Charles Allen Du Val

Frances Du Val

Frances Du Val was born on 11 September 1846, the daughter of Charles Allen Du Val and his wife formerly Elizabeth Renney. She was baptised in Manchester Cathedral on 29 January 1847.

She was married to Frederick Wilkinson on 9 February 1865 also in Manchester Cathedral. He was then a cotton yarn agent, but later became a mill owner. They had the following children:

Samuel Wright Wilkinson. He was born in 1866. Dr Samuel Wright Wilkinson DPhil became a mining engineer and chemist. He married Eva G.S. Cathrey from Middlesbrough, sister of Frank Cathrey, an actor-manager. In 1901 they were living in Fulham, but by 1911 Samuel, who by then described himself as a "miniaturist and process artist in enamels" was living in Poole in Dorset with his two daughters Frances Wilkinson aged 12 and Doris Wilkinson aged 10 years.

Florence Lawton Wilkinson. She was born in 1868 She was married in 1892 to George Percy Haworth, a solicitor. They lived at Bayfield House, Stamford Road, Bowdon in Cheshire. They had one child, Percy Haworth.

Kate May Wilkinson. She was born in 1874. She was married in 1900 to Edward Alexander Coulborn in Stockport.

Frederick Wilkinson. He was born in 1876. By 1901 he had become a mechanical engineer, unmarried and living with his parents.

In 1871 the family were living at Wellington Road, Heaton Norris, Stockport in Cheshire, where their son Samuel Wright Wilkinson and daughter Florence Lawton Wilkinson were born. When the 1881 Census wasa taken they had moved to Oak Bank House in Bollington near Macclesfield in Cheshire. By then their two other children had been born, and with them was James Francis Wilkinson, the widowed brother of Frederick Wilkinson, and his daughter Beatrice. (In 1868 Frederick Wilkinson's brother James Francis Wilkinson had married Catherine Sarah Du Val, sister of Frances Du Val.)

Nearby at Lyme Field House in Bollington three unmarried brothers were then living, namely Henry Higgins, Alfred Higgins and Arthur Higgins, Cotton Machinery Makers. Later their surname was changed to Platt-Higgins, and Frances Wilkinson nee Du Val was to marry Arthur Platt-Higgins as her second husband.

Charles Allen Du Val exhibited a portrait of his daughter Frances Wilkinson at the Royal Academy in 1872.

In the 1891 census Frances Wilkinson, described as a widow and an artist, was staying with her elder son Samuel Wilkinson in Didsbury, while "Frederick Wilkinson, aged 52 married, mill owner, born Stockport" was a visitor at the Douglas Hotel, Fennel Street, Manchester. Frederick Wilkinson died in Stockport in 1899 aged 59 years.

On 14 June 1900 Frances married Arthur Platt-Higgins, a cotton spinner. He was born on 26 September 1852 and baptised at Christ Church in Salford on 1 November 1852. He was the son of James Higgins 1813-1882 of Salford and his wife nee Ann Renshaw (1).

In 1901 Arthur Platt-Higgins and his wife Frances resided at Edgeley Mount in Edgeley Road, Stockport in Cheshire. Within them was his step-son Frederick Wilkinson, then a mechanical engineer. They had three female resident servants, and a coachman and his family living at the Lodge.

Arthur Platt-Higgins died on 7 March 1903 and was buried on 11 March 1903 at Cheadle in Cheshire (2).

By 1911 Frances Wilkinson, once again a widow and then aged 63, was living at the Hawthorns Hotel in Bournemouth. She died in 1920 at Southport, Lancashire.

(1) The Visitation of England and Wales J.J. Howard and F.A. Crisp, College of Arms Volume 8 page 207 (1900) and the corresponding pedigree from the Notes to Volume 7.
(2) His Will dated 7 March 1903 was proved at Chester on 9 May 1903 by his widow Frances, the sole executrix : The Visitation of England and Wales J.J. Howard (1903) page 104.