Travel: Joshua HARVEY

…and travel they did, sometimes not far from their birthplace, but more often than not further afield. Not necessarily to other countries, though for them it may have felt just like that. Imagine moving from a small country village to the East End of London. From clean air and open fields to the stink of the Thames and terraced houses piled in upon each other.  

Joshua Harvey, one of my paternal great great grandfathers, was born about 1830 in the small Suffolk village of Wilby to James Harvey and Susan Lucas.   

Wilby is situated about 105 miles north east of London in the county of Suffolk which is one of the most eastern counties of England.

Today Wilby,below, is still a small country village, compared with the historic map, above. It doesn’t look as though the picturesque village has changed much in the last 100 years. With no direct route to London Joshua may well have gone there via Ipswich or an adjoining town.

In the 1844 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Suffolk Wilby is described as ‘A neat village…in its parish has 623 souls and 1846 acres. The church (St Mary) is a handsome Norman structure with a  lofty square tower and six bells.

 The commonest occurring occupation on the 1841 census is ‘Ag Lab’ hardly surprising considering that at one time Suffolk was one of the principal agricultural divisions of the country.  The occupations listed in the 1844 Gazetteer reflect this too, three blacksmiths and two wheelwrights, a gig maker and a farrier.

Though the names Harvey and Fevearyear are ones that appear in my family tree, as well as Aldous, I am still unsure how those are connected with my family, if at all.

According to the 1841 census Mathew Harvey, the Baptist Minister lived just nine houses away from Joshua Harvey’s family.  Also, on that census was the family of a William Harvey that included a 15-year-old William ‘Fevyou’, 20-year-old Letice and 2-year-old Margaret. Joshua’s father James had a sister called Letice who married a William Feveryear and their first child was called Margaret.

My starting point in researching Joshua began back in pre internet days.  In 1999 I sent away to England for his marriage certificate which arrived in the post a month or two later. It confirmed that he had married Mary Anne Eldridge, 28 May 1860, and I was surprised to see that he was described as a widow.  

They married at the Hanover Chapel, High Street Peckham in the district of Camberwell Surry. Joshua’s occupation was bricklayer and his deceased father’s occupation was confectioner.  At one time the only church in Pekham, was a non-conformist meeting house on the High Street which was replaced in 1817 by Hanover Chapel. Unfortunately, the Hanover Chapel no longer exists 

I noticed that the marriage had taken place in an ‘Independent’ chapel and  that the ceremony had been performed by Robert Wye Betts before William Davis Registrar. That sent me off in another direction to find out why the ceremony was performed before a registrar. What I discovered was the 1836 Marriage Act which “… allowed marriages to be legally registered in buildings belonging to other religious groups. Religious groups could apply for registration for their buildings with the Registrar General and subsequently could conduct weddings if a Registrar and two witnesses were present.

Then next certificate I received, again by snail mail, was his death certificate. He died on September 26^th 1880 aged 50 at 19 Stebondale Street, Poplar, Middlesex. Occupation labourer. An occupation of heavy and hard work that would have, I believe, contributed to his death form ‘Disease of the hip 14 years’. The other cause of death on the certificate was ‘diarrhoea and ‘debility 14 days. The informant was Amelia Shuttle, relationship almost illegible.

What a lot of information from just two certificates, but it raises lots of questions.

1  Who was Joshua’s first wife,  when and where did they marry, and whern did she die

When did he move to London and what might his life with Mary Ann  have been like

Who was Amelia Shuttle?

When did Joshua’s father James die?

Who were Sarah Upsgrove and Samuel Watts ( witnesses at the wedding)?

Questions that are answered in the next blog post 

Popular: Joshua HARVEY

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

https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60391&h=11162709&tid=27953339&pid=5100440451&hid=1040845074683&usePUB=true&_phsrc=sEP1387&_phstart=default&usePUBJs=true&currentPageIsStart=

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.