A Glemsford Family:


The Allens: spreading further afield

The 1870s and 1880s are seen traditionally as a period of difficulty and some hardship in parts of the English countryside. All sorts of factors came to bear, and many of them were inter-related: poor weather, bad harvests, international competition, lower wages, industrial unrest, agricultural unrest, political discontent - all combined in such a way that none may be seen as the starting point or finishing point, but all may be considered major factors in the life of a village such as Glemsford.

Without resorting to unnecessary terms like "microcosm" we can learn as much about these events through the lives of individuals and their families as through all the reams of statistical data.

My findings about the Allen family - Henry and Susan and their descendants - are based largely on material available online: an analysis of the Census returns from 1841 to 1901, with some support from the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and the observations and material from Bernie Allen in New Zealand.
There are probably some inaccuracies; there are certainly some gaps; I apologise for those. In particular, the 1841 Census is notorious for its lack of accuracy about birth years and places. That is a product of its time and intentions.
There is less excuse for inaccuracy with the 1891 Census, but I find it has often been very poorly transcribed, probably by people with little or no knowledge or understanding of English personal names, place names or common abbreviations.
So, you need to read these pages bearing in mind this "health warning": I have cross-checked and used my own logic to get as near as possible to the truth, but if you spot errors, please let me know, and if you don't, and my mistakes mess up your own research, I'm sorry, but blame the transcribers, not me! 

Into the 1880s

Still trying desperately to hang on to my ambition not to make this a litany of the generations - I'll leave that to the Mormons - I feel I need to be disciplined in sticking to the "mainline" of Susan and Henry's offspring. The problem is that, by the 1880s their children were all adult, had families of their own and were even in some cases grandparents!

However hard I try to avoid it, the 1881 Census sends me off in all sorts of directions.

Henry lost his wife Susan in early 1875, when she was 71.
In 1881, he had retired as a Silk Weaver, and was still living on Egremont Street. 76 year old Jane Copsey, herself a widow (possibly of Thomas Copsey, matmaker, of Tye Green), was his housekeeper.

Maria and William were living on Egremont Street. William was then a "Cord Wainer". Their household at the time of the Census begs all sorts of questions and, possibly, offers several insights into the times in which they lived:



Albert was a Gardener. The Census enumerator has marked "NW" against his occupation - Not Working? Walter was a Factory Engine Cleaner: a simple comment that tells us something about Industry in Glemsford. Gertrude is listed as a Grand-daughter: I'm not sure whose daughter she was at this stage - perhaps John J Copsey and his wife Rachel, who were "visitors" in Isaac's house at the time of the Census, and John another "NW" Gardener.

Esther Trudgett looks fascinating. I must resist delving too far, but she is recorded on the 1881 Census as a "Railway Porter's wife". I have found a marriage of Esther Copsey with Joseph Trudgett (born Shelford, Cambridgeshire in 1847) in 1868. The 1871 Census shows Esther living near the Three Turns (and therefore the station) as a "Railway Porter's Wife", with her 2 year old son, William, and Sarah Oakley, a Horse Hair Weaver boarder. Joseph, in 1871, was lodging at Thurston Railway Station where he was, indeed, a Porter.
And in 1881, with Esther in Glemsford with two children, again described as "Railway Porter's wife", Joseph and son William (12) were staying near Marks Tey station. Presumably, employees went where the Great Eastern Railway sent them.
Or was it a matter of going where the work was?

Maria and William's daughter Ellen married William Cook of Brockley, in the middle of 1878. As the Census shows, in 1881 Ellen was at home, with her parents and two children. William Cook was living and working as a Farm Labourer, at Westerfield on the outskirts of Ipswich.
Daisy (actually registered as Harriet Daisy P. Cook) and her brother Philip both had their births registered in Ipswich.
The fact that the Glemsford enumerator was quite happy to use the word "Visitor" for others on the Census, and did not for Esther and Ellen, suggests to me that their stay with their parents may have been an extended one. On the other hand, it may just have been a visit.

Away from the family home, Cornelius (Maria and William's oldest) and Hannah were established on Hunts Hill. Cornelius was a Mat Maker. They already had a large family: Arthur had married Eliza Jane Brown in early 1872. By 1881, they and daughter Gertrude (1) were staying with Eliza's mother, Sophia, on Church-gate.
Now: I know I promised not to do this, but I have to diverge here just to mention a couple of fascinating issues. Here is the complete Census listing for this household in 1881. I have included the full descriptions:
Name  Relationship to Head
of Household 		 Marital
Status 		 Age  Occupation  Place of birth 
Sophia Oakley  Head  Mar.  49  Dressmaker  Glemsford 
Sophia Oakley  Dau.  Unm.  16  Silk Winder  do. 
Arthur Allen Copsey  Son in law  Mar.  28  Mat weaver  do. 
Eliza Jane Copsey  Dau.  Mar.  28  Horse hair weaver  do. 
Gertrude M Copsey  Grandaughter    1    do. 
Rupert Morris  Stranger    3mo    Not known 


I am reasonably confident about Arthur and Eliza's marriage; but in 1871, Sophia Oakley's 18 year old daughter was "Jane Oakley", and sharing the house was a 75 year old widow, Maria Brown. So: Brown - Oakley; Oakley - Brown?
And as for Rupert Morris, it is a very long time since I met "Stranger" on a Census, especially for a 3 months old child.
I feel more hours of searching ahead - and if anyone wants to help ... .

Isaac and Louisa Allen's household, in 1881, is just as tantalising:

Isaac was still a Baker, Louisa was still a Dressmaker. Ruth has no occupation specified. I am asssuming that the grand-daughter "A.L.C." is the same as Annie on the 1871 Census, born in Middlesex, as was Grandson John, in 1881. Harry Freid (I can't improve on the transcription) adds to the mystery: he was born in "France; Paris". If we assume that Annie and John were Allens because of their father(s), then they were probably children of Henry or George.
John Plume was an Errand Boy.
George was, in 1881, a Butler in London (Grosvenor). He is listed as "Married", but was certainly not sharing accommodation with his wife. Unfounded speculation has her in service too, and children in Suffolk being looked after by grand-parents. Of Henry I can find little or no sign.

Isaac's son Leo got married in London (Pancras district) in 1874 to Annie Conolly (born Dublin). By 1881, they already had 5 children: Leo is described as a Butler, although the family lived together in their own house in Kensington.
Of Isaac's other children, at present, I have been unable to trace Susannah or Mary, who had been at home in 1871.
Frustratingly, I have also lost Walter for the time being. I did think I'd found his death, in 1874, but then rediscovered him, alive and kicking in 1891 and 1901, employed on the railway.

William was still in charge of the Carpenters Arms in Lawshall. In 1881, he is described as a "Mat Manufacturer employing 5 men and one Boy & Licensed Victualler" but there had been some other, bigger changes in his life.

It appears that his son Edward died in 1871, aged 23.
In the summer of 1874, I believe his son Walter died, as well (this was the death of Walter I had originally thought was Isaac's son).
Then, in late 1875, his wife Caroline died, aged 48.

The registers of the June ¼ of 1878 show that William remarried: Jane Copsey, born about 1836. Frantic searching leads me to believe that Jane was the daughter of George and Ann Copsey. who lived, in 1861, at Sluice Cottage on the Lower Road. That whole family is elusive in 1871, but George and Ann reappear in 1881 in Stanstead. Jane seems to have had a daughter, Jennie, who was 5 in 1861, and with whom Jane was living in 1901, after William's death.

William's daughter Angelina is hard to locate by 1881 - there are several possibilities! - but his son Charles was still in Lawshall, a Mat Weaver, having married Susan Kent in 1875 and with 3 children: Charles, Eliza and Angelina (aged 4,3 and 1, in 1881). Angelina, aged 5, died in 1885.

William's son Arthur, living at home, was a Mat Maker.

Elizabeth, who was staying with Eton in Norfolk in 1871, has not yet been located in 1881, but I have a sneaking suspicion I shall return to her later.

Eton and Emma, on the other hand, posed me a totally different problem. Eton disappeared. He refuses, entirely, to show up in the 1881 Census, and certainly nowhere near Ingoldesthorpe in Norfolk. However, by tracking Ellen and the two younger sons, Herbert and Walter, I was able to find the family - in Brighton.
There, at 34 Centurion Road, I found this entry:

Herbert was a Gardener; Walter had "No Occupation". And the Head of the Household? William Allen, Gardener, aged 47, born Glemsford. The coincidences are so marked that I'm almost certain this must be Eton. Perhaps he had got fed up with his given name, or was he trying to hide something?

Susannah and Walter Game had returned to Glemsford in the 1860s, when Walter was a Silk Weaver. By 1881, Walter had become the manager of the Co-operative Store on Bells Lane, where they lived with:

Rose was a Shop Assistant; the rest of the children, apart from Lilian, were at school.
I am struggling to find the son "Harry" in 1881; there is a Henry Game of the right vintage in Mistley, Essex, but I have my doubts as his birthplace is Glemsford as opposed to Braintree.
Silas, on the other hand, was easily found, working as a Grocer's Assistant on Brook Street, Great Clacton.

Alfred's family, in 1881, has already been dealt with earlier.

George and Ellen had moved from Seldom Waiver to Hunts Hill; George had become by then an "Engine Driver (Factory)"; predictably, the family had grown:

Louisa and Susan were Silk Winders; William was a Silk Spinner; Harry and Beatrice were at school.

John and Delilah remained in the Factory House, Duke Street, Hadleigh. John is described as "Foreman of Cocoa Matting Factory".
Their children:

were all at school. All apart from Kate (Bildeston) had been born in Hadleigh.

Samuel and Sarah had moved, and the 1881 Census shows that they moved more than once.
At the time of the Census, the family:

was living at 88 Sudell Street, just off the Rochdale Road, in the North East part of Manchester (St Michaels ward).
Samuel was a "Door Mat Maker", as were Sarah, Angelina and Herbert.
But there are several other points of interest: Glemsford > Brixton > Stowmarket > Sudbury (Glemsford?) > Liverpool > Manchester.
In the space of ten years.
My suspicion is the family moved around for what work was available.
They remained in Manchester in 1891, by when thay had two more children, and Samuel had died.

Frederick and Alice (who are hard to find in 1871) reappear in the 1881 Census in Bildeston.
Alice's birthplace is given as Great Ellingham, Norfolk. I think I have detected Alice in the 1861 Census for Great Ellingham, living with the wonderfully named Christmas Chaplin, and his wife, Elizabeth.
I think too that I have located the marriage of Alice and Frederick, in the first ¼ of 1870, in the Wayland district of Norfolk that includes Great Ellingham, but so far my online searches produce nothing for 1871.
By 1881, however, Frederick is described as "Manufacturer of Cocoa Matting, employing 3 men, 4 boys". Their family comprised:

The children were all born in Bildeston. Sarah Beaumont was a General Servant, born in Wattisham.

This is getting too long

However, I think a summary is worthwhile.
Among Henry and Susan's traceable children and grand-children, by 1881, 4 or 5 families remained in, or had returned to, Glemsford. Three others were relatively close by in Suffolk; two were in London, and one each in Brighton and Manchester.

Occupations ranged from a few still involved in the Silk industry, through a larger number in the matting business (including three with something approaching proprietorial status), to gardening, labouring, cordwaining, baking, domestic service and work on the railways.

Page created and copyright - © Steve Clarke - February 2010