The Sound of Bow Bells

This year will see me turn fifty. Anticipating this particular decade-birthday seems strange, not least because my grandparents were this age in my lifetime. I'm not sure I really remember them at fifty, since I was only four at the time. More likely I remember the photographs and stories told. When I was a little older, I do remember staying with Nan and Granddad Green in Upminster, and playing football (that's soccer for my American readers) with Granddad Green at a penny (old money) per goal, but he capped it at 6d because I was too successful! Today, I turn to my Nan Green (Elsie Blacketer) and her Peterken connections.

Her parents are Thomas John (Tom) Blacketer and Mary Ann (Madge) Peterken, married in 1906 (BMD Marriage Index Jun1906 Poplar 1c 1001). Their two children are Norah Amelia (BMD Birth Index Dec1912 Brentford 3a 399) and, and of course, Elsie Kathleen (BMD Birth Index Dec1917 Poplar 1c 706). Nan said she was born within the sound of Bow Bells, and the family lived at 38 Campbell Road, just off Bow Road.

The area within the sound of Bow Bells refers to the Church of St Mary-Le-Bow (which apparently was built with distinctive arches - bows), and the traditional qualification to be a true cockney. The district of Bow, where the Blacketers lived, lies some way out to the east (and at one time within earshot of the aforementioned church). According to wikipedia, Bow refers to the arch of a bridge built at that location.

Tom Blacketer was a locomotive engineer, politically active, and in 1930-31 served as Mayor of Poplar. He was the youngest of four, raised by a single-parent widow, his father having died while his mother was still pregnant with him. I will present more detail in another post.

We have already met Octavius and Amelia (nee Babbage) Peterken, married in 1868, in previous blog posts (see Thomas Babbage: Shipwright and Gentleman, Sir!) Madge Peterken is their daughter, To her siblings, we now turn. For this family, we have no family Bible, so, at first, I looked as census returns for Octavius from 1871 onwards.

For the 1871 England Census, Octavius and Amelia are living at 66 Sussex Street, Poplar with their 3-year-old son John. At the same address, William and Louisa are listed as a household, Peterken brothers and Babbage sisters.

By 1881 Octavius and Amelia's family has grown considerably. Their address now is 69 Sussex Street.
     Octavius Peterken  Head Marr   32  Printer       
     Amelia                   Wife  Marr   32  Printer Wife
     John G                   Son   Unm    12  Scholar
     Gustavus                Son   Unm      7  Scholar
     Harold                   Son   Unm      6  Scholar
     William H              Son   Unm      4  Scholar
     Mary A                 Daur  Unm      1  Scholar

By the 1891 England Census, Amelia had died (BMD Death Index Jun1890 Stepney 1c 295 Age:42), and Octavius's sister, Jane, appears to have moved in with the household to help him with the family. Gustavus had left home. Their address is 51 Pigott Street, Limehouse. The Census Enumerator Book has what looks like "Octavious", echoing Henry James's spelling on the flyleaf of the family Bible.
     Octavious Peterken  Head Widr   42   Printer and Compositor
     Jane                         Sister S       50
     John G                     Son    S      22   Merchant's Clerk
     Harold                     Son    S       16   Merchant's Clerk
     William H                 Son             14   Clerk (Civil Service)
     Mary A                    Daur            12   Scholar
     Ernest D                   Son              6    Scholar

By the 1901 England Census, Octavius has remarried (BMD Marriage Index Mar1898 W Ham 4a 229), bringing two stepsons into the household. The family story has it that Octavius hired a Elizabeth Haydon as a housekeeper, and the relationship flourished. Her maiden name is Bacchus. My great grandmother, Mary Ann, remembered her step-brothers fondly. Here they all are at 1 Leslie Road, Leyton, Essex.
     Octavius Peterken    Head      52  Printer Compositor
     Elizabeth                  Wife       45
     Maud                       Daur      18   Nil
     Caleb R Haydon      Step-son 17  Clerk in Docks
     William J Haydon     Step-son 15  Clerk in Docks      

This is the first time we see Maud in Octavius's household for a census. In 1891, we is listed with her grandparents, Henry James and Mary Simpson Peterken, and Aunt Emma. They were relatively hard to find. Originally, I was looking for Henry James. From the Electoral Register, I discovered that in 1891, he lived at 70 Sussex Street. I then browsed the 1891 Census for Poplar until I found the entry for his address. The reason for the search failure then became obvious, for Peterken had been transcribed "Pekrken" (In addition, Maud had become "Mand"). Note that Ernest is no longer among them. He died in 1893 aged 9, so he would have been 7 years-old in 1891.

By 1911, they had all left home. Here they are at 57 Westdown Road, Leyton, Essex.
     Octavius Peterken    Head    Married   62  Printer Compositor
     Elizabeth                  Wife      Married  54
     Anne Mackintosh    Sister     Widow    71
     Henry Doggett         Boarder Single      29  Motorman

Henry James did not have a daughter, Anne, so she cannot be Octavius's sister. Perhaps he intended sister-in-law. I have searched for, but not found, a BMD Marriage Index for Mackintosh and Peterken, Babbage or Bacchus.

This return also shows that Elizabeth (Haydon) had 4 surviving children out of 4. So there are two more than Caleb Rowland and William James. The 1891 census for this family also shows Florence, and I would guess there should be a sibling who had left home by 1901, or, perhaps like Maud, was staying with relatives on census night.

Here is a photograph of Octavius Peterken, sent me by Paul Peterken, to whom many thanks. Mum says we have the same one, also signed, "Yours sincerely, Octavius Peterken", of which I saw a low resolution image on the webcam. I would be interested to make a comparison of the two autographs. It's not in color, but you can see his hair is light - I'm thinking gray.

In addition to those children found in census returns, I also found a record of Ada Louisa baptized at Limehouse St Ann. Ancestry public trees also note Edith Amelia (1870-71) and Martha Jenny (1878-78) There are about four Peterken families in Poplar around this time. Unfortunately each of  these is unsourced, so although likely to belong to Octavius and Amelia, I cannot say for certain that they do. If they do, then the couple had 4 of their 10 children die before adulthood. Birth Certificates would contain the information on parentage, and Death Certificates would have the names of the reporter, likely a parent, along with cause of death.

Here they are (although note the caution about Edith Amelia and Martha Jenny):
John George
     BMD Birth Index Jun1868 Mile End Old Town 1c 538 
          bapt. 28 June 1868 Stepney St Dunstan and All Saints, born 26 April 1868
     BMD Marriage Index Mar1898 W Ham 4a 310 (Mary Eliza Hamilton)
     BMD Death Index Jun1935 Lewisham 1d 1002 Age:67
Edith Amelia
     BMD Birth Index Mar1870 Mile End Old Town 1c 572
     BMD Death Index Mar1871 Poplar 1c 556 Age:1
Ada Louisa
     BMD Birth Index Mar1872 Poplar 1c 715
          bapt. 27 October 1872 Limehouse St Ann, born 29 November 1871
     BMD Death Index Mar1877 Poplar 1c 505 Age:5
Gustavus
     BMD Birth Index Dec1873 Poplar 1c 678
     BMD Marriage Index Jun1902 Poplar 1c (Elizabeth Hamilton - any relation of the above?)
     BMD Marriage Index Jun1953 Luton 4a 338 (Helen Mary Morris)
     BMD Death Index Dec 1959 Luton 4a 122 Age:86
Harold
     BMD Birth Index Jun1875 Poplar 1c 687
          bapt. 4 March 1892 Limehouse St Ann, born 9 March 1872
     BMD Marriage Index Jun1898 St Saviour 1d 67 (Evelyn Ladbrook)
     BMD Marriage Index Sep1909 Camberwell 1d 1794 (Lily Annie Cook)
     BMD Death Index Sep1937 Lambeth 1d 239 Age:62
William Henry
     BMD Birth Index Dec1876 Poplar 1c 747
          US records have date of birth 26 November 1876
     BMD Marriage Index Dec1897 Camberwell 1d (Florence Elizabeth Groves)
          US Citizen by 21 February 1933
     Still living at time of 1940 US Census; no death record yet.
Martha Jenny
     BMD Birth Index Jun1878 Poplar 1c 733
     BMD Death Index Dec1878 Poplar 1c 476 Age:0
Mary Ann
     BMD Birth Index Sep1879 Poplar 1c 722
          Death Index gives date of birth 20 July 1879
     BMD Marriage Index Jun1906 Poplar 1c 1001 (Thomas John Blacketer)
     BMD Death Index (Mary Ann Blacketer) Jun1979 Havering 13 0395 Age:99
Maud
     BMD Birth Index Dec1881 Poplar 1c 716
     Marriages Hamilton, Ontario 6 October 1906 (Fred'k George Hunt)
     Australia Death Index (Maud Hunt) 1968 Perth, Western Australia Age:87
Ernest Douglas
     BMD Birth Index Dec1883 Poplar 1c 675
     BMD Death Index Mar1893 Poplar 1c 332 Age:9

The absence of a record for an infant baptism after Ada Louisa suggests either I haven't searched well enough (quite likely!), or it was shortly after this (maybe even because of her death) that Octavius left the Church of England. A family story says he became a baptist, although I cannot support that with documentation. In an excellent article by Denys Murphy (another Peterken descendant), about the HJ Peterken printing businesses, I noticed his remark that Henry James converted to methodism. I am now wondering if he actually became a baptist, which could explain the late baptism of his youngest daughter. Baptists do not baptize infants (although Methodists do). At 16, perhaps she returned to the Church of England. The same might be true for Harold among Octavius's children.

In the nineteenth century, Poplar was within the sound of Bow Bells, and Octavius's children are all cockneys by this definition. Some stayed near and some moved as far afield as the United States of America and Australia. I, too, have made a move far afield, only with the internet, I can drop in for tea and a chat each weekend!