Gizzella Gertrude BROOKER

Gizzella Gertrude BROOKER

Gisala Gertrude was the fifth child of seven children born to William and Jessie Sutch. Her unusual first name was found to be spelt differently in the records found such as Gisaila, Gisela, or Gizzella.

William and Jesse’s seven known children were:

• William (1857 – 1919)
• Mary Ann (1861 – 1878)
• James Edwin (1867 – after 1871)
• Walter Andrew (1870 – 1923)
• Gisala Gertrude (1872 – 1903)
• James Joseph (1874 – 1940)
• Elizabeth (1877 – 1949)

Before his marriage and the births of his children, William (1821-1889) had attested in Coventry on 28th December 1844 and served as Drummer 2410 of the 34th Foot Regiment. He served in the Mediterranean for 4.5 years, in the West Indies for 3.5 years, in the Crimea for 1.5 years, and in the East Indies for 8.5 years, totalling 18 years of serving abroad.

While stationed in Scotland, William married Jessie Scott (1833-1907) on 24th December 1856 in Edinburgh.

Jessie gave birth to their first child William on 17th September 1857 in Fife, Scotland, and then followed her husband to Bengal, India, where she gave birth to their daughter Mary Ann in 1861.

The Sutch family returned to Scotland where William, aged 45, was discharged from the army on 19th June 1866 as no longer fit for service.

The following year, on 22nd October 1867 in Fife, Jessie gave birth to their son James Edwin. Following James’ birth, the family moved south to Bloomsbury, Middlesex, where in 1870 Jessie gave birth to Walter Andrew.

The 1871 census was taken on the evening of 2nd April, and the family was recorded as then living at 33 Angelina Terrace, Stratford, Essex. William, aged 51, was working as a Watchman, and William junior, aged 14, was an employee of a local chemical works. Jessie was aged 38 and was at home with Mary Ann aged 10, James Edwin aged 3 and Walter aged 1. There were no more records found for James Edwin and since William and Jessie later named another son James, it is assumed that he died after this census was taken.

The following year Gisala Gertrude was born on 24th March 1872 and was baptised into the Church of England faith on 2nd June in Christ Church, Stratford, Essex.

Gisala’s brother James Joseph was born on 22nd September 1874 and her sister Elizabeth on 23rd July 1877. The family moved to Battersea sometime after Elizabeth’s birth.

The following year on 31st July 1878, Gisala’s 17-year-old sister Mary Ann died from phthisis in 73a Victoria Dwellings, Battersea Park, and on 6th August 1878 was buried in St Mary’s Church, Battersea.

Mary Ann’s death certificate

By the time the 1881 census was taken on the evening of 3rd April 9-year-old Gisala (who was recorded as Gertrude) and her family had moved to 51 A Block, Victoria Dwellings, Battersea. Her father William was aged 60 and working as a Timekeeper, while her mother Jessie, aged 43, was at home looking after Gisala and her siblings Joseph [James] aged 7 and Elizabeth aged 3.

Gisala’s father William was aged 68 when he died on 30th May 1889 in the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. Following a service in St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, he was buried on 4th June 1889 in the Brompton Cemetery in a common grave numbered F70.

Whether he knew that his unmarried 17-year-old daughter Gisala was pregnant before he died is unknown, but on 10th September that year, with her mother in attendance, Gisala gave birth in their home, 28 Spencer Buildings, Spencer Place, Westminster, to an illegitimate daughter who she named Maria. Spencer Buildings was a Victorian block of tenement flats.

Maria Sutch’s birth certificate

In the later part of 1891, Gisala was aged 19 when she married 22-year-old Henry James Robert Brooker, a Sergeant in the 2nd Leinster Regiment, who were then stationed in the Aldershot Barracks in Hampshire.

Their son James Joseph was born on 15th March 1893 in Stanhope Lines, Aldershot, Hampshire.

James Joseph Brooker’s birth certificate

Two years later in Aldershot, Gisala gave birth on 9th January 1895 to their daughter Louise Gertrude Emma.

Having enlisted in 1886, and after serving in the army for ten years, Henry was demobilised and the family moved to 3 Dacre’s Chamber, Strutton Ground, Westminster, London, where, in 1897, Gisala gave birth to another son who they named Cecil Harold. Sadly, this little boy did not thrive and was aged only 3-months-old when he died from syncope natural causes on 13th June. “Syncope” was frequently listed on death certificates as a formal way of stating that the individual’s heart suddenly stopped beating or their circulatory system failed, leading to a fatal lack of blood flow to the brain.

Cecil Harold’s death certificate

The same thing happened the following year following the birth of their last child Percy. What effect these two deaths had on Gisala and Henry is unknown, but it must have affected them badly.

The 1901 census was taken on the evening of 31st March, and the Brooker family were living at 17 Humbolt Road, Fulham, London. Henry was working as a Wireman Electrical while Gisala took care of their remaining children Maria aged 11, Joseph aged 8, and Louise aged 6.

What happened next to Gisala is uncertain but information from her death certificate indicates that she was admitted at some point into the Fulham Workhouse and then transferred to the Horton Asylum in Epsom, Surrey, where she later died, aged 31, on 22nd November 1903 from Organic Brain disease. Her death certificate states that she was the Wife of Brooker unknown of Fulham Workhouse.

Gisala’s death certificate

Six days after her death on 28th November 1903 her body was buried in grave 340 in the Horton Estate Cemetery. Whether any of her family attended is unknown.

Gisala’s husband Henry: By 1911 Henry was living alone in 184 Lob Road, Chelsea, and was working as a house decorator. Following his death three years later, he was buried on 11th August 1914 in the Brookwood Cemetery in Woking.

Gisala’s children:

Maria: On 17th March 1905, Maria was aged 15 when she was baptised as Maria Gertrude Sutch in St Matthews Church in Westminster. Her parents were recorded as Henry Brooker and Gertrude Sutch, and her current address as 3 Dacre’s Chamber, Strutton Ground, Westminster.

This seems to indicate that her mother Gisala had met Henry, a soldier, prior to 1888. His regiment the 2nd Leinster Regiment had spent the late 1880s and early 1890s stationed between Aldershot and overseas, notably in India and Malta, so Henry may not have been stationed in the country to marry Gisala before Maria’s birth on 10th September 1889.

Maria’s 1905 baptism entry

In 1910 Maria married William Sidney Newton; the couple had two children, William Sydney and Gladys Winifred. Maria was aged 56 when she died a widow on 17th April 1946.

James Joseph: James Joseph’s whereabouts when the 1911 census was taken is unknown, but when the 1921 census was taken, he was boarding with his future wife’s family in Great Crosby, Lancashire, where he worked as a police constable. He was aged 28 when he married Florence Usher that same year; the couple appear to have had no children. By September 1939 he was working as a Checker RAF, and living with Florence at 100 St Luke’s Street, Coventry, Warwickshire. He died aged 46 on 12th November 1939.

Louise Gertrude Emma: After her mother’s death, Louise went to live with her father’s mother’s Iddiols relations at 20 Hanbury Road, Acton, where she stayed until at least 1952. Louise remained unmarried and was aged 84 when she died on 29th September 1979.