John Kerfoot Roberts was known as Jack to friends and family.
By the time Jack came along his parents, Sarah and Edward Roberts, had 3 children Elizabeth Evangeline, Lilian Mary, and Edward James Blackburn. Sadly, Edward died when Jack was aged one so he would have never known that brother. But, as Jack grew up he got three more, younger siblings: Edward Ferdinand Norman (Known as Norman), Hilda, and Medi Cecilia, although Hilda died as a new-born baby.
Jack went to Dinglewood School in Colwyn Bay. He won 3rd prize for his pony at a local show in Conway when he was 17 so he was presumably a good horseman. In 1899 he was living in Liverpool when he was married to Jean Ann Tough Petrie. He was a solicitor’s clerk and they got married by licence rather than banns, which was quite a posh way to do it, but also a way to get married quicky… without fuss. Jean was the daughter of John Petrie from near Aberdeen. He was a manager at Abbey Paper Mill in in Greenfield on the North Wales coast – the biggest paper mill in Wales for some time – Jack and Jean lived there at Abbey House when they were first married but soon moved to Rose Villa in Holywell.
A little while before Jack and Jean were married, Jean had given birth to a daughter, Charlotte Anne. She was born in March 1898 and John and Jean were married in November 1899. Charlotte Anne went on to have a family and we are in contact with one of her descendants. During the period of her birth Jack and Jean were two young people from the same area, both of similar social standing, both living in Liverpool. When they did marry, it was in the Register Office, by licence. No big church wedding.
Jack qualified as a solicitor and the family moved to The Grove, Holywell. By this time, the family consisted of: Lilian Mary – Auntie Lil; Jean Eileen – Auntie Eileen; Norman Kerfoot (our ancestor); Hilda Bronwen; Stuart Kerfoot; Evangeline, who died young; and a late arrival Wendy. Three great aunts: Auntie Lil, Auntie Eileen and Auntie Wendy, died within a time I would remember, right up to my early teens, so I’m sad I don’t remember them… Maybe I never met them? If so, why?
Jack became a very successful lawyer, well known in North Wales, Liverpool and Cheshire. His name litters the North Wales, Cheshire and Lancashire papers of the period in legal notices and the like. His cases often involved motoring, licensing or gambling.
One of the more unusual newspaper entry reports, in 1928, John Kerfoot Roberts (solicitor) being found drunk-in-charge of a motor car having collided with another, parked car, in Flint on his journey back from Chester (Court) one evening. The constable reported him, but when the case came to court the police surgeon testified against the police and gave evidence that “Mr Roberts was perfectly sober and passed a test very satisfactorily.” The judge awarded costs against the police!
John Kerfoot Roberts and his family were also very active in the local Masonic Lodge.
By 1939 Jack was Solicitor and Clerk to Holywell Town Council. The family moved to Woodside on Fron Park Road in Holywell. In 1956 he was elected President of the North Wales and Cheshire Law Society. In his book,
Child of Another Century: Recollections of a High Court Judge, Sir Ronald Waterhouse says “… I was shown great kindness from the beginning by Holywell solicitors, especially the ebullient Kerfoot-Roberts, and a host of North Wales solicitors…”. Ebullient? You’d settle for that as an epitaph!
Later in his book while talking about his time as a barrister and working on the fraught licensing issues in North Wales, Sir Ronald goes on to say:
"Kerfoot Roberts, who had a well developed sense of humour and a distaste for teetotallers, introduced me to this field of activity early on by instructing me to apply for a licence for a new hotel in a residential area of Flint, knowing that this would stir up a hornets' nest. The chairman of the local magistrates' bench, Alderman H.R. Thomas, was a long standing Liberal and friend of my father strongly opposed to any extension of drinking facilities. Kerfoot Roberts' plan, therefore, was that I should make the application annually for a modest fee at the licensing sessions in February until the chairman had to retire from the bench on age grounds or miraculously had a change of heart. In the event we did have to continue applying until February 1960, by which time Thomas had retired; he had managed to carry the bench with him in refusing the licence throughout the interviening years."My sister is lucky enough to remember Jack and Jean. Her memories are: "
She always wore black, long skirts, shoes with a button fastener and had her hair in a bun. He would pinch our cheeks and press half a crown into our hands. I remember his library and how he used to use snuff. Also there were usually game birds hanging in a room off their kitchen. They had a cook/housekeeper. Wendy was frequently there with Stuart and William, but her husband always stayed in Anglesey to look after the farm. Visits were formal, no fun and games."Jack died on 5 January 1964. It’s a shame we overlapped by just a month, but at least he would have been aware of me. John Kerfoot ("Jack") Roberts is mentioned on a memorial at at Holywell Grammar School, in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Mapinfo. He is mentioned on a memorial at at Saint James's Church, in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Mapinfo.

John Kerfoot Roberts

John and Jean Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

John and Jean Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

John, Jean and Lilian Kerfoot Roberts

John, Jean and Stuart Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

John Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

John Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

John Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside with Wendy

John Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside

Petrie decendants group

John Kerfoot Roberts and Wendy Roberts

John Kerfoot Roberts

John, Jean and Stuart Kerfoot Roberts

John, Jean and Lillian Kerfoot Roberts

John Kerfoot Roberts and Jean Ann Tough Petrie

John Kerfoot Roberts at Woodside in Motor Car