London Waleses: Aaron & Catherine’s family

After their marriage in 1849 in Waterloo, South London, Aaron and Catherine Wales lived out their lives in Bermondsey and Southwark, close to the Leather Market South of the Thames. They raised nine children there, including my 2xgreat grandmother Alice Mary Wales. Aaron was originally from rural Norfolk, but married a girl from Newington. Were … Continue reading London Waleses: Aaron & Catherine’s family

James and Susan Stocking: Later lives, Kings & Queens

My great grandparents James Aaron Stocking and Susan Caroline Hill were born in mid-1870s London, around the time Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. By the time they married on 3 June 1900, the old Queen had been dead for nearly six months. Their early married life played out under two new monarchs. By … Continue reading James and Susan Stocking: Later lives, Kings & Queens

Building Stocking heritage: A 20th century family business

My paternal grandfather James Aaron Stocking was born just after the turn of the 20th century into a family where most of the menfolk worked in the building trades, as brickies, builders, house decorators, plumbers, gas fitters, foremen and so on. He himself did many of these jobs through the housing booms of the 1920s-1930s, … Continue reading Building Stocking heritage: A 20th century family business