Searching through my family tree for just one person to share about for this week's TRAGEDY prompt was difficult. There are many tragic tales to tell in my bramble bush.
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| Lewisham Workhouse, circa 1898 |
The person I chose to focus on for this blog is my 4th great grandmother, Charlotte (nee Watson) North.
Charlotte Watson
BIRTH 1 DEC 1822 • Heckfield, Hampshire, England
DEATH 24 MAR 1903 • Lewisham, London Borough, England
Charlotte was the youngest of 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls) that I could find records for. They were born to:
George Watson
BIRTH 1779 • Stratfield Saye, Hampshire, England
DEATH 1824 • Stratfield Turgis, Hampshire, England
&
Mary Ann Mayers
BIRTH 1781 • Kingsclere, Hampshire, England
DEATH 7 MAY 1860 • Heckfield, Hampshire, England
When Charlotte was 25 years old, on October 11th 1848, she married
William North
BIRTH 1822 • Heckfield, Hampshire, England
DEATH 29 MAY 1880 • Abode, Battersea, Surrey, England
The marriage took place at Saint Mary's Church in Reading, Berkshire, England.
I found records for 8 children born to Charlotte & William - 3 girls and 5 boys.
Their first child (my X3 great grandmother):
Jemima Jane North
BIRTH SEP 1851 • Hartley, Wintney, Hampshire, England
DEATH Unknown
Their second child:
William North
BIRTH 1853 • Heckfield, Hampshire, England
DEATH Unknown
Their third child:
Eliza North
BIRTH 1854 • White Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH Unknown
Their fourth child:
Edward North
BIRTH 1855 • White Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH 1922 • Lewisham, Kent, England
Their fifth child:
Mary Ann North
BIRTH 2 JUN 1857 • White Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH 12 MAR 1927 • Croydon, Surrey, England
Their 6th child:
George North
BIRTH 10 JAN 1859 • W Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH 1940 • Lewisham, Kent, England
Their 7th child:
Obed Job North (known as Job)
BIRTH 24 MAR 1863 • White Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH 1946 • Bexleyheath, Kent, England
Their 8th child:
Joshua North
BIRTH 1864 • White Waltham, Berkshire, England
DEATH 1937 • Camberwell, Surrey, England
I haven't researched the children of William & Charlotte (nee Watson) North in depth. I do have death years for the last 5 children. I have no death dates for their first 3 children.
William died May 29th 1880, and Charlotte died almost 23 years later on March 24th 1903.
The year after William died Charlotte is recorded in the 1881 census living with sons, Edward & Job. Also residing with them is Charlotte's granddaughter, and my X2 great grandmother, Amy Baker (daughter to Jemima Jane North & Alfred A Baker). Where Amy's parents were for the 1881 census is a mystery.
In 1891 I find that Charlotte was living with sons William & George. Living with them is Charlotte's granddaughter Mary Baker who was the sister to my X2 great grandmother Amy Baker living with grandmother Charlotte in 1881. In the 1891 census Amy is living with her mother along with brother Alfred Augustus and sister Edith Jemima. Why their younger sister Mary was with grandmother Charlotte is a mystery.
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| Lewisham Workhouse |
In 1903 Charlotte died in the Lewisham Workhouse in a London Borough in England. The tragedy for this week's blog is Charlotte dying in Lewisham Poor Law Union's workhouse when she had 8 children who appear to have been alive and living locally.
When I think of 80 year old Charlotte living and dying in a workhouse in 1903 England I can only imagine scenes from Oliver Twist.
How is it that Charlotte didn't have any family to care for her when she had 8 children. Granddaughter Amy immigrated to Canada in May 1903 with her husband and children. Amy was still living nearby in England when Charlotte was in the workhouse.
As often happens in families whatever happened to break this family carried forward to the next generation.
Grandchildren Alfred Augustus and Edith Jemima were in the care of Bernardo's, and already sent to Canada by the time grandmother Charlotte died. I can't find any record of granddaughter Mary who lived with her in 1891.
Click for more about British Home Child - Alfred Augustus Baker & family
The workhouses in England were a tragedy that impacted future generations of the family. It's only in current times that British Home Children are being recognized for the travesties against them when they were put on boats and shipped away from their families and homes.
More about the British Home Children at the links below:
'It's like they never existed': Toronto monument will honour mistreated British Home Children. Many of the 115,000 who came to Canada over 8 decades provided cheap labour and suffered abuse
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/british-home-children-farms-abuse-1.4314384
History Spotlight: British Home Children
Canada declared 2010 the year of the British Home Child to commemorate the thousands of poverty-stricken children sent here from Britain between 1869 and 1948.
https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/settlement-immigration/history-spotlight-british-home-children
Collecting broken branches of my fractured family tree!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Sources:
Before welfare: True stories of life in the workhouse, Express, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/475994/Before-welfare-True-stories-of-life-in-the-workhouse
England and Wales Census, 1891, Charlotte North, Page Number: 39, Registration Number: RG12, Piece/Folio: 403/ 88, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from FamilySearch.org
familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QCNC-CMM
Alfred Augustus Baker, British Home Children, A Virtual Cemetery, Find A Grave, Retrieved February 5th 2021 from
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/222328905/alfred-augustus-baker?fbclid=IwAR1SzKI3L1zLtPfJAdY4RYoaFsJeOLjPAkbl_MRwDob1d_sMPGvu3Vjbwxw
Edith Baker Zarn, British Home Children, A Virtual Cemetery, Find A Grave, Retrieved February 5th 2021 from
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111283305/edith-zarn
Google images, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from
https://www.google.ca/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&authuser=0&ogbl
The Rise and Fall of the Workhouse, History Extra, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from
https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-workhouse/
Workhouse, Retrieved August 21st from
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/victorians/workhouses.html
Workhouses, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from
workhouses.org.uk
Workhouses, Lewisham, Kent, London, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Lewisham/
Links:
British Home Child - Alfred Augustus Baker (age 12), and his siblings, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 12 (12), Somehow Related Blog, Retrieved August 21st 2019 from
http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/2019/03/british-home-child-alfred-august-baker.html
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/
*
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