William Henry Bailey and Jane Reeby

Edgcumbe Street, Plymouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Rothery - geograph.org.uk/p/4817390

William Henry Bailey (b. 1856) Seaman RN, son of Thomas Bailey and Lucy Elizabeth Ann Fudge, married Jane Reeby (b. 4 Aug 1861), daughter of John Reeby and Mary Francis, at St. George, Stonehouse, Plymouth on 26 Sep 1889. Witnesses were John Reeby and Lucy Bailey (groom's mother).

William and Jane Bailey had two children:

1. Lucy Mary Bailey b. 1890 D Q in EAST STONEHOUSE Vol 05B 272
2. Samuel William Bailey b. 1893 J Q in EAST STONEHOUSE Vol 05B 302

In 1891, William Bailey (33) Seaman Royal Navy, Jane Bailey (27) and daughter Lucy M Bailey, were living in the household of William's mother, Lucy Bailey (53), at 47, Edgcumbe Street, East Stonehouse.

Haven't yet been able to confirm a naval record, nor a death for William Henry Bailey, but must assume he died between begetting his son in 1893 and 1901, when Jane is listed as widowed. There are no deaths in Plymouth in that period that could relate, but in British Armed Forces And Overseas Deaths And Burials, there are some deaths of William Bailey, at Sea, in 1894, which may be relevant, but none with any detail that would confirm it.

On the marriage certificates for both Lucy in 1912 and William in 1914, they describe their father's rank as having been Chief Petty Officer RN.

In 1901, Jane Bailey (39) widowed, was at 48, Edgcumbe Street, East Stonehouse (noted on the census as the Stonehouse Inn, of which her mother-in-law, Lucy Bailey, was the Innkeeper), with Lucy M Bailey (10) and Samuel W Bailey (8) and Thomazine Francis (69) Widowed, described as her Aunt. (Thomazine was the widow of Samuel Francis, Sail Maker, who had died in 1898, who was the younger brother of Mary Francis, Jane's mother.)

30, Langdon Park Road
Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

In 1911, Jane Bailey (49) Widowed, was living at 12 Emma Place, East Stonehouse, with William Bailey (18) Merchant's Clerk at a Coal Merchant, Lucy Bailey (20) and Tamasine Francis (80) Widow, Boarder. (Thomazine died, at 86, in 1917).

In 1921, Jane Bailey (59) was a Visitor in the household of her son, listed as William Samuel Bailey, Assistant Quantity Surveyor and his wife Ellen Maud (née Wilson) at 30, Langdon Park Road, Hornsey, Middlesex.

However, in 1939, Jane Bailey was again living in Plymouth, at 20 Clarence Place.

[So far] I've been unable to identify the record of Jane's death.

Elnathan Ayres and Martha Travally

The east end of St. Katharine's Church, the chapel of the hospice founded by Queen Matilda.

Elnathan Ayres (b. 1724), bachelor, married Martha Travally (b. 29 Jan 1716), spinster, daughter of Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall at the Collegiate Church of St Katherine By the Tower, on 25 Sep 1748. (St Katharine by the Tower on map c. 1720. The church was destroyed in 1825 to make way for the new St Katharine Docks.) The licence says that Elnathan was 24 years old, and a Shipwright from the parish of St Anne's Limehouse. He paid a bond of £200, a huge sum at that time. Martha's age was listed as twenty-five. 

Elnathan Ayres, I am certain was the son of Elnathan Ayres and Mercy Mary Jones of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Other records suggest that Martha's husband was born in America and more still list their son as American. It's such a distinctive name that it would be hard to imagine he WASN'T connected. Both Nathaniel and Elnathan appear to be family given names and the family appear to trace back to one John Ayres (b.~1616 in England), who had made his way to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The only record of a child of this couple was their son:

1. Elnathan Ayres b. 17 Jul 1752, bap. 19 Jul 1752 son of Elnathan Ayres, Shipwright of Pump Yard (Pump Yard, Ratcliffe cross, was parallel to Narrow Street, as shown on the map here at In Search of Old Ratcliffe) and Martha, at St Anne, Limehouse (2 days old)

The burial of Martha Ayres at St James, Piccadilly on 6 Mar 1755 appears to relate. Not [yet] found any further records for Elnathan Ayres Snr.

William Hockley and Charlotte Cock

St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow, Essex
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/1304086

William Hockley (b. 1833), son of Daniel Hockley and Sophia Mason, married Charlotte Cock (bap. 19 Oct 1834), daughter of Timothy Cock and Sarah Mead, at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow on 24 Sep 1859.

William and Charlotte had nine children:

1. Sarah Charlotte Hockley b. 5 May 1860 Vol 04A 333, bap. 8 Jul 1860 
2. Edith Hockley b. 3 Aug 1861 Volume 04A Page 340, bap. 13 Oct 1861
3. William James Hockley b. 1863 Vol 04A Page 370, bap. 12 Apr 1863, died, aged 16, and was buried on 16 Nov 1879 at St Mary the Virgin.
4. Elizabeth Hockley b. 1865 Volume 04A Page 389, bap. 9 Apr 1865
5. Sophia Hockley b. 1866 Volume 04A Page 370, bap. 9 Dec 1866
6. Martha Hockley b. 1869 Volume 04A Page 406, bap. 13 Jun 1869
7. Harry Hockley b. 27 Jun 1871 Vol 04A Page 373, bap. 14 May 1874 
8. Mary Emma Hockley b. 27 Apr 1874 04A Page 432, bap. 14 May 1874
9. Charles Hockley 27 Apr 1876 Vol 04A Page 453, bap. 30 Apr 1883

The mother's maiden name on the registrations for Sarah Charlotte, Edith, William James, Sophia, Martha and Mary Emma is listed correctly as COCK. On those of Elizabeth, Harry and Charles it has been written as COX.

All of the baptisms, except those for Harry and Mary Emma in 1874, which are listed in records for England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records [venue unknown], were at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow.

(There's a baptism, on April 14, 1872, of "Alfred son of William and Charlotte Hockley", listed here. Whilst I have every faith that those records are correctly transcribed, he was not a child of this family. He does not appear on any census with this family, but he does appear as the son of William's younger brother, James Hockley and Emma Parker. The only registration of an Alfred Hockley, in Dunmow, in 1872, has the mother's maiden name PARKER.)

In 1861, William Hockley (27) Agricultural Labourer, Charlotte (27), Sarah C (1), James (23) - William's brother - and their father, Daniel Hockley (age incorrectly shown as 62) were living at Halfway House, Great Dunmow. 

(The adjacent Halfway House Cottage, was used for labourers on the farm, including several generations of our family. Back then it probably housed several labourers' families and certainly won't have had a swimming pool.)

In 1871, William Hockley (36) is joined by Charlotte (35), Sarah C (11), Edith (9), William J (8), Elizabeth (6), Sophia (4) and Martha (2).

In 1881, at Halfway House Cottage, Great Dunmow, were William Hockley (41), Charlotte Hockley (39), Martha (13), Harry (10), Emma Mary [Mary Emma] (6), Charles (4) and granddaughter, Alice Hockley (2)**. Sarah Charlotte Hockley (20) was working as a Domestic Servant in the household of Amelia Hockley (32) widow (if any relation I've yet to discover), Lodging house keeper at Hockerill, Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire. Edith Hockley (19) was a Domestic servant in the household of William Henry Cox (33) Farmer at Elms Farm, Great Canfield; and Sophia Hockley (14) was a Domestic Servant to John Sayer (63) Farmer at Bedfords, Great Dunmow.

**Alice Jane Hockley b. 1879 M Quarter in DUNMOW Volume 04A Page 472, bap. 14 Sep 1879 at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow, was the illegitimate daughter of Sarah Charlotte Hockley. Alice Jane Hockley died, aged 8, in 1887 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 314.

In 1891, we find William Hockley (57), Charlotte (56) with Charles (15).

In 1901, William Hockley (68), Charlotte (67) and Charles (24).

Charlotte Hockley died, at 67, in 1902 J Qtr in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 396.

In 1911, William Hockley (79), widowed, was still at Halfway House as an Old Age Pensioner Farm Labourer. (The "Old Age Pension" was introduced in 1909 in the United Kingdom. Following the passage of the Old-Age Pensions Act 1908 a pension of 5 shillings per week (25p, equivalent, using the Consumer Price Index, to £26 in present-day terms), or 7s.6d per week (equivalent to £39/week today) for a married couple, was payable to persons with an income below £21 per annum (equivalent to £2200 today), The qualifying age was 70, and pensions were subject to a means test.)

William Hockley died, at 83, in 1916 J Qtr in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 869.

John Winship Soppit and Mary Ellen Bradley

Sangley Rd, Lewisham
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/3162332

John Winship Soppit (b. 1 Mar 1882 in Greenwich), son of John Soppit and Louisa Tompson married Mary Ellen Finch, at St Lawrence, Catford (built in 1887, demolished in 1968) on 24 Sep 1904. Born Mary Ellen Bradley in 1872 M Quarter in YORK Volume 09D Page 12, she was the illegitimate daughter of Mary Elizabeth Bradley. Following her mother's marriage to George Henry Finch she was known as Mary Ellen Finch. [Source]

John and Mary Ellen had three daughters:

1. Dorothy Louisa Soppit b. 18 Aug 1906 in LAMBETH Vol 01D Page 471
2. Hilda Mary Soppit b. 14 Aug 1908 in LAMBETH Vol 01D Page 477
3. Kate Winship Soppit b. 12 Oct 1910 in Lewisham 

The records for the first two girls show the mother's maiden name as Finch. 

In 1911, living at 78 Sangley Road, Lewisham, were John Winship Soppit (29) Joiner from Deptford; Mary Ellen Soppit (36) with birthplace listed as York; Dorothy Louisa Soppit (4) birthplace Brixton; Hilda Mary Soppit (2) birthplace Brixton and Kate Winship Soppit (0) born in Catford.

In 1917, then actually 35 (not 33 as listed) John Winship Soppit enlisted (was probably conscripted) into the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) at the 4th General Hospital, Birmingham. [See more at: Birmingham’s Military Hospitals] At the time of his discharge he was a nursing orderly. [Source]

In 1921, John Winship Soppit (39) Commercial Traveller was a visitor in the household of his brother, Joseph at 175, George Lane, Lewisham; while Mary Ellen Soppit (39ish) was living at 107 Reservoir Rd, Erdington, Birmingham with George Alfred Finch (41) Commercial Traveller (Brother), Dorothy Louisa Soppit (14), Hilda Mary Soppit (12) and Kate Winship Soppit (10).

Mary Ellen Soppit died, aged 51, in 1924 D Quarter in BIRMINGHAM NORTH Volume 06D Page 486 and was buried 13 Oct 1924 at the church of St Barnabas, Erdington, Birmingham.

John Winship Soppit (46), Widower, Commercial Traveller of 107 Reservoir Rd, Erdington, Birmingham, then remarried to Mary Baker (née Morrell), Widow (43), daughter of William Jabez Morrell and Sarah Waldron, at the Parish Church in Erdington, Birmingham (St Barnabas' Church, Erdington) on 8 Dec 1928. (Her first husband Samuel Horatio Baker had died in 1925 and she had at least two sons from that previous marriage.)

Second wife, Mary Soppit, died, aged 65, on 13 Jul 1950 (1950 S Quarter in BIRMINGHAM Volume 09C Page 15).

John Winship Soppit died, in Birmingham, on 6 May 1969. The death notice in The London Gazette gives his address as 15 Homecroft Rd, Yardley, Birmingham. It's ironic that growing up in Birmingham in the 1960's, at times we'd have been mere streets from there, while my mother felt as 'a fish out of water' in that city. If only she'd known she had blood relatives so close.

• Dorothy Louisa Soppit died in DOR Q2/1989 in BIRMINGHAM (0611K) Volume 32 Page 1041
• Hilda M Soppit married James F Lawless, in Birmingham, in 1933. James Frederick Lawless (bap. Jacobus Fredericus Lawless at the Roman Catholic parish of Most Holy Sacrament & St Osburg, in Coventry, in 1908.) The couple don't appear to have had children. In 1939, they lived at 286 Chester Road, Hardwick (286 Chester Road, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield). James Frederick Lawless died in 1980 in Carmarthen. Hilda Mary Lawless of 15 Homecroft Road, Yardley, Birmingham died, aged 86, on 18 Mar 1994 at Lapworth Nursing Home, Chessetts Wood Road, Solihull and was buried at Yardley Cemetery & Crematorium, on 25 Mar 1994.
• Kate Winship Soppit died in DOR Q3/1998 in SOLIHULL.

It's evident, therefore, that neither Dorothy, nor Kate ever married.

Alfred Eldred and Frances Amelia Godfrey

Ponders End High Street at the junction with South Street 
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Nigel Cox - geograph.org.uk/p/678890

Alfred Eldred, son of John Eldred and Harriett Page, married Frances Amelia Godfrey, daughter of William Godfrey and Catherine Astor Oxenham, at St Thomas's Church, West Ham on 24 Sep 1917. They'd already been together for close to 40 years and brought up seven offspring. How very modern!

Alfred Eldred was half-brother of Thomazine Maria Eldred, step-son of Catherine Byatt and thus, also step-brother of Elizabeth Wilton.

Records suggest that Alfred and Frances had 7 children:

1. Catherine Ellen Eldridge (sic) b. 1879 J Qtr in POPLAR Vol 01C Pg 674
2. Alfred John Eldred b. 1881 S Quarter in EDMONTON Vol 03A Pg 321
3. Mary Ann Margaret Eldred b. 1885 (no birth registration found)
4. Rachel Maria Amelia Eldred b. 1890 M Quarter in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 630. Died, aged 1, in 1891 M Quarter in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 443
5. Walter William Eldrett (sic) b. 1892 M Qtr in POPLAR Vol 01C Page 605
6. Elizabeth Alice Eldrett (sic) b. 1895 S Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A 199
7. John Edward Phillip Eldrett (sic) b. 1899 J Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A 4

Despite all the different spellings and variations of the family surname, on the GRO birth registrations, the mother's maiden name is consistently GODFREY.

In 1881, in South Street, Enfield [Ponders End], were Alfred Eldrett (sic) (26) Labourer, Francis (sic) Amelia Eldrett (sic) (23) and Catherine Hellen (sic) Eldrett (sic) (1). It says that their daughter was born in Bromley, Kent, but this too is yet another error as she was born in Bromley-by-Bow, Poplar. 

In 1891, Alfred Eldrett (sic) (36) Gas Labourer was living at 29, Donald Street, Bromley, Poplar with Francis (sic) Eldrett (33), Katherine Eldrett (12), Alfred Eldrett (10) and Mary Ann Eldrett (6).

In 1901, Alfred Eldret (45) General Carman was living in Church Street Buildings, 19, Church Street, Plaistow (West Ham), with Frances (41), Mary A Eldret (16), Walter W Eldret (9), Elizabeth Eldret (5) and John Eldret (2).

In 1911, Alfred Eldred (54) General Labourer, from Dunmow, Essex; Frances Eldred (50), Walter Eldred (19), Elizabeth Eldred (15) and John Eldred (12) were living at 41 Preston Road, Stratford, West Ham. They 'claimed' they'd been married for 32 years (corresponding with the birth of their eldest) and confirmed they'd had 7 children, of whom 6 were living and one had died.

In 1921, Alfred Eldred (64) General labourer for the Charrington City And Westminster Electric Light Company; Frances Eldred (60) and Walter William Eldred (29) Tallow Melter for Cockman Brothers Limited Tallow Melters And Bone Merchants, were still at 41, Preston Road, Stratford, West Ham.

Frances Amelia Eldred died, at 67, in 1927 M Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A 5. 

Alfred Eldred died, aged 74, in 1931 D Qtr in WEST HAM Vol 04A 1.