Marriage to Elizabeth Stevens

Ike marries Elizabeth Stevens in 1877

The next sign we have of Ike is the record of his marriage to Elizabeth Stevens at St Mary’s Parish Church, West Bank, Widnes on the 22nd of April 1877. They were both 20 years old according to the church records. This does not fit in exactly with their birth dates (1857 and 1859 respectively).  Elizabeth and Ike both lived in the hamlets of Penketh & Sankey as children, and then in their teens in the same neighbourhood in West Bank, Widnes.

Ike’s and Elizabeth’s only child, son William Stephen Gandy, my grandfather (see below), was christened on the 15th of July 1877 at St Mary’s Church – less than 3 months after the marriage. This indicates that the marriage was probably not planned. In some records I have seen his second name spelt Stevens, after his mother Elizabeth’s maiden name.

Grandfather William Stephen Gandy
Who was Elizabeth Stevens?

Ike’s first wife Elizabeth Stevens was born about 1859, also in Penketh, the daughter of William Stevens and Mary Lomax. In the 1861 Census, when Elizabeth was two years old, the family were recorded living in Greston Heath, Penketh under the name Stevans.

Ten years later in 1871 Elizabeth, age 12, was living at 19 & 21 Marsh Street, West Bank, Widnes with her parents, who were publicans. They ran the Van Tromp Beerhouse at the same address. Elizabeth had an older brother, Thomas Stevens, and an older sister Mary Hannah Stevens. In 1878 Isaac and Elizabeth were the witnesses at Mary Hannah’s marriage to John Wright at St Mary’s Church.

If you wish to read the Lomax family tree and links to the Stevens family, you can find it here, courtesy of Margaret Lomax, Widnes.

St Mary’s Parish Church West Bank
St Mary’s Parish Church. Photo West Bank Heritage

St Mary’s Church in West Bank was built in 1858, but on a foundation of chemical waste, so by 1901 the walls had become unstable and the floor uneven. It was demolished and replaced in 1908.