Searching for Lost Children

Just underlines how much we depend on census records. So difficult when a person does not even show on a single census year.

 

Clapham and Wandsworth are adjacent to one another in London, immediately south of the River Thames. Their 'centres' are probably about a mile apart so residents could well be friends, whatever some might say about Londoners not socialising with anyone except their next door neighbours.

 

Thanks, Bryman. I consulted an elderly London A-Z I have, and deduce the 2 houses were about 2 km apart. I also found a description of the Londons' home, 67 North Street Clapham ("A beautifully presented three bed Victorian house with impressive 63Ft, south west facing garden, ideally located in the heart of Clapham Old Town and close to the open spaces of Clapham Common.") Also a suggestion that it is worth about 860k these days

Not obvious how the two families would have known each other, unless George (who was down in 1881 as a gardener (domestic)) worked for the Londons in their 63 foot garden, &/or they got their flowers from Arthur.

 

I think you're right about George & Arthur being half brothers. There was a marriage between John Rawlings (widower) and Sarah Payne in 1859, followed by baptisms of their children: John Joseph 1860, Arthur 1862 and William Robert 1863 (London Metropolitan Archives on Ancestry). Possible first marriage for John was to Margaret Martha Roberts in 1839, and death of Margaret Rawlings in Sep quarter 1858, just before John married Sarah. The youngest daughter of John and Margaret, Mary was living with her aunt Jane Roberts in 1861.

Thanks for enlisting the Forum's help on this......I had treatment on my ear yesterday which means at least 2 days off work, so I have been glad of a FH project to get involved with!

By the way, Clapham and Wandsworth are quite close....

Just looked again, and I think I may have found the connection between the Rawlings and London families:
Robert Watson London married Emma Jane Thompson. Her sister Florence Elizabeth Thompson married Arthur Rawlings on 1 Feb 1884, had 2 children (Ethel Florence 1885 and Walter Arthur 1886) and died in 1888. If Arthur and George were half brothers as previously thought, this would make Winifred Maggie niece-in-law (if there is such a thing!) to Robert & Emma London.

 

I thought I had posted something here last night but it appears I didn't so here it is again.... .I had a quick look through the Electoral lists for the London for the period. ( courtesy of Ancestry) It is tedious but can give little nuggets can help .... for example George I think worked at Devonshire House in 1892. I've p.m'd you the details

 

AnneC, thanks so much! That must be it! I'll have to work out the exact relationship to Winifred but it all fits. Without a marriage connection it was hard to see why the husbands of Robert's sisters weren't his executors, but if Arthur was the 'other sort' of brother in law all is clear.
I do hope that someone joins LC and picks up the census reference, so I can share the results of this terrific teamwork.

 

I'm glad that between us we managed to solve some of it at least...let me know if you need further details of where I found this info and I can pm you.

I also got to wondering if there was some sort of epidemic in Wandsworth in 1898 that could have caused the early death of Robert and Emma, and came across this fascinating document giving all sorts of death cause statistics.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I think I could probably find it myself - although I am getting extremely remote from my line of descent! In fact, the more I think about it, the more I feel Winifred Maggie was a bit remotely related to get a place in the grave and wonder if there was something else as well - perhaps the godchild relationship suggested earlier. If I put the relationship into my own context, and think about it I can't imagine my brother's wife's brother's child being buried in the same grave as me and my husband. Different times, I suppose.
However, I am VERY pleased to have found a link, and to know she wasn't a cuckoo in the grave.