The Hewitts: a London artisan family

Thomas Hewitt was baptised on 24^th April 1796 at St Mary’s church in Lambeth and was one of 6 children born to William and Susanna Hewitt. Little is known about Thomas’s early years but at some point during his childhood he and his family moved from Lambeth to St Pancras, which at the time, was a rapidly developing new London suburb. The area around St Pancras went from sparsely populated countryside to a population of 46333 in 1811 and increasing to 71838 in 1821.

Thomas had grown up in a time when the threat of invasion was very real. In his early childhood Napoleon had conquered most of Europe. When he was just nine years old he would have learned of Admiral Nelson’s heroic death in the great naval battle at Trafalgar. Later, Napoleon escaped imprisonment on the island of Elba and led another great army. That army was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and peace returned to Europe.

Even before Napoleon came to power, the turmoil of the “Reign of Terror” in France led to many artisans escaping to England. Many of them settled in the cheap rented accommodation in Somers Town, which was the name of the area immediately to the south and west of St Pancras church. The refugees were skilled workers and with the opening of the canal the the borough became a major centre for the piano, organ and furniture industries, light engineering and scientific instruments. This was to be enhanced in the decades to come by the arrival of the railways.

Monday 11^th September 1820 was an important day in Thomas’s young life. It was his wedding day. He had known Mary Lansbury for at least 18 months and their love affair had resulted in the birth of a baby daughter named Mary the previous November. Baby Mary had been baptised at St Anne’s in Soho, presumably to conceal the fact that they were unmarried at the time. The church they were being married in, St Pancras Church, was one the oldest in London and stood on the banks of the River Fleet. At the time of his marriage, Thomas was twenty five years old and his new bride was three years his senior.

At the time the area was on the edge of London and it had a distinctly rural feel to it. There was a farm belonging to William Agar immediately behind the church. In 1820 his land had been bisected by the newly opened Regents Canal. Beyond that fields stretched away to the north and east as far as the eye could see.

The Fleet River, though barely more than a stream, was prone to severe flash flooding after periods of heavy rain. According to a local chronicler one of the most considerable overflows occurred in January, 1809. He wrote; "At this period, when the snow was lying very deep, a rapid thaw came on, and the arches not affording a sufficient passage for the increased current, the whole space between Pancras Church, Somers Town, and the bottom of the hill at Pentonville, was in a short time covered with water. The flood rose to a height of three feet from the middle of the highway; the lower rooms of all the houses within that space were completely inundated, and the inhabitants suffered considerable damage in their goods and furniture, which many of them had not time to remove. Two cart-horses were drowned, and for several days persons were obliged to be conveyed to and from their houses, and receive their provisions, &c., in at their windows by means of carts." ('St Pancras', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878))

Again, in 1818, there was a very alarming flood at Battle Bridge, which lies at the southern end of Pancras Road, of which the following account appears in the newspapers of that date: “In consequence of the quantity of rain that fell on Friday night, the river Fleet overflowed near Battle Bridge, where the water was soon several feet high, and ran into the lower apartments of every house from the 'Northumberland Arms' tea-gardens to the Small-pox Hospital, Somers Town, being a distance of about a mile. The torrent then forced its way into Field Street and Lyon Place, which are inhabited by poor people, and entered the kitchens, carrying with it everything that came within its reach. In the confusion, many persons in attempting to get through the water fell into the Fleet, but were most providentially saved. In the house of a person named Creek, the water forced itself into a room inhabited by a poor man and his family, and before they could be alarmed, their bed was floating about in near seven feet of water. They were, by the prompt conduct of the neighbours and night officers, got out safe. Damage to the extent of several thousand pounds was occasioned by the catastrophe." ('St Pancras', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878))

The local industries provided ample opportunities for employment and soon people were flocking to the area. Thomas and Mary settled in Somers Town and their family grew. They had three sons and two more daughters (William Hewett Bp. 27/05/1822, Thomas Hewett Junior Bp. 9/06/1826, Charles Hewitt 4/06/1828, Susannah Hewett 1/06/1831 and Emma Hewett Bp. 28/03/1834). Sadly, Charles did not survive and was buried on 9th January 1831. At the time of his son's burial, Thomas and his family were living in Perry Street, St Pancras; but by the time his daughter Susannah was baptised, Thomas and his family moved the short distance to Brewer Street. A few years later, at the time of Emma's baptism, they were living in Brill Terrace.

All of Thomas's children were baptised at St Anne’s church in Wardour Street in London’s Soho. Wardour Street was a centre for the chair making industry and it strongly suggests that Thomas was working in the area. It must have been more convenient for the baptisms of his children to take place there rather than near his home in St Pancras.

Thomas's mother, had been living close to Thomas at 37 Brewer Street, St Pancras. On 19th August 1834 she made a will, probably because she knew she was gravely ill. Thomas and his brother William were named as the executors. As her health deteriorated, it seems likely that his mother came to live with him and his family in Brill Terrace. She passed away that autumn and was buried at St Pancras Cemetery on 6th October 1834.

According to the census taken on 6^th June 1841, Thomas and his family were living on Upper Seymour Street (now known as Eversholt Street). Thomas was working as an “appraiser and organ builder”.

The opening of Euston railway station in 1837 resulted in massive development of the area. The Agar family began leasing out the northern portion of their land (behind St Pancras church) from 1841 onwards. The southern portion of land had been sold off to the Imperial Gas, Light and Coke Company in 1822 and had been developed as a gas works. The leases were relatively short at 21 years and as a result, the houses built on the site were little better than a shanty town. The area, known as Agar Town, became one of the worst slums in London.

Neighbouring Somers Town was not quite the slum to the same degree as Agar Town. However, it was still described as being full of dark courts and alleys, gin palaces, cheap shops, patched shops and passages teeming with children.

By 30^th March 1851, the Hewetts had moved to 4 Church Terrace which was close to the old St Pancras Church where they had been married. Thomas and Mary were living at the address with their son Thomas and their two youngest daughters Susannah and Emma. Thomas, aged 54, was now working as a chair maker and his son was an organ builder.

Organ building was a growth industry. The Industrial Revolution led to an increase in the urban population. As the towns and cities grew, there was a demand for new churches to cater for God’s faithful and these churches all needed pipe organs. The area around St Pancras, with its skilled labourers and artisans, was a centre for the organ building industry.

On 7^th January 1854, the younger Thomas was married at St Pancras Church. His bride, Emma Pittock, was the daughter of a builder from Kersey in Suffolk. It is possible they met whilst working on a church with her father.

After the wedding, they continued living in Church Terrace. Emma quickly fell pregnant and towards the end of the pregnancy travelled back to be with her family in Suffolk. Charles Pittock Hewitt was born in the autumn of 1854 in Stoke-by-Nayland.

Emma returned to London with her baby son and during the remainder of the decade gave birth to two more sons and a daughter: Thomas Coventry in early 1857, Emma in around 1859 and Frederick Samuel on 2^nd April 1861. Both Frederick and Thomas were baptised at St Pancras Church on 16th March 1862. According to the 1861 census they were living next door to Thomas’s parents and sharing the house with the Bull and Pike families. There were a total of 13 people living under one roof and conditions must have been very cramped. Another daughter, Alice Ann, was born a few years later in 1864.

The opening of Kings Cross railway station in 1852 had led to an even greater influx of people to Somers Town and Agar Town. This was the height of “railway mania” and competing private railway companies shared the same lines and stations. In the 1850s the Midland railway company shared Kings Cross railway station with the Great Northern railway company but by the end of the decade plans were drawn up for a terminus of their own.

In 1859, the Midland Railway company purchased 27 acres of land from the ecclesiastical commissioners (including St Giles’s graveyard to the north of St Pancras Church) and purchased the rest of Agar Town in 1860.

After unsuccessful petitions against the company’s plans by the St. Pancras Vestry, The Regent’s Canal, and the Imperial Gas Light & Coke Company; the Midland Railway (St. Pancras Branch) Bill was passed by Parliamentary powers and became law in 1866. It gave the company complete power to purchase necessary lands and houses “by compulsion or agreement.” While the company had to compensate those who had taken out 99-year leases with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, weekly tenants could be evicted without compensation. Some of them fought strenuously to obtain remuneration for being displaced, but were unsuccessful. The official number of displaced “labouring classes” by the Midland Railway Company put the number at a mere 1,180 persons. However, more realistic estimates indicate that the extension of the Midland Rail line into its own station at St. Pancras demolished 4,000 houses in Somers, Camden, and Agar Towns, displacing perhaps as many as 32,000 people.

The stress of fighting the Midland Railway company must have taken its toll. Thomas senior became ill with bronchitis towards the end of 1862 and died alone at home on 1^st February 1863. The cause of his death was pulmonary consumption. Thomas senior was buried at St Pancras Cemetery at 3pm on 7th February 1863. His wife, Mary, who must have been away from home at the time of his death, lived on for another 5¹/₂ years. The construction of St Pancras railway station forced the family to leave their home. Mary moved the short distance to 7 Aldenham Street, where she died on 9^th September 1868. The rest of the family moved across London to St John’s Wood where they started a new life. Thomas and Emma had another daughter, Ellen May, on 4^th January 1870.

According to the census taken on 4^th April 1871, the family were living at 26 Townsend Cottages in the working-class enclave of Portland Town, St John’s Wood. They appear to have settled in well. Whilst Thomas and his eldest son Charles were both working as organ builders, his wife Emma was working as a shop keeper. Even though Thomas and Emma were by this time well into their 40s, they produced another son. Herbert Arthur Hewitt was born on 20^th May 1872 in St John’s Wood.

The turmoil of their time in St Pancras was behind them and life in St John’s Wood appears to have been much more stable. So much so, they were able to get their children Herbert, Alice and Ellen baptised. This took place on 1st November 1874 at the church of St Stephen the Martyr in Avenue Road.

The census taken on 3^rd April 1881 showed the family were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages, although the eldest son Charles had apparently flown the nest and Alice was absent. Thomas, Thomas Coventry and Frederick were all working as organ builders which suggests that Thomas was self-employed and that business was so good he needed to employ his sons. Thomas’s daughter Emma was working as a dress maker and Herbert was at school.

By the 1891 census, the family were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages. Thomas Coventry had left the family business but Thomas and Frederick were still working together. Alice was working as a shop assistant and Mary was a linen draper’s assistant. Herbert was apparently not home.

Ten years on and according to the 1901 census they were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages. Although Thomas (elder) was 75 years old, he was still working as an organ builder with his son Frederick. His daughter Alice was still working as a shop assistant.

At some point during the first decade of the 20^th century, Thomas retired and after around 40 years living at the same address, he decided to leave St John’s Wood. By the next census on 2^nd April 1911, Thomas, his wife Emma and their grown up children Frederick and Alice, had moved to 5 Sutherland Road, Bow. At 85 years, Thomas (elder) was an old age pensioner but his son, Frederick, was still working as an organ builder.

By this time, Thomas (elder) was becoming frail. In the years immediately following the census Thomas (elder) and his wife moved to 4 Wedmore Gardens, Upper Holloway. His daughter-in-law, Ada, nursed him until his death on 19^th January 1913. His wife, Emma, lived on for another 19 years. She passed away with her daughter Mary at her side on 13^th December 1931 having reached the grand old age of 102.

Pedro the Singing Stonemason

Peter Hand was born on 22^nd February 1842 at the Bromsgrove Union Workhouse in Worcestershire. The fact that he was born here rather than at home suggests that it may have been a difficult birth that required some medical intervention.  Peter was the 3^rd son born to portrait painter John Evans Hand and his Irish wife Mary Ann. His eldest brother, Matthew, was around twelve years his senior. The next oldest, Dominic, was around seven years older. The first of Peter’s younger sisters, Mary was born on 7^th January 1846 when he was almost four years old. By this time the family had moved to Birmingham. Peter’s earliest memories would have involved growing up in Birmingham and seeing his father’s art studio.  The youngest sister, Elizabeth, was born on 3^rd July 1849 when Peter was seven years old.

Peter Hand family tree

According to the census taken on 30^th March 1851, Peter was living at 24 Broom Street in the Bordesley area of Birmingham and was attending school. Peter spent the first fifteen years of his life growing up in the city and the evidence suggests that this was, on the whole, a period of stability and relative happiness. He saw his older brothers, Matthew and Dominic get married in 1852 and 1854 respectively and once they had children of their own they decided to move south to London.

By the time Peter was fifteen he would have left school and he moved north with his father, mother and younger sisters (Mary Ann and Elizabeth) in around 1857. It is not clear whether the move was motivated by a desire to seek work or whether they were forcibly resettled. They relocated to Salford, Lancashire and it is likely that Peter started an apprenticeship to become a stonemason soon after they arrived.

The census, taken on 31^st March 1861, shows that Peter was living with his parents at 2 River Place, Salford. Peter was by now working as a stonemason and stone carver, a job that combined skill and precision with an artistic flair he must have inherited from his father.

Excerpt from 1861 census

Life was hard for them in Salford and in 1861/62 they moved south to be closer to Matthew and Dominic, who at the time of the 1861 census where living at 7 Field Place, Newington, Surrey. The reason for the move was that Peter’s father was probably destitute and in may have been ill. What is certain is that his father died in St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth on 15^th May 1862. The cause of his death was Typhus Fever, a disease that hit the poor the hardest.

Peter’s movements following his father’s death are not known, but we can make an educated guess. Peter was now twenty years old and a qualified stone mason. His mother, now a widow, and his sisters may have stayed with Matthew and Dominic thus enabling Peter to travel around the country to work on a variety of different short-term contracts. Peter may have belonged to one of the early trade unions such as the Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons and could have also been involved in industrial action. At this time the major issues were the campaign for a nine hour day and the resistance to hourly payment

On 2^nd April 1871, Peter was lodging at a guest house run by a Mrs Kaymer at 24 Guildford Street in Brighton. The census states that he was working as a stone carver which implies more skilled or artistic work than a stone mason. Peter was sharing his lodgings with a plasterer whom he may have known. This could suggest that he was involved in the construction of new buildings being erected in Brighton at that time.

While Peter was carving stone in Brighton, his mother, Mary Ann, was being employed as a domestic servant who practiced needlework. She was living at 130 Peckham Park Road which was (and still is) located in the northern part of Peckham close to the Old Kent Road. Meanwhile several miles away in Newington, Peter’s brother Matthew was residing at 44 Weymouth Street with his wife and three children. At this stage Matthew had moved away from painting houses and was now working as a sign painter.

Once Peter had completed his contract in Brighton it seems likely that he returned to metropolitan Surrey to be closer to his family. A short time afterwards he met a young local woman named Jessie Berry. Jessie was the daughter of an accountant working for the Camberwell parish vestry and would have come from a wealthier middle class background. Peter grew up in a more bohemian environment and must have seemed quite exotic to her. It seems his artistic talents were not limited to the carving of stone either. Indeed, he was an accomplished singer as well. On 29^th April 1873, he performed using the name Pedro Hand in North Woolwich Gardens with a blackface minstrel troupe known as Beaumont’s Black Blossoms. His performance of “Tis but a Little Faded Flower” was commended in a review published in The Era several days later:

Review from The Era dated 4th May 1873

Beaumont's Black Blossoms flyer

Jessie fell pregnant and when it became obvious that she was expecting a baby there must have been considerable pressure from both Pedro’s Irish catholic mother and Jessie’s middle class parents for them to marry as soon as possible.  The prospect of their daughter giving birth out of wedlock must have horrified them.

By the time they got married, Jessie must have been somewhere between five and eight months pregnant. Consequently they were already living together at an address in Trafalgar Street, when they were finally married at St Peter’s church, Walworth on 16^th August 1874. At the time of the wedding, Pedro still described himself as a stone carver and there is no mention made of his other life as a singer. Pedro and Jessie’s baby was born in the autumn of 1874 and they named her Jane Maria Hand.

The pressure of being a young father seems to have taken its toll on Pedro’s singing career. Indeed, on 4^th June 1876 he placed the following advertisement in The Era. Clearly, he was no longer performing with Beaumont’s Black Blossoms but still yearned to sing in front of an audience.

In 1877 the Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons called a strike in support of its claim for 10d an hour. The result was a total defeat resulting in wage cuts and longer working hours. Whether or not Pedro was involved is debatable. However, what is certain is that he must have moved to the north of England in search of work. Jessie was pregnant again and they needed the money. Maybe he contacted an old friend from his early days in Lancashire and called in a favour.

Pedro and Jessie’s second child was born on 25^th September 1877 at 14 Woollacott Street in Oldham, Lancashire. He was a son and they named him William Pedro Hand after Jessie’s father and Pedro himself. Perhaps significantly, Pedro describes himself as a stone mason rather than a stone carver at this time.

Pedro and his family did not apparently remain in Oldham for long and by the time of the next census on 3^rd April 1881, they were living at 34 Constance Road close to East Dulwich railway station. Pedro’s mother, Mary Ann, was also living with them and his wife, Jessie, was pregnant again.

Pedro’s brothers were still living within a few miles. Matthew was living at 44 Sayer Street in Newington with his two sons Edward and Matthew. Matthew was still working as a fence painter and his sons were scene painters, perhaps for a west-end theatre. Meanwhile, Dominic and his family were living at 78 South Street in Camberwell. Dominic was a writer and artist and his eldest sons, Dominic and Claude helped their father in the print shop.

Pedro and Jessie’s third child, a baby girl, was born in the summer of 1881 and they named her Alice. Alice’s birth was followed by Daisy in the autumn of 1883 and finally Mary Dorothy Hand in spring 1890.

Happily for Pedro, there is evidence that his singing career continued following his return to London. The South London News reported on the 23^rd June 1883 that Pedro had performed at the Spa Tavern in Bermondsey. The review warmly praised his double-voiced vocal skills.

Unfortunately, the happiness did not last. His mother, Mary Ann’s  health worsened in the early months of 1886 and as she became more poorly she was admitted to the infirmary at Camberwell workhouse on Havill Street. She died of bronchitis on 13^th March 1886.

By the time the next census was taken in spring 1891, Pedro had reverted to his birth name Peter, suggesting perhaps that his singing days were over. By now the family had moved to 1 Lansdowne Place, Peckham close to the Old Kent Road. Peter was still a stone mason and his eldest daughter, Jane was working as a domestic servant. William, Alice and Daisy were all at school.     

The rest of the 1890s were apparently a difficult and sad time Peter and his family. Peter started experiencing mental illness which at some stage would have made it impossible to continue working. His illness would have placed a good deal of strain on the family, both emotionally and financially and with great reluctance Jessie is likely to have taken the decision to place him in the Havill Street workhouse.

As his condition deteriorated, he was moved into the infirmary. Once there, he was assessed and registered a lunatic.  By the 1890s it was standard policy to separate the mentally ill from the rest of the inmates and he was subsequently transferred to the Constance Road workhouse on Saturday 15^th April 1899 “for observation“. The workhouse was near to where he used to live in 1881 and was still close enough for Jessie and the children to visit him. At this time they were living at 54 Nutcroft Road in Peckham.  He remained at the Constance Road workhouse for less than a fortnight. He was assessed on Wednesday 26^th April and was transferred to Banstead Asylum in Surrey the following morning. The admissions book states that Peter was suffering from dementia and goes on to say that “he has but little idea of time or place. Degraded in habits. Delusions of identity” He did not survive in the asylum long and on 31^st May 1899 he succumbed to pneumonia. His death certificate also mentions ‘chronic brain wastage’ as his cause of death. The description of his death suggests he may have suffered from early onset Alzeimer’s disease which was not understood in those days. It was a terribly sad end to a man who had been blessed with the creative talents of stone carving and singing.

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Alf of all trades

George Alfred Melton was born on 1st September 1854 in Castleacre, Norfolk. Although christened George, the census records suggest he was probably known as Alfred or Alf. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Norwich. His younger brother, Frederick, was born in Heigham, Norwich on 10th December 1855.

Birth certificate

Alf’s father, Fred, was a journeyman gardener and it seems likely that the family moved regularly. Indeed, according to the 1861 census the family had moved to the village of Ditchingham located close to the Norfolk Broads and the Suffolk border. Both Alf and his younger brother Fred were attending the local school at this time.

The transient nature of his father’s employment is bound to have had an impact on Alf. At some point in the 1860s he would have been forced to say goodbye to his school friends once his father had decided to take the family away from Norfolk. This must have been difficult for him. By 1871, Alf was living at 5 Moselle Street, Tottenham with his parents and younger brother. According to the census both Alf and Fred were working as ‘errand boys’.

At the age of nineteen, Alf married Sarah Ann Collison at the parish church of St James the Great in Bethnal Green on 23^rd March 1874. Sarah, aged just seventeen, was the daughter of a blacksmith and had grown up in the East End. St James the Great or the “Red Church” as it was known, was regarded at the time as a place where you could get married quickly with no questions asked. The vicar would apparently sell marriage licenses on the premises for a penny before conducting the service and the permission of the parents of the young couple probably wasn't sought.

At the time of the wedding, Alf was working as a cook and was living in Bethnal Green. The events that led up to this important milestone in Alf’s life are not clear. However, the railways must have played a part as Tottenham and Bethnal Green were, and still are, on the same line.

In the years that followed their wedding, it is apparent that Alf and Sarah lived at a number of addresses in the East End. Their first child Sarah Frances, was born in Mile End Old Town on 27^th December 1874. Sarah was baptised at St Thomas’s, Stepney on 2^nd July 1876 and at the time the family were living at 8 William Street in Mile End Old Town. Later that year, on 19^th December, Alf and Sarah’s first son, George Frederick Melton was born and their second son, John Robert Melton was born around eighteen months later on 16^th June 1879. At the time of John's birth, Alf was still working as a cook in a restaurant but they had moved to 11 Ann Street, Ratcliff. The street ran alongside the main London to Southend railway line and was situated between Commercial Road and Cable Street. Today this street is called Barnardo Street, named after the famous Dr Thomas Barnardo who opened his first home for boys nearby.

8-14 Ann Street, Ratcliff

The census taken on the night of 3^rd April 1881 showed that Alf and his family were still living at 11 Ann Street, Ratcliff. Alf was employed as a ‘workhouse porter’. By the late nineteenth century Great Britain had evolved into the world’s premier superpower thanks to the industrial revolution. Great Britain’s standing abroad concealed the shameful truth that thousands of people in the cities were living in poverty and squalor. The East End of London contained many of these unfortunate people: the marginalised, the poverty-stricken, the drink-sodden, the orphans, the immigrants, the criminal types, the unemployed and the revolutionaries. Alf’s time as a workhouse porter would have exposed him to the plight of many of these poor people and the experience is bound to have had a profound effect on him.

By the following year, Alf and Sarah had moved to 25J Juniper Street. Their new home was in a four-storey block of “model dwellings” that had been built in 1880 for the “respectable working class”. A staircase leading from the dark street lead to eight flats and although by today’s standards these places appear grim, they provided accommodation that was considered to be better than that found in the majority of houses in the district. Many of the poorer families living in the East End could not afford the rent which was around 5s a week and paid in advance but Alf’s wages had clearly enabled him to climb one rung up the ladder.

Juniper Street, Shadwell

Alf and Sarah had a new baby girl, Esther Emily Melton, early in 1882. Baby Esther was baptised at St Paul’s church, Shadwell on 26^th November but by then it is likely that the baby was already ill. Tragically, Esther died just over a week later on 4^th December. The cause of death is cited as “dentition, cerebral irritation” which suggests that teething problems were responsible for her untimely death.

With the death of baby Esther still fresh in their minds, Alf and Sarah decided it was time to get their two boys baptised. They were both baptised at St Paul’s church, Shadwell on 19^th January 1883. By this time, Alf was working as a “packer” possibly in a warehouse by the nearby docks.

Alf and Sarah had another daughter named Lily on 18^th September 1883 and she was baptised at St Paul’s, Shadwell on 5^th October. Their fourth daughter, Edith Emily was born on 22^nd February 1886. Throughout this period, Alf and his growing family remained at 25J                                                          Juniper Street.  

On the night of 30^th August 1888, a huge fire took hold in Shadwell Dry Dock. Many local people went down to the scene of the fire and as they lived nearby it is reasonable to speculate that Alf and Sarah were amongst them. As the firemen were damping down the following morning, news emerged of an “unfortunate” who had been murdered in Bucks Row, Whitechapel. The discovery of the body of Mary Ann Nicholls was the beginning of a series of murders which gripped the public imagination and baffled the police. Alf and Sarah would have undoubtedly read the newspapers and heard rumours on the streets but they were probably too busy bringing up their young family and providing a roof over their heads to concern themselves too much. Their daughter Edith was baptised at St Paul’s, Shadwell on 9^th November 1888 coincidentally this was the same day that Mary Kelly’s horribly mutilated body was discovered in Spitalfields.

During the so called “autumn of terror” Sarah had been pregnant again and in the early months of 1889 she gave birth to another baby girl who they named Emily Harriet. Just prior to Emily’s birth, in the previous November, the family moved to Cable Street where Alf established himself as a coffee tavern keeper.  The local trade directory for 1890 shows that Alf’s coffee rooms were situated at 263 Cable Street. The term coffee tavern described two types of premises. One type became popular in the mid/late Victorian period and were promoted by the temperance movement as an alternative to public houses. However, in the East End of London a coffee tavern could be likened to a modern “greasy spoon caff”. These were places were ordinary workers could sit and enjoy simple food.  

Article from the Lloyds Weekly
London Newspaper 31st Aug. 1890

At around 4pm on Wednesday 27^th August 1890, Alf witnessed a horrific accident on Cable Street. A four-wheeled van pulled by a pair of horses and loaded with 3 tons of cargo pulled out to overtake traffic. At that moment, a small girl, unseen by the driver, was lying in the road. She tried to get up but was run over. The driver immediately pulled up, but the girl was severely injured and taken to the children’s hospital, which was situated nearby in Glamis Road. She had to have both legs amputated and later died. George was called as a witness at the inquest which took place on the following Saturday at the Shadwell Vestry Hall. The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death and it was Alf’s evidence that helped to deflect blame away from the poor driver.

The 1891 census confirms that Alf was a ‘coffee tavern keeper’ at 265 Cable Street. He was living there with his wife and their six children. However, the Post Office street directory of 1894 shows that Alf’s coffee rooms had moved the short distance to 267 Cable Street which was located at the junction with Watney Street and was situated right next door to Shadwell station on the East London Railway. Alf and Sarah’s large family increased later that year with the birth of Alice Maud on                                                          13^th July 1894. Alice was baptised at St George in the East church on                                                      5^th August.

On 11^th September 1896 Alf and Sarah’s third son, Albert Thomas, was born and by the time he was baptised on 11^th October, Alf had given up the coffee rooms and had begun working as an “engineer”. Their new address was 31 Tillman Street which was a three-storey terraced house situated on the eastern side of the street just south of the board school. Charles Booth, the famous social researcher, visited the street between 1^st and 3^rd February 1898. Here is an extract from his notebook: South down Tillman Street, late Ann Street. 3 storey houses at south-east end put up by Chapman Estate get a respectable class, purple rather than light blue on the map. On the south west side, poor 2 storey houses- light blue. The purple on the map seems to have moved across the road into the newer houses.

Excerpt from Charles Booth Poverty Map 1898

Booth’s survey descriptions for the area show a wide gulf in the living conditions from street to street, from pinks along Cannon Street Road representing more respectable classes to the darker colours of Cornwall Street representing the most wretched homes. The whole area would have been shrouded in smog induced by coal smoke from homes, railways and industry. The streets would have been littered with filth including manure from the ubiquitous horse-drawn transport.

Lady Winterton in Tillman Street c1929
31 Tillman Street is in the 3-storey block
in the background

On 8^th April 1897, Alf and Sarah’s eldest son got married to Ann Morris, a local girl who was the same age as their son. The following year on 30^th November 1898, Alf and Sarah’s youngest child, Ada Elizabeth was born. A few days later on 4^th December, their eldest daughter, Sarah Frances, got married to a man named Albert Lawrence.   Finally, on Christmas Day 1898 Ada Elizabeth was baptised at St George in the East church. It had been a busy end to 1898.

The 1901 census shows that Alf and his family were living at 31 Tillman Street. Alf was working as a laundry engineer; his daughter Lily was working in a cigarette factory and daughter Edith Emily was a book folder. Living at the address with them were John and Rebecca Robinson and Rebecca’s mother, Helena Aspinall. It seems likely that Alf rented out the rooms at the top of the house to earn a bit of extra cash. In 1905 the electoral register shows that the two bedrooms on the top floor were being let (unfurnished) to a man by the name of James Standing and the records for subsequent years show that his daughter Lily and son in law, Charles Hannington, were living there. Incidentally Lily and Charles were married on 9^th                                                           April 1905 and it seems likely they moved in straight after the                                                                  wedding.

Family tree

The 1911 census shows Alf still living at 31 Tillman Street with his wife and their children Emily, Albert and Ada. Alf was now working as a ‘stationary engine driver/fitter’ which suggests his job involved attending to a large stationary steam driven engine. Though this is apparently different from his job in 1901, it is possible that a large steam engine may have been used at a large laundry. According to the census, his daughter, Edith had followed her elder sister and was working as a ‘cigarette packer’. Albert was an ‘office lad’ and Ada was at school.

By 1914, Alf had changed jobs again and was employed as a watchman, probably in one of the many riverside wharves. When he failed to return home from work on Tuesday 23rd June, his family must have been concerned. Their worries only grew as the days passed and he remained missing. Their worst fears were confirmed when, on Saturday 27th June, a body was pulled from the Thames at South Wharf, Rotherhithe. An inquest held at the Coroners Court on Monday 29th June held that death was due to accidental drowning. 

Extract from the Southwark and Bermondsey Recorder 3rd July, 1914

His sudden death must have come as an awful shock to his wife and children. It was a tragic ending to a man who evidently worked extremely hard to provide for his family. His work-ethic, which was no doubt instilled in him by his own father, enabled him to earn a living as a cook when he was a young man, scrape a living as a workhouse porter witnessing the harsh poverty of the East End, running his own coffee rooms, then when his business failed, learning to be an engineer before becoming a watchman in his final years. He wasn’t Jack of all trades, he was Alf of all trades and a remarkable man.

Annotated Goad Insurance Map

The Kanawaty Lebanese and Brazilian connection

This post explores another of my wife’s exotic roots. Antonia’s maternal grandmother, Asma Kanawaty was born in Beirut on 12^th March 1903. She was one of 8 children born to Antoun Kanawaty and Anissa Habib Zreik. Asma’s eldest sister was named Lily and there were 3 other sisters: Marie, who was born on 1^st January 1898; Afifa, and Zobeida, who was born in 1909. Asma also had 3 brothers: Fouad, the eldest, who was born on 6^th November 1906, Amin and Rafful. The family were part of a large Christian population that lived (and still lives) in Lebanon. Sadly, both Amin and Afifa did not survive childhood. Amin, died at a young age due to some illness, and Afifa from a nasty accident that left her with severe burns.

Family tree showing the children of Antoun Kanawaty and Anissa Zreik

Both Asma and Marie grew up and became teachers. They obtained work in Baghdad and worked at the Menahem Daniel Jewish primary school. Later in life, Marie went on to become the school principal.

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) probably taken in the 1930s

In around 1928, Asma married Emile Curmi, a former British officer who had worked in the political department of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. The couple’s first child, Giovanna, was born on 27^th December 1930. Less than 2 years later on 16^th October 1932, she was joined by another sister named Eileen. Gio’s and Eileen’s births was registered at the British Consulate on 21^st February 1936. At that time, the family were living at 69 Abu Nawass Street in the Battaween district of Baghdad. The family expanded further in the years that followed with the arrivals of Mafalda (February 16^th 1939), Joseph Donald (January 16^th 1943) and Richard Alexander (24^th September 1945). The family moved to a larger house on nearby Alamein Street in the Battaween district of Baghdad and they had servants to help with the cooking and cleaning.

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) and Donald Curmi. Don's age suggests the photo was taken in the late 1940s

To escape the searing summer heat in Baghdad, the family would occasionally travel across the desert to visit family back in Lebanon. Marie’s passport, issued in 1931, contains visas indicating many trips back and forth between Baghdad and Beirut.  The document contains a note from the passport office dated 28^th July 1938 stating that there is “no objection to Giovanna and Elen (sic) to enter Iraq accompanied by the holder of this passport”

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) with her sister Marie

The revolution of 14^th July 1958 came as a huge shock to the family and it was no longer safe to remain in Baghdad. Emile sent Asma, Eileen, Mafalda, Donald and Alex to England in the autumn of that year where they were reunited with Giovanna, who had left suddenly a few years before in 1955. They settled in Barnet in North London and lived at 34 Hadley Road. Asma’s sister and husband remained in Baghdad until 1962. By the time they arrived in England, Emile was gravely ill with cancer and died on 30^th January 1963. Following his death, the family remained in Barnet. Marie passed away 5 years later in 1968.

Fouad Kanawaty emigrated from Lebanon on the Neptunia and arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 16^th August 1939. He later obtained a job at Fabrica Colchoes Sao Paolo, a mattress factory in Sao Paolo. He married but the couple had no children. Fouad passed away on 16^th August 1978 aged 71.

Fouad Kanawaty Brazillian immigration card

Rafful followed his older brother to Brazil in the 1950s. He married a woman by the name of Alice and they had three children together: Eduardo, Antonio and Jorge. Eduardo became an endocrinologist and married a woman named Elizabeth. They had a daughter together but we don’t know her name. Antonio married a woman named Nazaré and they had 3 daughters; Monika, Simone and Larissa. Jorge married Ligia and they had 3 children; Roberta, Joao and Rafael. Rafful’s descendants all live in or around the city of Campinas which is situated 70km north west of Sao Paulo.

Rafful Kanawaty Brazillian immigration card

Lily married Rizkallah Haddad and they had a son called Eduardo, who also became a doctor. They apparently travelled to London when Asma and her family were still living in Barnet. He came over with his terminally ill wife and daughter Marisa.  

Photo of Zobeida Rouhana (nee Kanawaty) with daughter Rosette and husband Farid in the background taken in Beirut

Zobeida was a gifted painter but was regarded as a black sheep. She married a disapproved of Palestinian named Farid Rouhana and had a daughter named Rosette in around 1940. The family emigrated to Brazil, arriving in Rio on 3^rd July 1951. Farid apparently walked out on the marriage sometime afterwards.

Zobeida Rouhana (nee Kanawaty) Brazillian immigration card.

Brazil was a popular destination for Lebanese people of all creeds looking for a better life. It is claimed that there are now over 7 million people with Lebanese ancestors living in the country. Many of whom, like the Kanawaty’s, have become highly successful people. The origins of the family are less clear. One uncorroborated source states that the Kanawaty family was a branch of one of the original 6 Canaanite families who lived in Bethlehem. If this is true, they are very old indeed

Ada Deacon

Ada Louisa Deacon was born on 3^rd June 1880 at 46 Clarence Gardens, Regents Park, London. She was the second daughter of John Rouse Deacon and Annie Deacon. Her father was a window blind maker and they all lived at the house with Ada’s older sister Lillian, Ada’s Grandmother Ann, Ada’s aunts Lillian and Annie and various different tenants who would stay at the house for short periods. Ada was christened at Christ Church on Albany Street, a short distance from the house, on 12^th September 1880.

The family increased in size in the 1880s with the births of Ada’s siblings John (circa 1883), William (6^th September 1884) and Daisy Caroline (21^st March 1889). By the time the 1891 census was taken the family had left Clarence Gardens and were residing at 106 Pancras Square. The likely reason for this move was that Ada’s grandmother wanted to take in more tenants and there was no room for the growing family and its noisy children.

In the decade that followed, the family increased further in size with the births of Marguerite on 1^st October 1891 and Eveline on 1^st July 1894. Ada and her family did not remain at 106 Pancras Square and indeed by the 1901 they’ve moved to 32 Ashdown Street, just off Queens Crescent in Kentish Town. Both Ada and her older sister Lillian were working as packers in a soap factory.

Family tree

Ada’s grandmother passed away in 1902 and following her death the family moved back to 46 Clarence Gardens. Ada had another younger sister, Winnifred,  on 15^th March 1904. By this time, Ada had met a young licensed victualler by the name of Herbert Hewitt. Back in 1901, Bert had been working in a pub called Dreghorn Castle on Queens Crescent, just around the corner from where Ada lived and it seems likely that they met across the bar in that pub.  The young couple married at Christ Church, Albany Street on 17^th April 1904. At the time of the wedding, Herbert was living next door at 48 Clarence Gardens.

Once married, Ada and Bert moved into the Gossett Arms at 111 Gossett Street in Bethnal Green where Bert had recently been granted a license. The following year, on 17^th July 1905, Ada gave birth to a son. They named him Herbert John Hewitt.

Ada and Bert left the Gossett Arms and less than five years later they had a daughter together. Lillian Alice Hewitt was born on 5^th March 1910. At the time of her birth, the family were living above a grocers and beer retailers at 21 Mare Street, Hackney. Her husband Bert is believed to have been working in the shop downstairs.

By the spring of the following year, Ada and Bert had moved again. By now they were living at 5 Sutherland Road, Bow. Bert was working as a barman at a pub on Highgate Hill called Whittington Stone and probably spent a lot of time away from home.

The long pub working hours and the commuting distance probably persuaded Bert and Ada to move closer to the pub. Another factor was that Ada was pregnant again. They moved into 4 Wedmore Gardens, Upper Holloway and Frederick Hewitt was born there on 13^th March 1912.

In August 1914 Britain found herself at war with Germany. Pub opening hours were drastically reduced in a bid to curb drunkenness among the soldiers on leave. This probably meant that Bert was at home a lot more often. Consequently, in the spring of the following year, Ada gave birth to their third son William Hewitt. 

On 10^th March 1917 Ada and Bert moved into The Plough public house on Ilford Lane, Ilford, Essex. By this time Ada was pregnant again and in the autumn she gave birth to their second daughter who they named Winnifred. Towards the end of the following year and with the First World War approaching its conclusion, Ada became pregnant once again. Daisy Eveline Hewitt was born on 25^th May 1919.

Ada and Bert now had 6 children. As Bert had regained his status as a licensed victualler it entitled him to send his youngest daughters to the licensed victualler’s boarding school in Slough. Win would have been sent away first in around 1922 and two years later she was followed by Daisy. The older children were not entitled to attend the school as they had been born before he had regained his licence.

Unfortunately, within months of Daisy being sent away to school, Bert’s health forced him to give up running the pub. He had been suffering from a stomach ulcer. Ada and Bert gave up the license on 8^th November 1924 and moved into a nearby property at 11 Harts Parade on Ilford Lane. Bert’s health deteriorated and poor Bert was rushed to hospital. Sadly Bert died on 20^th March 1925 due to a blood clot that had arisen through complications with his stomach ulcer. Ada was now a widow. 

To make matters worse for Ada she also had to cope with father’s poor health.  He was suffering from heart disease and was gradually deteriorating. He died on 5^th August, less than 5 months after losing her husband. For Ada the year 1925 was a year to forget.

Ada gradually rebuilt her life. She moved into 23 Twyford Road, Ilford with her children Lily, Fred and Bill. Her son Bert had joined the merchant navy and was mostly away at sea. Win and Daisy were still away at boarding school and only returned home outside term time.

Ada’s children grew up. Win and Daisy would have left school at the age of 14 in 1931 and 1933 respectively and on leaving school they returned home to Ilford. Daisy went on to work as a shop assistant at Barkers in Kensington High Street before landing a job at the local telecommunications firm Plessey. On 7^th January 1934 Lily married a butcher named Horace Lewsey. In the summer of 1934 Bert married a welsh lady named Gladys Lewis. In 1935 Ada’s first grandchildren arrived. On 27^th March Bert and Gladys had a son whom they named John Hewitt. A couple of months later, on 8^th July 1935, Valerie Ann Lewsey, daughter of Lily and Horace was born. Bert and Gladys had their second child, Margaret Hewitt, in spring 1938.

Extract from 1939 National Register

At the end of the 1930s, international tensions were once again increasing with the rise of Nazi Germany. With war looking like an increasingly likely prospect, a national register was taken in 1939. Although similar to a census, its main purpose was to provide data to enable the implementation of things like conscription and rationing. The extract from the register above shows how the household looked in 1939. Ada spent her time doing all the cooking and cleaning. Meanwhile her eldest son, Bert, is listed as a steward on The Britannic which was a transatlantic liner run by the White Star line. Fred is a wireless maker (at the Plessey factory in Vicarage Lane, Ilford), and Bill is a grocer’s shop assistant (like Granville in “Open All Hours” but hopefully without that vicious till). Win and Daisy’s names have been redacted.

Britain declared war on Germany on 3^rd September 1939 following Hitler’s invasion of Poland. All young men of a certain age were required to register for national service. Ada’s sons Fred and Bill were affected by this new law and were soon conscripted into military service. Fred joined the RAF and Bill joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. With many young men facing the prospect of travelling overseas to fight the enemy, there were a lot of weddings in the early years of the war. Win married Thomas Anderson on 21^st September 1940. Bill married Ada Downey a month later on 20^th October 1940. Ada’s youngest daughter Daisy married her sweetheart, Alan Melton, on 26^th April 1941. Within days of getting married the men were required to leave their loved ones behind to fight the enemy.

Back row (left to right): Lillian Lewsey (nee Hewitt), Daisy Melton (nee Hewitt) and Ada Hewitt (nee Downey)
Front row: Valerie Lewsey and Ada Hewitt (nee Deacon)

As the 1940s passed, Ada had more grandchildren. Win and Tom’s son, Craig Anderson, was born on 20^th September 1943.  Following the end of the war in 1945 Lily and Horace’s second child, a boy named Howard Lewsey, was born. In the following year there were two more births: Keith Alan Melton (son of Daisy and Alan) on 14^th June and Barbara Hewitt (daughter of Bill and Ada) on 25^th July. Ada’s youngest grandchild Barry Melton (son of Daisy and Alan) was born on 8^th July 1947. They were a close family anyway and with many of Ada’s grandchildren being of a similar age they often met up either for family gatherings or summer holidays to places like the Isle of Wight. Ada often came with them and it must have given her a great sense of satisfaction in those post-war years to see her children with families of their own.

It was only Ada’s son Fred who remained a bachelor. On leaving the RAF at the end of the war Fred decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and became a licensed victualler. On gaining his qualifications he became the landlord of the Flower Pot Hotel in the small Berkshire village of Aston close to Henley on Thames. Fred was to remain the landlord there for more than 40 years and The Flower Pot provided the ideal place for the other members of the family to escape to from time to time.

The Flower Pot Hotel, Aston

In time, Ada’s grandchildren grew up and her eldest grandson, John Hewitt, married Asuncion Visiedo Garcia in the autumn of 1959. Chon, as she liked to be known, was a nurse from Madrid in Spain. Within two years of the wedding Ada became a great-grandmother with the birth of their son John Hewitt in the spring of 1961. By this time Ada was becoming frail and had to give up her house in Twyford Road. She moved in with her eldest son and his wife. Bert and Gladys lived a couple of miles away at 5 Vernon Road, Seven Kings and the house backed onto the main railway line into London’s Liverpool Street station.

Ada became seriously ill with heart problems and passed away at Vernon Road on 12^th January 1962. Ada was 81 and had lived a long life during which she had witnessed many changes. She had been born during the reign of Queen Victoria and had lived through two world wars. Although she must have been immensely proud of her family she is bound to have felt a great sadness that she had lost her husband at the relatively young age of 44. She never married again.