Where are you Joshua Harvey?
According to the dictionary of Cambridge one of the
definitions of popular is: ‘involving or relating to ordinary people or
to all the people who live in
a country or area’
So with that in mind a popular occupation of many of my
ancestors was labourer, be it agricultural labourer, dock, labourer, or general. labourer,
I'm a Harvey by birth and the roots as far back as I have been
able to trace are from Suffolk.
Let’s skip back a few generations to Joshua Harvey, my paternal
great great grandfather. As yet I have not been able to locate his date of
birth. In the first public record he
appears in, the 1841 Wilby, Suffolk Census, he was given as 11, giving him a
birth year of c 1830. All the public documents I have found for him give his birthplace
as Wilby, Suffolk, c1840.
I’ve been doing family research for years, unfortunately I haven’t
been very methodical or diligent and so have probably been going around in the
proverbial ever decreasing circles with my great great grandfather Joshua Harvey
in the middle. I do know a little about him but importantly I cannot find any verifiable
birth details which will give me the link I need to take the next step back
The very first certificate I located for him was a marriage in
May 1860 to 20-year-old Mary Ann Eldridge who was living at 8 Mary Terrace,
Meeting House lane, Peckham. Father Henry Eldridge, Coachman. The marriage took
place at Hanover Chapel, High Street, Peckham in the district of Camberwell, Surry.
Joshua was 29 and a widow, more about that another time, Occupation bricklayer.
He gave his address as Clevedon Street, Wyndham Road, Camberwell, Surry Witnesses
by Samuel Watts and Sarah Upsgrove who both signed
with an X. Joshua signed with an X and Mary Ann her name. They were married according
to the rites and ceremonies of the Independents by Robert Wye Betts before
William Davies, Registrar.
The next certificate I acquired was Joshua’s death certificate
dated 26 Sept 1880, age 50. He died home at 19 Stebondale Street, Isle of Dogs,
London. Occupation labourer. The heavy manual nature of his occupation probably
contributed to what is noted as his cause of death, ‘Disease of the Hip, 14
years’. Also, diarrhoea, Debility 14 days. Certified by a doctor with FRCP after his name,
marking him out as a consultant
Given that one of the causes of his death was disease of the
hip This workhouse record might just be him.
Poplar High Street
Workhouse, Admission 10 March 1870, discharge 28 April 1870
The informant was Amelia Shuttle, of 46 Church Street,
Poplar, which lies on the other side of the river Thames from Stebondale Street
on the IOD.
Though I cannot make out her occupation on the certificate,
on a later census her occupation was ‘monthly nurse’, which us curios in itself
as by definition a monthly nurse’ was one who cared for a woman after the birth
of a child.
I then searched the 1881 census. There was Mary Ann Harvey,
head of the household, b Camberwell, Surry, then the children.
George William age 19, b 1862, unmarried.
Henry Alfred age 11
b 1870
Ephriam C Harvey, age 9 b1872
Susannah Harvey age7 b1874
Agnes M
Harvey age 5 b1876,
Samuel Harvey age 3 b1878.
All the children apart from
George William were born in Poplar, his birthplace was Rotherhithe, Surry. Also
at the same address was border, James Bishop, age 80, widow, occupation iron moulder
The last 5 children arrived at fairly regular two-yearly intervals
which makes me wonder why there was a gap of about 9 years. Between the first
and second children. Something that will remain a mystery.
I hadn’t really taken much notice of Joshua’ and later his
son’s occupations on the census records. Bricklayer then labourer and general
labourer. That was until I read an article in Family Tree Magazine (April 09
p16 -20). Called ‘The Builder’s Labourer.’ It states that “according to the
1911 census builder labourer was the fourth most frequently cited trade with
817,942 people recorded”. The article, by Neil Storey, begins with ‘It is not surprising
so many of our ancestors in the early 20th century gave their occupation as labourer.
It said what they did. They would supply labour and toil to those who would
employ them…Some were casual labourers possibly working as little as a few days
here and there. Others were retained staff." It goes on to say that “Many not
able to find regular work joined their local territorial or regular army.
Labourer was a frequent occupation on many attestation papers."
Builders by far employed the most labourers and at a time
before official training they leaned their craft by watching and doing”
On the 1881 census I found Joshua’s younger brother Ephriam, aged 41
married and living in Northview, Heaton, Northumberland. Occupation ‘Master
Builder’ employing 5 men. Ephriam may well have begun his working life in the building
trade as early as age 11 by being taken on by a local tradesman. As ‘the boy’ his first task would have been to
prove himself.. Making the tea, running errands. Sometimes being sent for a
long wight or to fetch striped paint or even bubbles for the spirit level. Showing
that he could be trusted and had a sense of humour. By watching and practicing tasks
under the watchful eyes of the tradesman until he could demonstrate his proficiency.
It is just possible that the tradesman who took on Joshua
and Ephriam was their father James, describe as a bricklayer on Joshua’s
marriage certificate.
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