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b.1843-d.1911
John’s parents, Henry and Sarah
John Street was born in the village of Lyncombe and Widcombe near Bath in the 3rd quarter of 1843 and was baptised in the parish church there on the 1st of October 1843. According to the baptismal register, John was the son of Henry and Sarah Street of Rush Hill, Odd Down in Bath. Henry is described as a quarryman.
Henry had been born in 1812, the son of Henry and Hannah Street (née Horwood) who had married in Bath Abbey on the 25th of June 1809. Henry was baptised on the 3rd of May 1812 in the parish of South Stoke, a small village two miles from Bath. He and his wife Sarah were married on the 23rd of June 1834 in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, a parish on the edge of the Mendip Hills, six miles NE of Shepton Mallet.
In the marriage register Sarah’s maiden name is given as Mullins. However, although Henry has signed his name on the marriage register, Sarah has made an X-mark signature. In a later census, we learn that Sarah was born in 1809 in the village of Paulton, eight miles SW of Bath. In the baptismal register for Paulton, Sarah’s name is given as Mulling and in another source Mullings. We know that she was the daughter of William and Ann Mulling(s) of Paulton.
William, Sarah’s father, died and was buried in Paulton on 27th September 1822.
Ann, Sarah’s mother died and was buried 11th February 1830 in Paulton.
John’s siblings
In the 1841 Census Henry and Sarah are living in Monckton Combe, a village three miles south of Bath with their sons Henry (born 1836), Nathaniel (1838) and William (1840).
Nathaniel was baptised on 25th February 1838. In later documents he is referred to as George Nathaniel Street or simply George Street. At baptism the name is not recorded as George.
Henry’s occupation is given as ‘mason’ and it appears from the census that the family are the only occupants of Claremount House, an imposing building which still stands today.
Claremount House, Monckton Combe.
The 1850s – the 1870s
In the 1851 Census the family – now including 8 year-old John – are living in Odd Down in Lyncombe and Widcombe. Henry is described as a quarry master and his son Nathaniel is a quarry boy. The younger Henry does not appear to be living in the family home and it has not been possible to find him elsewhere in the census.
By the time of the 1861 Census all four sons had left home and Henry and Sarah were living alone in Lyncombe and Widcome.
In the census we find the younger Henry lodging at 3, Brook Place, Birkenhead and working as a mason. George is lodging in Front Street, Kirkby Stephen (then part of Westmoreland) and also working as a stone-mason. William, however, is lodging in Nelson Street in Stroud, Gloucestershire and is described in the census as a musician.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to find John in the 1861 Census when he would have been seventeen years of age.
We next meet John in the 1871 Census when he is lodging at 4, Ann’s Place in Knightsbridge. He is described as a stone-mason’s labourer so it would appear that he, like his brothers Henry and George, had to travel around the country to find work. This is borne out by the fact that when he married, on the 6th of August 1877, he was working in Nottingham as a ‘stone sawyer’ (stone cutter).
Marriage to Jane Lucy Dodd
His wife was Jane Lucy Dodd and at the time of their marriage in St Stephen’s Church in Sneinton, Nottingham, the couple were living at 46, Kingston Street in Sneinton. Jane, who was born in 1853, was the daughter of agricultural labourer Thomas Dodd of Foston, Lincolnshire, and his wife Ann.
Sadly, Ann died in 1861 when Jane was just eight years old. Two years later Thomas married Jane Broughton who was sixteen years younger than him. They moved to Marston in Lincolnshire and together they had nine children.
A likely entry for Jane Lucy in the 1871 Census is as a servant, living in the house of George Adlington and his family, in Principal Street, White Hart, Kirklington, Southwell, Nottinghamshire. The evidence is supported by the fact that she was born in Lincolnshire.
We do not know when or how she and John met.
A move to London – and the birth of two sons
In the 1881 Census we find John and Jane living at 5, Park Place, Surrey Lane in Battersea, a property they share with two other families.
John is described as a general labourer. With them are their two young sons, Henry John and Thomas William. Henry John was born on the 1st of January 1878 in Marston, one assumes at the home of Jane’s father and stepmother.
Thomas William was born in Wandsworth on the 20th of December 1879 and baptised in Christ Church, Clapham on the 22nd of January 1880. At the time of the baptism the family were living at 21, Pensbury Street in Clapham and John was still employed as a stone sawyer.
On the 19th of October 1885 Henry John was admitted to Battersea Park Road School in Wandsworth. According to the admissions register the family were now living at 60 Blondel Street in Battersea.
The birth – and early death – of a third son
In the 2nd quarter of 1888 Jane gave birth to the couple’s third son, Leonard Walter. He was baptised in St Saviour’s Church, Battersea on the 9th of May 1888. According to the baptismal register the family was living at 11, Besley Street in Battersea. However, by the time of the 1891 Census the family had moved back to Blondel Street, this time to number 42. 13 year-old Henry John was visiting his grandfather and his family when the census was taken.
Sadly, later that year, in the 4th quarter of 1891, Leonard Walter died aged just three. One can only imagine how his death might have affected the family.
John’s admission to the Manor Asylum
In the 1901 Census we find John and Jane living at 33 Kingsley Street in Battersea with their two remaining sons. John, now 57, is a builder’s labourer, Henry is a stationer’s warehouseman and Thomas is a printer’s warehouseman.
Unfortunately, the next time we hear of John is when he is admitted to the Manor Asylum on the 8th of January 1908. We do not know the nature or the severity of John’s mental health problems but he was to remain in the Manor until he died there on the 16th of August 1911.
From the visitors’ register we know that he was visited by his wife, his sons, his daughter-in-law and his brother George. All but George attended his funeral. He was buried in Horton Cemetery on the 22nd of August in grave number 1071a.
What became of John’s family?
John’s parents
Henry Street died on the 11th of January 1868 and was buried in St. James’s Cemetery, Bath. After his death his wife, Sarah, went to live with her son George and his family in Gregory Street in Knightsbridge. She died in June 1884 aged 74.
John’s siblings
At the time of the 1871 Census Henry was married to Caroline and they were living with their 7 year-old daughter Minnie at 44 Godfrey Street in Chelsea. Henry was working as a mason. He died in January 1880 aged 46 and was buried in St Marylebone Cemetery.
In 1861 George married Eliza Boyce in Birkenhead, which suggests he may have followed his brother Henry there in search of work. By 1871 the couple had moved to Knightsbridge. They had ten children together and adopted a son.
George became a successful builder and he and his wife moved to Lebanon Park in Twickenham. Eliza died in 1911. When George died on the 7th of September 1915 he left his effects, valued at £51,573 (equivalent to more than £6,000,000 today) to his daughter Nellie Harriet Honnor, the wife of Henry John Honnor, a spirit merchant.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to trace William Street after the 1861 Census.
John’s wife and sons
In the 1911 and 1921 Censuses Jane and Thomas were still living at 33 Kingsley Street in Battersea. Thomas was now working as a printer’s cutter. In the 3rd quarter of 1932 he married Mary Ann Axton.
Jane died in the 3rd quarter of 1933 aged 81.
Thomas and Mary Ann moved to 37 Adelaide Avenue in Lewisham. Tragically, both were killed in an air-raid on the 17th of September 1944 when a V2 rocket was dropped on Adelaide Avenue.
On the 31st of July 1909 Henry married Ada Louise Chapman at St Saviour’s Church, Battersea. In 1911 the couple were living at 2. Leitrim Grove, Park Road, Battersea. Their son Henry was born on the 12th of July 1916. On the 15th of October 1917 Henry enlisted in the Royal Air Force. In 1939 the family was living at 26, Norfolk Road in Tonbridge and both Henry and his son were working in the printing industry. Henry died in 1958 aged 80.
