The Barham Saga II – an addition

The Barham Saga II – an addition

Pea-Bee has had a bit of luck with the life story of George Mayze, the father of Lydia Matilda Barham, detailed in “The Barham Saga II” blog published 26 January 2015.

It was known that, over a 12-year period starting in January 1870, George Mayze had been in and out of Greenwich Workhouse and the associated infirmary. He had been last heard of when he left the infirmary at his own request on 27 May 1882. After then, no record had been found of him, not even his death.

Until now…

Scouring the records, Pea-Bee has found him again and can added much to his story. Foolishly, Pea-Bee was looking only at the Greenwich records. Now he has found that George was lost all because a clerk at Lewisham Workhouse had misspelt his name as Mayes – and it was only by deciphering the appalling handwriting of another clerk on a document requesting his transfer back to Greenwich that it was possible to find out what happened next; that he lived for another 12 years after he left the Greenwich infirmary in 1882.

The first clues that he had survived were two entries in the Greenwich Union Workhouse admission records for his wife, Jane Mayze (spelt correctly). In 1892, when Jane was 74, she was admitted as destitute and described as “wife of George” whose address was given as Lewisham Union Workhouse. In the autumn of 1894, after a month in the infirmary, Jane was readmitted to the Greenwich Workhouse and described as George’s widow.

Tracking back in the Lewisham records, Pea-Bee found that within two months of George’s previously known departure from the care of the Greenwich Union in 1882, he was admitted to Lewisham Union Workhouse where he remained for a year before being discharged at his own request. He made it in the outside world for all of six weeks and was then back in Lewisham Workhouse on 24 August 1883 – and this time he stayed for over nine years.

On 22 September 1892 he was removed to Greenwich Workhouse where he was immediately taken into the infirmary. He died there on 27 April 1894. He was 81 and had spent more than 20 years all told in workhouses.

His story can now be told:

George Mayze in The Workhouse

Over a 24-year period starting in January 1870, George Mayze was in and out of Greenwich and Lewisham workhouses; in total he spent more than the equivalent of 13½ years there, and nearly three years in the infirmary where he eventually died in 1894, aged 84.

Until 1877, the details in the register of admissions and discharges give little more than his previous employment (usually a labourer) and the reason for admission, almost always because he was destitute, but sometimes because he was ill or had a bad leg as well.

From 1877, the records also give his last place of residence and the name and address of the next of kin, where known.

Greenwich Union Workhouse (GUW)                                                  

18 Jan 1870 George Mayze 48 St Paul labourer ill & destitute[1] Admitted GUW

                                18 April 1870 George Mayze 48 St Paul[2] Discharged

22 Nov 1870 George Mayze 58 carman destitute[3] Admitted GUW

2 April 1871: Census Greenwich Workhouse

George Mayes, inmate, married, 59, Carman, b Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire[4]

                                5 May 1871 George Mayze 58 Greenwich[5] Discharged

10 Nov 1871 George Maye 60 destitute St Paul [6] Admitted GUW

                                4 May 1872 George Maye 61 Greenwich[7] Discharged

13 May 1872 George Mayes 61 St Paul labourer destitute[8] Admitted GUW

                                17 June 1872 George Maye 61 Greenwich[9] Discharged

4 Sept 1872 George Mayze 62 St Paul labourer destitute[10] Admitted GUW                   

                                30 May 1873 George Maze 62 Greenwich[11] Discharged

21 Aug 1874 George Mayze 63 St Paul labourer destitute[12] Admitted GUW                  

                                22 June 1875 George Mayze 64 Greenwich[13] Discharged

4 Aug 1875 George Mayze labourer 62 bad leg and destitute[14] Admitted GUW           

                                2 May 1876 George Mayze 65 St Paul[15] Discharged

18 April 1877 George Mayze labourer 63 destitute Gothic Hall*; daughter E Taylor 59 Angus St †[16] Admitted GUW

                                19 June 1877 George Maye 67 St Paul[17] Discharged

2 Oct 1878 George Mayze labourer 65 St Paul wife Jane 2 Sisters Cottages, Seymour St, New Town[18] Admitted GUW

                                2 Oct 1878 George Mayze 65[19] To infirmary         

2 Oct 1878 George Mayze 1813 Labourer St Paul[20] Admitted to infirmary from GUW

                                30 July 1879 George Mayze 65 St Paul[21] left infirmary at own request

16 Sept 1879 George Mayze labourer 67 Straightsmouth§, wife add not known[22] Admitted GUW

                                17 Sept 1879 George Mayze 67 Greenwich[23] To infirmary

17 Sept 1879 George Mayze 1812 Labourer Greenwich[24] Admitted to infirmary from GUW

                                3 May 1880 George Mayze 67 Greenwich[25] left infirmary at own request

15 May 1880 George Mayze 68 Greenwich. Horsekeeper 16 John St, Cold Bath, daughter Mrs Taylor 2 Sisters Cottages Seymour St, St Johns Rd[26] Admitted GUW

                                30 June 1880 George Mayze 68 Greenwich[27] Discharged

1 Sept 1880 George Mayze 68 Greenwich a labourer destitute daughter Mrs Taylor 2 Sisters Cottages, Seymour St, St Johns Rd[28] Admitted GUW                                                                          

3 April 1881: Census Greenwich Workhouse

George Mayze, inmate, married, 68, horsekeeper, Staughton, Huntingdonshire[29]

                                20 June 1881 Geo Mayze 68 Greenwich[30] Discharged

20 Aug 1881 George Mayze 69 St Pauls Horsekeeper Freeks Mill Lane‡ no friends destitute [31] Admitted GUW    

                                22 Aug 1881 George Mayze 62 St Pauls[32] To Infirmary [two entries, first deleted]

22 Aug 1881 George Mayze 1819 St Pauls Horsekeeper[33] Admitted to infirmary from GUW

                                27 May 1882 George Mazye 62 St Pauls[34] left infirmary at own request

Lewisham Union Workhouse (LUW)

24 July 1882 George Mayes 69 1813 labourer, Lewisham[35] Admitted LUW

                                11 July 1883 George Mayes Lewisham[36] Discharged at own request

24 August 1883 Mayes George, 70 1810, labourer, Lewisham[37]

5 April 1891: Census Lewisham Union Workhouse

George Mayes, patient, married, horsekeeper retired b Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire[38]

                                22 September 1892 Mayes George 70 Lewisham Jerrard’s Stables, Loampit Vale¶[39] Removed to Greenwich Union

Greenwich Union Workhouse (GUW)

22 September 1892 George Maze 82 St Paul wife in house[40] Removed from Lewisham

                                22 September 1892 George Maze 82 St Paul[41] To Infirmary

27 April 1894 George Maze 84 St Paul[42] Died in Infirmary

The Removal Documents of 22 September 1892 reveal much and sections are worth quoting in full:

1. Particulars of Supposed Settlement :-

Lived and worked in Lewisham and Deptford for many years past, but nowhere for three years at a time, but ? this.

(x) wife lives, or did live at 8 King  St New Town Deptford. See his wife and other relatives &c

2. Names and Address of Persons from whom Enquiries are made :-

Names                                                           Addresses                               Points involved in such enquiries

Mrs Bathe         [*1]        )                           8 King St                                  )

Mrs Bradley      [*2]        )                           New Town, Deptford                   )

                                                                                                                 )        Living, renting & residence 

Mrs Taylor         [*3]                                   31 Ravensbourne Street    ††      )       at Greenwich

                                                                      Deptford                              )

                                                                                                                )

Mrs Robinson     [*4]                                 Deptford Green                            )

                                                                                                                  )

Mrs Mayes (wife)                                    Greenwich Union                            )

                                                                        Workhouse                         )

3. Memoranda (if any) upon Enquiries :-

(x) His wife is at present an inmate of Greenwich Union Workhouse

4. Particulars of Legal Place of Settlement :-

Geo Mayes hired, rented, & occupied on or about December 1870 up to and about December 1872, No 1 Wellington Grove, Greenwich Rd** in the Parish of Greenwich within the Greenwich Union in the Coy of London, & that he resided upon the said premises during the same period & paid a rent of £20 per ann & all rates & taxes to which he was assessed in respect thereof & that he had since resided with the said Greenwich Union for many years continuously & has frequently been chargeable thereto

Jane Mayze in The Workhouse

George’s wife Jane managed to stay out of the workhouse until she was in her 70s, but eventually died there in 1896, aged 77

Lewisham Union Workhouse (LUW)

5 October 1888 Jane Mayes wife 70 1818 Lewisham destitute[43] Admitted LUW

                                15 August 1889 Jane Mayes 71 Lewisham[44] own request

Greenwich Union Workhouse (GUW)                                                  

21 July 1892 Mayze Jane wife of George Lab Lewisham Union 74 St Paul destitute[45] Admitted GUW        

23 Oct 1894 Mayze Jane 1819 St Paul[46] Admitted to Infirmary

                                23 Nov 1894 Mayze Jane 75 Greenwich Infirm Wd[47] Discharged from Infirmary

23 Nov 1894 Mayze Jane wid of George a horsekeeper daug Mrs Taylor 3 Ravensbourne St †† 75 Greenwich[48] Admitted GUW from infirmary

15 July 1896 Maze Jane 77 St Paul[49] Died in GUW

There is no record that the entry into the infirmary in 1894 was from Greenwich Union Workhouse Woolwich Road. It is possible that Jane entered the infirmary directly, previously been discharged from Woolwich Road. According to one image of the index Greenwich Workhouse Woolwich Road 1893 (image 42) there was an entry for “Maize Jane” on folio 60 but there is not such note on the other index page (image 41) nor is there any actual entry on images 190-191 which correspond to folio 60 and covering the period May 15 and 16 1893.

Footnotes

* Gothic Hall, Deptford Broadway was a very large coffee shop and lodging house run by William Miller

† Elizabeth Taylor (1842-1916), a dressmaker, was George and Jane’s second child. She had married George Taylor, the son of a Deptford miller David Taylor, in 1863 but was widowed after seven years in which time she had had three children (she had another two – father unknown – after her husband died)

§ Straightsmouth is the name of a street in Greenwich

‡ Julia Freak ran a common lodging house at 11 Mill Lane

¶ Samuel Jerrard was a master builder who ran a large organisation – in 1881 he was employing 240 men and 10 boys – whose main depot was in Loampit Vale

** George was actually in Greenwich Workhouse in 1871 and 1 Wellington Grove was occupied by various unrelated people. However, in 1861, Jane Mayze’s brother William Bradley was there with his family – including his one-month-old son Henry, with Jane Mayze present as nurse. At that time, George and his children were at 11 St James Place West. Jane was living at 8 King Street in 1871 (with William and Tabitha Bradley and family) but where she was in 1881 has not been determined
†† These are mistakes in the records: Elizabeth Taylor's address was actually 33 Ravensbourne Street

[*1] Eva Bathe (nee Bradley) = George's niece

[*2] Tabitha Bradley (nee Morton) = George's brother-in-law's wife

[*3] Elizabeth Taylor (nee Mayze) = George's daughter

[*4] Relationship not known

---

[1] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/6 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1868-1870 image 259

[2] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/6 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1868-1870 image 301

[3] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 99

[4] 1871 England Census Class: RG10; Piece: 761; Folio: 40; Page: 23; GSU roll: 824728 Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich East>District Greenwich Workhouse image 24

[5] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 167

[6] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 245

[7] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 319

[8] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 322

[9] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 337

[10] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/7 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 364

[11] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/8 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1872-1874 image 159

[12] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/9 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1874-1876 image 78

[13] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/9 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1874-1876 image 244

[14] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/9 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1874-1876 image 263

[15] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/10 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1876-1877 image 81

[16] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/10 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1876-1877 image 278

[17] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/10 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1870-1872 image 312

[18] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1877-1878 image 264

[19] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1877-1878 image 265

[20] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1876-1878 image 349

[21] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1878-1880 image 120

[22] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 40

[23] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 41

[24] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1878-1880 image 135

[25] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1880-1881 image 61

[26] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 163

[27] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 188

[28] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/12 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 223

[29] 1881 England Census Class: RG11; Piece: 727; Folio: 71; Page: 25; GSU roll: 1341169 London>Greenwich>Greenwich East>District Union Workhouse image 27

[30] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/13 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1879-1880 image 194

[31] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/13 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1880-1882 image 229

[32] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/13 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1880-1882 image 230, 232

[33] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1881-1882 image 38

[34] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1881-1882 image 186

[35] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/23

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1882-1883 image 19; LEBG/209/14

Lewisham>Lewisham>Records of Workhouses and Institutions: Registers of Inmates (General) 1881-1885 [Vagrants] image 53

[36] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/23

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1882-1883 image 78

[37] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/23

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1882-1883 image 88; LEBG/209/14

Lewisham>Lewisham>Records of Workhouses and Institutions: Registers of Inmates (General) 1881-1885 [Vagrants] image 123

[38] 1891 England Census Class: RG12; Piece: 522; Folio: 193; Page: 14; GSU roll: 6095632 London>Lewisham>Lewisham>District Lewisham Union Workhouse image 15

[39] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/32

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1892-1893 image 19; Lewisham>Lewisham>Orders of Removal Outwards 1892 image 762-776

[40] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/23 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1892-1893 image 195

[41] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/23 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1892-1893 image 196

[42] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admission & Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill, 1894-1896 image 31

[43] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/28

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1888-1889 image 13

[44] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 LeBG/198/28

Lewisham>Lewisham>Lewisham High St Workhouse 1888-1889 image 220

[45] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/23 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1892-1893 image 126

[46] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1894-1895 image 23

[47] Greenwich>Greenwich>Admissions and Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill 1894-1895 image 46

[48] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/26 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1894 image 347

[49] London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930 GBG/250/29 Greenwich>Greenwich>Workhouse Woolwich Road>1896-1897 image 169