Richard Wilton and Catherine Byatt

Quaker Meeting House (Grade II Listed), New Street, Great Dunmow

Richard Wilton (bap. 20 Mar 1811 in Royston, Hertfordshire), middle son of Stephen Wilton and Elizabeth Hankin, married Catherine Byatt (bap. 4 Apr 1824 in Little Canfield, Essex), daughter of John Byatt and Jane Stokes, at the Independent Meeting House (Quaker Meeting House), New Street, Great Dunmow, on 25 Mar 1843, according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Protestant Dissenters. Richard Wilton, who had been listed on the 1841 census, living in the High Street, Great Dunmow, as a harness maker (as he is on the marriage certificate), was 32 at the time of the wedding and Catherine Byatt, then 19, was listed as a minor. Witnesses were Richard's younger brother Joseph Wilton and Maria Staines (then 17) sister of Richard's brother, Henry's wives (both), daughters of Thomas Staines and Sally Hockley.

Richard and Catherine had seven children:

1. Ann Wilton b. 1844 M Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 76, mother's maiden name BYATE. (Died 27 Apr 1850 (1850 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 56), aged 6, buried 2 May 1850)
2. Elizabeth Wilton b. 9 Aug 1847 (1847 S Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 69). Many places, online and off, have listed Elizabeth's date of birth as 6 August, however, I've now obtained a copy of her birth certificate from the GRO and it clearly reads Ninth August 1847.
3. Richard Wilton b. 1848 (No GRO birth registration, under any name) (Died, aged 41, in 1889 J Quarter in POPLAR Volume 01C Page 322)
4. Walter Wilton b. 1850 D Quarter in DUNMOW Volume 12 Page 79 (Died, aged 1, in 1852 M Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 219)
5. Martha Wilton b. 1853 M Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 317 (Died, aged 1, in 1854 J Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 209)
6. William Wilton b. 1855 J Quarter in DUNMOW Volume 04A Page 311 (Died, aged 3, in 1858 J Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 223)
7. Ellen Wilton b. 1857 J Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 335

On the birth registrations for Elizabeth, Walter, Martha, William and Ellen, the mother's maiden name is correctly listed as BYATT. On Elizabeth's birth certificate, her father is listed as Richard Wilton, Harness Maker and her mother, Catherine Wilton, formerly Byatt, Informant, made her mark.

Richard Wilton, Harness maker (journeyman), died on 3 Mar 1858 (1858 M Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 262), from Phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis). He was 46. The informant, present at his death, at Dunmow Down, was Ann Whybrow. (Formerly Ann Chandler, she had married Thomas Whybrow, a Currier (specialist in the leather trade) in 1823.) Richard's burial on 8 Mar 1858, is in Non-Conformist Church Records, so may have been in the burial ground attached to the Quaker Meeting House in Great Dunmow (PDF), lists his cause of death as Consumption. 

George Wilton, born in the Dunmow Union (Workhouse) on 3 Feb 1860 (1860 M Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 361), birth certificate says his mother's name was Caroline Wilton, no father listed, but I cannot find a Caroline Wilton in the area at any time. On later census returns George was listed as Catherine's new husband - John Eldred's - step-son, so George appears to have been Catherine's 'mystery' illegitimate son.

In 1861, the widowed Catherine (surname transcribed as Wilson), was living with her brother, William Byatt, in Little Canfield. George Wilton, aged 1, was listed there as nephew to the head of the household. There was a Stephen Wilton (13) Baker, lodging in the household of Elizabeth Edwards (73) at Dunmow Down, Great Dunmow, however, I believe this was a pseudonym used by Catherine's son Richard Wilton (see 1884 below). While, the 13 year old Elizabeth and her 4 year old sister, Ellen (listed as being 6), were that year, listed as inmates in the Great Dunmow Union Workhouse.

Catherine then remarried to John Eldred, widower, on 27 Sep 1862 in Great Dunmow. (Various records list her previous surname as Walton or Wilson.)

John Eldred (bap. 10 Mar 1822 in Great Dunmow) son of William Eldred and Eleanor Fewell, had married for the first time to Harriett Page, on 20 Aug 1848, in Great Dunmow. John and Harriett Eldred had three sons:

1. John Eldred b. 1849 D Quarter in DUNMOW Volume 12 Page 73, bap. 10 Jul 1853 in Great Dunmow. (Died aged 10, in 1860 J Quarter in DUNMOW Volume 04A Page 224)
2. Walter Eldred b. 1852 D Quarter in WHITECHAPEL Volume 01C Page 355, bap. 10 Jul 1853 in Great Dunmow. On the baptism, his father's occupation is listed as Brewer's Servant and address given as No 12 Smith Place High Street Wapping London. (Died, aged 18, in 1871 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 256)
3. Alfred Eldred b. 1855 M Quarter in SAINT GEORGE (IN THE EAST) Volume 01C Page 468 (for reasons unknown the mother's maiden name is listed as PORTER, but there does not appear to be another Alfred Eldred it could relate to) bap. 12 Aug 1855 in Great Dunmow

But Harriet Eldred died aged 28, in 1855 D Quarter in SAINT GEORGE IN THE EAST Volume 01C Page 312.

John Eldred remarried to Elizabeth Tennisse, Widow, daughter of John Pitts, Mariner, on 2 Nov 1856 at Christ Church, St George in the East. Elizabeth Pitts had previously married James Tennisse (born Jacobus Teunisse on 8 Feb 1823 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) on 5 Jun 1854, in Bethnal Green. The pair had three children, all of whom died as infants: Maria Sophia Tennisse (1849-1853); James John Tennisse (1851-1856) and Sarah Tennisse (1853-1855). James Tennisse also died, aged just 32, in 1855, in Stepney.

John and Elizabeth Eldred had one daughter:

1. Thomazine Maria Eldred b. 24 Jul 1857 S Quarter in SAINT GEORGE IN THE EAST Volume 01C Page 413, bap. 4 Apr 1858 in the parish of St George in the East, Stepney. Her father's occupation was listed as Drayman and their address again as 12 Smith's Place.

Then Elizabeth Pitts Eldred died, aged 30, on 1 Apr 1859 (1859 J Quarter in SAINT GEORGE IN THE EAST Volume 01C Page 271).

So when Catherine Wilton married John Eldred, she became his third wife.

In 1871, living in Braintree Road, Great Dunmow, were John Eldred (44) Ag Lab, Catherine Eldred (42) both had lost 5 years; Walter Eldred (18) Son, Alfred Eldred (16) Son, Maria Eldred (13) Daughter, Ellen Wilton (14) Step-Daughter; George Wilton (11) Step-Son; and Alice Wilton (2) Granddaughter (Alice Catherine Wilton born 12 Feb 1869, to Elizabeth Wilton.)

Then John Eldred died, aged 49, in 1876 D Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 54.

In 1881, Catherine Eldridge (sic) (56) Widow, Dressmaker from Canfield, Essex, was living at 23, Powis Road, Bromley, Poplar, with Richard Wilton (31) Labourer; George Wilton (21) Labourer; Ellen Wilton (24) Match Maker; Susan Robinson (21) Match Maker (Boarder) and four Lodgers: William Wardley (20) Labourer from Sudbury, Suffolk; Arthur Seatch (36) Labourer from Bromley; Frank Poulter (24) Carman from Cambridge and James Howard (18) Match Maker (Fusee) from Bromley.

Matchgirl strikers, several showing early symptoms of phosphorus necrosis. Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

White Slavery in London

Living little more than half a mile from the Bryant & May's factory in Bow, it's probably reasonable to assume this was where they were all employed, where conditions were especially bad. 

"The match girls worked from 6.30am (or 8am in winter) until 6pm, with just two breaks, standing all the time. “A typical case”, wrote Besant, “is that of a girl of 16, a piece worker; she earns 4s a week ..." (Worth around £26 in 2020).

"Conditions were appalling for the 1,400 women and girls who worked at Bryant and May's match factory in Bow, East London. Low pay for a 14-hour day was cut even more if you talked or went to the toilet, and 'phossy jaw' - a horrible bone cancer caused by the cheap type of phosphorus in the matches - was common."

"If you handled white phosphorus or came into contact with it too much, then it caused serious damage to your health and you ended up with a terrible condition known as ‘Phossy Jaw’ – where you would get severe toothache followed by swelling of the gums. Abscesses would then form on the jaw-bone, and the facial bones would glow a greeny white in the dark. If untreated then ‘Phossy Jaw’ would develop into brain damage and ultimately multiple organ failure." As a result of these appalling conditions, the London Matchgirls Strike of 1888 started in the factory, which led to the establishment of the first British trade union for women. Match Girls Strike at Bryant and May Factory: The 1888 Uprising for Workers’ Rights in London

The Essex Herald of 20 Oct 1884 reported on "WHOLESALE SHOP LIFTING. - Richard Wilton, a navvy, of Bromley-by-Bow, was brought up in custody charged with stealing a black rep cloth overcoat and 12 pairs of tanned leggings, value £1, from the shop of Edwin Joseph Wilton, in High Street, Dunmow on Saturday night last. Prisoner was further charged with stealing six twill jackets, value 24s, the property of Mr John Beard, of North Street, Great Dunmow, on Saturday night. Superintendent Ackers stated that the greater part of the property had been recovered and identified, and, it being believed that others were implicated in the robbery, he asked that the prisoner, who was only arrested on Sunday night, might be remanded. The prisoner was accordingly remanded for a week. Later reports, which (named the perp as Stephen Wilton (36) Baker) noted that Mr [Edwin] Wilton stated the prisoner was his cousin. The prisoner was acquitted. (There were two cousins, to both Richard and Edwin, named Stephen Wilton [1] [2] - neither were angels - but I'm sure this was Richard and not either of them.

Of Catherine's surviving children and two step-children: her daughter Elizabeth Wilton; her son George Wilton; Alfred Eldred and Thomazine Maria Eldred ... all four gave the name Catherine as the first or middle name to their first child. In the case of her step-son, Alfred's wife's mother was also named Catherine to account for this, but for all of them to use the name, I think tells us far more about Catherine as a person than records usually can.

So far, I've not found a death for Catherine, but with so many incorrect names given throughout her life, it's not easy to guess what it might be listed under. There's also the chance, of course, that she remarried once again and therefore this is under yet another totally new name.

Richard Benbow and Grace Beer

Site of the former St James', Dukes Place
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Basher Eyre - geograph.org.uk/p/921191
A former church, demolished in 1874.

Richard Benbow (b. 1659) Bachelor, married Grace Beer (b. 1663) Spinster, at the church of St James, Duke's Place, City of London, on 15 Aug 1686. Nicholas Poor is listed presumably as a witness to the marriage. Described variously as "Aldgate’s own version of Gretna Green" and the church that defied convention, St James's was "the place where people could get hitched while bypassing the irksome rules and regulations that would normally apply", with no need to wait for banns to be called; no need for a licence and, best of all, parental consent was not required to tie the knot there. Why this couple, a pair of my 8x great-grandparents, chose to marry there, isn't obvious.

They appear to have been the parents of at least four children:

1. Richard Benbow b. around 1690
2. Sarah Benbow b. around 1690
3. James Benbow b. around 1699
4. Samuel Benbow b. around 1699

Birth years are very approximate and mostly calculated from ages at death. There are no baptism records for any of their children, as they were Quakers and Quakers don't practice baptism. There could, therefore, have been other children, that we just don't encounter records for or cannot link to them.

We know that Richard Benbow is their child from a London Apprenticeship Abstract record, which lists him as the "son of Richard Bendbow (sic), Stepney, Middlesex, bricklayer". To confirm that link, James, also listed as son of Richard and a Bricklayer, later left three houses to Richard's daughter, Elizabeth Travally. Sarah is identified as his sister in James' will, as were his nieces Ann and Mary, daughters of Samuel. In the absense of the usual records, these are all we have to be able to glue this family together. 

Richard Benbow, of Ratcliff, in the Parish of Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, Bricklayer, aged about 64 years, died the 26th day of the month called April, 1723. Buried in Friends Burying Ground Ratcliff. [In The London Burial Grounds, by Isabella M. Holmes, is the information "There was a little meeting-house with a burial-ground attached in Wapping Street, which seems to have been used until about 1779, but was then demolished, the worshippers moving to the meeting in Brook Street, Ratcliff."]. Richard Benbow was reported to have died "of a Dropsy" (Edema, also spelled oedema, also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling).

A tax record places Grace Benbow in Brooke Street, Ratcliff, in 1730.

Grace Benbow died, aged about 83, of old age. The record says she died (well, one version said she 'dyed' and one wonders what colour) on the 4th day of the 10th month called December and was buried on the 7th day of said month, 1746, also at the Friends Burying Ground at Ratcliff. (December was then the 10th month. Until 1752, the new year in England still began on Lady Day, March 25th. In addition, Quakers sometimes used a Calendar that differed from both the English custom of beginning the year on March 25 and from the Scottish custom of beginning the year on January 1. Many Quakers, such as George Fox and William Penn, began the year on March 1.)

• Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers
• The History of Brick Building in England
• Brickwork: Historic Development
• Stepney: Protestant Nonconformity to 1689
• Quakers around Shoreditch