The Livesey Family Tree
The Livesey family has a complicated structure. Brothers Joseph and Sam Livesey married the Edwards sisters. Sam married Margaret Ann in 1900 and Joseph married Mary Catherine in 1905. Sam and Margaret Ann had two sons, Jack (1901) and Barrie Livesey (1905). Joseph and Mary Catherine had two children, Roger (1906) and Maggie (1911).
After Joseph died in 1911 and Margaret Ann died in 1913, Sam married Mary Catherine in 1913 *. They then brought up all of the children as one large family, having another child of their own, Stella in 1915.
The family tree was further complicated when Roger Livesey married Ursula Jeans whose brother Desmond Jeans was already married to Roger's sister Maggie.
Many of the family formed a touring company of actors, performing in regional theatres and from the back of an old waggon, one side of which could be dropped to form a stage. Because of their touring, they did not regard themselves as particularly Welsh, or English. They were just British because people happened to be born in the places where their mothers happened to be residing at the time.
Note:
The marriage between Sam and Mary Catherine was legal (See The Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907) but many people still considered it to be of dubious morality so they didn't advertise the fact. This added to the confusion and led to people thinking that Roger was Sam Livesey's son.
