Thomas Babbage: Shipwright and Gentleman, Sir!

Among the joys I am discovering in genealogy is making the acquaintance of cousins of whom I had been unaware. Recently a Peterken cousin contacted me, and this has renewed the impetus to publish some Peterken research. The following documents the family of two Peterken in-laws: Amelia and Louisa Babbage.

My 2x great grandfather, Octavius Peterken, and his brother, William, both had wives with the maiden name Babbage. My grandmother had told me (fairly recently - about 2003) that the two brothers had married two sisters, which would make their children double cousins. I am unclear whether this constitutes family lore, or arises from a recent observation concerning their maiden names. But let's begin with the respective marriage records from parish records.

     3 November 1867 at Bethnal Green, St Philip's
     Octavius Peterken      Age:19 Bachelor Printer         70 Sussex Street
                                                                     father: Henry James Peterken Printer
     Amelia Ann Babbage Age:19 Spinster                     13 Northumberland Street
                                                                     father: Thomas William Babbage Shipwright

     22 May 1870 at Stepney, St Dunstan and All Saints
     William Peterken        Age: 24 Bachelor Compositor 64 Jubilee Street
                                                                       father: Henry James Peterken Printer
     Louisa Babbage         Age: 19 Spinster                      64 Jubilee Street
                                                                       father: Thomas Babbage         Gentleman

Occupations are great when they corroborate a story, or if they are able to completely refute one, but Gentleman is such a loose term that Thomas Babbage could well be a Shipwright and a Gentleman, depending on how he wanted to present himself. My only doubt arises because in nearly all other records I could find, he is listed as Boat Builder or Shipwright; this is the only record describing his rank or occupation as Gentleman.

Shipbuilding must have changed dramatically during Thomas's lifetime. The two main shipping innovations were the screw-driven steamer replacing sailing vessels, and a shift from wooden hulls to iron. This did not happen overnight; even by the twentieth century there markets in which sail was still competitive. But even by the time of the iconic Cutty Sark, sailing clippers were on their way out for time-sensitive cargoes. "Boat builder" might also suggest the smaller inland vessels that kept the Thames working, rather than ocean-going vessels. However, I do not know what kind of boats or ships Thomas built during his lifetime, or how technology changed his work.

The 1841 England Census finds him at Featherstone Buildings, Limehouse, Middlesex with his parents William (45, Shipwright) and Sarah (45), and children (presumably) Thomas (15, Apprentice Shipwright), Edmund (15) and Charlotte (9). The two 15 years are probably each rounded to the nearest 5 with Thomas older than Edmund. None of them is born in Middlesex. His parents are my 4x great grandparents.

In fact, they were from Pembroke in Wales according to the 1851 England Census in which Thomas (29, Boat Builder) is now married to Martha (25) and with children Thomas (4) and Amelia(1). Their marriage record is:
     26 December 1842 at St Mary, Stratford Bow
     Thomas Babbage    Full        Bachelor  Boat Builder Bow
                                                                    father: William Babbage Shipwright
     Martha Jarvis           Full        Spinster                      Bow
                                                                    father: William Jarvis      Hairdresser

By 1861, Thomas (39) and Martha (25) have, in addition to Thomas (15) and Amelia (12), Louisa (10), William (8), Edward (4) and James (1). The Edward is probably Edmund.

By 1871 the children are joined by Walter (born about 1863) and George (born about 1866), although Thomas had died in 1866, and Amelia and Louisa had both married Peterken boys (in 1867 and 1870 respectively).

These are all the children I could find from census returns and it is still possible that any child born and died between censuses would have left no record. On searching for baptismal records, I found Mary Ann Elizabeth Babbage, born 10 February 1844, and baptized at Limehouse St Ann on 22 February 1846. She shows up in the 1851 England Census in the household of Benjamin and Sarah Jermin, as niece, Sarah being Martha's sister.

Thomas William was baptized at Limehouse St Ann 3 May 1846 (born 11 April 1846). In this and the Mary Ann Elizabeth record, Thomas's occupation is given as Boat Builder. I find no baptismal records for Amelia, Louisa or William, but Edmund, James Digby, Walter Frederick and George Charles Babbage were all baptized on 3 July 1868 at Poplar, All Saints. Again, Thomas's occupation is Boat Builder.

From parish marriage records for his children:
     Thomas William Babbage in 1875 Thomas Babbage Boat Builder
     Edmund Babbage in 1877 Thomas Babbage Boat Builder
     James Digby Babbage in 1888 Thomas Babbage Boat Builder
     Walter Babbage in 1886 Thomas Babbage Boat Builder
but note:
     George Charles Babbage in 1892 has Thomas Babbage Wheelwright - probably a misremembering of Shipwright. Thomas Babbage was not there to correct the clerk, having died the year before.


After Martha Babbage died in 1874 (BMD Death Index Dec1874 Poplar 1c 568 Age:49), Thomas remarried:
     16th September 1877 at Bromley, St Leonard's.
      Thomas Babbage    Full        Widower  Boat Builder Bromley
                                                                         father: William Babbage Shipwright
      Maria Oakley Suddrick Full  Widow                         Bromley
                                                                         father: Garrett Jacobs     Labourer

The 1881 England Census has Thomas (61, Boat Builder) and Maria (57) with their youngest children: James (21, Boat Builder), Walter (19, Sawyer) and George (15, Printer's Boy - for Henry James Peterken perhaps?). By 1891 Thomas (71, Boat Builder) and Maria (67) are at the same address with their grown son George (25, Printer). This is the last census for Thomas Babbage since his BMD Death Index is Dec1891 Poplar 1c 465 Age:70.

For the census data transcript errors abound. We have Babye, Bottage and Ballay, which appear to be modern misreadings. Alternative readings had already been added before I came to the records, making my work much easier. Some earlier 1840's records have Babage, and possibly the spelling did not settle down to Babbage until about 1850. Thomas's place of birth is given as Wales in 1851 (specifically Pembroke), 1861, and 1891, but Limehouse, Middlesex 1871 and Shearness, Kent 1881!

In spite of the rank/occupation of "Gentleman" on the marriage record for Louisa Babbage and William Peterken, I am inclined to accept that Louisa is Amelia Ann's sister. Their ages at marriage match the census records closely enough to be plausible. Nor can I find another Louisa, daughter of Thomas of the right age. In 1862, Henry James Peterken, as father of the bride, lists his occupation as High Bailiff, when in all other documents, he is a Printer, so possibly these anomalies are not uncommon.

So there is the family of Thomas Babbage, Shipwright and Gentleman.

An Identity Revealed

As we approach the holidays, my posts here might become irregular, and so might your reading. So here's wishing all readers here Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

For several posts we followed the case of John Tilley. We do know he is the father of Vivian Kennett, but we did not know for sure whose son he is. As Watson might have recalled (but didn't).
"It really was quite elementary, my dear doctor," said Holmes, looking from the window to the busy street below. "Never be swayed by the mere opinions of others. The multitudes follow the few, and the few may have followed a single ill-formed opinion. Always demand evidence. There were, of course, too many connections between Llewellyn and Vivian Kennett, and no firm refuting evidence. John Tilley is the son of the first and father of the second. Lestrade has his man."

This part of the mystery is solved. A letter arrived from the General Register Office, with a marriage certificate dated 15 June 1914 at the Registry Office, Paddington, London.
     John Tilley          53 years    Widower    Commercial Agent    56 Warwick Avenue
                                                                             Father: Llewellyn Tilley    Farmer
     Amelia Augusta  42 years    Spinster                                       56 Warwick Avenue
     Beresford                                                         Father: John Beresford    Master Mariner

So, the grandfathers of Vivian Kennett Tilley are John Beresford and, importantly for our mystery, Llewellyn Tilley. His most recent census returns had listed him as a Confectioner, and here we see his occupation as Farmer. Perhaps even more recently, he had become a farmer, or else was pursuing both occupations simultaneously. What a person writes for occupation on a census is not always what another will remember them for twenty to thirty years later. I'm quite sure that this is the same Llewellyn Tilley. First, there is only one candidate in the record for Llewellyn Tilley as father of this 53-year-old John Tilley. Second, the witness signatures are Laura and Arthur Wallington Glen, which other researchers have as the daughter and son-in-law of Llewellyn Tilley.

A little more on John Tilley. Given the 1871 England Census for Llewellyn Tilley, which records John's birth in Southwark, the most likely reference in the BMD Birth Index is:
      John Tilley Jun1861 Newington 1a 226 

As to his death, electoral registers for Amelia Tilley give a consistent address of 12 Tournay Road, Fulham for 1937-39, 1947, 1949-54, and 1956-59 (the year she died). Google street view shows it's still there, although a little the worse for wear. I was unable to find any data between 1939 and 1947, but John is present in the former and absent in the latter, suggesting to me the interval in which his death occurred. Although there are a few John Tilleys whose deaths are registered in this interval, only one has an age at death corresponding to an 1861 birth; it also happens that his death is registered in Fulham.
      John Tilley Dec1944 Fulham 1a 226 Age:83

Having already looked at the family of Llewellyn and Elizabeth Tilley (see Kid in the Candy Store), I turn now to their origins. Llewellyn and Elizabeth's parents are my step-3x great grandparents. The following information comes from the FamilySearch site of the Latter-day Saints. Llewellyn Tilley and at least two siblings have baptisms recorded in the register of an Independent Church in Kingswood,Wiltshire (bordering Gloucestershire). Llewellyn's census returns state Kingswood, Gloucs. as his birthplace. In each case, the parents are Jno. (that is, John) Tilley and Hester Knight.
     Mary Tilley        born 2 December 1821       baptized 6 October 1822
     Llewellyn Tilley          21 November 1823                  18 January 1824
     Daniell Tilley              22 May 1826                           13 August 1826

Abergavenny, Monmouthshire parish records have this baptism, presumably of Llewellyn's future wife.
     Elizabeth Vivian  baptized 23 June 1828, parents: John Vivian and Mary.

And Rhymney, Monmouthshire parish records have their marriage dated 13 October 1850.

As for Maria Jane Jotcham, I have sent for her 1887 marriage certificate. Although open to the possibility that I'm mistaken in thinking she was married to the same John Tilley, father of Vivian Kennett, I do not expect any surprises. Still, I'll let you know when that one arrives.

Bones Beside the Fire

"When I come home cold and tired / it's good to warm my bones beside the fire."
                                                                                                 (Pink Floyd, "Time").

Central heating is commonplace now (at least in places I've lived), but a good old warm fire, wood or coal, awakes in me a certain instinctive, and perhaps sentimental, pleasure. I remember coal hearths of my childhood, of the orange glow of dragon caves, and the wisps of flame that issued from them. I am too young to remember the killer pea-soup smogs that smothered London periodically from the nineteenth century until the 1950s. London had pretty well ran out of wood to burn before the 17th century, by which time tons of coal was shipped from Newcastle for its growing number of hearths. All this made for much smoke and thence smog. Before anti-pollution legislation in the 1950s, death by smog was frequent, particulary among those with weakened respiratory systems, especially the "old and tired".

Following on from my last blog post, I present here two families of my step-3x great grandparents, through my stepfather, John Beresford Tilley, his mother, Minnie Mary Frances Byrne, and her mother, Matilda Mary Capron. Her parents were John Bill Capron and Mary Allen. And it is their parents with whom we are concerned: James Capron, Hatter, and his wife Sarah; and Elisha Allen, Coal Porter (an occupation much needed to fill the hearths of Victorian London), and his wife Maria .

On the parish register for the marriage of Roger Fannon Byrne and Matilda Mary Capron, one of the witnesses to the marriage signed as Septimus E Capron. With such a distinguished name, I reasoned, I should find census groups fairly easily. But not so, and I resorted to searching parish baptismal registers. Since I already knew the names of John Bill Capron's parents, James and Sarah, I searched for all Capron baptisms in London. The search results returned the names of parents along with their children, and I could easily decide which records to inspect. All those below have James's occupation as Hatter or Hat Manufacturer.

(A further record of 1839 in Bramley for Harriott Capron has Gardener for occupation; that, plus the out of place address leads me to doubt that these are the same parents, and this baptism is not included below).

James and Sarah Capron changed address (and parish church) many times in their marriage. Here is the list with addresses and parish churches through the years :

     Name                    Baptized         Address                 Parish
     Matilda Mary        10 Mar 1815  Guilford Street        Southwark St Saviour
     Thomas William    23 Feb 1817  Guilford Street        Southwark St Saviour
     Alfred James         6 Sep 1818   Great Charlotte St  Southwark Christ Church
     Caroline Ann        10 Aug 1820   Wellington Street    Newington St Mary
     Alfred John           14 Jul 1824     Robert Street         Southwark Christ Church
     Frederick Charles 29 Mar 1826  Robert Street         Southwark Christ Church
     Edward George     1 Jun 1828     Borough Road       Southwark St George Martyr
     John Bill                 8 May 1831  Union Street           Lambeth St Mary
     Septimus Edwin     1 Feb 1833    Edward Street       Southwark Christ Church
     Robert Augustus   21 Jun 1835    Edward Street       Southwark Christ Church

Of these children, Alfred James died just 8 months old and was buried at Southwark, St Saviour 15 April 1819, and Edward George died 3 years old and was buried at Southwark, Christ Church 8 January 1831. I can find marriage records for the remainder except Robert Augustus.

With this list of children, I was able to find censuses for Thomas and Sarah Capron, once I discovered that a common mis-transcription is Capson. The records begin in 1841 in Edward Street, Christchurch Surrey:

     Thomas Capron 45  Hatter  Surrey
     Sarah                 45              Not Surrey
     Caroline             15              Surrey
     Fredrick             10              Surrey
     Septimus              8              Surrey
     Robert                 5              Surrey

The 1841 England Census does not indicate relationships, and ages are to the nearest 5 years for those above 10 years old, although, as I am finding, accuracy, even rounded to 5 years, is often poor. John would have been 10, but appears to have been absent census night.

In 1851 Thomas and Sarah are recorded in Ware, Hertfordshire living on High Street Water Row. They must be the same people: Thomas, 63, Hatter, born Westminster Road, Lambeth, Surrey; and Sarah, 58, his wife, born Middlesex St James. The following census sees them back in Surrey, so I'm wondering about their connection to Hertfordshire. Certainly John Bill's wife is from Harpenden, but that also may be due to a wider connection with the county, through family or trade.

The 1861 England Census has them living at 8 Hopton Alms Houses. Thomas is described as 73, Almsman formerly a Hatter, born Lambeth, Surrey; and Sarah as 68 born Middlesex St James. Hopton's Almshouses were built in 1752 to house the elderly poor, and included a stipend and coal for heating. Originally 26 units, the remaining 20 are still in use, and are listed grade II buildings. The view in the picture above is c1850.

On 2 January 1789 Thomas Son of John Capron and Mary was baptized at Lambeth St Mary. The record contains no other information, but is likely to be that for this same Thomas Capron. His death record in the BMD Death Index is likely to be Mar1869 St Saviour 1d 1 Age: 80. By this time Sarah had already died, her likely death record being Jun1866 St Saviour 1d 5 Age:73. Thanks to the benevolence of Charles Hopton, they had been able to warm their bones beside the fire for a few years.

Elisha and Maria Allen proved much easier to research. The ancestry database yielded censuses from 1841 to 1871, a marriage and death records. The marriage record is in the form of a transcript from England and Wales Parish Records in Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire on 18 May 1830 for Elisha Allen and Maria Lowe.

Their first census return is the 1841 England Census for Luton, Bedfordshire.
     Elisha Allen   30    Agricultural Labourer     not Bedforshire
     Maria           35                                         Bedfordshire
     Matilda         10                                        Bedfordshire
     Mary             7                                         Bedfordshire
     Thomas         2                                         Bedfordshire
     William          9 mos                                  Bedfordshire

In 1851 Elisha Allen is a Lodger in the Fitton household at 11 Norris Street, Christchurch, Middlesex, described as age 43, Married, Coal Porter from Hertfordshire. The advent of farm machinery sent many labourers to the cities in search of work, and Elisha may be one of those. Maria is with the children at Stakers Lane, Harpenden. Curiously she is described as a Widow, Age 43, Occupation PI (?Private Income) from Harpenden, but her marital status and occupation are clearly mistaken, probably at the hand of the census clerk with the job of transcribing the household returns into the census enumerator books. Her identity is confirmed by her children's names, which are identical to the 1841 return, but now aged 20,17, 12 and 11 years. Matilda was born in Offley, Hertfordhire, the others, just a few miles away, in Luton, Bedfordshire. Maria's county of birth varies among her records between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, explainable by her being born in this border area between the two counties.

In 1861 Elisha and Maria are both living at 2 Haverstock Road in Kentish Town, with their son William, now 20 years old. This return, we have already seen, with John Bill Capron and Matilda living in the same house.

By 1871, Maria had died (probably Sep1867 Pancras 1b 88 Age:59 - this computes to the right year of birth, and is registered in the location one would expect of her address). William is now the head of household at 2 Haverstock Road, with his wife Jane and five children. Elisha is described as a Lodger, Age 63 and a Widower. His occupation and William's is Bricklayer's Labourer.

According to the National Probate Calendar for England and Wales, Elisha died 17 December 1879, corresponding to BMD Death Index Dec1879 Pancras 1b 142 Age:72. His will was proved by William Allen Son and Matilda Capron Daughter (wife of John Capron). His address (and William's) by this time is 10 Dukes Terrace, Malden Road, Kentish Town - where we find William, Jane and family for the 1881 England Census.

Elisha and William are both described as Coal Porters in the National Probate Calendar. Thus, the occupation given on the 1871 census may have been a transient occupation, what they had been doing that day or week. This would further suggest that Elisha was still working in 1871, on the supposition that someone would only write in a transient occupation if they had actually done it (as per census instructions), whereas they might write in their lifetime occupation even if they had retired (in spite of the census instructions). Whether Elisha ever retired is open, but he did enjoy the immediate support of his son and family. And he probably never lacked coal for his hearth!