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| Former St James church, New Cross cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Stephen Craven - geograph.org.uk/p/843636 St James, Hatcham was created in 1845 from Deptford, St Paul. The church was designed by W Granville and consecrated on 17 October 1854. |
James Maslin (20) Blacksmith of 9 Clifton Hill (Clifton Rise?), son of William Maslin, Brass Finisher, married Ann Jones (20) of 10 Vance Street, daughter of John Jones, at St James Hatcham on 22 Oct 1877.
There's no record of a marriage between James Maslin and Jessie Dunford, but they were living as husband and wife with James' parents, William George Maslin and Charlotte Bland, in 1881. James (23) was a Blacksmiths Labourer from Deptford; Jessie (21) Collar Ironer, reputedly hailed from Southwark.
James and Jessie had three children:
- Jessie Elizabeth Maslin b. 1883 J Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 994, bap. 6 Jul 1883 in Hatcham, presumably St James Hatcham
- Florence Charlotte Maslin b. 1886 J Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 1021, bap. 23 Jan 1890 at St James Hatcham
- James Thomas Maslin b. 1890 M Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 1032, bap. 23 Jan 1890 also at St James Hatcham
All three have the mother's maiden name listed as Dunford. On Jessie Elizabeth's baptism, her mother's name is also Jessie Elizabeth; on those of Florence and James, only Jessie. Those records are the only sources for identifying who she was: I found no previous records of a Jessie or Jessie Elizabeth Dunford anywhere, let alone near Southwark ~1860.
In 1891, one of two families living at 15 Batavia Road, New Cross were James Maslin (33) Blacksmiths Labourer, Jessie Maslin (31), Jessie (8), Elizabeth (5) - clearly, they mean Florence Charlotte - and James (1).
Then Jessie Maslin died, at just 35, in 1895 M Quarter in Greenwich.
In 1901, James Maslin (43), listed as single, and employed as a Potman (a man employed in a public house to collect empty pots or glasses), was living at the (Common Lodging House), (formerly Brunswick House), 124, Tanners Hill, St Paul Deptford. Eldest daughter, Jessie E Maslin was employed as a General domestic servant in the household of Sydney T Wayment (33) Grain merchant at 194, High Street, St Nicholas Deptford. Cannot be sure of where Florence Charlotte was in 1901, but at 15, she was almost certainly also in a situation somewhere as a domestic servant. Son, James Maslin (11) from New Cross, Surrey, was a boarder in the household of Edward Cheeseman (39) Potman (public house) at 4, Morden Street, Greenwich.
Common Lodging Houses, also known as the doss-house, were an option for those who could scrape together a few pence to stay out of the workhouse, though they were scarcely any better and notorious for overcrowding.
It's no surprise that James Maslin died, aged 44, in the 4th quarter of 1901.
- In the second quarter of 1910, Florence Charlotte Maslin married Albert Robert Williams, in Woolwich. In 1911, Albert Robert Williams (25) Soldier A S Corps, Sergeant, from Clonmel, Tipperary; Florence Charlotte Williams (24) from Deptford and their one-and-a-half month old son, Robert Ronald Williams, were living at Caxton House, Godfrey Hill, Woolwich. 2nd child, Irene Dorothy Williams, was born, in Woolwich, in 1912.
- James Maslin (21), in 1911, born in New Cross, Kent, was with the 2nd Battalion The King's Shropshire Light Infantry, in Trimulgherry (Tirumalagiri), India.