
Person
Details
Source
Vincent George Mortara
Husband of Eileen Powell, Peg’s sister. Born 1911 (registered at Winchester, October–December); married Eileen in Hampshire in 1936; died 23 May 1968 at High Winds, Odiham Road, Shalden, near Alton.
Civil registration birth, marriage and death indexes; probate calendar, 1968 (probate granted at Winchester, 17 December 1968)
Peter, Roy and Paul Mortara
Sons of Vincent and Eileen.
Family knowledge; births indexed in Hampshire
Roy Mortara
1943–1973. Killed in a car accident in 1973.
Family knowledge; death indexed in Berkshire, 1973
Eileen Maud Rosa Powell
Birth in 1917 confirmed: registered in Middlesex, indexed as “Eileen Mr Powell”.
Civil registration birth index
Corrections to the tree
Person
Was
Now
Evidence
James Edward, Alfred John and Ann Meadows
born at Mountnessing nr Braintree
born at Mountnessing, Essex
1851 census (“Essex, Mountnessing”). Mountnessing is near Brentwood; Braintree is about 20 miles away
Vincent George Mortara
Vincent G Mortara; died 1968
full name Vincent George; died 23 May 1968
Probate calendar, 1968
Peter Baillie
status unknown
deceased (date not known)
Family knowledge
The painters
Painter
Was
Now
Evidence
James Edward Meadows
Died 1893
Married Eliza Ann Rackcliffe, a widow, on 10 March 1854; died at home in Aldine Street on 21 July 1893
Benton Fine Art biography; marriage registered at Camberwell, Jan–Mar 1854; death registered at Fulham, Jul–Sep 1893, aged about 66
William James Meadows (William George)
Died 1907
Death registered at Edmonton, Oct–Dec 1907, aged about 82
Death index, under the name William George Meadows
Arthur Joseph Meadows
Died 1907
Death registered at Kensington, Oct–Dec 1907, aged about 64
Death index
Alfred John Meadows
Died April 1894, Mile End Infirmary
Confirmed: death registered at Mile End Old Town, Apr–Jun 1894, aged about 61
Death index
Gordon Arthur Meadows
No wife recorded; died 1937
Married Lucy Eliza H Laverick (added to the tree), Edmonton, Oct–Dec 1895; died in London in 1937
Marriage index; 1901 census (wife Lucy Eliza); death index
William James’s death. The tree gives 27 Jan 1847. The Times report quoted on William James’s page is dated 31 January and says he died “on Sunday last”, but 31 Jan 1847 was itself a Sunday. His death was registered at Halstead in Jan–Mar 1847. No notice was found in the 1847 Gentleman’s Magazine, Annual Register, Illustrated London News or Musical World, so a death certificate is needed to settle the day.
Edwin Lewis’s exact death date. 23 Dec 1907 comes from family sources. The death index confirms Sevenoaks, Oct–Dec 1907, aged about 69. There is no entry in the 1907 or 1908 probate calendars, so a death certificate is needed to confirm the day.
Orestes’s birthplace. Every census says Leytonstone; the old Reunion tree had 10 Railway Terrace, Woodford. His birth certificate would settle it.
Eileen Powell’s death. 2013 comes from Peg’s page. There is no probate grant for 2012–2014, and the published death index stops at 2007, so a death certificate or a local notice would be needed to confirm the date. Her 1917 birth is now confirmed.