Thomas Richey and kin 1914 and earlier

[avm228]

St Albans was built in 1863 so was virtually brand new when our boy was born in 1864.

There is some colourful stuff on the parish website about the character of its small parish at the outset:

"...the parish of S. Alban's was quite small and at the time of the original church no fewer than 8,000 people were crammed into a space measuring roughly 500 by 200 yards. There were cows, too, kept for milking in a shed in Brooke Street and it was a place of appalling destitution, a rookery of lodging houses, children's brothels, workshops and thieves' kitchens.

Some changes are now evident! Dickens drew on his knowledge of the area for Oliver Twist, where he describes it as "one of the lowest and worst that improvement has left in the midst of London". Indeed the font of the church was built on the site of one such 'thieves' kitchen'..."

http://www.stalbans-holborn.com/History%20Overview.htm

[DarrenMW]

thanks Anna,.....I just find the particular area of Holborn (St Albans) that Richey listed in 1911 to be so specfic in relation to the factual Brookes Market birth of Hollingsworth Walker that its almost impossible to make a case for them NOT being the same person.

Eureka! 

That was a fantastic spot, Darren.

[avm228]

I'm assuming there's no Eliza Pickford eagerly waving from the census records?

No - scarcely a candidate to be seen.

There is a Henry PICKFORD/Mary Ann SMITH marriage at St Andrew Holborn, 4 Aug 1827, which may be worth following up for any offspring - I can't easily see them thereafter though.

Edited: They may have been the Henry and Mary Ann PICKFORD who baptised a daughter Jane Maria in Southwark in 1828.

[DarrenMW]

yes indeed! Saffron Hill (Fagin's Den) is just around the corner, though Twist was set in 1830's I believe.

Dickens actually lived on Grays Inn Road.

Imagining just how things looked in those days is a fascinating component of the genealogy fixation for me. It's so easy to get lost in data crunching, that we often lose sight of how our ancestors actually lived.

St Albans was built in 1863 so was virtually brand new when our boy was born in 1864.

There is some colourful stuff on the parish website about the character of its small parish at the outset:

"...the parish of S. Alban's was quite small and at the time of the original church no fewer than 8,000 people were crammed into a space measuring roughly 500 by 200 yards. There were cows, too, kept for milking in a shed in Brooke Street and it was a place of appalling destitution, a rookery of lodging houses, children's brothels, workshops and thieves' kitchens.

Some changes are now evident! Dickens drew on his knowledge of the area for Oliver Twist, where he describes it as "one of the lowest and worst that improvement has left in the midst of London". Indeed the font of the church was built on the site of one such 'thieves' kitchen'..."

http://www.stalbans-holborn.com/History%20Overview.htm

[DarrenMW]

Eliza's place of birth , as listed on censuses. isnt uniform either. No surprise there.

[avm228]

I can't wait to see what names she's thought up for herself on the birth certificates of her first two daughters! (Jan has them on order...)

[DarrenMW]

Do you think Pickering is a valid name for Eliza?

the match of Smith and Pickford (both names used by Eliza) in a marriage in HOLBORN is already drawing my attention.

[avm228]

Pickering as opposed to Pickford?

[DarrenMW]

mea culpa.

what a waste of an hour THAT has been searching in vain for a Henry Pickering sighting on Anc**try 

Pickering as opposed to Pickford?