Fisherford in the 1881 census

Junction with the B992 near Netherton (Fisherford), Aberdeenshire

© Copyright Steven Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

In the 1881 census, households in Fisherford are preceded by those in Braestarie, after which come Overton, Nether Fisherford (equivalent to modern Netherton?), and Fisherford itself:

40. Overton

William Stephen, son, 44, farmer of 36 acres, employing 2 men, 2 boys and 1 girl

Ann Stephen, 42, farmer’s daughter

John Stephen, 45, farm servant

Peter Ewen, 17, farm servant

William Cowie, 16, farm servant

John Stephen, 13, farm servant

Jessie Harper, 15, domestic servant

41. Overton Cottage

John Robertson, 28, farm servant

Jane Robertson, wife, 29

Jane Kemp, illegitimate daughter of wife, 11

Margaret Robertson, daughter, 2

Anna Robertson, daughter, 1

42. Nether Fisherford

John Durno, 47, farmer of 240 acres, employs 3 men, 1 boy and 1 girl

Jane Durno, sister, 45

Mary Ann Bright (?), visitor, 40, sister

William Kennedy, 18, farm servant

John McGillivary, 19, farm servant

Arthur Chalmers, 18, farm servant

John Chalmers, 17, servant

Isabella Gordon Scott, 19, domestic servant

43. Fisherford Croft

George Gordon, 48, crofter of 6 acres and shoemaker

Barbara Gordon, wife, 40

Eliza Gordon, daughter, 20

George Gordon, son, 18

William Gordon, son, 14

44. Fisherford Croft: 2

James Harper, 45, agricultural labourer

Margaret Harper, 42, farm servant’s wife

William Harper, son, 13

James Harper, son, 8

John Harper, son, 4

William Robb, 76, father-in-law, widower, retired agricultural labourer

45. Fisherford Croft: 3

John Chalmers, 59, crofter of 6 acres

Mary Chalmers, 52, crofter’s wife

George Chalmers, son, 11

Robert Chalmers, son, 11

James Chalmers, brother, 61, retired agricultural labourer

Ann Matthew, daughter, 25, agricultural labourer’s wife

George Matthew, grandson, 2

Margaret Matthew, granddaughter, 8 months

46. Fisherford Croft: 4

John Roy, 53, crofter of 6 acres

Mary Roy, 56, crofter’s wife

John Watt, grandson, 9

47 ditto

Mary Gibb, 37, lodger, elementary school teacher

48. Fisherford

James Roy, 39, merchant and farmer of 50 acres, employing 2 men

Robena Roy, 34, merchant’s wife

James Gordon Roy, son, 9

Helen Roy, daughter, 7

Mary Elizabeth Roy, daughter, 5

Alexander Roy, son, 3 months

Robena Roy, daughter, 3 months

John Skekle, 21, shopman / shop servant

Kettren (?) Kenman, 28, domestic servant

As before, properties in Fisherford are followed by Auchinhove.

These records show some continuity, and some change, when compared with those of 1871. The Stephen family is still farming at Overton, but the Florence family is no longer there, nor is the family of William and Ann Robb. Moreover, John Burns is no longer farming in Fisherford. Given that the size of newcomer John Durno’s farm is roughly similar, and occurs at a similar place in the listing (between the Overton properties and the household of George Gordon), it’s probably safe to assume it’s the same farm – the large building to the north of the village, and to the south-east of Overton on old maps (there are still sizeable farm buildings at this location on the modern map, too – I think it’s now called Netherton Farm).

The numbering of the Fisherford crofts is useful – perhaps it indicates that there were always four crofts in the village – and the names of the tenants (Gordon, Harper, Chalmers and Roy) occur in the same order as in 1871. In that year, the crofts were followed by the 44-acre farm of innkeeper George Robb. In 1881, it looks as though the same farm – now 50 acres – is occupied by merchant (shopkeeper?) James Roy. George Robb had died in the previous year, 1880, and his widow Elizabeth and other members of his family must have moved out of the village at this point.

Incidentally, this census record makes clear that the William Robb living with his daughter Margaret Harper was born in Premnay – Margaret herself was born in Ellon and her husband James Harper in Forgue – so it seems unlikely that they are directly related to ‘our’ Robbs. This means that, in 1881, for the first time in at least a hundred years, none of ‘our’ Robb family was living in Fisherford.

Update

Where were the surviving members of George Robb’s family in 1881? Isabella Cruickshank Robb had married Thomas Adam in 1880 and was living in Culsalmond. Barbara Robb married Alexander Porter of Auchinhove in 1871 (Leslie Wight and John Durno were witnesses). At the time of the 1881 census she and her mother were both living with the Porters at Auchinhove: Elizabeth had reverted to her maiden name of Mackenzie.

 

Fisherford in the 1871 census

Everton Farm, Auchterless, Aberdeenshire

© Copyright Steven Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

In the 1871 census Fisherford is preceded by Braestairie, and then by a number of households described as being in Overton:

35. Overton

Samuel Stephen, 71, farmer 170 acres

William Stephen, 35, farmer’s son

Ann Stephen, 32, farmer’s daughter

Margaret Stephen, 26, farmer’s daughter

Robert Ward, 22, farm servant

George Mitchell, 14, farm servant

James Peter (?), 12, farm servant

36. Overton

John Florence, 55, agricultural labourer

Isabella Florence, wife, 55

Mary Florence, sister, 62, assistant

37. Overton

William Robb, 23, farm servant

Ann Robb, wife, 25

George Robb, son, 4

Elizabeth Robb, daughter, 3

Mary Ann Robb, daughter, 3 months

Since the Stephen and Florence families were described in an earlier census as living ‘over Fisherford’, we can assume that this is synonymous with Overton, or Overtown as it appears on some maps. This was to the immediate north-west of Fisherford village and appears to be identical with present-day Everton.

In the census record, properties in Fisherford itself are listed immediately after those in Overton, as follows:

38.Fisherford

John Burns, 37, farmer 200 acres

Jane Burns, sister, 35

John Halls (?), 32, farm servant

Robert Gordon, 18, farm servant

Barbra Atkin (?), 17, general servant (domestic)

George ?? , 12, farm servant

39. Fisherford

George Gordon, 37, shoemaker and cooper

Barbara Gordon, wife, 30

Eliza Gordon, daughter, 10

George Gordon, son, 8

William Gordon, son, 3

40. Fisherford

Margaret Harper, wife, 29

William Robb, father, visitor, 63, agricultural labourer

Ann Harper, daughter, 7

Jessie Harper, daughter, 5

William Harper, son, 3

41. Fisherford

John Chalmers, 49, crofter of 6 acres

Mary Chalmers, 43, crofter’s wife

Charles Chalmers, son, 10

Arthur Chalmers, son, 8

Alexander Chalmers, son, 5

George Chalmers, son, 1

Robert Chalmers, son, 1

42. Fisherford

John Roy (?), 43, crofter of 6 1/2 acres

Mary Roy, 46, crofter’s wife

43. Fisherford

George Robb, 64, innkeeper and farmer 44 acres, all arable, employing 2 servants

Elizabeth Robb, 50, farmer’s wife

Barbara Robb, daughter, 25

Mary Robb, daughter, 21

Isabela Cruickshank Robb, daughter, 9

Jane Gammack Robb, daughter, 7

George Black, grandson, 4

44. Fisherford

Leslie Wight, 27, general merchant

Mary Ann, sister, 30, housekeeper

Fisherford is followed in the census by Auchinhove (home of Robert Porter and family) and then Ladybog,  farmed by Charles Booth, age 46, almost certainly a relation of the Charles Booth who was farming at Fisherford in 1861. The latter, who would have been 77 by now, had probably died in the interim: perhaps his large farm had been taken over by John Burns?

George Robb’s circumstances seem to have improved: he is now farming 44 acres, compared to the 20 in earlier censuses, and he’s prosperous enough to employ two servants. The William Robb living at Overton was almost certainly George’s son, who married Ann Wight at St Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Tillymorgan, in 1866. Interestingly, Charles Booth was one of the witnesses.

I haven’t yet worked out the identity of the other William Robb mentioned in this record – the father of Margaret Harper, said to be visiting her at the time of the census. It’s possible he’s George’s brother, born in 1800, but I can’t be sure.

Ladybog Farm

© Copyright Steven Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Fisherford in the 1861 census

 

Farmland near Redhill, Auchterless

© Copyright Steven Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

 

In the 1861 census, households in Fisherford are preceded by properties in Ladybog and Auchinhove. The properties in Fisherford itself are listed as follows (note that the Stephen, Florence and Craw households were all described as being ‘over Fisherford’ in the 1851 census):

32.

Samuel Stephen, widower, 60, farmer 130 acres, employs 2 men 1 boy

William Stephen, son, 24

Ann Stephen, daughter, 22, domestic servant

Margaret Stephen, daughter, 16, domestic servant

George Cruickshank, servant, 23, ploughman

Alexander Anderson, servant, 18, ploughman

James Adams, servant,14 , agricultural labourer

33.

James Florence, widower, 79, farmer 18 acres

Mary Florence, daughter, 51, domestic servant

Isobel Florence, sister, 68

Isobel Geddes, boarder, 6, scholar

34.

Elspet Craw, 66, pauper

Laticia (?) Petrie, visitor, 49, pedlar

Elizabeth Bruce, visitor, 18, pedlar

35.

John Florence, 45, agricultural labourer

Isobel Florence, wife, 44

John Florence, son, 19, agricultural labourer

Barbara Florence, daughter, 15, domestic servant

Alexander Florence, son, 9

Peter Florence, son, 7, scholar

Thomas Florence, son, 5, scholar

Christian Florence, daughter, 2

36.

Christian Flight (?), 74, pauper

Elspet Florence, 13, nurse for pauper

Alexander Moir (?), boarder, 34, agricultural labourer

37.

George Robb, 54, inn (proprietor?) (farmer?) of 20 acres

Elizabeth Robb, wife, 40

Charles Robb, son, 19, ploughman

Barbara Robb, daughter, 15, domestic servant

William Robb, son, 13, scholar

Mary Robb, daughter, 10

Ann Robb, daughter, 8, scholar

38.

Robert Hall, 35, merchant

Barbara Hall, wife, 38

John Hall, son, 10, scholar

Margaret Hall, daughter, 12

Isobel Hall, daughter, 5

39.

Elizabeth Robb, widow, 77, pauper

Mary Bodie, servant, 13, nurse for pauper

40.

George Booth, 25, ploughman

Ann Booth, wife, 23

Barbara Booth, daughter, 2

Charles Booth, son, 2 months

George Davidson, visitor, 44, merchant

41.

Charles Booth, 67, farmer of 140 acres employs 2 men, 1 woman, 1 boy

Margaret Booth, wife, 67

James Booth, son, 32, ploughman

Mary Angus, granddaughter, 8

John Forsyth, servant, 16, agricultural labourer

John Barnet (?), servant, 14, agricultural labourer

Ann Edson (?), 30, domestic servant

Details of properties in Redhill follow.

There are a number of points of interest here. Clearly, the death of James Robb in 1857 left his widow, Elizabeth, without an income – and thus in official eyes a ‘pauper’. However, her stepson George’s circumstances haven’t changed greatly in ten years: he is still running the village inn and farming 20 acres of land. He is now one of four farmers in the village. Charles Booth still has the biggest property, at 140 acres, while Samuel Stephen and James Florence farm 130 and 18 acres respectively. One wonders if any of these took over James Robb’s modest 9 acres on his death?

Fisherford in the 1851 census

 

Fisherford - Black Burn

© Copyright Iain Macaulay and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

In the 1851 census, the properties at Fisherford are preceded by a number  described as being ‘over Fisherford’. There are a few more properties in the village itself by this time, and these are numbered, as follows:

20.

Robert Hall, 35, Grocer and Clothier

Barbara Hall, 27, Merchant’s wife

Mary Franklin (?), 67, House servant

21.

George Robb, 45, Farming 20 acres and Innkeeper

Elizabeth Robb, 34, Farmer’s wife

Ellen Robb, 19, daughter

Alexr Robb, 13, son

Charles Robb, 9, son

Barbara Robb, 5, daughter

William Robb, 3, son

Mary Robb, 1, daughter

22.

Alexr Milton, 24, Tailor Master

23.

James Robb, 80, Farming 9 acres

Elizabeth Robb, 67, Farmer’s wife

Elizabeth Morrison, 22, Houseservant

Mary Boddie, 3, Boarder

24.

James Cruickshank, 41, Agricultural labourer

Christian Cruickshank, 20, Agricultural labourer’s wife

Mary Cruickshank, 4, daughter

25.

Charles Booth, 57, Farming 103 acres, employing 10 labourers and 1 boy

Margaret Booth, 57, Farmer’s wife

Charles Booth, 36, son

Helen Booth, 25, daughter

James Booth, 23, son

Mary Booth, 20, daughter

George Booth, 15, son

Margaret Hall, 2, granddaughter

James Angus, 26, servant/agricultural labourer

John Robb, 16, agricultural labourer

Ann Livingston , 22, House servant

The households in Fisherford are followed by others in Redhill.

These records tell us that by 1851 there were 6 separate households in Fisherford, compared to the four or five ten years earlier. One significant change is that two properties are now occupied by non-agricultural workers: a tailor and a grocer / clothier. Another development is that there are now three, rather than two farming properties – and that two of these are in the hands of members of the Robb family.

Because of the random ordering of properties in the census, mentioned in the last post, it’s impossible to match the farms in the 1851 census with those listed in 1841. However, it seems safe to assume that Charles Booth, and probably James Robb, were occupying the same properties as they were ten years before. And that George Robb’s farm was attached or close to the inn, which we know was on the west side of the main north-south road running through the village, just north of the bridge over the burn, and across the road from the Fisherford crofts (see map in this post). We don’t know how George came by his property, whether he took over any land from his ageing father James, or how he progressed from slater to innkeeper and farmer.

We can see that Charles Booth is, by a long way, the most significant tenant (property-owner?) in the village. However, as the only other farming tenants, George and James Robb are by no means insignificant, and we can assume that they must have been key figures in the local community. Note that James and Elizabeth Robb were able to employ a house servant. Note also that one of Charles Booth’s employees (and boarder) was George Robb’s son John. Apparently it was common for the sons of farmers to serve an ‘apprenticeship’ of this kind at neighbouring farms.

Fisherford in the 1841 census

 

Fisherford: Black Burn

© Copyright Iain Macaulay and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

 

Following on from the last post, and in order to help identify the exact location of the Robb properties in Fisherford, I’ve been examining the 19th century census records for the village. In the next few posts I’ll be listing the inhabitants of Fisherford as recorded in the census, starting with 1841.

In the 1841 census, the entries for Fisherford are preceded by those for properties in Overhill and Blackford. The first property mentioned in Fisherford is for the family of George Robb (son of James Robb, younger brother of my 3 x great grandfather Charles), as follows:

George Robb, 35, Slater

Isobel Robb, 35,

John Robb, 5

Alexr  Robb, 3

Jannet Robb, 11

Hellen Robb, 9

Isobel Robb, 1

This is followed by the property belonging to farmer Samuel Stephen and his family, described as being ‘over Fisherford’. Then the properties in Fisherford itself resume as follows (I think I’ve got the divisions between properties / households right):

Charles Booth, 45, Farmer

Margaret Booth, 45

Barbara Booth, 15,

Charles Booth, 15

Helen Booth, 12,

James Booth, 11

Christian Booth, 10

Mary Booth, 8

George Booth, 5

……

John Rennie, 20, agricultural labourer

Forbes Rennie, 15, agricultural labourer

……

Margaret Livingston, 5

Ann Leonard (?), 45

The census then lists properties in Middletown, Mains of  Blackford, Redhill, Mill of Blackford, and Redhill again, before returning to Fisherford to include the household of George Robb’s father James:

James Robb, 70, Crofter

Elizabeth Robb, 55

Elizabeth Robb, 10

After this, the census lists properties in East Overhill, Barnyard of Blackford and Westfield.

What can we deduce from this? Firstly, that (frustratingly) the census clerks did not always attach names to farms or crofts. Secondly, there seems to be no systematic order in the listing of properties in the census. One suspects that clerks listed households in the order in which they visited them and (as will be seen when comparing later censuses) this differed from one census to another. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions about precise geographical locations, for example within a village, from the order in which properties are mentioned. However, the fact that James Robb’s croft is listed after properties in Redhill and Blackford, and separately from those of his son and the Booth family, might reflect the fact that it was some way away from these properties (according to the map featured in my last post, the Fisherford crofts were to the south of the main village, which may have been the location for the Booth farm and George Robb’s house).

Perhaps the most important conclusion from examining the 1841 census record in this way, is that the number of properties in Fisherford was actually quite small. Only farmer Charles Booth and crofter James Robb appear to have been tenants or sub tenants of agricutural properties. At this stage, James’ son George does not appear to have farmed any land: as we’ll see, this would change by the time of the next census.

More Robbs in the Auchterless Kirk Session Minutes

Auchterless kirk today

My fellow family historian and distant relative, John Brechin, has found notes he made when examining the minutes of the Auchterless Kirk Sessions recently. The notes refer to other mentions of Robb family members, besides those I’ve already discussed. I’ve tried to link these individuals to people we already know about. So, taking them in order:

(1) On March 4th 1750, John Rob, lately in the parish, now in the parish of Inverkeithney confessed his antenuptial fornication with his, presently ill, wife Martha Wilson in Forgue. Mar 11th rebuked, Mar 18th absolved.

I’ve written about this John Rob or Robb (probably resident at Newbigging) before, but I misread his wife’s name as Coilson. Here’s what I wrote:

In 1749, a John Robb in Inverkeithney marries a Martha Coilson [Wilson] of Auchterless, though it’s unclear whether this is the same John (of Inverkeithney, but late of Auchterless) who in the following year had a daughter Elspet ‘born in ante-nuptial fornication’.

As I’ve mentioned before, the fact that couples accused of fornication had since married appears to have been no excuse in the eyes of the puritanical kirk sessions.

(2) On December 31st 1767 Alex Rob in Logie Newton was made an Elder

This could be one of the two Alexander Robbs that I wrote about in this post. In other words, he could be the Alexander, born in about 1714, who married Mary Raeburn in 1743. We know that he ended up at Logie Newton, where he died in 1811. He may be the Alexander Robb of Logie Newton who was a baptismal witness on various dates in the 1760s. Or he could be his son, also Alexander, born in 1746, who married Amelia Cruickshank in 1779, though he may have been too young to be made an elder of the kirk by 1767.

This reference confirms the association of the Auchterless Robbs – or at least this branch – with the Presbyterian kirk. Curiously, their Cruickshank neighbours (and relatives by marriage) in Logie Newton were stalwart members of the local Episcopal chapel at Tillymorgan, as were later generations of the Robb family.

(3) On December 24th 1774 (1773?) Alexander Mearns and his wife Mary Robb were accused of uncleanliness, and on August 2nd 1774 they were absolved and having to pay 5 shillings.

A Mary Robb was born to James Robb of Bruckhills in 1755 – she would have been 19 in 1774. In 1747 another Mary was born to Alexander Robb in Mains of Badenscoth – she would have been 27.

It was probably one of these who married Alexander Mearns in 1778. However, this means that they weren’t formally married at the time of the 1774 kirk session. Did the kirk recognise a common law partner as a ‘wife’?

(4) On July 5th 1787 Grace Robb a servant in Newmills was with child in fornication and accusing John Mavor a servant in Kirktown as father. She accuses, he denies and takes an oath of purgation. On 11th August 1805(!)  Grace was seriously exhorted to repentance and absolved.

A daughter Grace was born to James Robb in Bruckhills in 1759. She would have been 28 at the time of the first of these kirk sessions. I can’t find any record of a John Mavor in Auchterless.

(5) In 1834 and 1835 James Robb was sub tenant at Nether Thornybank, James Robb tenant at Fordmouth of Fisherford, and Alexander Robb tenant in Logie Newton.

The 1851 census mentions a James Robb, age 52, born in about 1799, living at Thornybank in Auchterless. He’s described as a farmer of 4 acres of land. His wife is Margaret (maiden name probably Shand), 40 (born about 1801) and they have two daughters: Margaret, 25, a house servant, and Eliza, 7. I haven’t yet found them in the 1841 census or worked out their relationship to ‘my’ Robbs.

As for the James Robb of Fisherford, this is almost certainly the brother of my 3 x great grandfather Charles, who inherited the family property (or rather, tenancy) from his older brother, Rev William Robb, and he from their father George. James was certainly in Fisherford, and described as a crofter, in the 1841 census.

What’s great about this new reference is that it gives us a name - Fordmouth – for the property at Fisherford, which should make it possible to identify the place where my 3 x great grandfather was born on old – and perhaps more recent- maps of the area.

Fisherford in 1873 – from Old Maps

The Alexander Robb of Logie Newton mentioned here could be the one born in 1782, son of Alexander and Amelia, who farmed there until the 1840s and then retired to Aberdeen, where he died from chronic bronchitis in 1865, aged 82.

(6) On 3rd May 1849, compeared on a reference from the kirk session of Huntly James Robb confesses himself guilty of antenuptial fornication and was absolved.

As John Brechin says, this is obviously not the James who we know would be in gaol for murder at this time. At this stage, I’m unsure who it is and what the Huntly connection might be – it doesn’t seem likely it’s either of the James Robbs mentioned above, as they would have been too old and long-married by this time.

Limehouse links

Three generations of my mother’s family were married at St. Anne’s, Limehouse. John Blanch and Keziah Holdsworth were married there on 5^th July 1827. Twenty-one years later, on 30^th October 1848, their daughter Mary Ann married Daniel Roe in the same church. Another thirty-five years passed before the youngest son of Daniel and Mary Ann, my great grandfather Joseph Priestley Roe, married Eliza Bailey at St. Anne’s, on 25^th November 1883. Joseph and Eliza were living in nearby Church Row at the time of their marriage.

St. Anne's church, Limehouse

There are Limehouse connections on my father’s side too, via the family of his mother, Mary (Polly) Emily Elizabeth Webb. My grandmother was the daughter of George Webb, whose family appear to have lived in the Wapping/Shadwell area, and Mary French. The father of Mary French, Frederick French, was born in Limehouse in 1847: coincidentally, like John Blanch and Daniel Roe, he too was a shoemaker.

Part of Limehouse, showing St. Anne's church and Church Row (Horwood 1792)

The Bowmans and the Larkes

My great grandfather Charles Edward Robb married Louisa Bowman on 16^th December 1877 at St. Luke’s church, Victoria Docks. He was 26 and she was 21. I’ve written about the Bowmans before, but now that more London parish records are available at Ancestry, I’ve been able to fill in some of the gaps in the story of my great grandmother’s family.

Louisa Bowman was born on 29^th September 1856 and was christened on 15^th June 1863 at St. Matthews church Pell Street in the parish of St. George in the East, as part of a mass family baptism that also included her sisters Mary Ann and Charlotte and her brother John, as well as her cousins Mary Ann and Sophia. The address given for Louisa and her siblings was 15 Pell Street, a road running north to south from Cable Street to Ratcliffe Highway, between Wellclose Square to the west and Princes Square to the east.

Ratcliffe Highway

Princes Square

Louisa was the daughter of John Bowman, an umbrella (frame) maker, and Elizabeth Jane Larke, who were married on 2^nd November 1851 at St. Philip’s church, Bethnal Green. At the time of their marriage John was living at 2 Somerset Court and Elizabeth at 39 Pell Street.

The Bowmans

John Bowman was born on 19^th December 1828 and baptised at St. Mary’s, Stratford-le-Bow on 11^th February 1829. The family address is given simply as ‘Bow’. John’s father was Robert Bowman, a labourer, and his mother was Caroline Reed.  Robert Bowman was born in about 1802 in Middlesex, but so far I’ve been unable to find out anything about his family. Caroline Reed was born in Stepney in about 1798, but beyond that her origins are as obscure as her husband’s. The couple married on 6^th January 1828 at St. Mary’s, Whitechapel.

John was their first child, their other children being Robert (born 1832), Joseph (1836), Charlotte (1838) and Mary (1840). The family seems to have moved around the London area: Robert junior was christened in the parish of St. Saviour’s, Southwark (address given as Pleasant Row), Joseph at All Saints, Edmonton (Barrowfield Lane), and Charlotte and Mary (or Maria) in St. Botolph’s, Aldgate (8 Harrow Alley).

At the time of the 1841 census the Bowmans were living at 4 Harrow Alley. This narrow street ran south from Aldgate High Street, close to the point where it meets Whitechapel High Street. It was also known in the 19^th century as Blood Alley, because of the number of slaughterhouses located there.

Aldgate in Horwood’s 1792 map: Harrow Alley in bottom right hand corner

Robert Bowman senior died in January 1842, age 40. His son John was 13 years old. The next record we have for John is ten years later, in the 1851 census, when he was still living with his widowed mother Caroline, a charwoman, though the family address was now 3 Somerset Court, Aldgate (John would also give No. 3 as his address when he married in 1851), which I assume was close to Somerset Street, a little to the east of Harrow Alley. John, 22, worked as an umbrella frame maker, an occupation he would pursue for most of the rest of his life. Also still at home were Robert junior, 18, a light porter; Joseph, 15, an errand boy; and Charlotte, 13. I assume that Mary/Maria, born in 1839, did not survive.

In 1861 John’s mother Caroline, now 64, was living in Little Somerset Street (another name for Somerset Court?), with her unmarried son Robert, 27, a painter. By this date Joseph, a packing case maker, had married Elizabeth and was living at 4 Thomas Place, close to Pell Street. They had two children: Joseph, 4, and Sophia, 2 (the latter, with her sister Mary Ann, would be christened in 1863 at the group baptism ceremony mentioned above). I’ve yet to find any record of Charlotte Bowman after 1851.

In 1871 Caroline Bowman was living with her son Joseph and his family in Crown Place, Mile End Old Town. She died there four years later.

The Larkes

Louisa Bowman’s mother, Elizabeth Jane Larke, was born on 14^th May 1831 but not christened until 17^th February 1833, at the church of St. John in Wapping. She was the daughter of Charles Larke, a labourer, and his wife Mary. It’s likely that the family was living at the address in Neptune Street where they could be found 7 years later, in the 1841 census.

Neptune Street, which was only just in Wapping, ran south from Wellclose Square to the Ratcliffe Highway.

A section from  Horwood’s 1792 map, showing Neptune Street running south from Wellclose Square, and Pell Street just visible to bottom left of Princes Square

According to the excellent website of St George’s in the East, there was a notorious prison in the street:

The prison in Neptune Street was commonly known as the ‘Sly House’, because felons who entered it left by a subterranean passage to the Tower and the docks, from which the convict ship Success left. When it closed and the King’s Arms public house took over the site, the landlord would open the cells, with their heavily-bolted doors, grilles, plank beds, fetters and straitjackets, to visitors.

Other sources are more sceptical, and it seems more likely that the prison was mainly used for debtors, sent there from the Court House in the same street. The street no longer exists, with today’s Wellclose Street standing in its place.

We know little of Elizabeth’s father Charles Larke, beyond the fact that he died in 1840.  As for Mary, we know from later census records that she was born in Chard, Somerset, though others give her place of birth as Dorset. Although I’ve yet to find any record of their marriage, Charles probably married Mary in about 1823, since their first child John Thomas was born around 1824 (according to his marriage certificate).  In fact, he is almost certainly the John Thomas Trawin Larke, born to Charles and Mary Larke on 14^th September 1824 and baptised on 3^rd October at the parish church of St. Pancras. His parents were said to be living in Ashby Street at the time, and Charles was working as a labourer. The additional middle name ‘Trawin’ may give us a clue as to Mary’s maiden name, or alternatively it could be Charles’ mother’s maiden name (there were a number of Trawins living in Devon at the time, but I’ve yet to find a Somerset link).

Another older brother, Charles Simeon Larke, was born on 31^st May 1829 and baptised at St John’s Wapping, the family address being given as Neptune Street.  It’s intriguing that Charles senior’s occupation has changed in the intervening five years from labourer to clerk. Of even greater interest is the possibility that Charles Simeon Larke was baptised twice. There’s a record in Pallot’s index, and also in the parish records, asserting that a Charles Simeon Larke, son of Charles and Mary Larke of Ashby Street, was baptised at St. Pancras in 1826. Of course, the simpler explanation might be that the first Charles Simeon died in infancy, and the next son to come along was given the same name.

Elizabeth also had a younger sister, Louisa, born in about 1834, but so far I’ve been unable to find any record of her birth.

The 1841 census finds the widowed Mary Larke, 35, living in Neptune Street with her four children. John, 15, is the only one working: his occupation is virtually illegible, though I imagined for a while that it included the word ‘umbrella’, thus providing a possible clue as to how his sister Elizabeth met her future husband.

At some point in the next ten years, the Larkes moved to 39 Pell Street, which was the address given by Elizabeth when she married John Bowman in 1851, and also by her brother John Thomas when he married Elizabeth Neighbour in 1857.  The 1851 census has 49 year old widowed laundress Mary living at what looks like No. 2 Court Pell Street, with her son John, 24, a labourer, and her daughter Jane, 19 (I’m assuming this is Elizabeth Jane, and that she used her two Christian names interchangeably). Interestingly, the latter is said to be working as a parasol maker: another clue as to how she might have met her umbrella-maker husband John Bowman.

In 1861, Mary was living at 15 Pell Street with her daughter Elizabeth, son-in-law John Bowman (they were working, presumably together, as an umbrella coverer and umbrella frame maker), and her four grandchildren (though they were classed as two separate households within the same building). By now, Mary was working as a confectioner, so perhaps No. 15 Street was a sweet shop. In 1871, when she was 69, Mary was still living with the Bowmans (now at 29 Pell Street) and was described as a ‘small shop keeper’. Similarly in 1881, when she was 79 and still working a ‘shopkeeper (sweets)’.  There’s a record of a ‘Mary Larks’ dying in the parish in 1883 that looks like a match: she is certainly not mentioned in the 1891 census.

In 1861 John Thomas Larke could be found living in Deal Street, Stepney, with his wife Elizabeth and their sons Robert and John, and working as a police constable.  I haven’t yet found them in the 1871 census, but in 1881, John, described as a labourer, and Elizabeth, were living in Saxon Road, and in 1891 John, by now retired, and Elizabeth were in Alfred Street, Lower Holloway. John died in Islington in 1901, at the age of 77.

A Charles Simeon Larke turns up in the electoral roll of Wellington, New Zealand, for 1865-6, living in Murphies Street. I can find no record of what happened to their younger sister Louisa.

The children of John Bowman and Elizabeth Larke

Before Louisa, John and Elizabeth had another daughter, Caroline Jane, born in December 1853: at the time of her baptism the following February the family was living at 19 Christian Street, not far from Pell Street. Louisa’s younger siblings were John (born 1859), Mary Ann (1860), Elizabeth (1865), Joseph Robert (1869), William Charles (1871) and Charlotte Emma (1874). All of these were born at 29 Pell Street.

John Bowman worked as an umbrella frame maker for most of his life, though in 1891, when he was 62, he was employed as a light porter. In 1901, when he and Elizabeth were living alone at 29 Pell Street, the 72 year old John was described as a packer of furniture. John Bowman died in 1906 at the age of 77. Elizabeth died in 1910, age 79.

Francis Place on ‘The Street Charing Cross’

A.C.Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson, with J. Bluck, ‘Pillory, Charing Cross’ (1809)

Following on from the last post: Francis Place’s autobiography includes an appendix headed ‘The Street Charing Cross’ which appears to be a description of the district when he first went to live there in the 1790s. Place begins by describing the eastern side of the street, where he had his tailor’s shop, and where my 3 x great grandparents would be living in 1841:

The state of London may be somewhat guessed at, by a short description of the fine open street from the Statue at Charing Cross to the commencement of Parliament Street.

On the eastern side and not far from Northumberland House was Johnsons Court. There were 13 rooms in this court, all in a state of great dilapidation, in every room in every house excepting one only lived one or more common prostitutes of the most wretched discription – such as cannot now be seen in any place. The house excepted was a public house and Crimping house of the very worst sort. The place could not be outdone in infamy and indecency by any place in London. The manner in which many of the drunken filthy young prostitutes behaved is not describable nor would it be believed were it described.

A little lower down was the long celebrated Brothel the ‘Rummer Tavern’, it was a large back house, now occupied by Mr Clowes as a printing office and there were doors through the walls, at the back part of my house which communicated with the Rummer – They both had signs, and the large iron bolt which held them are still in my house, projecting from the wall. For some years after I took my house there was an immense wooden Rummer some five feet high fixed against the front of the next house, a silversmiths shop, behind which was the Rummer Tavern. Beneath my house were brick steps from the cellar to the street, The cellars to which those steps led were occupied as milk cellars. At the next house No. 17 was a small back house, to what access was gained by a very narrow passage – this was a crimping house and low brothel. Behind No 22 – was another such house occupied in the same way. Behind No 28 was another, this was an authorized crimping public house, and had a large union Jack standing out from the house in front. At No 19 – was a barbers shop with a striped Poll in front – below No 30 were some three or four houses with their gable ends towards the street. Their ground floors were about 6 steps below the foot pavement, they were very old and inhabited by very low dirty people.

No 24 was a dirty Gin Shop – as was also another house a few doors lower down, those were frequented by prostitutes and Soldiers I can remember the crimping house No 28 being gutted, and a drummer who was active in the Riot being hanged in front of the house in the open street.

…and so on down the street and back up the opposite side. Place concludes:

It seems almost incredible that such a street could be in the condition decribed, but so it was – people were not then as now offended with grossness – dirtiness – vulgarity – obscenity – and atrocious language.

I can myself remember every fact I have mentioned.

I need hardly notice how highly respectable the street is now.

A ‘rummer’ was a drinking glass. Crimping was the practice of decoying young men, usually with the aid of drink and prostitutes, into enlisting in the army. It was in Charing Cross that the ‘Crimp Riots’ of 1794 began, when a young journeyman baker was dragged into the Turk’s Head (Place’s ‘Rummer’). As John Barrell writes: ‘Believing he had been forcibly enlisted, a crowd gathered and a minor riot ensued’.

Barrell cautions us against taking Place’s description of Charing Cross at face value, arguing that his ‘partial’ and ‘highly coloured account’ is ‘written by a man to whom respectable living was always of the first importance, and who looks back in amazement at the period of his early youth from a vantage point in the nineteenth century when, he believes, social morality had undergone a remarkable change for the better’.

William Hogarth’s ‘Night’ from the ‘Four Times of Day’ (1738) offers an even less ‘respectable’ vision of Charing Cross than Place’s. The view is northwards towards the statue of Charles I, but (as Barrell points out) the engraving is a reverse image of the original painting: here, the Rummer (with the drinking glass on its sign) is mistakenly depicted on the western rather than eastern side of the street.

Francis Place at 29 Charing Cross

In my earlier post about my 3 x great grandparents’ home at 29 Charing Cross, I made the mistake of assuming that the Francis Place living nearby at No. 16 in 1841 was the famous ‘radical tailor of Charing Cross’. In fact it was his son, also Francis, who took over the family business when Francis senior retired in 1817.

I came across this information while reading Place’s autobiography, where I also made the astonishing discovery that the tailor’s first shop in Charing Cross was actually at No. 29 – the very building where my ancestors would be living at the time of the 1841 census. On 8^th April 1799 Place went into business with Richard Wild, and they set up shop together at No. 29. Place only moved out, and took up residence further up the street at No. 16, in 1801, when his partnership with Wild ended acrimoniously.

As well as being a key document of the radical and working-class political movements of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, The Autobiography of Francis Place offers a fascinating insight into life in London – and especially Charing Cross – during this period. As someone with a keen interest in the history and literature of the period, I’m intrigued to think that my 3 x great grandparents’ home once served as a meeting-place for some of the key figures of the London Corresponding Society.

James Gillray’s depiction of a London Corresponding Society meeting at Spa Fields, 1795

In Chapter 11 of his autobiography, Place describes at length how the business arrangement with Richard Wild came about, and their search for suitable premises (I have left Place’s spelling and punctuation unchanged):

Having thus satisfied ourselves that we could raise forty pounds, we went in search of a house towards the west, and having seen several we at length found one, No. 29 Charing Cross which just the thing for us, if we could obtain possession of it. The rent was only fifty pounds a year, but for the lease, fixtures, and conveyance of the Lease eighty four pounds were demanded, the house had a good front and needed only outside painting. The rent was very low the house was small, it was rated low in the Parish Books, but how to raise the Eighty four pounds was a question not easily solved. Borrowing was the only chance we had, so we set to work at it, Wild amongst his  acquaintances I amongst mine.

Once the two men had managed to obtain sufficient credit, they moved into the house in Charing Cross and opened the shop:

My furniture consisted of very few articles, and excepting two or three pieces were of a very mean description. As we were going into a respectable neighbourhood, as the Shop had been nicely painted, and our names put along the front in large gilt letters, so as to have the appearance of means to do business in good stile; as the goods we had purchased would enable us to make a handsome display in the windows we were desirous to conceal the proofs of our poverty which the furniture would have given if exposed by day light, A small cart was therefore hired, the goods were packed in convenient pieces and at dusk were put into the cart. My Brother, Wilds Brother Richard Hayward, myself and Wild were all there and in a few minutes the goods were carried into the shop and we were in actual possession of a house and a shewey shop almost to our own surprise, in which I anticipated great success my wife great fears for the result.

The house was in excellent condition but very dirty, so on the next Sunday, Wild his brother, myself and my wife all set to work early in the morning and scowerd it from the top to the bottom, as well the wainscot as the floors, and finished by whitewashing the Kitchen ceiling.

Thus for the first time in our lives, or rather I should perhaps say since we were married I and my wife enjoyed a truly comfortable residence in which we had rooms enough intirely to separate our domestic concerns, and get rid of the many inconveniences which had hitherto annoyed us.

Up to the time that I collected the money due to me from my customers to take the house I never had been at any time since my birth in possession of five pounds which I could fairly call my own.

When we got into the house at Charing Cross we had but one shilling and tenpence among us all, but we had a well digested plan to obtain and carry on business, we had health and knowledge, abstemious habits great industry, a shewy shop a good stock of fashionable goods and a determination to succeed let what would happen.