London metropolitan archives - LOOK UP PLEASE (Islington)

[areusch]

~HELLO~

Is there anybody who lives in/near Islington, London and could visit the London Metropolitan Archives there for me??

I am looking for 4 baptisms in a set of records I know they hold there. The record reference number is on this page: http://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+P79~2FALS?SESSIONSEARCH .

The baptisms I am looking for in the records are:
(All surname: RENSCH or REUSCH) :
Charles Henry b.1907 +
Frederick John b.1909 +
Ethel Rosina b.1912 +
John Ernest b.1917.
John Ernest also died in 1917 so there could be a burial for him too.

~THANKS FOR READING~

[avm228]

I can't help with the lookup (NB the LMA is in Islington, rather than Hackney) but presumably you know that their mother's maiden name was Boyce? (Per GRO Online - all as Rensch rather than Reusch).

Birthdates for the older ones (per workhouse records from 1918):

Charles: 4 July 1907
Frederick: 2 March 1909
Ethel: 5 August 1913

[areusch]

Oh thanks for correcting me about LMA, I updated the request to Islington instead of Hackney now. Thank you for taking the time to search for them, I've already found their births through GRO and workhouse records. Thanks :-)

[theirchild]

Hi acreusch,

I went to the LMA last week and looked for your Rensch/Reusch baptisms while I was there. 

First, I need to give you the correct reference number for your records - the one quoted on the LMA webpage you linked to is a generic number, covering the whole collection of materials from that church…not your fault, it’s just the way the LMA works! (And for the benefit of other readers of this thread, the church in question is All Souls, Clapton.) The registers for the relevant period have been transferred to microfilm and the reference is: X87/86. The guide from which I got this reference is on the shelf at LMA and states that the original registers are “unavailable”.

The baptism registers are handwritten so I took my time, reading the entries very carefully – and went through the registers twice – to ensure I didn’t miss anything. The good news is that in doing so, along with the entries for Charles Henry and Ethel Rosina, I discovered some for other infants of the same surname that might be of interest to you. The not-so-good news is that I didn’t find entries for Frederick John or John Ernest. (Despite trawling right up to the end of 1924 just in case of late baptisms.) One more thing: I’m as certain as it’s possible to be that all the infants I did find are entered as RENSCH rather than REUSCH. 

So here’s my transcription of what I found:

No. 558
Charles Henry
DOB: 4 July 1907
Bapt. 29 Sept 1907
Parents: Charles Arthur & Alice
Surname: Rensch
Address: 3 Pedro Street
Occupation: Carman [I assume this refers to the father, not the child!]
Ceremony performed by: [Hard to read but looks like: A. R. Padday]

No. 328
Ethel Rosina
DOB: 5 Aug 1913
Bapt. 5 Nov 1913
Parents: Charles Arthur & Alice
Address: 30 Penda Road
Surname: Rensch
Occupation: Carman
Ceremony performed by: L. E. Ford [or Fold?]

No. 557
Mary Anne Elizabeth
DOB: 23 Aug 1907
Bapt. 22 Sept 1907
Parents: Arthur & Caroline
Surname: Rensch
Address: 17 Pedro Street
Occupation: Bookmaker
Ceremony performed by: [Hard to read but looks like: A. R. Padday]

No. 1364
Joseph
DOB: 28 Jan 1920
Bapt. 6 May 1920
Parents: Joseph & Anne Caroline
Surname: Rensch
Address: 6 Clapton Passage
Occupation: Soldier
Ceremony performed by: [Hard to read but could be: R. S. Greaves]

No. 1365
Lilian Rose
DOB: 10 April 1920
Bapt. 6 May 1920
Parents: George & Louisa
Surname: Rensch
Address: 6 Clapton Passage
Occupation: Fruiterer
Ceremony performed by: [Hard to read, could be: R. S. Greaves]

No. 233
George Ernest
DOB: 28 June 1922
Bapt. 3 Oct 1922
Parents: George & Louisa
Surname: Rensch
Address: 6 Clapton Passage
Occupation: Coster
Ceremony performed by: [Illegible]

Regarding Frederick John and John Ernest, perhaps they were christened elsewhere? St Barnabus, in Homerton High Street, maybe. For a list of other churches in that locality, you might wish to check out GENUKI: www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/MDX/Hackney/churches.

With regards to John Ernest’s burial, there didn’t seem to be any burial records from All Souls at the LMA. I wasn’t surprised, though, because as far as I know very few church burials took place in London after about the mid-nineteenth century. Rootschat’s very useful guide to London burials is well worth a read if you haven’t already checked it out:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=403492.0

All the best,
theirchild

[areusch]

To theirchild, sorry I don't know your name. My name is Rosie. Although I am quite experienced with Ancestry, Findmypast and a few other sites I have found helpful researching my family history such as freeBMD and britishnewspaperarchive, "RootsChat" isn't something I've really come accross or used. As you can tell by my profile. As such, I really haven't gotten used to using the site and find it a bit confusing. I'm sure it's easy once you know how but I really don't know my way around it. Hence why I have only just come accross your reply to my thread and your message telling me about your reply. (I also have dyslexia which does make things more difficult sometimes). I am sorry it has taken me such a long time to get back to you. Trust me, it isn't you.. I often reply to long written messages in an unusually long time even ones I have seen straight away because it takes me a while to take in all the information.

I would like to thank you so much for taking the time to research the baptisms.. especially trawling through to 1924 to find Frederick John and John Ernest. You were so thorough, including other baptisms with the name Rensch (who are all related to me). And including all the details word for word. Having the confirmation of names, birth dates, parentage as well as address and occupation of the father gives such a good insight into my family research.

The first baptism, Charles Henry b 1907 is my mother's Grandfather who she remembers well. He and his two siblings were orphaned, and he was in a boys home as a child. At some point he moved to Southampton and married my Great Grandmother in 1932. I believe that him, his brother and sister were all sent to different homes and very possibly didn't have contact again. He was about 10.

Although their mother died in 1917 and their father was in Her Majesty's Army I don't know why the children couldn't stay with an aunt or uncle, or their father couldn't take them when he returned. (It was an aunt who took them to the Hackney Union Workhouse, from where they were transfered to Homes). The story as passed down through the family is that their father died on a boat coming back from the war.. but I have searched high and low for a death record and the only one I can find possibly matching Arthur is in 1961.

Frederick John was a driver and garage worker, who lived in Essex and Ethel Rosina was a Loom Weaver, living in various places in London before marrying Leonard Harding and dying at an old age in Sussex. John Ernest unfortunately died the same quarter and year he was born. Seeing as his mother also died in 1917, i thought perhaps their deaths are related but I haven't looked into their death certificates. The last 3 entries you found were children of 2 of my GGGx Uncles.

With Regards to Frederick John and John Ernests baptisms, I have found this page on St Barbanus, Homerton Records (https://aim25.com/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=15153&inst_id=118&nv1=search&nv2=)..  would the reference code for those records be GB 0074 P79/BAN1?

I would like to thank you again, wholeheartedly, for your time, effort and research. It really is very much appreciated.

PS. Rensch is the surname my family have used, but since I've researched them, on multiple records for the exact same people (for multiple people throughout time).. the name has at multiple times been recorded as Reusch (and at other times Rensch). Even with fairly recent family members, such as my Great Uncle. Unfortunately there is no one now to ask why.. do you have any ideas (or any one else reading this?)

I have traced the line back to a Hermann Heinrich (or Henry) Conrad Rensch (or Reusch) who married Maria Anna Langvillie (surname difficult to read so may be incorrect) in 1771, Christ Church, Spitafields. Hermann was my 7x Great Grandad. Due to their names and that they were in another record members of a German Lutheran Church I believe they (or at least Hermann) were originally from Germany but have no other records of them (apart from the baptisms of their 2 children in Spitafields). If any one has any idea how I can find out more, that would be gladly appreciated.

[avm228]

It looks as though Frederick John Rensch was actually born 2 March 1910 rather than 1909 - birth registered in Hackney, Jun qtr 1910, with mother's maiden name Boyce.

It's correctly recorded as 2 March 1910 on his school record (admitted to Mandeville St School, 16 June 1913, father Charles of 30 Penda Rd), and also on his death registration (Nov 1998 Surrey Northern).

It's incorrectly recorded as 2 March 1909 on his 1918 workhouse admission record.  NB I note that on this record the address of his aunt Elizabeth Taylor (next of kin) is recorded as 30 Penda Rd, matching the family's address on the school record as well as on Ethel's 1913 baptism.

[areusch]

It looks as though Frederick John Rensch was actually born 2 March 1910 rather than 1909 - birth registered in Hackney, Jun qtr 1910, with mother's maiden name Boyce.

It's correctly recorded as 2 March 1910 on his school record (admitted to Mandeville St School, 16 June 1913, father Charles of 30 Penda Rd), and also on his death registration (Nov 1998 Surrey Northern).

It's incorrectly recorded as 2 March 1909 on his 1918 workhouse admission record.  NB I note that on this record the address of his aunt Elizabeth Taylor (next of kin) is recorded as 30 Penda Rd, matching the family's address on the school record as well as on Ethel's 1913 baptism.

Thank you avm228! I hadn't picked up on that and details like correct birth year are so important during family research. I appreciate the time you took to look into it and School Admission Record is a great find - thank you very much