My great great aunt Alice grew up in Redbourn, Hertfordshire, where her father was a baker. She first worked locally as a silk winder before giving birth to an illegitimate son in her brother's house in London. After emigrating to Detroit, Michigan, she married and had two further sons, the first later joining them there. … Continue reading Alice Ephgrave (1882-1945): Silk winder, servant, unmarried mother; emigrated to the USA
Illegitimate
Tracing Great Grandad Frederick Ephgrave: A puzzle
My paternal great-grandfather was Frederick Ephgrave - or was he? Tracing his birth posed a big puzzle. I thought I knew his name from my grandmother Jessie Ephgrave's vital records, his marriage certificate and censuses. Apparently born in Luton 1872-3, son of 'Jessie' Ephgrave, he had various jobs in the dairy industry, but in earlier … Continue reading Tracing Great Grandad Frederick Ephgrave: A puzzle
Frederick James Stocking: Naming the Roses?
My 2xgreat grand uncle started life with a slight identity crisis, being baptised Frederick William on 10 March 1861 (exactly a month after his birth), but named as Frederick James Stocking when his birth was registered. Nothing too mysterious there. But I struggled to fully identify the woman who was to be his wife, and … Continue reading Frederick James Stocking: Naming the Roses?
Robert Matthew Stocking: Life in the Land of Leather
There were many Leather Workers in my family in mid-late Victorian London, and my 2xgreat grand uncle Robert Matthew Stocking was one such. He lived in Bermondsey, 'the Land of Leather'. He and his wife Martha raised seven children, all of whom lived to maturity, unlike very many of his nieces and nephews. Why was … Continue reading Robert Matthew Stocking: Life in the Land of Leather
Richard Daniel Stocking: The loss of six children
My 2xgreat grand uncle Richard Daniel Stocking was born in 1857 and worked for a Tripe Dresser in Bermondsey. He married in 1880, but by 1895, he had been widowed. He lived until at least his 80s. Sadly, the same cannot be said of his children: of the eight born between 1880-1894, six had died … Continue reading Richard Daniel Stocking: The loss of six children
My Stocking Roots 