The marriage of Sissie Robb and Arthur Kemp

What is it about some old photographs, that makes you return to them again and again? I wrote some weeks ago about one such photograph – of Charing Cross, home of my 3 x great grandparents. Here’s another one, which was kindly sent to me by my distant relative in Australia, Sheila Hailstone:

First, the facts. The photograph was taken on 18th September 1921 in Mile End Old Town, at the wedding of Sissie Emma Lydia Robb and Arthur Kemp (Sheila’s grandparents). That’s Sissie in the middle of the front row, in the floral hat, with Arthur on her left.

Sissie, born in 1893, was the daughter of Emma Sophia Judd and David Enoch Robb, who in turn was the son of my great great grandfather William Robb and his second wife, Marianne Mansfield Palmer. (I’m descended from Charles Edward Robb, William’s son by his first wife, Fanny Sarah Seager.)

Various Judds can be seen in the photo – mostly aunts, uncles and cousins, including cousin Elsie, the bridesmaid, sitting on Sissie’s right (the little girl is the daughter of a friend).

The marriage certificate notes that Sissie’s father David was ‘deceased’ by this date. However, there are a couple of other Robbs present, including Sissie’s sister Winifred, seated two places to her right. Behind her is ‘Mrs Rose Smith’, described as ‘aunt (paternal)’. According to Sheila, this is David Robb’s sister Rose Emma Tunstall Robb, whom I wrote about in this post.  – and who I speculated had two children by someone with the surname Poulides, but I may have got that wrong (or perhaps her second husband was a Mr. Smith?)

Winifred Alice F Robb was born in 1898 and was the youngest child of David and Emma Robb. A year after this photograph was taken, she would marry George Langdon, who can be seen in the back row of the photo, second on the left. According to Sheila Hailstone, they had a daughter Evelyn Winifred Langdon who is still alive and living in Essex (she would be about 85 now).

Why do I keep returning to this picture of an ordinary working-class / lower-middle-class wedding in the East End of London in the 1920s? Is it just the usual wistful appeal of old family photos – the fact that we know how these people’s lives would turn out, but they don’t, not to mention the realisation that nearly all of these smiling, fully-alive people are now gone? Maybe it’s because Sissie’s outfit and Arthur’s jaunty hat make it seem less stiff and formal than many other wedding photos of this period. Or because, despite the Edwardian collars and slicked-back hair on display, the main characters look so relaxed and contemporary. I like Sissie’s quizzical, sideways glance at the camera, while Winifred’s pose and smile are charmingly natural – these look like  modern young women, not people who were born in the Victorian era. And of course, although these people are not my direct ancestors, we share a common ancestor in William Robb, and I search their faces for some trace of resemblance, some hint of what he and our other forebears might have looked like.

If anyone recognises any of the people in the photograph as their own ancestors, then please do get in touch.

The marriage of Sarah Shaw and Charles Young

In a recent post I noted that my great grandmother, Sarah Londors, was a widow with a young daughter, Mabel, when she married my great grandfather, George Londors, in 1896. I think I’ve discovered the record of her first marriage – to Charles Young.

According to the record, 26 year old Charles Young, a marker (?) by trade, son of labourer Edward Young, married 22 year old Sarah Shaw, daughter of glazier Thomas Shaw, in the parish church of St. Mary, Little Ilford, on 18th April 1892. The couple were resident at 1 Gordon Road.

The ancient church of St. Mary's, Little Ilford, Essex

This date would fit with the likely birth of Sarah’s daughter, Mabel, in 1893. I haven’t found confirmation of Mabel’s birth yet, nor of Charles’ death, though it appears that the latter event might also have occurred in 1893.

My mother (granddaughter of George and Sarah Londors) has confirmed that her father, George John Londors, had a step-sister, Mabel, who died in the influenza epidemic at the end of the First World War.

Frederick French and Sarah Elizabeth Bull

A few weeks ago I wrote about my 3 x great grandfather Frederick French (1810 – 1887) and expressed uncertainty about the identity of his wife Sarah. This week I received an email from Annette Sutton nee Goodwin in Queensland, Australia, who believes that Sarah was the sister of one of her ancestors, George Frederick Goodwin alias Bull.

Annette has found the record of a marriage between Frederick French and Sarah Elizabeth Bull on 10^th July 1853 at All Saints’ church, Poplar. At first, the date of the wedding might raise doubts: in the 1841 census, Frederick and Sarah were already living together as husband and wife and had three children: Sarah (born in 1832), Seth (1834) and William (1839).  I wonder if this explains why I’ve had no luck finding christening records for the French children?

However, the other details in the marriage record are fairly convincing. Frederick is described as a shoemaker, living at 9 Mary Street, Limehouse – the same road where ‘my’ Frederick would be living with his daughter Sarah’s family twenty years later, and not far from the Rhodeswell Road area where the family would eventually settle. Sarah, who is said to be living at 14 Mary Street (were the separate addresses a fiction to make it appear the couple weren’t actually living together?), is described as the daughter of John Bull, a cooper. The name of Frederick’s father is given as William French, another shoemaker.  So as well as clearing up the mystery of my 3 x great grandmother’s maiden name,  this record has also provided me with the name of my 4 x great grandfather.

Limehouse in Greenwood's 1827 map (Mary Street just visible at top centre)

Further confirmation is provided by the fact that Sarah Elizabeth Bull, who was born on 9^th November 1813, was baptised on 10^th April 1814 at St. John, Horsleydown, Surrey – the district given as Sarah French’s birthplace in later census records. (Horsleydown is described by one source as ‘a small patch of dirty lanes and dilapidated rooming houses’.)

Sarah’s mother was another Sarah (possible maiden name Jobber) and she and John Bull had eight children in all: John William, William, Henry, Charles, Sarah Elizabeth, Seth, George Frederick and Caroline. (Four of these names – Seth, William, Charles and Caroline – would be given to their own children by Frederick and Sarah French, though of course William was probably named after Frederick’s own father).

St. John, Horsleydown

According to Annette Sutton, the Bulls moved across the river to Whitechapel in 1814 or 1814 (soon after Sarah Elizabeth’s birth), where they lived in Gower’s Walk. At the time of the 1841 census, John Bull had died (probably in 1833) and his widow Sarah was living with their daughter Caroline, now married to Thomas Curtis, in Church Street, Stepney. Sarah Bull appears to have died in 1843. Another clue provided by Annette is that, in the 1861 census, Thomas and Caroline Curtis had a visitor at their home in North Street, Romford: one Susan French, almost certainly Caroline’s niece, the daughter of Frederick and Sarah.

Annette is a direct descendant of Sarah Elizabeth Bull’s brother George Frederick, who used the surnames Bull and Goodwin interchangeably, and who was transported to Australia for the trivial offence of stealing a handkerchief. Here’s an extract from the record of his trial at the Old Bailey in 1837:

GEORGE GOODWIN, alias Bull, was indicted for stealing, on the 26th of November 1 handkerchief, value 2s., the goods of James Hunter, from his person.

JAMES HUNTER . About four o’clock in the afternoon of the 26th of November I was in the Commercial-road, and observed the prisoner and another walk as close after me as they could—I looked over my shoulder, and saw the prisoner and another walking fast—I then walked slowly till we came to Albion-street, where they turned down—I felt, and my hand kerchief was gone—I called the police, and pursued them—they parted—the prisoner was taken—one of them threw something into a passage of a door, but my handkerchief has not been found.

WILLIAM CLAY (police-constable K 278.) I was called about four o’clock—the prosecutor said, “I have lost my handkerchief, come with me”—the prisoner and another saw me coming, and the other one got into a house about six doors down Albion-street—the prisoner attempted to go in, and chucked in a dark handkerchief, and when I came opposite the door it was shut—I pursued the prisoner, and he ran me down Albion street, till he came to a court in Duke-street—I then caught him, and brought him back—I found one handkerchief on his person, which I produce—I asked the gentleman if it was his—he said, “No “—this is a silk handkerchief—the house he threw the handkerchief into is a bad house—the girl he cohabits with lives there.

Prisoner. I was sent on an errand for my mother, and was standing at this house—the policeman came and took me—I never had any handkerchief but this, which is my mother’s.

GUILTY . Aged 18.— Transported for Ten Years.

Commercial Road in 1851

Now that I know the name of my 4 x great grandfather in the French line, I’m keen to know whether William moved with his family from Dorset (census records tell us Frederick was born in Dorchester), or whether his son Frederick made his own way to London. Googling ‘French’ ‘Dorset’ and ‘shoemaker’  I came across this record, and wondered whether there was any connection between my ancestors and this apparently renowned family of Dorset shoemakers. Here’s an intriguing extract:

The French name originated in France and traditionally the French family were shoemakers in the reign of Queen Anne and also connected with the American French’s [...]

Francis French began his apprenticeship with shoemaker Richard Wareham at Dudsbury, Parish of Hampreston in Dorset, and in 1803 began their business from a house in Kingsland Place, Southampton. After several moves, they rented at Four Posts in 1883, which at the time was considered to be a long way from the center of the city. By 1825 the family were back living in Southampton and in 1832 a final move to Charlotte Place until Francis’ death in 1836/37. One of his sons, William, at the age of 24, carried on the successful business working from several other addresses such as Hanover Buildings near Paradise Row, Above Bar and in 1848 to Manchester Street, before the French family finally purchased 40 Bedford Place in 1890.

My Auntie Grace relates that her grandmother, Mary French, used to tell her that her ancestors were French smugglers who settled in England and changed their name from something like ‘De’rench’ to French. It seems the reality might be more prosaic – but just as interesting.

Putting the Londors family on the map

Following on from these posts, I’ve obtained copies of a couple of historical maps of the Redbridge / Barkingside  area, which provide a clearer sense of some of the places lived in by my Londors ancestors during the 19th century (and possibly before). If nothing else, these maps have made me understand why the order in which properties are listed varies between censuses. Rather than being in a line along a defined road, these farms and cottages were spread out around the countryside and the census clerks probably visited them in a different order each time.

On the above map (click on the image to enlarge), which comes from the  period 1805-1822, you can just see Shattmans (or Shackmans) Farm, a little to the north of Valentine’s Park, where my 3 x great grandparents John and Sarah Londors could be found in 1881. To the west is Stone Hall, and above that Red House, then Fern Hall and St Swithin’s Farm.

The 1882 map below (again, clicking on it will bring up a larger image) shows the Red House pub , the Old Red House, and Red Bridge Cottage, to the west along Redbridge Lane from Shackmans Farm. Up the lane (identical with modern Roding Lane South) is Fernhall, and further north we find Carswell, owned by members of the Hatton family, and next to it Carswell Cottage, the home of successive generations of the Londors family. Not far away is St. Swithin’s Farm (roughly where the local branch of the PDSA is today), and then eastwards along Woodford Road is Clayhall, ancestral home of the Hattons (and now Clayhall Park). The road running south-east from here includes the Beehive pub (at the bottom middle of the map), so I assume it’s identical with today’s Beehive Lane.

The mystery of the Londors, Young and Pumfrett connection

The 1901 census finds my great grandfather, George Londors, son of John and Sarah Londors (see last two posts) living at 9 Roding Cottages, in the parish of St Mary’s, Ilford. Barkingside-born George, 37, was working as a grave digger.  With him are his wife Sarah, 31, and their sons George, 4 (my grandfather), and Albert, 8 months, all born in Ilford. Also at the same address are Mabel Young, 7, described as George’s step-daughter, born in Ilford; his brother Albert, 34, a navvy, born in Barkingside; and his brother-in-law Isaac Pumfrett, 27, a carman, born in Ilford.

This census record has intrigued me for some time, and it poses a number of questions. If Mabel Young is George Londors’ step-daughter, it means that his wife Sarah must have been married before, to someone named Young. But who was her first husband, when did they marry, and when did he die? And if Isaac Pumfrett is George’s brother-in-law, does that mean that Sarah’s maiden name was also Pumfrett?

In trying to answer these questions, I started by looking for a Sarah Pumfrett who might be linked to Isaac in some way. In the process, I found out quite a lot about the Pumfretts. It appears that Isaac was born in about 1875, the son of another Isaac Pumfrett and his wife Jane, who were originally from Hornchurch and Sawbridgeworth respectively.

Interestingly, the 1881 and 1891 census have the Pumfretts living at 9 Roding Cottages: the same house that George and Sarah would occupy (with Isaac as a lodger) in 1901.  Even more interestingly, in 1891 the Pumfrett household includes two boarders: William Robinson and Charles Young, both 25. Could the latter be Sarah Londors’ first husband? However, I’ve failed to find any link between Sarah and the Pumfretts. Isaac seems to have been the only child of Issac senior and Jane Pumfrett.

Following a different tack, I sent for a copy of George and Sarah Londors’ marriage certificate. George Londors, 32, married Sarah Young, a widow of 27, on 19^th September 1896, at the parish church in Forest Gate. Both were living at 123 Field Road, not far away. George’s father was John Londors, as we know. But Sarah’s father’s name is given as Thomas Shaw, brickmaker.  I also got hold of a copy of the birth certificate for my grandfather, George John Londors, who was born at 9 Roding Cottages on 14^th December 1896 (i.e. less than 3 months after his parents’ wedding), which gives his mother’s name as ‘Sarah Londors, formerly Shaw’.

I’ve found a one year old Sarah Shaw, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Shaw, living in Adelaide Terrace, Barking, in 1871. I haven’t found any record of the family in the 1881 census, but there is mention of a 10 year Sarah Shaw living in Barking’s  Village Home for Orphan Neglected and Destitute Girls. I’ve yet to find any matching record in the 1891 census.

If Mabel Young was 7 in 1901, then she was born in about 1894. I’ve found a record online of a birth which would seem to match, in the last quarter of 1893, but I haven’t ordered the certificate yet. It’s likely, then, that Sarah was married to someone by the name of Young by 1893 at the latest. Assuming that the Pumfrett’s lodger was the most appropriate candidate, I searched for marriages between Charles Young and Sarah Shaw at around this time, and found one in the West Ham district in 1892, but again, I need to obtain the certificate to confirm that my hunch is correct. A Charles Ernest Young, born in 1872, died in the same district between April and June 1893.

So I’ve managed to answer one question: I now know the maiden name of my great grandmother Sarah Londors. But the connection to the Pumfretts, and how the Londors came to be living in their house in Roding Cottages, remain a mystery that I hope these additional birth, marriage and death certificates might solve.

In this rather gloomy copy of a photo of the 1925 wedding of my grandparents, George John Londors and Minnie Louisa Roe, you can just make out George and Sarah Londors seated at bottom left:

The Londors family in the second half of the 19th century

Following on from the previous post:

At the time of the 1861 census, John and Mary Ann Londors seem to be living at the same address they occupied ten years earlier, since Benjamin Brett Hatton, whose house is now described as ‘Hattons Carswell’, is still their next door neighbour. The houses either side are now said to be at Hattons Corner, while a little further along is Fern Hall farmhouse. Beyond that are two properties ‘by Red House’, then Red Bridge cottage, Red House cottage, and Stone Hall (like Clayhall, one of the ancient manor houses of Barking), where widow Sarah Bush owns a 210 acre farm employing 10 men and 4 boys. Some way further along, the road becomes Beehive Road.

This is three years before William’s marriage to Caroline Feller, so he is still living at home, aged 24, as are Mary, 27, and James, 18. John junior, of course, had been married for 10 years by this date, and he can be found, with his wife Sarah and young family, living four houses away from his parents at Hattons Corner. Beyond their property is St Swithin’s Farm, where James Black farms 153 acres and employs 6 men and 2 boys.

In my last post I noted that John and Sarah were probably married in Stepney in 1851. There’s a suggestion that they may lived in the area for a while after their marriage, before moving back to Barking. According to census records, their eldest daughter Sarah was born in Barkingside, but I’ve found the record of a baptism of Sarah Ann Londors, daughter of John and Sarah Londors, on 5^th September 1852 in the parish church of Bromley St Leonard. I haven’t yet found any record of the birth of their second daughter, Alma, but their third child, Alice Mary Ann, was definitely born in the Romford district in 1859.

The 1861 census notes that John, 33, and Sarah, 32, had three children at this stage: Sarah, 8, Alma, 6, and Alice, 1. They also had two lodgers: widow William Thoroughgood from Great Easter, and his son George, both agricultural labourers.

By 1871, 18 year old daughter Sarah appears to have left home, but there are four new members of the family: Edith, 9, George, 7 (my great grandfather), Albert, 4, and Emma, 4 months. William Thoroughgood, now 68, is still lodging with the family. The family are now said to be living in St Swithins Road, but there is evidence to suggest that this is the same road as in 1861, though now renamed. Immediately next door on one side is a house occupied by an under gardenner and groom, presumably employees at Claybury Hall, which is the next property along. Resident at Claybury Hall are tobacco broker Alexander Branwell Bremmer, his wife, sister in law, 6 children, and seven servants. Beyond Claybury Hall are houses occupied by a gamekeeper and a head gardener, who are probably employees of the Bremmers. The next property along is Claybury Farm, home to solicitor and landowner of 398 acres Henry Sewell, his wife, brother (‘M.B. University of London’ and farmer, 268 acres), a lady’s maid, housemaid, and cook. In the other direction, a few houses away, are John Londors junior’s parents, John and Mary Ann Londors, now 85 and 68 respectively, who are on their own but still living next door to Benjamin Brett Hatton.

Claybury Hall, Barking

In the 1881 census the address for John junior and Sarah is given as ‘Shattmans Farm Beehive Road Cottage in yard’. Next door is Shattmans Farm itself, then Stone Hall Farm, Red Bridge Road, and then the Old Red House. The children still living at home are George, 17, Albert, 14, and Nancy Emma, 10.

Living with them there’s also their 6 year old grandson, whose name has been wrongly transcribed as William J. Angar. Until recently, young William’s link to the family was a mystery to me. However, I’ve now found what looks like the record of the marriage of  John and Sarah’s oldest daughter – also called Sarah – who was born in about 1853. On Christmas Day, 1873, Sarah Londors, 21, son of farm labourer John Londors, married whitesmith William Orgar, 29, son of John Orgar, a pipemaker, in the parish church of St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate.  Born in 1875, William John Orgar was obviously staying with his grandparents at the time of the census.

At the same time  Sarah was living with her husband William Orgar and her other son, 2 year old Ernest, at 8 Upper Dorset Street, Marylebone. Living with them is Sarah’s 18 year old sister Edith. I haven’t been able to find a record in the census for their sister Alma, but tin 1880 another sister, Alice Mary Ann, had married whitesmith Thomas William Beale in Marylebone and gave her address as 8 Upper Dorset Street. So it looks as though this generation of Londors sisters migrated from Barking to the West End of London, probably in search of work, in the same way that the previous generation of Londors moved to the East End.

It appears that John Londors senior died in 1876. The 1881 census has his widow Mary Ann, still living at the same address at ‘Hattons Corner Beehive’, next door to landowner Llewellyn Hatton (son of Benjamin), with her unmarried 38 year old son James.  A couple of houses further along is another son, William, 42, his Shadwell-born wife Caroline, 39 (see previous post), and their children James, 13, John, 11, Mary Ann, 9, Caroline, 7, Lizzie, 5, Sarah Ann, 3, and George, 6 months.  Both houses are not far away from the home of John junior, Sarah and their family (see above).

Mary Ann Londors seems to have died in 1887, aged 85. At first it was difficult to find records of the Londors family in the 1891 census, until I discovered that their surname had been wrongly transcribed as ‘London’. Having worked this out, I was able to locate William and Caroline Londors and their family at Hattons Corner, two properties away on one side from the Hattons at Carswell House, and on the other side William’s brother James, now 47, still occupying his parents’ house, together with his unmarried sister Mary Ann, 50.

Two houses further along, at St Swithin’s Cottages, are John junior and Sarah, now 62 and 61 respectively, together with sons George, 26, and Albert, 24, both farm labourers like their father. A different grandson is with them for this census: Berty Orgar, 9, who was born in Marylebone.

In that same year, 1891, John and Sarah’s daughter Alma, 36, who gave her address as Elm Hall, Wanstead, married butcher James John Clyne, 32, at the church of St. John the Baptist, Hoxton. Also in 1891, her sister Sarah and husband William Orgar and family were living in Stanhope Street, St. Pancras.  Another sister, Alice and husband Thomas Beale had moved to Barking and were living in at farmhouse at St. Swithin’s Farm, with their daughters Elizabeth, 10 and Alma, 6.

The 1901 census finds John and Sarah Londors, aged 73 and 72 respectively, having finally retired, living at St. Mary’s Hospital Almshouses, Ilford, two doors away from the Bishop of Barking. John’s brother James, 57 and sister Mary Ann, 60, were still living in the same house as before, now called Carswell Cottage. Their sister Alice and her husband Thomas Beale were two doors away, with their 17 year old dressmaker daughter, Alma. Meanwhile, their sister Alma and her husband James Clyne were living in Regency Street, Westminster.

In 1896, John and Sarah Londors’ son George, my great grandfather had got married. I’ll write more about this, and his wife Sarah’s complicated background, in another post.

The Londors family in the first half of the 19th century

My mother, Joyce Alma Robb nee Londors (born 1933), is the daughter of George John Londors (1896 – 1960) and Minnie Louisa Roe (1902 – 1987). Here’s a rather poor reproduction of a photograph taken at my grandparents’ wedding in East Ham in 1925:

George John Londors and Minnie Louisa Roe on their wedding day in 1925

George John Londors came from a long line of agricultural workers in the Barking area of Essex. I’ve written about the Londors family before, but in this post and the next I want to share some new information about them, starting with the earliest Londors ancestor that I’ve been able to trace so far.

The 1841 census finds my 3 x great grandfather, agricultural labourer John Londors, 55, his wife Mary, 35, and their children John, 13 (my 2 x great grandfather), Sarah, 11, Elizabeth, 8, William 4, and Mary, 11 months, living at White Hall, Barkingside, in Essex. Two other households appear to share the same address: one consists of schoolmistresses Mary and Sarah Hatton, 45 and 40 respectively, and the other of William Kirby, 75, a pensioner of the East India Company, and Elizabeth Kirby, 50. The addresses on either side are given as ‘Hattons Corner’, while a number of properties further along are described as being at Red Bridge Barkingside, and further along still is the Red House Public House.  On the preceding page we find more houses at Red Bridge, including ‘Harvey Farm by Red Bridge’ . Before that comes Close’s Farm Yard, and before that Beehive Lane. From what I can gather, this area coincides with the area between Redbridge and Gant’s Hill tube stations on modern maps, and between Clayhall and Valentine’s Parks: there’s still a Beehive Lane there, but it only takes a glimpse at Google street view to see  that little trace remains of its rural, agricultural past.

One of the most intriguing things about the 1841 census record (for reasons that will become apparent) is that, close by at Red Bridge, we find agricultural labourer William Scofield and his wife Sarah, both 70.

By the time of the 1851 census, John Londors, 65, and his wife Mary, 45, have two more children: James, 8, and George, 5. John junior is now 23, William 14, and both are working, like their father, as agricultural labourers. Mary junior is now 10, James 8, and George 5. Sisters Sarah and Elizabeth, who would have been 21 and 18 respectively, are not mentioned. We learn from this record that Mary senior’s middle name is Ann and that, like the children, she was born in Barking, whereas her husband John was born in nearby Woodford.

This time, the family’s address is given simply as ‘Beehive’, suggesting that this was a common name for the area, not just for the road or lane. Most of the Londors’ neighbours are also agricultural labourers, but immediately next door is Carswell Cottage, home of landed proprietor Benjamin Brett Hatton, his sons Benjamin and Llewellyn, and a house servant. The Hattons were a long established and important Barking family, associated with nearby Clayhall. Given that these neighbours share a surname with the sisters who lived next to the Londors family in 1841, I wonder if this is the same address, and the cottage has simply been taken over by another member of the Hatton family?

The Londors family included an additional member on the night of the 1851 census: visitor Sarah Brown, aged 22, also from Barking. This is almost certainly the future wife of my great great grandfather, John Londors junior. From census records I knew that my 2 x great grandmother’s name was Sarah, but until recently I haven’t been able to confirm her surname. I’ve just obtained a copy of the birth certificate for John and Sarah’s son George (my great grandfather), who was born in 1863, which includes the information that Sarah’s surname was indeed Brown.

Searching for records of a marriage between John Londors and Sarah Brown, some time between the 1851 census and the birth of their first child in 1853, I found nothing in the Barking or Ilford area. However, I was intrigued to come across the record of the marriage of one John Schofield Londors to Sarah Ann Brown, at the church of St. Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, on 29^th June 1851 (the 1851 census, when ‘our’ John Londors and Sarah Brown were both in Barking, was taken on the night of 30^th March). At first I dismissed this possibility, partly because of the location and partly because the name Schofield had not been mentioned in any of the other records I’d seen. On the positive side, however, was the fact that the name of the bridgegroom’s father was given as John Londors, a farmer (Sarah’s was James Brown, a housekeeper). One of the witnesses was Sarah Londors – perhaps John junior’s sister, who would have been about 21 at the time.

Further confirmation that this might be ‘our’ Londors family comes in the records of two other marriages in the same area, one in the same year and the other some 13 years later. In November 1851 Elizabeth Londors, also described as the daughter of John Londors, married George Smith at the parish church of Stratford-le-Bow. John Schofield Londors and Sarah Londors (either John’s sister, or his wife?) were witnesses. And in 1864 William Londors, another of John Londors’ offspring, married Caroline Harriet Feller at St. Thomas’ church in Stepney. The connection with ‘our’ Londors family is secured by the 1871 census record, which has Barking-born William, Shadwell-born Caroline and their young family back Barking, living not far from other members of the family.

It seems likely, then, that a number of the children of John and Mary Ann Londors moved to the Tower Hamlets area as young adults, probably in search of work.  Perhaps this explains why Sarah and Elizabeth were absent from the family home in Barking for the 1851 census. As for John Londors junior’s middle name – Schofield – I wonder if this was the maiden name of his mother, Mary Ann? It’s not a common name, so the fact that there were Schofields living close to the Londors family in Barking in 1841 (see above) seems more than a coincidence. Were William and Sarah Schofield Mary Ann’s parents – and were their names reflected in those of two of John and Mary Ann Londors’ children?

In my last post, I compared the records available for my rural English ancestors unfavourably with those on offer for my London forebears, especially since the digitisation of many London parish records. Now it seems as though this foray into the East End by some members of the Londors family means that we know much more about them than we had imagined.

The Baileys of Barking

After spending some time researching the Robb side of my family, I’ve turned my attention back to my mother’s family, and specifically to two rural branches – the Baileys and the Londors family – that have their roots in the Barking area.

My mother, Joyce Alma Londors (born 1933) is the daughter of George John Londors (1897 – 1960) and Minnie Louisa Roe (1902 – 1987). Minnie – my nan – was the daughter of Joseph Priestley Roe (1862 – 1946) and Eliza Bailey (1865 – 1958). I’ve researched the Roe side of the family quite extensively, but I’ve written much less about the Baileys.

In future posts I’ll report on my latest researches into the Londors family, but here I’ll focus on the Baileys. In turning to these rural ancestors, with their generations of ‘ag. labs’ and scarce written records, I’ve realised how lucky I am that so many branches of my family were based in London – and in Scotland. For the latter, the Scotland’s People website has a comprehensive online database that must make those with only English ancestors green with envy. And since the digitisation of London parish records by Ancestry, it’s easier than ever to trace forebears who lived in the nation’s capital. By comparison, tracing rural English ancestors online is still a relatively arduous process, relying on census records backed up by certificates ordered from the GRO.

As I’ve noted before, my great-grandfather Joseph Priestley Roe married Eliza Bailey at St. Anne’s, Limehouse in 1883, when he was 21 and she was 18. As the marriage certificate indicates, Eliza was the daughter of labourer William Bailey.

My great grandparents: Eliza Bailey and Joseph Priestley Roe (undated)

The earliest record we have for William is the 1841 census, which finds him, aged 16, living with his parents and family in North Street, Barking (not far from Cowbridge Lane: both roads still exist). From this record we know that William was born in about 1824 in Essex and that he was the eldest of the four (listed) children of John Bailey (born in about 1801) and his wife Eliza (1802). Like his father, William worked as an agricultural labourer.  His younger brothers and sisters were Sarah (1828), John (1831), Mary (1834) and Louisa (1837).

Map of Barking in 1777 (Wall End visible at left)

William’s father John Bailey must have died before the 1851 census, which finds the widowed Eliza (48) living at Mumdays Rooms, close to Barking High Street. With her are daughters Sarah (22), Mary (18) and Louisa (14). All except Louisa are described as field labourers. We also learn from this record that, though the children were all born in Barking, their mother was born in Bishops Stortford.

I haven’t been able to find any trace of William’s younger brother John, who would have been 20 by this date, if he survived. However, I have found a record for William himself. In 1851 he was 26 years old and married to Elizabeth, 25. They were living at Wall End, Barking Road, East Ham, with their children Louisa, 2, and John, 1 month. William is said to have been born in Barking and his wife and children in East Ham, so it’s likely they had been living at this address since they were married, probably in about 1848. Both William and Elizabeth are described in the census record as agricultural labourers.

The Baileys’ immediate neighbours in 1851 were also agricultural workers, although a few doors way lived a police constable, and beyond him one Jabez Abbott, a farmer of 105 acres employing 11 labourers (was William Bailey among them?). At the time Wall End was a hamlet on the Barking border, linked to East Ham High Street by Barking Road.

Ten years later the Baileys were still in Wall End, though they appear to have moved house. Now they were two doors away from the Duke’s Head pub, separated from it only by the home of 48 year old Halifax-born Chelsea Pensioner William Barrand. The Duke’s Head still exists in Barking Road, though it was rebuilt early in the 20^th century. In addition to Louisa (12) and John (10, who despite his young age ‘works in fields’), they now have two other children: Thomas (8) and William (4).

In 1871 William and his family seem to be at the same address, though the house between them and the Duke’s Head (where the lodgers include three unnamed circus performers) is now occupied by retired Norfolk fisherman High Campbell (whose household includes visiting Swedish tailor John Stare).  Besides William and Elizabeth (both 47), the Bailey household consists of John (20), Thomas (18), William (15), Joseph (10), all of these farm labourers like their father  – as well as Eliza, my great grandmother, whose age could be read as 5 or 8, but is almost certainly the latter, given that she is said to be 17 years old in the 1881 census. This means that she was born in either 1863 or 1864.

The most surprising revelation in the 1871 record is that Eliza was already working in a jute factory. Jute is a vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. The Barking Jute Works opened in 1866 and according to the local authority’s website:

The majority of the jute workers were young females, usually single and often away from the control of their families. Determined to enjoy themselves they developed a reputation for drunken brawling at weekends and bank holidays which made the town notorious in the 1880s and 1890s.

The webite claims that the youngest worker was 10 years old. However, Eliza’s youthful occupation may be explained by this note:

Outwork was provided for local Barking women and children in the form of sack sewing. The cloth was cut to size in the factory and carried home along with hanks of tarred twine. The sacks were sewn at home and then returned to the factory for payment.

By 1881 the Bailey family address appear to have moved house again. Their address is given simply as ‘Cottage, High Street, Wall End’. Chapel House and Abbotts Farm Cottage are to one side (the Baileys’ neighbour John Archer is said to be the foreman at Abbotts Farm), but there is no sign of the Duke’s Head. The Bailey household consists of 56-year-old William and Elizabeth, their son John, 20, a general labourer, and 17-year-old Eliza, who is still working as a jute spinner.

Two years later Eliza married Joseph Roe. By the time of the 1891 census, Eliza’s parents were living with her and her young family (she had already given birth to 6 surviving children) at 36 Denmark Terrace, East Ham (if this is identical with modern Denmark Road, then it wasn’t far from the Baileys’ home in Barking Road). Joseph is described as a dock labourer, but his 67 year old father in law appears still to be working as a farm labourer.

By 1901 Eliza and Joseph have moved with their expanding family (they now have 8 children) to 313 Barking Road, and Eliza’s parents, now 75, are still living with them (though described as ‘lodgers’). Interestingly, William is still working (like his son in  law and 16 year old grandson Joseph William) as a ‘general labourer’.

I don’t know when William and Elizabeth Bailey died, but they are no longer living with Eliza and Joseph by the time of the 1911 census, so I assume they died some time in the first decade of the century.

Joseph and Eliza Roe (undated)

The family of Emily Hindley: tracing name patterns through the generations

In my last post I wrote about the family of my great-great-grandfather, Frederick French, who was born in Limehouse in 1847. As I mentioned in that post, Frederick married Emily Hindley on Christmas Day, 1867, at All Saint’s church, Poplar.

Emily, also born in Limehouse in 1847, was the daughter of ship chandler William Hindley. There are records of the Hindley family in both the 1851 and 1861 census, though I’ve yet to find a matching record for 1841. In 1851, we find 30-year-old labourer and ship chandler William Hindley and his 30-year-old wife Mary, at 3 Kirk’s Row, Limehouse, with their children William, 11, John Charles, 8,  Mary Esther, 6, Emily, 4, Jessie, 2 and a 5 month old son who is ‘not yet named’. By 1861, the family is living at 2 Rhodeswell Terrace in Mile End Old Town, and William senior is working as a sailmaker and warehouseman. Other members of the family are similarly employed: son William, 21, is also a sailmaker, while wife Mary and daughter Mary are described as flagmakers. Emily, 14, and Jessie, 12, are said to be ‘scholars at home’. The child who was 5 months old in 1851 seems not to have survived, but there are two new children: Ellen A, 8, and Sydney H, 1.

Sailmaking

We know from the record of his birth (in 1842) that John Charles’ full name was John Charles Samuel Hindley, and that ‘Ellen’ was christened Helen Agnes (in 1854, at St. Anne’s church, Limehouse). Mary Esther would be a witness at her sister Emily’s wedding to Frederick French in 1867.

I wonder if the Hindley family was the original source for the name Jessie that was passed down through my father’s family? Frederick and Emily named one of their daughters Jessie, and another of their daughters, my great grandmother Mary French, in turn gave a daughter the same name (she also gave my grandmother the middle name Emily, after her own mother). My dad’s sister – my late Auntie Kit – was christened Katherine Jessie May Robb (another sister, my Auntie Grace is Grace Mary Emily).

St. Mary's church, Lewisham

Naming patterns can help in tracing families back through the generations. Looking for information about Emily Hindley’s parents – William and Mary – I came across the record of a wedding at All Saints, Poplar on 5^th November 1837, between sailmaker William Hindley and one Mary Affleck. As well as the location and occupation, the date also matches: William’s and Mary’s first child, William, was born in 1838 or 1839.

Mary Affleck’s father was engineer Samuel Affleck and one of the witnesses was Esther Affleck: both are Christian names that ‘our’ Hindleys would give to their children. Mary Affleck was born on 14^th June 1816 and christened at St. Dunstan’s, Stepney: her parents’ names are given as Samuel and Esther. Going back still further, we find that Samuel Affleck married Hesther Gunter on 16^th January 1814 at St. Mary’s church, Lewisham. Although both were resident in the parish, Samuel is said to have been born in ‘Galloway, N. Britain’ and Hesther in Coley (Coaley) Gloucestershire. At Scotland’s People I came across a baptismal record from 1794 for Samuel Affleck, son of mason Robert Affleck, in Dumfries.

An old photo of Dumfries High Street

William Hindley’s vocation for sailmaking may have its origins in the occupation of his father, John Hindley, who is said to have been a shipwright. However, I’ve yet to find any further records for John or his family.

In 1871, four years after Emily married Frederick French, her parents William and Mary were living in Cowley Road, Wanstead. William was now a retired warehouseman and living with them were William junior, Helen and Sidney.  By 1881 Mary had died and widower William, now a clerk in a coal office, was still living at Cowley Road with Helen and Sidney. At the same date William junior, a sail maker, was living with his wife Sarah and children Alice and Charles at 4 Alfred Terrace, Limehouse. I haven’t found a record for them in the 1891 census, but they were still in Limehouse in 1901.

 

 

French family update

My grandmother – my father’s mother – Mary Emily Elizabeth (‘Polly’) Webb was the daughter of George Webb and Mary French, both of whom were born in 1874. Having filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge of the Webbs, it’s now time to revisit the French family and see if newly available records can throw more light on their origins.

Mary French (born 1874)

Mary French married George Webb on 1^st August 1897 at St Paul’s, Bow Common. The couple’s address is given as 92 Burdett Road. Mary is said to be the daughter of Frederick French, a bootmaker. I’ve yet to find a birth or baptismal record for Mary, but we know her approximate year of birth from census records.

Frederick French (1847 – 1917)

We know from these same records that Mary was the fifth of eleven (?) children, born to Frederick French and Emily Hindley.  Frederick, described at the time as a cordwainer, married Emily, the daughter of ship chandler William Hindley, on Christmas Day, 1867, at All Saints church, Poplar. The couple’s address is given as Canal Road (which was not far from Burdett Road).

All Saints church, Poplar

Four years later, at the time of the 1871 census, Frederick and Emily (both age 24) were living in nearby Rhodeswell Road, Mile End Old Town, with their children Emily Mary (born in 1869) and Frederick William (born 1870). Both children are said to have been born in Limehouse.

In 1881 Frederick and Emily, now age 34, were still at 13 Rhodeswell Road, where they are both described as shoemakers. They now have seven children: Emily (born 1869), Frederick (1871), Seth (1872), Mary (my great grandmother, 1874), Jessie (1876), Caroline (1879) and Katherine (1881). All the children are said to have been born in Stepney.

By the time of the 1891 census, 44 year old Frederick and Emily were living at the house in Burdett Road from which their daughter would be married six years later. Frederick is now described as a boot and shoe manufacturer, and they have ten children still living with them, a number of whom appear to be working for the family business. Emily (22) is described as a tailoress, as is Mary (17), while Frederick (21) and Seth (19) are both working as boot riveters. Also living at home are Jessie (15), Caroline (12), Katherine (10), Grace (8), William (6) and Francis (4).

In 1901, the Frenches were still at 92 Burdett Road, which the census record describes as a bootmaker’s shop: it was sandwiched between a lead merchant and a corn chandler, and other premises in the street included a wardrobe dealer, a tobacconist and a builders’ materials shop. 54 year old Frederick is described as a bootmaker and as an employer. Sons Frederick (30), William (16) and Francis (14) are also described as bootmakers, while daughters Jessie (25), Caroline (22), Katherine (20) and Grace (18) are tailoresses. All of these are said to be working at home.

In 1911, another family tree at Ancestry has 64 year old Frederick French living at 198 Crownfield Road,  Cann Hall, Stratford, and working as a boot repairer. Apparently he died in 1917 in Camberwell.

Frederick French (1810 -  1887)

Mary French’s father Frederick was himself the sixth of eight children born to another Frederick French and his wife Sarah. Frederick senior was born in 1810 in Dorchester, Dorset. The first record we have of him is in the 1841 census, when the 31 year old Frederick, a labourer, is living in Parnham Street, Limehouse, with Sarah, 25, and their children Sarah (born in 1832), Seth (1834) and William (1839).

We don’t know when Frederick moved from Dorset to London – whether this was as a child with his parents or as a young man on his own. Nor do we know when he married Sarah, but given the ages of their children it seems likely it was around 1830, when Frederick would have been about 20. In later census records Sarah’s place of birth is given as Horselydown, Surrey, which was in the Bermondsey area, just across the Thames from Limehouse. At least one other family tree gives her maiden name as Sarah Ann Bonner, but I’ve yet to find any independent confirmation of this.

In 1851 Frederick, Sarah and their family were still living in Limehouse, but by now they had moved to 5 Wilson’s Place. By now, Frederick was working as a shoemaker and Sarah as a shoe binder, as were their children Sarah, 18, and Seth, 16. William was now 14, and they also had four younger children: Susan, 9, Eliza, 6, Frederick (my 2 x great grandfather), 4, and Caroline, 1. The older two children were born in Stepney, while the younger ones were all born in Limehouse.

Limehouse Causeway

Ten years later, in 1861, the family was still in Limehouse. It’s difficult to make out the address, but it seems to have been off Rhodeswell Road. Frederick’s wife Sarah has obviously died in the interim: he is described as a widower. Of his children, five are still living at home: William, 21, Sarah, 28, Frederick, 14, Caroline, 11, and Charles, 9 (born in about 1852, so Sarah must have died after this date). The older three are working in the family trade: William and Frederick as shoe makers, like their 51 year old father, and Sarah as a shoe binder.

By 1871, 61 year old Frederick and 19 year old Charles, still both working as shoemakers, are living in Mary Street, Limehouse. They are living either with or next to the family of Dublin-born hammerman John Scully and his wife, Sarah. There’s a suggestion on another family tree that the latter is Frederick’s daughter. (Of course, by this date, Frederick junior was married and had opened his shop on Rhodeswell Road: did he take over the family business from his father?)

Confirmation is given by the 1881 census record, which has Frederick senior, now reunited with daughter Caroline, living with the Scullys at 66 Coutts Road, Mile End Old Town, where he is clearly described as a father in law and she as a sister in law.  Interestingly, although John Scully is working as a labourer in an iron works, his 16 year old son John is said to be a shoemaker, perhaps learning the trade from his grandfather.

Frederick French senior died in 1887, at the age of 77.

Footnote

Most of the streets that were home to the French family – such as Burdett Road, Rhodeswell Road, Parnham Street – were clustered together in a relatively small area of Mile End / Limehouse / Bow Common, and many were new developments in the mid 19th century. Intriguingly, the Frenches would have been near neighbours of my Robb ancestors, who lived in nearby St. Ann’s Road and Turners Road at about the same time.