Bessie Lewis and Arthur Philip Lewis

A pencilled inscription verso in a period hand reads: ‘Francis Lewis’s wife née Bessie Evans with son Arthur Philip [who] died at sea 1864 en route to Australia.’

Francis Lewis and Elizabeth Evans were married in the 4th quarter of 1862 in the district of Abergavenny.

Arthur Philip Lewis was born in the 3rd quarter of 1863. The birth was registered in the district of Abergavenny.

The family appear on a passenger list leaving England on 16 March 1864 aboard the Eastern Empire, bound for Adelaide in Australia. Francis’s profession is recorded as ‘Ploughman.' He paid £4 for his passage and £3 for his wife Elizabeth’s. He was 29 years old and she was 23.

Photographed by C. Francis of Abergavenny.

Charles William Lester Francis was a hairdresser-turned-photographer who moved to London and then to Abergavenny from Faversham in Kent. After his death, aged only 45, in 1875, his studio at 20 Frogmore Street in Abergavenny was taken over by his son Arthur Francis.