The Barham Saga II

The Mayze Family

Lydia Matilda Mayze was born Lydia Matilda Bradley, the natural child of Jane Bradley of Greenwich. She was born on 27 October 1840 and baptised at St Paul’s, Deptford, in January the following year, when her father’s name was given as William Bradley. This was probably a clerical error, as William was Jane’s 16-year-old brother who may have been standing in as godfather[1] [Fig 1].

At the time of the 1841 census, Lydia was living in a house in Lewisham Road, Greenwich, with her grandparents – John and Elizabeth Bradley – her mother Jane; a spinster aunt, Mary; and her uncle, the young William Bradley[2]. John and William were both coal porters and Jane was a dressmaker.

Jane married George Mayze later in 1841[3] and Lydia was given her stepfather’s name. George Mayze was born in Staughton, Huntingdonshire, in about 1813 and, although she grew up in Greenwich, Jane had been born in Fulham in about 1819.

Jane and George were to have two more children: Elizabeth Jane Mayze (b1842) and Henry William Mayze (b1856)

John and Elizabeth Bradley died in 1846 and 1848 respectively[4] and the occupants of the house in Lewisham Road in 1851 were: George and Jane Mayze, Lydia and her new sister, Elizabeth; a two-month-old “nurse child” George Clark; William Bradley and his wife of less than a year, Tabitha, and Tabitha’s 4-year-old daughter Sarah Ann. There were also two young watermen lodgers, George and Thomas Cooper[5].

George Mayze was described as “out of employ formerly horsekeeper” and William Bradley as a carman.

On the night of the 1861 census, George Mayze, a carman, was living at 11 St James Place West, Greenwich, with his three children (Lydia, Elizabeth and Henry) and George Clark, now 10 years old but still described as a “nurse child”[6].

On the same night, Jane was described as “nurse” and was not far away with her brother William and his family, Tabitha having just given birth to her fourth child[7].

Elizabeth Mayze married George Taylor on 24 May 1863 at St Nicholas, Deptford, and Lydia Matilda Mayze signed with a confident hand as one of the witnesses[8] [Fig 2].

However, the Mayze family fortunes declined.

Each year, over an 12-year period starting in January 1870, George Mayze was in and out of Greenwich Workhouse; in total, he spent more than the equivalent of four years there – and another two and a quarter years in the infirmary[9].

Until 1877, the details in the register of admissions and discharges give little more than his previous employment (usually as a labourer) and the reason for admission, 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 (frequently lodging houses in Deptford or Greenwich) and the name and address of the next of kin, where known. In George’s case, this was usually his daughter, Elizabeth Taylor of 2 Sisters Cottages, Seymour St, St Johns Road, Deptford.

George was in the Workhouse at the time of both the 1871 and 1881 censuses[10]. In 1871 Jane Mayze, described as a nurse, was living with her young son Henry (an office boy) at 8 King Street, Deptford, the same house as her brother William Bradley and his family[11]. Pea-Bee has not been able to find Jane in the 1881 census (Henry had, by then, enlisted in the Royal Navy[12] and was in Malta in 1881[13]).

George left the infirmary at his own request on 27 May 1882 – after which there is no record of him[14].

By 1891, Jane and her son were together again (Henry having completed his 10-year term of service) at 30 Friendly Street, Deptford[15]. At 72, Jane had no occupation, but Henry was an engine fitter, following on from his naval trade of engine room articifer. Interestingly, Jane stated she was married – so either George was still alive or the family did not know if he was dead. Jane herself died in 1896[16].

No further record has been found for Henry Mayze after the 1891 census.

Elizabeth Mayze, who had married George Taylor in 1863, was widowed in 1870[17] but not before she and George had had three children. In 1871, Elizabeth was living in lodgings at 14 Strickland Street, Deptford, with her three children and although it is stated she was a widow, no occupation is given[18]. In 1881 she was described as a dressmaker, living at 2 Sisters Cottages, Seymour Place, Deptford – and she had acquired two more children, both born several years after George’s death[19]. Besides her pregnancies, Elizabeth was a witness at the 1874 marriage of the mysterious “nurse child” with whom she grew up, George Clark[20]. She continued to work as a dressmaker in Deptford for many years and never remarried. She died, aged 73, on 12 October 1916[21] and was buried at Ladywell & Brockley Cemetery [Fig 3].

Lydia Matilda Mayze has not been found in the 1871 census but a photograph exists of her in about 1870 [Fig 4].

She next appears in the records as the wife of Thomas Barham, although no record of a marriage has been found.

Thomas Barham was a son of William and Eliza Barham of Chislehurst (see part I of this Blog series)

See also later blog with additional information

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[1] London Metropolitan Archives, Deptford St Paul, Register of Baptism, p75/pau, Item 008 (Ancestry.com London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 Lewisham>St Paul, Deptford>1841>image 2)

[2] 1841 England Census Class HO107; Piece 489; Book 8; Civil Parish Greenwich; County Kent; Enumeration District 4; Folio 5; Page 3; Line 21; GSU roll 306881 (Ancestry.com 1841 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich West>District 4>image 3)

[3] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Lewisham Q3 1841 Vol 5 p318 (via Ancestry.com)

[4] London Metropolitan Archives, St Alfege Greenwich, Register of Burials Call No P78/ALF/074 (Ancestry.com London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 Greenwich>St Alphege, Greenwich>1846 image 23 and >1848>image 36)

[5] 1851 England Census Class HO107; Piece 1586; Folio 473; Page 46; GSU roll 174823 (Ancestry.com 1851 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich West>District 19>image 47)

[6] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 398; Folio 95; Page:16; GSU roll 542630 (Ancestrty.com 1861 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich West>District 5>image 17)

[7] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 399; Folio 79; Page 9; GSU roll 542630 (Ancestrty.com 1861 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich West>District 12>image 10)

[8] London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Nicholas, Deptford, Register of marriages, P78/NIC, Item 026 (Ancestry.com London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 Greenwich>St Nicholas Deptford>1863>image 11)

[9] George was admitted to the Workhouse on 12 occasions and discharged as many times. Each movement has a separate reference and for brevity, only one is given here, for his last discharge:  London Metropolitan Archives, Board of Guardians; Hospital and Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill, SE10, 1881-1882; Reference No: GBG/220/005 (Ancestry.com London, England, Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records, 1430-1930 Greenwich>Greenwich>Admission & Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill SE10,1881-1882>image 186)

[10] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 761; Folio 40; Page 23; GSU roll 824728 (Ancestry.com 1871 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich East>District Greenwich Union Workhouse>image 24); 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 727; Folio 71; Page 25; GSU roll 1341169 (Ancestry.com 1881 Census Kent>Greenwich>Greenwich East>District Union Workhouse>image 27)

[11] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 749; Folio 59; Page 14; GSU roll 824723 (Ancestry.com 1871 Census London>St Paul Deptford>District 58>image 15)

[12] National Archives, Admiralty: Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, ADM 188/114/99856 - Name Mayze, Henry William Official Number: 99856

[13] 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 5637; Folio 11; Page 1; GSU roll 1342355 (Ancestry.com 1881 Census Royal Navy>Vessels>District Gar>image 2)

[14] London Metropolitan Archives, Board of Guardians; Hospital and Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill, SE10, 1881-1882; Reference No: GBG/220/005 (Ancestry.com London, England, Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records, 1430-1930 Greenwich>Greenwich>Admission & Discharge>Hospital & Infirmary, Vanburgh Hill SE10,1881-1882>image 186)

[15] 1891 England Census Class RG12; Piece 501; Folio 11; Page 15; GSU roll 6095611 (Ancestry.com 1891 Census London>St Paul Deptford>District 34>image 15)

[16] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Greenwich Q3 1896 Vol 1d p663 (via Ancestry.com)

[17] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Greenwich Q4 1870 Vol 1d p474 (via Ancestry.com)

[18] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 748; Folio 73; Page 28; GSU roll 824722 (Ancestery.com 1871 Census London>St Paul Deptford>District 52>image 29)

[19] 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 712; Folio 41; Page 21; GSU roll 1341166 (Ancestry.com 1881 Census London>Deptford St Paul>District 52>image 22)

[20] London Metropolitan Archives, Holy Trinity, Blackheath Hill, Register of marriages, P78/TRI1, Item 068 (Ancestry.com London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 Greenwich>Holy Trinity, Blackheath Hill>1874>image 3)

[21] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Greenwich Q4 1916 Vol 1d p1261 (via Ancestry.com)

The Barham Saga I

Pea-Bee was reminded of an old genealogist’s maxim – always following the family. He had a mystery: a young couple who started their lives in the 1840s in SE London/NW Kent and yet moved to Gloucester in the mid 1870s to raise a family. There was no obvious reason for the move. The young man was working in his father’s bakery in Chislehurst and, it seemed, had every expectation of taking over the business. There seemed to be no family link to Gloucester – neither sets of parents came from the West Country. It was a mystery.

However they got there, the couple’s life in Gloucester was eventful and there was enough information to warrant a new Pea-Bee Blog about them.

Pea-Bee’s interest had been sparked by the wife and he knew all about her family, but in preparing a little background, Pea-Bee decided to go back to the husband’s family and look at what happened to his siblings – and the link to Gloucester was eventually revealed. So now there will be two blogs….

This is the story of Thomas Barham (1847-1935) and his wife Lydia Matilda Mayze (1840-1917) but first, Thomas’s family…

The Barham Family

William Barham was born in the Twitton area of Otford, in the Darenth Valley, Kent, in about 1815, the son of Richard Barham. He started his working life as a gardener, moving between different villages in north Kent – Bexley, Farningham and Chislehurst – and it was in Chislehurst that he had settled by 1850 and where he eventually became a baker (by 1861) – and a fairly successful one it would seem, such that in the 1870s he was taking advertisements in a local directory.[1] [Fig 1]

While in Bexley in 1842, he married Eliza Beakhurst (or Beakhust)[2], a domestic servant, also born about 1815, but in Hampstead Marshall, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, who had been working in Foots Cray, close to Bexley, in 1841.[3] [Fig 2]

William and Eliza had at least seven children:

1.       Sarah Ann Barham born in Bexley at the beginning of 1843[4]

2.       Richard William Barham, born in Bexley in 1844[5]

3.       Thomas Barham, born Farningham in 1847[6]

4.       Eliza Barham, born Chislehurst in 1850[7]

5.       Fanny Barham, born Chislehurst in 1853[8]

6.       Mary Jane Barham, born Chislehurst in 1855[9]

7.       George Barham, born in Chislehurst in 1858[10]. George died before adulthood, either in 1867 or 1870[11]

1. Sarah Ann Barham married a gardener, John Nicholls, in 1866[12]. The family stayed in Chislehurst and, in 1881, lived next door to William Barham’s bakery[13]. John and Sarah had at least 9 children.

2. Richard William Barham became a baker like his father. In 1861 he was in Kensal Green in the house of Mary Clunie, a baker employing one man (her son David) and a boy: Richard was the boy[14]. In 1871, he and his sister Mary Jane Barham were in the house of his uncle and aunt, William and Ann Evans, in Gloucester[15]. He died in 1886[16] and it would appear that he never married.

3. Thomas Barham – of whom more in the second blog

4. Eliza Barham married Jesse Hall, a builder, in 1871[17]. Ten years later Jesse Hall was to act as executor for his father-in-law’s will[18]. Jesse and Eliza had three children[19]

5. Fanny Barham married Frederick George Collison in 1878[20]. He worked as a baker with his father-in-law in 1881, but after William’s death, he had a bakery in Eltham in 1891[21]. In 1901, however, he had become a house painter and the couple lived in Catford[22] and in 1911 he was a caretaker of vacant houses and they were living in Blackheath[23]. Frederick and Fanny had two children in the 1891 census but one died in childhood and in 1911 only recorded the living child.

6. Mary Jane Barham joined her brother Richard in the visit to her uncle and aunt, William and Ann Evans in Gloucester in 1871[24]. However, she was to marry a Gloucester man, William Henry Woodward, in Chislehurst in 1878[25] and then return to Gloucester where, in 1881, he was a beer house keeper[26]. However, by 1891 William Woodward had become a solicitor’s clerk and the family were living in Foots Cray[27]. In 1901 they were in Middlesex, first in Feltham[28], and then (by 1911) in Ashford[29]. William and Mary Jane had 4 children, one of whom died young.

William Barham remained a baker in Chislehurst until his death on 25 June 1881[30]. He left a personal estate of £170 0s 9d with his son-in-law, Jesse Hall, as one of the executors[31]. His widow, Eliza, died in 1890[32].

Eliza’s maiden name is given as Beakhurst in both the 1841 census and at the time of her marriage to William Barham, when she was described as the daughter of William Beakhurst[33].

While most of the censuses in which she appears give her place of birth as Newbury, Berkshire, one gives it as “Hamsted”[34] and there is a record of an Eliza Beckhust, daughter of William and Sarah Beckhust, being baptised at Hampstead Marshall, a small parish close to Newbury, on 7 January 1816.[35]

She had at least one sister, whose name was given as Ann Beakhust when she married William Evans in Gloucester in 1840[36]. She was described as being born in East Woodhay, Hampshire, in 1819[37]. (East Woodhay was just across the county boundary from Hampstead Marshall.) However, when Ann and William had a son, he appears in the records as Edmund Breakhust Evans, Edmund Beakhust Evans, and Edmund Beakhurst Evans[38].

Other researchers suggest that the name was originally Beakhust and all other spellings are just variants.[39]

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[1] William Barham’s date and place of birth have been inferred from the five censuses in which he appeared. The places where he worked have been inferred from his children’s dates and places of birth. The censuses were: 1851 England Census Class HO107; Piece 1606; Folio 490; Page 27; GSU roll 193505. (Ancestry.com 1851 census Kent>Chislehurst>District 6a>image 28); 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 464; Folio 11; Page 15; GSU roll 542643 (Ancestry.com 1861 census Kent>Chislehurst>District 1>image 16); 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 876; Folio 51; Page 4; GSU roll 827772 (Ancestry.com 1871 census Kent>Chislehurst>District 2>image 8); 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 857; Folio 103; Page 18; GSU roll 1341203 (Ancestry.com 1881 Census Kent>Chislehurst>District 3a>image 19)

[2] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Dartford Q2 1842 Vol 5 p132 (via Ancestry.com); (for discussion on Eliza’s surname, see footnote y)

[3] 1841 England Census Class HO107; Piece 481; Book 8; Civil Parish Foots Cray; County Kent; Enumeration District 11; Folio 10; Page 14; Line 12; GSU roll 306874 (Ancestry.com 1841 census Kent>Foots Cray>District 11>image 8)

[4] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Dartford Q1 1843 Vol 5 p89 (via Ancestry.com)

[5] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Dartford Q4 1844 Vol 5 p89 (via Ancestry.com)

[6] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Dartford Q2 1847 Vol 5 p99 (via Ancestry.com)

[7] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1850 Vol 5 p63 (via Ancestry.com)

[8] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1853 Vol 2a p159 (via Ancestry.com)

[9] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q4 1855 Vol 2a p185 (via Ancestry.com)

[10] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q3 1858 Vol 2a p212 (via FreeBMD.org.uk)

[11] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q4 1867 Vol 2a p172 or Bromley Q3 1870 Vol 2a p211 (via Ancestry.com)

[12] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q4 1866 Vol 2a p547

[13] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 876; Folio 37; Page 64; GSU roll 827772 (Ancestry.com 1871 Census Kent>Chislehurst>District 1a>image 17); 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 857; Folio 103; Page 18; GSU roll 1341203. (Ancestry.com 1881 Census Kent>Chislehurst>District 3a>image 19); 1891 England Census Class RG12; Piece 632; Folio 129; Page 15; GSU roll 6095742 (Ancestry.com 1891 Census Kent>Chislehurst>District 3b>image 16)

[14] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 785; Folio 45; Page 14; GSU roll 542700 (Ancestry.com 1861 Census Middlesex>Willesden>District 3>image 15)

[15] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 2621; Folio 61; Page 28; GSU roll 835316 (Ancestry.com 1871 Census Gloucestershire>Barton St Mary>District 13>image 29)

[16] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q4 1886 Vol 2a p237 (via Ancestry.com)

[17] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1871 Vol 2a p473 (via Ancestry.com)

[18] Ancestry.com England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 1881>B>Ba image 63

[19] 1911 England Census Class RG14; Piece 3596; Schedule Number: 25 (Ancestry.com 1911 Census Surrey>Richmond>District 16>image 50)

[20] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1878 Vol 2a p547 (via Ancestry.com)

[21] 1891 England Census Class RG12; Piece 516; Folio 10; Page 15; GSU roll 6095626 (Ancestry.com 1891 Census London>Eltham>District 1>image 16)

[22] 1901 England Census Class RG13; Piece 552; Folio 27; Page 10 (Ancestry.com 1901 Census London>Lewisham>Lewisham>District 26>image 11)

[23] 1911 England Census Class RG14; Piece 2715 (Ancestry.com 1911 Census London>Greenwich>Greenwich East>District 29>image 216)

[24] 1871 England Census Class RG10; Piece 2621; Folio 61; Page 28; GSU roll 835316 (Ancestry.com 1871 Census Gloucestershire>Barton St Mary>District 13>image 29)

[25] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q3 1878 Vol 2a p576 (via Ancestry.com)

[26] 1881 England Census Class RG11; Piece 2537; Folio 140; Page 7; GSU roll 1341612 (Ancestry.com 1881 Census Gloucestershire>Gloucester Barton St Mary>District 19>image 8)

[27] 1891 England Census Class RG12; Piece 633; Folio 53; Page 18; GSU roll 6095743 (Ancestry.com 1891 Census Kent>Foots Cray>District 4b>image 19)

[28] 1901 England Census Class RG13; Piece 1171; Folio 87; Page 17 (Ancestry.com 1901 Census Middlesex>Feltham>District 1>image 17)

[29] 1911 England Census Class RG14; Piece: 6745; Schedule Number: 226 (Ancestry.com 1911 Census Middlesex>East Bedfont>District 02>image 454)

[30] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1881 Vol 2a p221 (via Ancestry.com)

[31] Ancestry.com England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 1881>B>Ba image 63

[32] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Bromley Q2 1890 Vol 2a p210 (via Ancestry.com)

[33] 1841 England Census Class HO107; Piece 481; Book 8; Civil Parish Foots Cray; County Kent; Enumeration District 11; Folio 10; Page 14; Line 12; GSU roll 306874 (Ancestry.com 1841 census Kent>Foots Cray>District 11>image 8); England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Dartford Q2 1842 Vol 5 p132 (via Ancestry.com) and copy of marriage certificate Fig 2

[34] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 464; Folio 11; Page 15; GSU roll 542643 (Ancestry.com 1861 census Kent>Chislehurst>District 1>image 16)

[35] England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 7 Jan 1816 FHL File No 1279458 IT 25-28 (via Ancestry.com)

[36] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 Gloucester Q1 1840 Vol 11 p321 (via Ancestry.com)

[37] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 1768; Folio 97; Page 18; GSU roll 542865 (Ancestry.com 1861 census Gloucestershire>Barton St Mary>District 12>image 19)

[38] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Gloucester Q4 1846 Vol 11 p365; England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 31 Jan 1847 FHL File No 991283; England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 Gloucester Q1 1910 Vol 6a p210 (via Ancestry.com)

[39] Dave Beakhust at http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=498848.msg3557775#msg3557775