Walter White and Florence Mary Parsonage

St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, London W14
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/1292678

Walter White (b. 1869), Fruiterer, of 155 Holland Road, son of Walter White and Hannah Blazey, married Florence Mary Parsonage (b. 12 Aug 1875 in Hammersmith), of 157 Holland Road - the girl next door - daughter of Edward Parsonage, Builder's Foreman from Wem, Shropshire, and Eleanor Agnes Crosbie, at St John The Baptist, Kensington on 21 Feb 1898. (The same church that Walter's cousin, Alice Maud Stanley Blazey, married in later that same year.) Witnesses were Edgar Audric - who must have been related to Walter's Uncle Francis Robert Blazey's third wife - and Frank Read.

Walter and Florence had five children:

1. Dorothy Eleanor White b. 1899 M Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A Page 246
2. Elsie Ivy Florence White b. 1902 J Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A Page 262
3. Walter Edward White b. 1905 J Qtr in BRENTFORD Vol 03A Page 204
4. Pansy Alice White born 27 Sep 1908 (1908 D Quarter in STEYNING Volume 02B Page 247) in Steyning, West Sussex
5. Lilian Winifred White b. 1914 M Quarter in FULHAM Vol 01A Page 311. Died, aged 1 in 1915 M Quarter in FULHAM Vol 01A Page 420

All of the birth registrations show the mother's maiden name PARSONAGE.

In 1901, Walter White (31) Licenced Victualler's Assistant was living in Sherrard Road, East Ham (Forest Gate) with Florence M White (25), Dorothy E White (2), Mary Ann White (71) Widow, Boarder from Hackney, London (may be just coincidence) and George Ralph (25) Boarder. 

In 1911, Walter White (42) Conductor motor bus, wife Florence Mary (35), Dorothy Eleanor (12), Elsie Ivy (9), Walter Edward (5) and Pansy Alice (2), were living at 30 Percy Road W, Hammersmith. Percy Road is in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

In 1921, Walter White (51) working for the London General Omnibus Co, was at 74, Becklow Road, Hammersmith, London, with Florence Mary White (44), Elsie Ivy White (19) Ledger Clerk and Pansy Alice White (12).

Walter White died, aged 64, in 1934 J Qtr in KENSINGTON Vol 01A 167. 

In 1939, Florence Mary White, widow, was living with her daughter, Pansy Alice Pearson, at 5 Lansbury Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex. 

Florence Mary White, died at 75 on 2 Feb 1951 (1951 M Qtr in MIDDLESEX SOUTH Vol 05F Page 97), leaving £6 19s, to Pansy Alice Pearson.

Gideon Baker and Susan Rhoda Bussey

Houses at corner of Shadwell Road and Gladys Avenue
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Martin - geograph.org.uk/p/5165865

Gideon Baker (b. 1854 in South Petherton, Somerset), son of John Baker and Jane White, married Susan Rhoda Bussey (b. 1857), listed as Susan Aurora Bussey on the marriage record, daughter of James Wilmot Bussey and Ellen Jane Munday, at the second church of St Mary's Church, Portsea in 1876.

In 1881, Gideon Baker (25) was a Refreshment House Keeper at 37, North Street, Portsea, with Susan Baker (23), Richard Bussey (17) Brother-in-law, Butcher; Caroline Bussey (31) Sister-in-law, Housekeeper; William Shotter (5) Nephew (son of Susan's sister Hannah Jane); Thomas Beckford (30) Dockyard labourer, Visitor from Devonport, Devon and three Seamen, Boarders: George Matthews (21), John James (23) and William Madgarrick (25), so presumably were also running this as a boarding house.

Twenty years earlier, in 1861, Gideon's father, John Baker, who had come to Portsmouth between 1854 and 1861, was also a Refreshment House Keeper in North Street, Portsea, so we can presume he is carrying on this business.

"Towards the end of the 19th century the temperance movement [a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages] gave rise to a lot of establishments which didn't sell alcohol and were known as tea rooms or refreshment houses. They weren't the old coffee houses, more like modern tea shops." [Source]

Moderation or abstinence didn't help, however, as Gideon Baker died, aged 34, on 22 Mar 1889 and was buried at Kingston Cemetery, Portsmouth.

By the time Probate was granted on 10 Dec 1890, Susan Aurora Baker had already remarried to William James Leese, son of John Leese and Caroline Bussey, who was her first cousin. (William James Leese' mother, Caroline Bussey, was the sister of Susan Rhoda's father, James Wilmot Bussey.)

Neither of these marriages produced any natural children, however.

In 1891, William James Leese (31) and Susan A Leese (33) (William, 12 years younger than his wife, made himself 10 years older) were living in London Avenue, Portsmouth with Jane Hayward (21) Boarder from Sussex. William James Leese' occupation was listed as Dockyard Writer. His appointment as a Dockyard Boy Writer had been announced in The London Gazette in 1884 and, in the same periodical in 1895, his elevation to 'First Class Writer in the Expense Accounts Department of Her Majesty's Naval Yards'. In 1919, 'Assistant Expense Accounts Officer in H.M. Naval Establishments'.

In 1901, William J Leese (31) Clerk Civil Service and wife Susan R Leese (39) - she was 43 - were living in Gladys Terrace, Gladys Avenue, Portsmouth.

In 1911, there was a record of a William J Leese in Gibraltar.

In 1921, William Leese (51) Civil Servant (Clerk) for the Admiralty, from Newhaven, Sussex, was at 25, Trafford Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey with Susan Leese (63) and Winifred Dugan (21) Adopted Daughter.

Susan Rhoda Leese died, aged 65, on 9 Jul 1922 S Quarter in CROYDON Volume 02A Page 269. Probate was granted to William James Leese.

In 1939, William James Leese (b. 7 Oct 1869), Civil Servant (Retired), Widowed, was listed at 1 Lavant Cottages, Hurgas Hall, Lurgashall, West Sussex, living in the household of Winifred May French (b. 25 Dec 1899) and her two children. Winifred May Dugan of 25, Trafford Road, daughter of William Duggan, Builder (her biological father), had married Stanley French, Draper, on 14 Jun 1923, at Christ Church, Croydon. William J Leese had been one of the witnesses at this marriage of his adopted daughter.

William James Leese died, aged 83, in 1953 S Quarter in CROYDON.