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| Old Poplar Town Hall Built 1870. Now the Lansbury Heritage Hotel. Photo: Maggie Jones Generously released to the Public domain |
Francis Henry Flint (b. 18 Jan 1859, bap. 6 Mar 1861 in Camden Town), son of Henry Obadiah Flint and Mary Ann Riley, married Ellen Wilton (b. 1857), daughter of Richard Wilton and Catherine Byatt, at the Register Office in Poplar, London, on 23 June 1878. (The Old Poplar Town Hall, located at 117 High Street, Poplar (E14), is a Grade II Listed Building dating back to 1870. This building likely served as the register office in 1878.) Witnesses to their marriage were Henry Flint and Mary A Flint, Francis' parents.
Registry office weddings, as we know them, became legally recognized in England and Wales with the Marriage Act of 1836, which came into effect on July 1, 1837, after the establishment of the General Register Office.
Nevertheless, Register Office weddings were unusual and this is certainly the earliest that I've encountered in my research. Professor Rebecca Probert, Professor of Law at University of Exeter, who is definitely the go-to expert on marriage law, writes that, "before the start of the twentieth century it was very much a minority choice" and suggests that, for some, "the greater privacy of the register office would have been the main attraction". So, if a church marriage was likely quicker and cheaper, there needed to be a good reason for Francis Henry Flint and Ellen Wilton to choose this route.
This couple had three children:
- Francis Henry Flint b. 1879 S Quarter in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 686, who also died in 1879 S Quarter in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 422
- Emily Flint b. 1882 S Quarter in POPLAR Volume 01C Page 623 with the mother's maiden name listed as FELTON. (Guess that's a bit like Wilton.)
- Alice Flint b. 24 Jul 1883 in the Register of Births in the Poplar Union Workhouse (1883 S Quarter in POPLAR Volume 01C Page 676), bap. 10 Aug 1883 at All Saints Church, Poplar, daughter of Henry and Ellen
The 1st and 3rd GRO births show the mother's maiden name WILTON.
Henry Flint of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, aged 20, birthplace St Pancras, Middlesex, regimental number 2166, is listed among UK Military Deserters, having deserted at Dublin on 13 Sep 1879. This, unfortunately, looks to be him. Private Henry Finch #2166, who had enlisted in London, was, however, discharged from the 2nd Dragoon Guards on 22 Mar 1880 after what looks like only 114 days (about 16 weeks) in the service. The cause of discharge is 'Igny', which I think is shorthand for ignominy (public shame or disgrace).
The couple were not together in 1881 and were back with their respective families. Listed as Henry Flint (22) Labourer, purporting to be Single, was in the household of his parents at 34, Brunswick Road, Islington. While, listed as Ellen Wilton (mistake or deliberate?) (24) Match Maker, Married, was living back in her mother's household at 23, Powis Road, Bromley, Poplar. If these circumstances indicate a break up, one assumes the pair got back together again to have the two daughters as DNA links me to the younger of them. (Living little more than half a mile from the Bryant & May's match factory in Bow, it's probably reasonable to assume this was where Ellen was working. Conditions there at that time were so bad, it was dubbed "white slavery", which eventually motivated the London Matchgirls Strike of 1888.)
From seeing that Ellen's third child, Alice, although legitimate, was born in the Poplar Union Workhouse, leads me to suspect that Francis Henry Flint had again disappeared and that Ellen's mother, Catherine, had probably died.
Ellen then appears to have another two daughters with a John Finch:
- Ellen Elizabeth Finch b. 1888 M Quarter in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 661
- Jessie Finch b. 1890 J Quarter in POPLAR Volume 01C Page 608
Both are registered with the mother's maiden name as WILTON.
In 1891, John Finch (37) Carman was living at 4, Faronia Street, Bromley, Poplar, London, with Ellen Finch (35) from Dunmow, Essex; Emily Finch [Flint] (9); Alice Finch [Flint] (8); Ellen Finch (3) and Jessie Finch (1). They listed all of the children under the surname Finch. The five year gap between Alice and Ellen Elizabeth, does also suggest a different relationship, but clearly John is not Francis Henry; he's around five years older, born in a different place and has a different occupation. Originally, I'd found four of Alice's 12 children registered with the mother's maiden name as Finch and thought that was just a miss-hearing or misspelling of Flint, but now it becomes clear why there was this confusion. However, I can find no marriage between Ellen Flint, neither as Ellen Wilton, and John Finch so I'm sure they were just shacked up and Ellen thus avoided committing bigamy.
In 1901, Ellen Finch (listing herself as only 38, she was ~44), 'Widow', Charing (Charwoman) from Great Dunmow, Essex, was living at 17, Furze Street, Bromley, Poplar with Ellen Finch (13) and Jessie Finch (10).
Haven't been able to discover where John Finch came from, much less where he went, so I have no idea whether he really had died, or they had simply ended their relationship. There was a locally well-known John Finch, Carman & Contractor in Hackney, who advertised regularly in the Eastern Argus and Borough of Hackney Times around these dates, but I have no way of knowing if this is the same man. (Someone descended from one of these daughters might be able to confirm or refute the connection via DNA.)
Haven't been able to find Ellen, as Wilton, Flint, or Finch in 1911. There are, however, numerous records of an Ellen Finch being admitted and discharged into or out of Stepney Workhouse around this time and any one or all of them might relate to her. (Hardly a new experience: her first time was as an Inmate of Great Dunmow Union Workhouse at the age of four in 1861.)
In 1921, Ellen Finch (62) 'Widow' from Great Dunmow, Essex, was living alone at 3 Weston Street, Bow. She does not list any occupation.
Ellen Finch (formerly Flint, née Wilton) died aged 73, in 1929 M Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 143, it would appear.
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St Saviour, Markhouse Road, Walthamstow Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence. |
However, the man Ellen Wilton was still married to (there is, unsurprisingly, nothing listed for them in the Divorce Index), Francis Henry Flint (35) calling himself a Batchelor (and misnaming his father), married Ellen Battershall (21) Spinster, daughter of John Edward Battershall (John Edward Battershall and Ann Rawlings), both giving their address as 22 Arkley Crescent, at the church of St Saviour (Formerly St James), Walthamstow, Essex on 15 Aug 1896.
This couple had one daughter:
- Elsie Alice Flint b. 23 Mar 1897 (1897 J Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 354), with her mother's maiden name BATTERSHALL.
In 1911, Ellen Flint (35) Married, Assistant caretaker schools, was at 114 Fleeming Road, Winns Avenue, Walthamstow with Elsie Alice Flint (14). This Ellen listed herself as having been married for 15 years and had one child.
Elsie Alice Flint married Walter James Welch, whose residence at the time was Birmingham, at St Mary's Church, Walthamstow, on 21 Nov 1915. In 1921, Walter James Welch (27) Compositor born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey and Elsie Alice Welch (24) were living with his parents, at 9, Chester Road, Walthamstow. While Ellen Flint (44) 'Widow' from Islington, London, Viewer of BSA Air rifles at the Birmingham Small Arms Factory, was living at 9, Labourer Villas, Poplar Road, Smethwick, Worcestershire. In 1939, Walter J Welch (b. James Walter Welch on 9 Feb 1894) Compositor and Elsie A Welch were living at 20 Whitethorn Gardens, Hornchurch, Essex.
Ellen Flint (née Battershall) died, aged 66, in 1941 D Quarter in ILFORD Volume 04A Page 569.
Elsie Alice Welch (née Flint) of 20 Whitethorn Gardens, Slewins Lane, Hornchurch, Essex (wife of James Walter Welch) died 13 June 1958 at Hornchurch Telephone Exchange Hornchurch Administration London 27 August to the said James Walter Welch printers compositor. Effects £1027 18s 6d. James Walter Welch died, in Romford, in 1962. It does not appear that this couple had children, so it looks as though the line ends here.
Meanwhile, the now doubly-errant Francis Henry Flint, it appears, earned a medal serving in South Africa in the Second Boer War with the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles, in 1901. The address for him on the Medal Roll is 3 Rufford Street, York Road, Kings Cross, which is about 350 meters from where he grew up in Wellington Square, St Pancras, so I'm sure this has to be him. There was a record of a Henry Flint enlisting in the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles, in Durban on 11 Dec 1901, where he claims his previous regiment as the 5th Lancers (no record found); his period served 8⅓ Years and his occupation Bricklayer. Height 5 Feet 10 Inches, weight 168 lbs, with hazel eyes and brown hair are close enough to the descriptions we have later. There's a note suggesting the medal was reissued on 22 Mar 1907.
The following reports show he was in Australia, from at least 1908:
The South Australian Police Gazette of 9 Feb 1910 reports on "Francis Henry Flint, laborer, 45 years of age, 5ft 9in high, dark hair, dark moustache (turning grey), brown eyes, dark complexion, wore blue serge coat, blue dungaree trousers, and soft white shirt, for non payment on fine, 6s (including costs), on a charge of drunkenness in a public place, at Port Adelaide, on January 21st, 1910. In default of immediate payment to be arrested and lodged in the Adelaide Gaol for seven days."
From the South Australian Police Gazette of 5 Apr 1911, "Francis Henry Flint, described as a laborer, 45 years of age, 5ft 8in high, medium build, fair complexion, grey hair, grey or blue eyes, grey moustache, wore brown tweed suit and grey felt hat, for non payment of fine, 5s, on a charge of drunkenness in a public place, at Adelaide, on March 16th, 1911. In default of immediate payment to be warrant and lodged in the Adelaide Gaol for three days. Warrant filed at Detective Office, Adelaide."
In the South Australian Police Gazette of 10 Apr 1912, report of a theft, "Between 11 p.m. on the 6th an 8 a.m. on the 7th instant, from a bedroom of a dwelling-house, Lipson Street, Port Adelaide, an open-face Ansonia metal watch, ordinary hands, had attached a long Mexican silver chain, long and short links alternately, the property of Francis Henry Flint; identifiable."
From the South Australian Police Gazette of 7 Jul 1915, "Henry Flint (alias Harry Johnson), tried at Renmark on March 18th, 1915, for unlawful possession; sentenced to six months' hard labor; native of London, England, 55 years of age, 5 ft 8in high, fair complexion, dark hair (turning grey), grey eyes, large nose (bent and thick at point), medium mouth, broad square chin. Small mole inside shoulder, right hand has been knocked about and bent, two scars on right elbow, burn mark inside wrist, scar on left elbow, large scar outside left forearm an one on wrist, several moles on chest, large scar in centre of back (on spine), large mole to left of scar, hanging mole on right shoulder-blade and three near armpit, large brown mark at base of right shoulder blade, scar on small part of back, one on left shin outside left knee, outside left ankle, across right knee, and across front of right leg, mole behind left knee, large scar on left calf, and one between the eyes. Indistinct irregular tattoo mark on right wrist. Vide Police Gazette 1908, page 241. "Prisoners Discharged." Freedom due July 27th, 1915."
From the South Australian Police Gazette of 3 May 1916, "Francis Henry Flint, described as about 40 years of age, 5ft 9in high, well built, dark hair, grey eyes, right hand deformed, a laborer, wore dark-grey clothes and grey soft felt hat; for non-payment of fine and costs (6s. in all) on a charge of drunkenness at Adelaide on February 19th, 1916. In default of payment, to be arrested and lodged in the Adelaide Gaol for three days. Warrant filed at Detective Office, Adelaide."
The South Australian Police Gazette of 17 May 1916 reports that "Francis Henry Flint, for non-payment of fine and costs on a charge of drunkenness, at Adelaide, on February 19th, 1916, has been arrested at Hummocks Hill by M.C. Lally; fine and costs have been paid."
The South Australian Police Gazette of 28 Jun 1916, Apprehensions During the Week, "Francis Henry Flint, by Det. O'Sullivan and F.C. Kennedy, for unlawful possession of two rugs and two blankets, the property of the Associated Smelters at Port Pirie; fined £10, in default six months."
And again the South Australian Police Gazette of 13 Dec 1916, published the "Descriptions of prisoners to be discharged from H.M. Gaols during the week ending December 23rd, 1916", including: "Francis Henry Flint, native of England, laborer, 57 years of age, 5ft 9in high, fresh complexion, dark hair (going grey), blue eyes, right hand crippled, bullet wound in left thigh. Tried at Port Pirie on June 22nd, 1916, for unlawful possession; six months."
There is one last potential sighting of Francis Henry Flint, Railway Employee, in Merthyr, Queensland on the Australia Electoral Roll in 1931 (by then he would be 72, so it's reasonable), living at 226 Kent Street, Teneriffe (an inner suburb of Brisbane). Living at the same address were Amelia Ellen Flint, Home Duties; Eva Maud Flint, Home Duties; and Frank Reginald Flint, New Farm, Insurance Agent. Could it be that he had formed a third family there?
