From Coal Mining to Pulling Pints: John Soppit and Emma Smith, Louisa Tompson and Marian Johnson

The Shortlands Tavern, Station Road, Shortlands, Bromley
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Quinn - geograph.org.uk/p/2255969

John Soppit (bap. 6 Oct 1844 in Longbenton, Northumberland), son of Joseph Soppit and Catherine Winship, married Louisa Tompson (bap. 15 Dec 1844 in Cransley, Northamptonshire), daughter of Daniel Thompson and Mary Adcock, at Christ Church, Watney Street, St George in the East, on 15 Feb 1875. One of the witnesses was Benjamin Tompson (Louisa's brother). 

This was not John's first marriage, however, because John Soppit had first married Emma Smith (23) (bap. 5 Apr 1848) - daughter of Martin Smith, Coal Miner, and Mary Picken (m. 1827) - in East Rainton on 12 Dec 1869. 

Mary Smith, illegitimate daughter of Emma Smith, had already been born in Houghton Le Spring and baptised on 11 Mar 1866 in West Rainton, Durham. Whether Mary was his natural daughter or not, John Soppit must have brought the child up as his own as she subsequently took his surname. 

John and Emma then had a further two children, who, given the same early dates in the same year, must have been twins.

1. Joseph William Soppit b. 1871 M Quarter in GUISBROUGH Volume 09D  Page 476 and baptised in Eston, Yorkshire on 17 Apr 1871. Buried, at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole, on 27 Apr 1871. (1871 S Quarter in HOUGHTON LE SPRING Volume 10A Page 312).
2. Catherine Emma Soppit, b. 1871 M Quarter in GUISBROUGH Volume 09D Page 476, also baptised in Eston, Yorkshire on 17 Apr 1871. Buried on 30 April 1871, and the burial record says she was aged 2 weeks or months. The death is registered as 1873 S Quarter in DURHAM Volume 10A Page 240, which is either two years late, or there's an error.

In 1871, John Soppitt (sic), Engine Fitter, was living with wife, Emma, and children; Mary (5), Joseph Wm (0) and Catherine (0), and Elizabeth Turner (15), Servant, in Princess Street, Normanby, Guisborough, Yorkshire.

Emma Soppit (née Smith) died, aged 26, 1871 J Quarter in GUISBROUGH Volume 09D Page 405 and was buried on 17 Apr 1871, in Eston, Yorkshire. It looks very likely that she had died after giving birth to the twins, who were both baptised on the same day as their mother's funeral. 

John Soppit must have immediately taken the babies back to the home of his father, as his residence was listed at that time as South Hetton, Durham. At just weeks old, son, Joseph William Soppit died and was buried, at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole on 27 Apr 1871. And just three days later, on 30 Apr 1871, his presumably twin sister, Catherine Emma Soppit, was buried, also at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole. Heartbreaking.

John Soppit and Louisa Tompson had another 6 children:

1. Catherine Sarah Winship Soppit b. 4 Apr 1876 (1876 J Qtr in GREENWICH Vol 01D 925), bap. 4 Jun 1876 at St Nicholas, Deptford.
2. Joseph Daniel Soppit, b. 23 Sep 1877 (1877 D Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 973)
3. John Benjamin Soppit, b. 1880 S Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 941 (Died 1880 S Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 560)
4. John Winship Soppit b. 1 Mar 1882 (1882 J Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 943), bap. 10 Jun 1883 at Christ Church, Watney Street [Source]
5. Benjamin Tompson Soppit b. 13 Nov 1884 (1885 M Quarter in BROMLEY Volume 02A Page 415), bap. 1 Mar 1885 at St Mary, Shortlands, Kent
6. Louisa Adcock Soppit b. 26 Oct 1887 (1887 D Quarter in BROMLEY Volume 02A Page 424)

In 1881, John Soppet (sic), 36, Engine Fitter, was a boarder in the household of Jane Granger (58) at 29, Donald Street, Stockton upon Tees. Louisa was at the pub with her brother-in-law, Daniel Bottrill, with Emma's daughter, Mary; daughter Catherine and son Joseph, while her sister was away in Devon. 

Emma's daughter, listed as Mary Soppit, died, aged 24, in 1891 M Quarter in BROMLEY Volume 02A Page 295. Then confirmed in the Kent 1891 Public House Directory Listings, by the time of the 1891 Census, John Soppett (sic); wife Louisa (46), sons John Winship (9), Benjamin Thompson (6), daughter Louisa Adcock (3) and John Thompson (25), nephew, barman, were living at The Shortlands Tavern, Station Road, Beckenham, Bromley. 

The following report of The Bromley Petty Sessions appeared in the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser of 6 July 1893:

REFUSING TO QUIT. George Herbert, builder, of 19, Plaistow Lane, Bromley, was summoned by John Soppit, landlord of the Shortlands Tavern, Shortlands, for being disorderly and quarrelsome on licenced premises and refusing to quit the same, on June 27. Mr Gregory appeared for the complainant, and Mr L. Lewis for the defendant, who pleaded guilty. Mr Gregory stated that the defendant used fearful language towards the complainant. Mr Lewis stated that the defendant had not the slightest idea of having used any bad language until he received the summons. He urged that as the defendant had made this apology the magistrates should inflict a mitigated penalty. The Chairman said he had never heard such bad language. The defendant would be fined 40s with 8s costs, or 21 days' hard labour. Mr Lewis asked for time, but this was refused. 

The London (South) 1896 Suburban Publicans directory still lists John Soppit at the Shortlands Tavern, but by 1901, the family were residing in a quite grand double-fronted house at 20, Honley Road, Catford, Lewisham. John Soppit (56), Licenced Victualler, is listed with wife Louisa (56), sons John (19) and Benjamin (16) - who have followed their father's original trade as Joiners - daughter Louisa (13) and they can afford a General Domestic Servant. 

John Soppit had also been the licensee of the Princess Royal in Croydon, where he employed his nephew, John Benjamin Botterill, as his manager.

Louisa Soppit died, aged 57, in 1902 S Qtr in CROYDON Vol 02A Page 117. 

John Soppit (58) married Marian Johnson (39) Spinster, who listed her father as Thomas Johnson, Tripe Dresser, at St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey, on 27 Jul 1903. Witnesses were Elizabeth Johnson and Henry Rugg Johnson.

In 1911, John Soppit (66), Retired Licenced Victualler, was still living at 20, Honley Road, with new wife Marian (46), Benjamin (26) and Louisa (23). 

In 1921, John Soppit (76) Retired Engineer and Marion Soppit (51) from Poplar, were still living at 20, Honley Road, Lewisham.

John Soppit of 20, Honley Road, Catford, died on 24 Jan 1924 (1924 M Quarter in LEWISHAM Volume 01D Page1544) at 390, High Street, Lewisham (University Lewisham Hospital, the former Lewisham Workhouse). He left £3467 18s 1d (£212,166 in 2020) to his widow, Marian Soppit and a further £2208 to son, Benjamin Tompson Soppit, engineer. 

Marian Soppit died, at 78 in 1943 D Qtr in BOURNEMOUTH Vol 02B 1045.

Percy Samuel Pugh and Evangeline Fanny Bridle

Inchmery Road, Catford

Percy Samuel Pugh (b. 18 Jan 1879), son of John William Pugh and Sarah Cole, married Evangeline Fanny Bridle (b. 21 Jan 1883), daughter of Edwin Symons Bridle and Lucy Lindsey, in Hackney, in 1909. 

Percy and Evangeline Pugh had five children:

1. John Stanley Pugh b. 1910 J Qtr in ST ALBANS Vol 03A Page 847
2. Frank Pugh b. 1911 J Qtr in ST ALBANS Vol 03A Page 847
3. Percy Godfrey Pugh b. 30 Apr 1912 in ST. ALBANS Vol 03A Page 1637
4. Grace Margery Pugh b. 31 Oct 1913 in CHORLTON Vol 08C Page 1278
5. Evangeline Ruth Pugh b. 5 Aug 1921 in STOCKPORT Vol 08A 180

In 1911, living at Exon, Brampton Road, St Albans were Percy S Pugh (32) Buyer of textiles for Australian house; Evangeline Fanny Pugh (28), Helena Sarah Pugh (25) Assistant house keeper, Sister; Elizabeth Mardell (47) Monthly nurse; Hannah Swift (23) General domestic servant; John Stanley Pugh (1) and Fredrick Albert Baker (26) Commercial clerk, Visitor.

In 1921, living at 15, Lea Road, Stockport, Heaton Norris, Cheshire were Percy S Pugh (42) Textile agent; Evangeline F Pugh (38), John S Pugh (11), Frank Pugh (10), Percy G Pugh (9), Grace M Pugh (7), Ivy Woodfield (15) General Domestic Servant and Jessie E M Merritt (56) Visitor.

In 1939, at 23 Inchmery Road, Catford, were Percy Samuel Pugh, Officer Wheat Commission; Evangeline F Pugh; Percy G Pugh, Shipbroker's Agent Assistant; Evangeline R Pugh, Student School Mistress and Eunice L Holliday, Housekeeper (Evangeline's sister). Grace M Pugh was Assistant Kitchen Superintendent at Queen Mary's Hospital For Children Carshalton.

Grace M Pugh married Kenneth P Woodcock in 1944 and Evangeline R Pugh married John R Hutchins in 1947, both in Aled, Denbighshire, Wales.

Percy Samuel Pugh died, at 95, in 1974, in Trafford, Lancashire. Evangeline Fanny Pugh of 20 Willowtree Road, Altrincham, died, at 92, on 12 Aug 1975.

John Winship Soppit, Mary Ellen Finch and Mary Morrell

Sangley Rd, Lewisham
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/3162332

John Winship Soppit (b. 1 Mar 1882 in Greenwich), son of John Soppit and Louisa Tompson married Mary Ellen Finch, at St Lawrence, Catford (built in 1887, demolished in 1968 to make a car park) on 24 Sep 1904. 

John and Mary Ellen had three daughters:

1. Dorothy Louisa Soppit b. 18 Aug 1906 in LAMBETH Vol 01D Page 471
2. Hilda Mary Soppit b. 14 Aug 1908 in LAMBETH Vol 01D Page 477
3. Kate Winship Soppit b. 12 Oct 1910 in Lewisham 

The records for the first two girls show the mother's maiden name as Finch. 

In 1911, living at 78 Sangley Road, Lewisham, were John Winship Soppit (29) Joiner from Deptford; Mary Ellen Soppit (36) with birthplace listed as York; Dorothy Louisa Soppit (4) birthplace Brixton; Hilda Mary Soppit (2) birthplace Brixton and Kate Winship Soppit (0) born in Catford.

In 1917, then actually 35 (not 33 as listed) John Winship Soppit enlisted (was probably conscripted) into the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) at the 4th General Hospital, Birmingham. [See more at: Birmingham’s Military Hospitals] At the time of his discharge he was a nursing orderly. [Source]

In 1921, John Winship Soppit (39) Commercial Traveller was a visitor in the household of his brother, Joseph at 175, George Lane, Lewisham; while Mary Ellen Soppit (39ish) was living at 107 Reservoir Rd, Erdington, Birmingham with George Alfred Finch (41) Commercial Traveller (Brother), Dorothy Louisa Soppit (14), Hilda Mary Soppit (12) and Kate Winship Soppit (10).

Mary Ellen Soppit then died in 1924 D Quarter in BIRMINGHAM NORTH Volume 06D Page 486. 

John Winship Soppit (46), Widower, Commercial Traveller of 107 Reservoir Rd, Erdington, Birmingham, then remarried to Mary Baker (née Morrell), Widow (43), daughter of William Jabez Morrell and Sarah Waldron, at the Parish Church in Erdington, Birmingham (St Barnabas' Church, Erdington) on 8 Dec 1928. (Her first husband Samuel Horatio Baker had died in 1925 and she had at least two sons from that previous marriage.)

Second wife, Mary Soppit, died, aged 65, on 13 Jul 1950.

John Winship Soppit died, in Birmingham, on 6 May 1969. The death notice in The London Gazette gives his address as 15 Homecroft Rd, Yardley, Birmingham. It's ironic that growing up in Birmingham in the 1960's, at times we'd have been mere streets from there, while my mother felt as 'a fish out of water' in that city. If only she'd known she had blood relatives so close.

• Dorothy Louisa Soppit died in DOR Q2/1989 in BIRMINGHAM (0611K) Volume 32 Page 1041
• Hilda M Soppit married James F Lawless, in Birmingham, in 1933. James Frederick Lawless (bap. Jacobus Fredericus Lawless at the Roman Catholic parish of Most Holy Sacrament & St Osburg, in Coventry, in 1908.) The couple don't appear to have had children. In 1939, they lived at 286 Chester Road, Hardwick (286 Chester Road, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield). James Frederick Lawless died in 1980 in Carmarthen. Hilda Mary Lawless of 15 Homecroft Road, Yardley, Birmingham died, aged 86, on 18 Mar 1994 at Lapworth Nursing Home, Chessetts Wood Road, Solihull and was buried at Yardley Cemetery & Crematorium, on 25 Mar 1994.
• Kate Winship Soppit died in DOR Q3/1998 in SOLIHULL.

It's evident, therefore, that neither Dorothy, nor Kate ever married.

Carl Bose and Catherine Sarah Winship Soppit

The Castle, Farringdon
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Andrew Abbott - geograph.org.uk/p/5107529
The Castle Tavern used to be the only pub in England with a pawnbroker's licence

Carl Bose (b. 18 May 1874), Licenced Victualler, son of Henry Bose and Anna Kracke, married Catherine Sarah Winship Soppit (b. 4 Apr 1876) daughter of John Soppit and Louisa Thompson, in Lewisham, in 1898. Carl's parents, both born in Germany, ran the Blue Anchor, in Dock Street, Wapping. Records show the pub had been in the family from at least 1881 until 1921.

Carl and Catherine Bose had six children:

1. Anna Louisa Bose b. 1899 D Quarter in PANCRAS Vol 01B Page 10
2. Charles Bose b. 1903 M Quarter in ST.PANCRAS Vol 01B Page 24
3. Stanley Bose b. 1904 J Quarter in ST. PANCRAS Vol 01B Page 9
4. Robert Bose b. 1909 D Quarter in ST. PANCRAS Vol 01B Page 28
5. Kathleen Bose b. 1912 M Quarter in HOLBORN Vol 01B Page 1110
6. Edith Bose b. 1915 S Quarter in HOLBORN Vol 01B Page 862

In 1901, at The Victory (a previous incarnation of the pub to the one pictured), 152, Albany Street, St Pancras, we find Carl Bose (26) Licenced Victualler, Catherine S W (24) and their daughter Anna L (1) with Lavinia C M Dwyer (20) Barmaid and Octavia R Andrews (24) Domestic Servant. 

Post Office Directories also place Carl Bose at The Victory in 1906 and 1910.

In 1911, the family were living at 15 Berlin Road, Catford S E. Carl Bose (36) Licensed Victualler, Catherine Sarah Winship (34), Anna Louisa (11), Charles (8), Stanley (7) and Robert (1), as well as Mary Maud Everest (21) Domestic General Servant. On the census return, Carl is described as "Son", Catherine as "Daughter-in-law" and each of their children is listed as "Grandchild" in relation to head of the household, so I think we may assume that this was Henry Bose' house, although there is no evidence of him residing there at that time. And one wonders what they will have thought of the road being renamed, given that Henry and Anna Bose were born in Germany. 

The Post Office Directory of 1915 shows Carl Bose as the landlord of the Castle, 34 & 35 Cowcross Street, EC1 (The Castle, Farringdon), which explains the registration of the last two children in Holborn. 

In 1921, at the Blue Anchor, 21, Dock Street, Wapping, we find Carl Bose (47) Licenced Victualler; Catherine Sarah Winship Bose (45), Charles Bose (18), Stanley Bose (17) and Blanche Good (41) Barmaid. That year the Post Office Directory also lists Carl Bose as the licensee at the Blue Anchor.

In 1939, Carl Bose, having Anglicised himself to Charles Bose was a Club Steward living at 9A Clarence Square, Brighton And Hove, Sussex with his wife, Catherine SW Bose. (Clarence Square - then & now.)

Catherine S W Bose died in 1945, in Brighton, aged 69.

Charles Bose also died in Brighton, in 1962, aged 87.

Canadian Avenue (formerly Berlin Road), Catford
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Chris Whippet - geograph.org.uk/p/4610261
This road used to be called Berlin Road but the name was changed during the
first World War because of the Anti-German sentiments felt at the time.