Genealogy Em

Yesterday I wrote about how to read a British militia attestation form and used the example of a young man named James Sword. His story truly embodies what it was like to grow up in poverty during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras.  The Early Years James was born July 27 1889 in Bow, London, England - making him the baby of the Sword family. He had four older sisters and one older brother. At the time of his birth the family was struggling financially, and that would only worsen a month later when his father died. Now widowed with five children still in her care, James' mother had no choice but to turn to the Board of Guardians for relief. Within a year the entire family was admitted to the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse. The duration of the family's stay was brief. By 1901, they had left the workhouse but were still struggling to get by. They were living on Ammiel St in Bow. Their home literally fell down around them, and the neighbouring homes that remained...

Manchester has been described as the "cradle of the industrial revolution" and as the powerhouse of the cotton industry. As the cotton industry boomed so did the population. Nestled in amongst the mills, tanneries, gas works, and other industries, overcrowding was rife. What was once an upper class suburban settlement, had fallen so deeply into a state of disrepair that it no longer reflected the peacefulness conveyed by its name.  By the mid 1840's several slums had developed but none were more horrible than Angel Meadow. The slum itself formed around St Michael's Church and was bounded by Rochdale Rd, Miller St, Cheetham Hill Rd and Gould St. This brought the entire area of the 30,000 person slum to a mere 33 acres - that is equivalent to approximately 43.5 ft^2 (or 4 m^2) per person.  During the Victorian era, slums were often described as having two classes of people, and Angle Meadow was no exception. Of all the accounts given, Mercle held back the least when des...

During the Victorian era, having a child out of wedlock was considered a major sin yet despite this it happened quite frequently. The main challenge with researching illegitimate children is determining their parentage. It was not uncommon for the mother or the child to make up a story that legitimized the birth. This could be something as simple as borrowing the name of a male family member, using their father's first name paired with their surname, or making up a fake name entirely. Reading between these manufactured truths can be challenging and often send us hunting for the wrong person or someone that never existed. From performing research on illegitimate ancestors in my own family tree I have learned some strategies that can help sort through the confusion.  1. Pay attention to census records Census records can tell us quite a bit about a person, including their marital status and where they were born. It is not unusual to find a few errors in a census as they are considered...

They say that 1 in 10 people with British ancestry can trace their family back to the workhouse. For my family this statement is true. The process of filing for relief from the Board of Guardians was long and required the individual to provide detailed information about themselves.  In two of my previous posts I spoke of a woman named Bessie. After her father died in 1889, her mother mad no choice but to turn to the workhouse. She had six children between the ages of one month and 15 to support. The Poor Law records I found on this family contained a wealth of information - much of which I had never seen before.  Settlement Examination   The process began by with a settlement examination. The main purpose of this record was to determine what Poor Law Union was responsible for the pauper's upkeep (otherwise known as residency). The head of the family would be asked to provide the following information: where each member of the family was born if they are married and i...

Battersea: The Sinkhole of Surrey During the Victorian Era, Battersea had gained the reputation as being “the sinkhole of Surrey” due to its widespread poverty and slum-like conditions. Many of the poor in Battersea were subject to irregular income from the building trades. For a family to scrape by in the winter they would have to apply thrift spending during the summer. This was often complicated by the reliance on alcohol which was used as a means of escape from the depression of living in such widespread poverty. The irregular income caused many of Battersea’s poor to frequently be on the move. On average a family lived in one place for less than two years before moving no more than a few streets away. After hopping from neighbourhood to neighbourhood the family would eventually return to where they were once exiled from, moving in only a few doors away from their former address. Ford’s Folly and the slum of Little Hell In Keith Bailey’s report Orville Road, Battersea: a Victor...

If you look hard enough, your bound to find a black sheep or two in every family tree. In my case they were hiding in the places I least expected to find them. My grandmother was one of the most proper and well mannered women I have ever met. I'm pretty sure she is the closest thing I will ever meet to a saint, however not all of her ancestors shared these traits. One woman in particular was foul mouthed and not shy of throwing a fist (or two). To be honest, after reading of her fights, I think she could have held her own against one of London's prized fighters. This woman's name was Mary Ann Daniels (nee Taplin) - I spoke of briefly in a previous article  here . When I began performing FAN club research on her children I discovered that she had given birth to a son named Alfred during 1880 in the HM Westminster Prison! (Yikes! That is NOT a birth certificate I would ever want to have!) Of course this raised a number of questions for me: why was she in the prison? Why was s...