YFT156_Sampler

Who did your family vote for?

May 2015 Issue 156

www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk

R“ead allNEWSPAPERSPECIAL TRACK DOWN
about it!” SURREY ROOTS

Dinatinsocdoygoveeutrrvuaannluicqeausbteloerreisnc’ olsiirvgdehssts How this southern county
and its people have grown
FREE
over the centuries
Surrey
CeNSuS May 2015 PRINTeD IN THe uK £5.25
reCOrDS!

GOING TO aMeRICa

Trace the British and
Ilirvisehs iwnhtohestUarSteAd new

PLUS Use census substitutes
online, discover those who fought
the Bismarck, straw workers, find
family in rate books and more!

Contents

May 2015 ISSUE 156

52

22 56

How to...

26 pages packed with practical family
history advice starting on page 50

COVER FEATURE: FREE ACCESS: 1901 60 66

NEWSPAPER RESEARCh SURREY CENSUS

22 Discover how old 14 Trace your ancestors in
newspapers can offer the South East, plus learn
an incredible new avenue to more about the areas they lived in
your family history research. using records on TheGenealogist.

RESEARCh ROUTES: SOCIAL hISTORY: ThE 68 72
SURREY
mAkINg OF AmERICA
38 Delve into the history
of this Home County, 80 Discover how millions of
which was permanently tied to British and Irish people
neighbouring London. left their homes and contributed
to the American dream.
4 YOUr FAmILY TrEE May 2015

Contents

YOUR STORIES

ASSASSINS & CLAN ChIEFS

34 When our reader delved
into his past, much of the
work had been done, revealing
some surprising ancestors.

62 80 TAmINg ThE WILd WEST

ARTICLES HOW TO... 42 The journey of an
ancestor who lived his
18 ImAgE FROm ThE PAST... American dream of an outdoor life
Our photo expert tries to date a collection of worn until blindness retired him.
portraits by looking at the unique fashion on show.
52 gET STARTEd:
22 COVER FEATURE: NEWSPAPERS
From notices and obituaries to coroners’ reports and ELECTION RECORdS
criminal stories, old newspapers can offer unique
insights into your family’s history. You can find a surprising amount from these official
documents, including who our ancestors voted for.
38 RESEARCh ROUTES: SURREY
Learn about the history of London’s southerly 56 LOOkINg ONLINE: CENSUS SUBSTITUTES
neighbour and how it became a commuter town.
We help you uncover the records you need to track
48 FAmILY SNAPShOTS down family between, before and after census years.
This issue we look at a marvellous Victorian wedding
as well as a seafaring family connection. 60 hANdS ON: ShARE YOUR SkELETON IN ThE
RESEARCh dISCOVERIES CUPBOARd: mURdER
80 SOCIAL hISTORY: ThE mAkINg Learn how to design leaflets and booklets in an IN hALF mOON YARd
OF AmERICA attractive way when showing off your discoveries.
We travel in our ancestors’ wake across the Atlantic to 98 A jealous fisherman
discover their contribution to a young United States. 62 OCCUPATIONS: dISCOVER STRAW unleashed his terror
WORkERS and fury on an estranged lover.
96 NAmES: PARkER Discover why everyone from thatchers to milliners
Anthony Adolph explains that you don’t have to be a avoided the short straw and made lots of money. REGULARS
nosey parker to know where this surname originated.
66 YFT RECOmmENdS: BIRmINghAm: 6 Letters
46 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! BACk TO BACkS 8 Agenda
We visit Birmingham’s last remaining court of 14 Free census records
Enjoy YFT for less with a fantastic back-to-backs to look at the lives of former residents. 16 What’s on
subscriber discount! 17 Inside the SoG
68 mILTARY hISTORY: ThE hUNT FOR 20 Teamtalk
ThE BISmARCk 46 Subscriptions
The story of the British Home Fleet’s race across the 76 Expert Q&A
Atlantic in a bid to salvage pride and sink a monster. 86 Reviews
93 Seeking
72 gOINg FURThER: RATE BOOkS 94 Overseas subscriptions
Find out why these often overlooked tax records 97 Next issue
are great for keeping track of your ancestors.

May 2015 YOUr FAmILY TrEE 5

Read all about it... Newspaper research

Newspaper research

READ ALL
ABOUT IT
From notices and obituaries to coroners’ reports and criminal
stories, old newspapers can ofer an incredible avenue of family
history research if you know where to look
Newspapers have a long history
in the UK. There were no concerned with major national and international
regular publications before events. They were also very far from objective,
the early 17th century, with newspapers from the Civil War period in
but one-off newsletters particular being used to circulate propaganda.
covering specific events
were sometimes produced. For example, a In 1665 the Oxford Gazette was published by
1513 pamphlet described the Battle of Flodden, licence from the government, as an official
while 1549 saw the production of a newsletter record of government activities. Charles II and
concerning the Devon and Cornwall Rebellion. his court were residing in Oxford at the time, due
to the plague in London. When they returned to
The first news periodical to be printed in London, the Gazette went with them, commencing
England was the Corante, which first went to publication as the London Gazette in 1666. It still
press in 1621. The publishers had to obtain a exists today as an official government publication.
licence from the government, as there was a law
in place at that time forbidding the publication You are unlikely to find information on
of news in England. English language periodicals working-class ancestors in early issues of the
were in print before this date, but they were Gazette, but if your forebears were in business
produced in Amsterdam, not in England. The or in the military, you could come across useful
circulation numbers of the early newspapers were information since the Gazette covered matters
small, with only a few hundred copies of each such as bankruptcy and awards of medals.
Corante being printed.
Ordinary people do feature in the Gazette, but
These early newspapers are unlikely to assist generally in relation to fairly unusual or one-off
family historians to any great extent, as they were events in their lives. For example, if you have
foreign ancestry, you might well find a record
of them being granted British citizenship.

Words by Anne Corlett

22 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

Read all about it... Newspaper research © alamy / Carpet Scretch by Ewan Thot on Flickr / iStockphoto.com

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 23

CASE STUDy OnE

Unearthing assassins
and clan chieftains

When scriptwriter Bob Rogers delved into his past, much of the work had already
been done for him… And some surprising ancestors were waiting to say hello

By Bob Rogers Her name is know who I was. I knew I was mother’s side. My parents
forgotten, the son of a Welsh soldier and were dead so there was no
Scriptwriter Bob her world an English factory worker one to answer my questions.
was born in Wales unimaginably whose family came originally
but grew up in different to mine. Around from the Midlands, but that If there’s one piece of
Stratford-Upon- was all I knew. All I had to advice I could give anyone
Avon. A former regional the time primitive religions go on were the names of my embarking on ancestry
newspaper editor, Bob still were raising monuments grandparents and a few tales research, it would be to quiz
contributes regularly to such as Stonehenge, there about their areas of origin. parents and grandparents,
papers and magazines. His lived a woman in what used aunts and uncles while you
latest play, Trevor’s House, to be called The Levant Even though I was curious can, and write it all down –
opened in London in April. – approximately where about my forebears, the once they’re gone, it all goes
Lebanon and Israel now stand. amount of detective work, with them.
Poor Law I owe my existence to her. travelling and snail mail
Union houses involved made any serious With no famous or
She is of paramount research prohibitive. But I was infamous relatives I expected
Workhouses were importance to me because a determined to discover whose little if anything from my
sometimes well meaning DNA test proves she was my fault it was that I was here. first online foray, but I was
direct ancestor. We really can staggered by the amount of
but often brutal places go that far back now thanks NEW braNchEs information available on my
where families were to leaps in genetic databasing. ancestors. Thanks to research
First I collated all the by a relative I didn’t even
divided. In some cases they This woman sits at one end information I could. This know I had, I was able to trace
were never reunited. The of a traceable line passing amounted to little more my tree back to 1604. There
National archives keeps a across the Mediterranean and than a couple of old Army were hints that it went a lot
record of Poor Law Union Europe all the way to Britain, documents, a pay book and deeper and wider, too.
houses, but individual and I, like her other direct service record for my father,
descendants, sit at the other. and a few family photos and As I travelled back through
counties often have helpful newspaper notices from my the generations, the branches
and comprehensive lists on My ancestral research divided again and again
began because I wanted to until there were many
the inmates and staff. paths to follow. Some ended
abruptly among communities
Harsh punishments where record keeping was
mainly verbal. This meant
in harsh times some big questions were
left unanswered. My great-
Elizabeth Dubber feared the worst as she stood grandfather, William Mitchell,
accused in the dock had died aged 20. Why?

When Elizabeth Dubber stood in the dock of Gloucester Assizes on 6 January I knew only the village
1835, the 52-year-old grandmother feared the worst. She was charged with he lived in, Uckington,
larceny of food and could have found herself sent to the other side of the world. near Cheltenham, so I paid
Gloucestershire Record Office
She stood with four co-defendants and we can only assume that the amount £10 for a copy of his death
of food stolen was not significant and hadn’t been taken from someone of certificate. It said he died of
substantial social standing, as her sentence was a ‘mere’ month in prison. Phthisis. I had never heard
of it, but apparently it’s an
That was no easy option either. Prisoners were worked hard and rations were archaic name for tuberculosis.
meagre. Physical punishments were frequent and hygiene levels were William’s occupation was
described by Quaker reformers of the time as “inhuman and appalling.” listed as milkman. In the
Elizabeth must have been made of the right stuff, though, as she survived her days before pasteurisation,
ordeal and lived until the age of 82 – quite an achievement for those times (the drinking ‘milk straight from
national average life expectancy in the 1830s was 41). the cow’ resulted in many
cases of TB being contracted.

34 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

Case Study One: Unearthing assassins and clan chieftains

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 35

Research routes:
Surrey

Following a fairly uneventful history, this Home County’s
fortunes were tied to London when the railways gave birth
to the notion of the commuter town

©GenevieveVallee/Alamy

Home sweet home almshouses The fact that Surrey subjugate the local populace, Pioneering a narrow boat winds
were usually allocated to the poor of County Council and in 1215 the Magna Carta its way through Guildford on the
the community. The picture shows ones is not even based was issued at Runnymede. Wey Navigation, one of the country’s
that still survive in Farnham in Surrey – it has first canals
called Kingston-upon-Thames, Despite the significance of
Writer Much of HG Wells’ 1898 novel part of Greater London, its this monumental document Surrey’s relative
The War of the Worlds is set in Surrey home since the 1960s – bears being sealed within its obscurity had one
with many specific towns and villages testament to the relationship borders, Surrey nonetheless positive side-effect,
identified. The Martians first land on that the county has with had relatively little political in that it remained
Horsell Common on the north side of the capital. or economic significance relatively untouched
Woking, outside the Bleak House pub during this period. Even its by major wars
By itself, Surrey’s influence agricultural potential was and rebellions
was scarce for many centuries, limited by the soil, although
with the possible exception timber and charcoal were
that from the 10th to the 11th produced from the forests
century, Guildford was the of the Weald.
location of the Royal Mint.
After the Battle of Hastings Surrey’s main source of
in Sussex, it was also the next wealth towards the end of
port of call for the invading the Middle Ages was the
Norman army, which enjoyed production of woollen cloth,
another victory at Southwark particularly around Guildford
before marching on London.

In the 12th century,
fortresses such as Guildford
Castle and Farnham Castle
were erected to further

38 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

Research routes: Surrey

©HomerSykes/Alamy
©BANANAPANCAKE/Alamy

Picturesque
Shere is one of

the many
chocolate box-
style villages in

the county

Royal Hampton Court Palace, illuminated at night, was originally
built for Cardinal Wolsey in 1514, but when he fell out of favour

with King Henry VIII the latter took it over and made it bigger

©IanShaw/Alamy Surrey timeline

and Godalming. Thanks to the region, as well as more Key historical dates in the county’s history
its location halfway between influential major towns in
London and Portsmouth, neighbouring counties, totally g 978 The Royal Mint opens at Guildford, and goes
Godalming also developed as overshadowed the county. on to strike coins for kings from Ethelred the
a staging post for traders, with Unready to William I.
a weekly market. Surrey’s relative obscurity
did have one positive side- g 1215 In the Surrey village of Runnymede, by the
Similarly, Farnham’s effect, however, in that side of the Thames, the Magna Carta is sealed.
location at the midway it remained relatively
point between London and untouched by the major g 1625 Chilworth Gunpowder Works is established
Winchester meant that the wars and rebellions over by the East India Company, and operates
Bishop of Winchester often the centuries – such as continuously until 1920.
used Farnham Castle as a the Peasants’ Revolt in the
stop-off point between the 14 century, the Wars of the g 1653 The Wey Navigation, one of the country’s
cathedral and the capital. Roses in the 15th century and very first canal systems, is constructed in Surrey.
even the English Civil War in
The county seemed destined the 17th century, when the g 1820 The so-called ‘Guy Riots’ begin in
to be a place for passing county was quickly secured Guildford, which saw periods of violence and
through on the way to the by Parliamentarian forces and semi-lawlessness every 5 November. These
capital, however, rather than a remained in their hands, save continued until 1865.
destination in itself. London’s for a few relatively minor
expansion and dominance of g 1838 Woking station opens, kick-starting the
growth of the new settlement as a commuter town.

g 1849 Godalming is connected to London by rail,
and 10 years later a line also opens to Portsmouth.

g 1854 Aldershot becomes the ‘home of the British
Army’, intended as a permanent training camp.

g 1889 The new County of London absorbs many
settlements that were once in Surrey, including
Putney and Streatham.

g 1895 Dennis Brothers is established in Guildford,
and later becomes known for its fire engines
and buses.

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 39

Get started: 19th century progressed. The
Election records Chartists had argued for the
vote for all men over 21,
How did your ancestor vote, and what interest did they and a secret ballot in
take in elections? You can fnd the answers and a surprising elections. Its petitions
amount more from archival records to parliament, although
signed by millions, were
In 1802 the Morning was limited to certain male more people to vote – it unsuccessful, but the
Post, writing about Irish householders, freeholders and was still limited to only men movement did herald change.
elections, noted that it ratepayers, the electorate was over the age of 21, but now
was “not uncommon to also small. In the late-18th including small landowners, In the 1850s, newspapers
find, upon these occasions, and early- 19th centuries, farmers and shopkeepers acknowledged that as “the
majorities and minorities of the total electorate across the rather than just the gentry. legislation of the House
hundreds and thousands, English constituencies was of Commons perpetually
although the whole number under 200,000, and voters Demands for increased affects labour, it would be
really assembled should not in Wales and Scotland were suffrage gathered pace as the satisfactory to have the
amount to more than 20 similarly few in number. opinions of the best men
or 30.” In the late-18th and among the working classes
By the late 1820s, the early- 19th centuries, embodied in their votes.”
Voting at this time could corruption of politics in terms the total electorate (Daily News, 2 January
be a corrupt affair. Rotten of rotten and pocket boroughs across the English 1850). However, it wasn’t
and pocket boroughs were and the disenfranchisement constituencies was until the 1860s, following
infamous – constituencies of people increasingly became under 200,000, due demonstrations by the Reform
where there were only a an issue. When the Whigs to restrictions League, which campaigned for
few voters or where the formed a government in 1830, working-class representation
prospective MP could pay off their Prime Minister, Earl in Parliament, that the second
voters or simply inherit the Grey, promised to carry out Parliamentary Reform Act
seat from family members. reforms. The resulting Great was passed. This gave the
Because the right to vote Reform Act of 1832 enabled vote to all males who owned
property worth £5 or more if
they were in the counties, and
those who paid rent of at least
£10 a year in the boroughs.

This vastly increased the
numbers of people who could
vote, and meant that they

Top three: Election resources

Go beyond census returns to fnd out about those who were able to vote
and the politics of the day

Poll books electoral registers local newsPaPers

1Poll books were used for various types of 2The registration of voters has been a 3 local newspapers are an excellent
election until 1872. For london, you can statutory requirement since 1832. source of information about local and
find poll books in the london metropolitan registers of those individuals who were national elections – not just details of the
archives, some of which have been eligible to vote have been published every candidates and what they stood for, as
digitised by ancestry. They detail voters’ year since, except for 1916-1917 and shown in letters and adverts, but also about
addresses, occupations, and basis of 1940-1944. electoral registers contain annual ordinary people’s involvement in politics,
eligibility to vote, as well as details of the lists of the names and residences of people from campaigning to being bribed with
people standing for election. who were eligible to vote in elections. drink before going to the polls.

52 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

Get started: Election records ©WalkerArtLibrary/Alamy

Corrupt This
engraving shows

an election
candidate soliciting

a vote in 1834

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 53

Looking online:
Census substitutes

Track down your family between, tracing the movements of an
before and after census years associated family.

T he regular decennial entries destroyed. All of these For England and Wales,
census in Britain resources are great, but how one of the most significant
first started in 1801, can we trace individuals in resources is the Historical
but individuals’ the years between returns, Directories collection from
names didn’t form part of as well as before 1841 and the University of Leicester’s
the returns until 1841. The after 1911? Fortunately there special collections page
census itself has continued to are many substitutes finding http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/
be gathered every ten years their way online to help plug cdm. This contains some 675
since 1911, with the exception the gaps. volumes from 1750 to 1919,
of 1941 when the UK was although most holdings are
at war, but the returns are directories from 1850 onwards. There's
protected by a 100-year at least one directory for
privacy rule. In Ireland, the A useful way to trace each English and Welsh
records first started in 1821, ancestors between census county for the 1850s, 1890s
naming individuals from the years is to consult street and and 1910s, although more
start, but the only surviving trade directories. These don’t are available for many areas.
full censuses available name every member of a A separate project on the
online are those for 1901 household, but just the heads. website, Historical Directories
and 1911, with most earlier Tracing their movements of Leicestershire, focuses on
can often be a handy way of that county alone, with some
50 trade and street directories

Step-by-step: Find an
ancestor between censuses

Pursue your family one year at a time through street directories

street directories finding a household note the details vanishing families

1one of the easiest ways to 2 on the Scottish Post office 3 once you have found the 4 During such a search, you
check movements of families Directories website you can family you are looking for, may occasionally find that an
between addresses from search by name, or browse the move on to the next annual ancestor’s family disappears from
census to census is to consult directories individually. Starting directory for the same area and an address. This may be because
street directories. For illustrative with one of the census years, repeat the search, doing so for they have simply moved along
purposes we will pursue a identify the household in which each year until the next census. to another address on the street.
Scottish example, with the your ancestor lived. Please Note the details of each entry as However, if that's not the case
National library of Scotland’s keep in mind that unless your there may be subtle differences you could always check the
Post office Directories being ancestor was relatively wealthy, in the occupations noted, or occupations section of the
one of the most complete you may be more likely to find in the recorded head of directory to see if the head of
directories collections currently him or her in more recent household. These could lead household is listed at a new
available online. directories than in earlier ones. to new avenues of research. address there.

56 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

Looking online: Census substitutes

©MintImagesLimited/Alamy

Resourceful Census Finder helps you discover
various census substitutes, including militia lists,

directories and pre-1841 census fragments

social context hosted on the site from the Ancestry (www.ancestry. a particular nod to its
1790s to the 1910s. co.uk) has several collections London holdings from 1677-
5 a site that ties into the NlS available, including its UK 1940, as well as for Wales
Scottish directories project English Trade Directories and US Directories 1680- and Scotland. Additional
is addressing History at http:// of the 19th century (http:// 1830 database, a compilation directories are available on
addressinghistory.edina.ac.uk. tinyurl.com/4pyhmr) has of biographical extracts Findmypast (www.findmypast.
The site plots information from directories from 1830 from over 140 directories co.uk) and Family Relatives
directories for edinburgh, covering Bedfordshire, from England, and an (www.familyrelatives.com).
Glasgow and aberdeen onto Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, entirely separate UK City
contemporary maps. You can Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, and County Directories North of the border you can
search by surnames, places and Cumberland, Durham, 1600-1900 collection, with find some 700 digitised Post
professions to gain an idea of Huntingdon, Northampton, many impressive holdings Office directories from the
the contemporary environment Northumberland, Oxford, for the whole of Britain. You 1770s to 1911 on the National
for the directories featured. Westmoreland, Wiltshire and can find further directories Library of Scotland website at
Worcester, as well as Slater’s on TheGenealogist (www. http://digital.nls.uk/directories,
1854 trade directory for the thegenealogist.co.uk), with while the entire collection
county of Durham. (along with a further 300
digitised editions beyond 1911
Irish tithes for cities and towns across the
country) is freely available
The National archives of Ireland’s tithes collection is for the on the Internet Archive
Republic, but it does contain some cross border entries. Note also at https://archive.org/details/
that the ancestry.co.uk database, which includes Northern Irish scottishdirectories. In Northern
tithes records, is incomplete but microfilmed copies for all are Ireland, street directories
held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). from 1820-1900 have been

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 57

Te Words by
Colin Ellson
of

Between 1840 and 1930, an estimated 26 million Europeans left

their homelands to fnd a new life in the New World. We discover
the British and Irish contribution to the American dream...n Britain, the Victorian era
down, like the head of an elephant in a Symbolic European
was a time of deprivation state of melancholy madness.” migrants in the 1890s
for the majority of the see the Statue of Liberty
working population, with Leaving behind such horrors for a new in New york harbour for
workers facing long hours, life became the target for many British the first time. For many it
harsh conditions and workers. It wasn't long before a trickle was a symbol of hope for
minimal wages in the became a flood, and from 1840 to 1930 a better life
various steel works, mines five million workers left their cramped
and sordid conditions for the wide open Unlucky Irish
Iand cotton mills of the spaces and clean air of America.

Industrial Revolution. Across the Irish Sea, life was similarly

Child labour was common in both harsh for the inhabitants of a mainly From a subsistence-level agrarian

factory and field, where men, women agrarian society. From 1820 to 1900, background, only a small number of Irish

and children braved all weathers to earn around four million Irish people left the immigrants went west to work on the land.

a pittance that barely allowed them to gentle rain and peat bogs of the Emerald Classed as peasants, few had the money to

remain above the poverty line. Isle to search for a new beginning on the buy land or had the skills and experience to

Charles Dickens described the reality other side of the Atlantic. make a success of large-scale agriculture.

of the industrial cities in his imaginary

Coketown in the novel Hard Times: “It

was a town of red brick, or of brick that

would have been red if the smoke and

ashes had allowed it. It was a town of

machinery and tall chimneys, out of

which interminable serpents of smoke

trailed themselves forever and ever. It

had a black canal in it, and a river that

ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and

vast piles of building where there was

a rattling and a trembling all day long,

and where the piston of the steam-

engine worked monotonously up and

Arrival In this colour painting, Irish immigrants are ©PeterNewark'sPictures
depicted landing in New york, c1855, at the bustling
harbour where natives and immigrants mingle

80 Your FamilY Tree May 2015

May 2015 Your FamilY Tree 81

Skeleton in the cupboard

Murder in
Half Moon
Yard

A jealous fsherman unleashed his terror
and fury on an estranged lover

I n late July 1882, the peace Mr Barrington, a surgeon, and neglecting to maintain about her having left him and
of a warm afternoon in arrived shortly after. Despite his wife. There were also gone with Altham, and I have
Kings Lynn was disturbed his efforts, Harriet also died. several cases of assault. heard him threaten her, and
by screams of “Murder!” he told me he would buy a
Just before 3pm, Harriet sheer terror Park was a jealous man who revolver and shoot her rather
Fox, who was living in Half fell passionately in love with than she should marry.”
Moon Yard with fisherman Half Moon Yard was in Harriet. They lived together
Park Twaits, threw open the the heart of the north end for 11 years but there were The jury were convinced
window and called to Martha of Kings Lynn, a fishing frequent quarrels, leading to that Harriet was a victim
Backham below, “Oh Martha, community of hard-working violence on his part. One time of wilful murder by Park
I’m murdered.” families. Park was the owner- she was seen covered in blood and that he took his own
skipper of Wave, a vessel used as a result of his attack. He’d life while suffering from
Seeing blood streaming for mussel fishing. He had two often been heard to utter his temporary insanity.
from Harriet’s head, Martha sons from a previous marriage intention to “do for” Harriet.
ran for help while neighbour but had abandoned his family. Caroline opened a
Mary Ward rushed to the foot fit of insanity subscription list to “give the
of the stairs as Harriet fell At the age of 48 Park stood woman a decent burial.” Park
to the bottom. Mary carried about 5 foot 10 inches tall and Their relationship worsened was buried at the expense of
Harriet into the yard where weighed about 15 stone. Over when Harriet took a job a brother and sister. Harriet’s
the dying woman repeated a ten-year period he appeared as servant at the Horse coffin was carried to the grave
“I am murdered”, and then before Lynn magistrates 16 and Groom public house, by fishermen. Her friends
became unconscious. times for offences including with lodging, and became followed, then came Park’s
being drunk and disorderly, acquainted with John Altham. coffin. Hundreds of people
Superintendent George She was still friendly with watched the procession.
Ware of Lynn Police, my great- Park was a jealous Park but his jealousy was
grandfather, was on duty and man who fell aroused by her familiarity The plates on the lids of the
responded to Martha’s request passionately in love with John, especially when he coffins bore the text: “The
for help. Followed by PC Laws, with Harriet. They heard she was to marry him. spirit shall return unto God
Ware ran to Half Moon Yard lived together for 11 who gave it,” and the words
where he found Harriet. At years but there were Caroline Kirby, wife of the “Park T Twaits, died 20th
the inquest he reported that: frequent quarrels pub’s landlord, said at the July, 1882, aged 46 years” and
“She was alive, but insensible. inquest: “I heard quarrels “Harriet Fox, died 20th July,
I noticed that she had a between Harriet and Twaits 1882, aged 41 years.” n
wound on the left side of the
head near the ear and another By Elizabeth Lloyd
on the left breast near the
region of the heart.” Elizabeth is a volunteer writer and researcher
for www.hospitalproject.co.uk/, the old
In the bedroom, police Workhouse in Guildford. Elizabeth has been
found evidence of a struggle, a keen family historian since 1998 and has
stating: “The bed was had articles published in the Lynn News and Vantage
saturated with blood and Point magazine. You can view her blog, Lost in the Past,
the wall and floor were at http://somerville66.blogspot.co.uk.
bespattered with it.” Ware
found Park unconscious on
the floor, a spring-backed
knife, 10 inches long, in his
hand, with blood on the
blade, Park had a wound just
above the heart region and
died about five minutes later.

98 your family tree May 2015