Sunday, 27 July 2025

Thomas Barton and Elizabeth Ann Fuller

St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Marathon - geograph.org.uk/p/5264357

Thomas Barton (bap. 4 Dec 1842 at Woodford Bridge), son of Thomas Barton and Ann Birch, married and Elizabeth Ann Fuller (bap. 8 Oct 1843), daughter of Robert Fuller and Elizabeth Ann Bradley, at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge (the previous church before it was rebuilt) on 27 July 1862.

Records suggest that this couple had 12 children:
  1. Jane Ann Fuller b. 1860 J Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 44, bap. 16 May 1860 at All Saints Church, West Ham with a note that residence was 'Westham Union' (West Ham Union Workhouse)
  2. Emily Elizabeth Fuller b. 1862 M Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 44, bap. 4 Apr 1862 at St Mary the Virgin, Leyton
  3. Ann Jane Barton b. 1864 M Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 61, bap. 7 Feb 1864 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  4. Eliza Barton b. 1868 D Quarter in EPPING UNION Volume 04A Page 92, bap. 15 Jan 1869 at St John the Baptist Church, Buckhurst Hill and then again on 5 May 1872 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  5. Thomas Frederick Barton b. 1872 J Qtr in WEST HAM UNION Vol 04A Page 96, bap. 5 May 1872 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  6. Frederick William Barton b. 1875 J Qtr in WEST HAM UNION Vol 04A Page 114. Died 1875 J Qtr in WEST HAM UNION Vol 04A Page 55. 
  7. Elizabeth Ann Barton b. 1878 J Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 154, bap. 4 May 1878 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge. Died 1878 J Quarter in WEST HAM UNION Volume 04A Page 76 and was buried at Woodford Bridge, Essex.
  8. John Barton b. 1880 M Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 179, bap. 7 Mar 1880 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  9. George Barton b. 1882 M Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 219, bap. 8 Aug 1882 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  10. Beatrice Barton b. 1883 J Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 215, bap. 7 Aug 1887 at Holy Trinity, Hermon Hill, South Woodford
  11. Joshua Barton b. 1886 S Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 262, bap. 3 Jul 1886 at St Paul's Church, Woodford Bridge
  12. Elizabeth Barton b. 1887 S Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 261, bap. 7 Aug 1887 at Holy Trinity, Hermon Hill, South Woodford. Died 1887 S Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 132 and was buried at Woodford Bridge, Essex
In 1871, Thomas Barton (29) Labourer was living in Woodford Bridge, Essex with wife, Elizabeth Ann Barton (28), Jane Ann Barton (10) born in Leytonstone; Emily Barton (9) born Leytonstone; Ann Jane Barton (7) born in Woodford and Eliza Barton born in Buckhurst Hill.

In 1881, Thomas Barton (37) Labourer was living in Victoria Road, Woodford, West Ham with Elizabeth Barton (37), Ann J Barton (17), Eliza Barton (12), Thomas Barton (9), John Barton (1) and James Mead (21) Lodger. (Eliza Barton married Alfred Mead in 1888, James Mead's younger brother.) Jane Ann Barton (21) was a Domestic Servant in the household of Augustus Harper (35) Member of stock exchange, at Louise Heim House, Cleveland Road, Wanstead. Couldn't find Emily Elizabeth under either Fuller or Barton.

In 1891, Thomas Barton (49) General labourer was living in Lower Road, Woodford with Elizabeth Barton (49), John Barton (11) and George Barton (9), Beatrice Barton (7), Joshua Barton (4) and William Fuller (46) Lodger.

In 1901, Thomas Barton (59) General labourer was living in Oxford Terrace, Chigwell Road, Woodford, with Elizabeth Barton (58) and John Barton (21) and Joshua Barton (14). (George had married that year at just 19.)

Elizabeth Ann Barton died at 65 in 1908 M Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A 227.

In 1911, Thomas Barton (69) Widowed, was still living in Woodford with Joseph Barton (29) [George] (Meanwhile, Annie Barton (27), George's wife, was Housekeeper to William Patience (34) Widower), Joshua Barton (24), Beatrice Saggers (28), Charles Saggers (28), Beatrice Saggers (8), Emily Saggers (6), Mary Saggers (3) and John Saggers (2). Although Thomas was a widower and the question was meant for married women, he helpfully filled in the details on this census saying he was married 49 years (it will have been 46 by the time Elizabeth Ann died in 1908, so 49 years ago then) and had 9 children living and 4 who had died, making a total of 13 - so there's still potentially one missing for whom I haven't [yet] found a record.

Thomas Barton died at 69, in 1911 J Quarter in WEST HAM Volume 04A Page 161 and was buried on 8 Apr 1911 at Woodford Bridge.

James Wilmot Bussey and Ellen Jane Munday

Saint Mary's Church, Alverstoke
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Parsons - geograph.org.uk/p/628752

James Wilmot Bussey (bap. 24 Mar 1824), son of Benjamin Bussey and Elizabeth Bowen, married Ellen Jane Munday, (bap. 7 Dec 1824 in Bishop's Waltham), daughter of Jane Munday on 27 Jul 1845 in Alverstoke

James and Jane Bussey had 12 children:
  1. Sarah Ann Munday b. 2 Apr 1845 (1845 J Quarter in DROXFORD UNION Volume 07 Page 64), bap. 31 Jul 1853 at St Mary's Church, Portsea as Sarah Ann Bussey Munday. However, listing only her mother's name, Ellen Jane Munday, despite her mother having married, strongly suggests that James Wilmot Bussey was her not biological father.
  2. Hannah Jane Bussey b. 1847 M Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND UNION Volume 07 Page 131, bap. 31 Jul 1853 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
  3. Caroline Bussey b. 1849 J Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND UNION Volume 07 Page 137, bap. 27 Nov 1853 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
  4. James Bussey b. 1851 J Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 07 Pg 143
  5. Ellen Bussey b. 1853 S Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B Pg 310
  6. Benjamin Bussey b. 27 Feb 1855 J Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Volume 02B Page 328, bap. 7 Oct 1855 at St Mary's Church, Portsea
  7. Susan Rhoda Bussey b. 1857 M Quarter in PORTSEA Vol 02B Pg 371
  8. Francis Henry Bussey b. 1859 J Quarter in PORTSEA Vol 02B  Pge352
  9. Alice Bussey b. 1861 J Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B Page 360. Died 1861 S Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Volume 02B Page 229
  10. Elizabeth Bussey b. 1862 S Qtr in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B 324
  11. Richard Bussey b. 1864 S Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B 370
  12. Mary Agnes Bussey b. 1867 S Quarter in PORTSEA Vol 02B Pg 387
The mother's maiden name on the civil registrations include: Munday, Monday, Mundy and even Munslay [iv]. Such variations are nothing unusual.

In 1851, James Bussey (26) Butcher, in Landport View, with Jane Bussey (25), Sarah Bussey (6) and Caroline Bussey (2). Hannah Jane Bussey (4) was staying with Thomas Churcher (52) a Sawyer from Titchfield, Hampshire, and his wife Ursula (53), in Church Lane, Botley, Hampshire, described as their niece. One surmises that these are relatives of Jane Munday's.

In 1861, at 213-215 Commercial Road, were James Bussey (36) Pork Butcher, Ellen Jane (35), James W (10), Benjamin (6) and Francis (2), but none of the girls. [Portsmouth Local History, Butchers, Meat Dealers (PDF)]

James Wilmot Bussey, butcher of Arundel Street, Landport, died, aged 47, on 10 Jun 1870 (1870 J Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Volume 02B Page 318) and was buried, on 12 Jun 1870 at Mile End Cemetery, Portsea, Hampshire (possibly later reburied in Kingston cemetery, although there's at least an equal chance that he was just concreted and Tarmaced over when the city council converted the cemetery into a car park for the ferry port).

In 1871, at 81, Arundel Street, Portsea, Jane Bussey (46) Widow, is listed as a Pork Butcher, with son James (19) Assistant, Ellen (17), Benjamin (15), Susan (13), Frank (11), Elizabeth (9) and Minnie (4).

In 1881, Ellen J Bussey (55) widow, Formerly butcher's wife from Bishop's Waltham, was again at 81, Arundel Street, Portsea with her son Benjamin Bussey (26) Pork butcher employing 1 man and his wife Emily J (21).

Ellen Jane Bussey died, at 72, in 1897 J Qtr in PORTSEA Vol 02B Page 305.

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.