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b.1879-d.1914
Frederick Charles Wilson was born on 4 April 1879, at 19 Foulden Road in Hackney. He was the third of five children born to Walter Layton Wilson and his wife Annie. Walter and Annie Wilson née Cockburn had married in 1874.
The couple appeared comfortably off. Walter was a lithographer and draughtsman and Annie also had a small private income, an inheritance from her parents. The couple lived mostly around the Streatham area and children grew up in comfortable homes, often newly built and never having to share with other families.
Walter and Annie’s children were
- Alice Maud Wilson born on 28 Sep 1875
- Walter Henry Wilson born on 14 Aug 1876
- Frederick Charles Wilson, our subject, born on 4 Apr 1879
- Florence Annie Wilson born on 4 Jun 1881
- Garnet Seymour Wilson born on 8 Dec 1882
All the children’s dates of birth were recorded in divorce papers of Walter and Annie Wilson in 1884, just ten years after they had married.
At home, the couple did have help; in 1881 they employed a cook and a housemaid and in 1891 the children had a governess. Annie probably didn’t get a lot of family support, as she had been an only child, her father dying when she was 11 followed by her mother in 1878, a few years after Annie had married.
A Separation for the Couple
Walter Layton Wilson had become a lithographer/draughtsman/civil engineer. On the surface life looked good but in reality it was far from settled. On 16 June 1885, Annie filed for a judicial separation from her husband Walter. Annie alleged that Walter was cruel and had frequently used threats of violence against her.
Walter denied that he had treated Annie with unkindness or cruelty. He went on to say that Annie had committed adultery with several named men. He also said Annie had assaulted him on several occasions and threatened to stab him. Walter asked the court to decree a dissolution of the marriage instead.
There is no record of a decree nisi, final decree or a dissolution. It is likely Annie was already suffering with mental health issues. A year later she was dead.
Frederick’s Childhood
With four siblings close in age, Frederick was not alone.
We first see him in the 1881 Census living at 5 Ryde Vale Villas in Streatham. He was just a year old and living with his parents and two older siblings. The property was newly built, the area being part of the Heaver Estate, a prestigious residential area.
With help of two servants, the Wilson’s were fortunate. Two more children were to follow.
Like so many families at that time, the sons appear to have been able to get better opportunities, unlike the two daughters. Alice never appeared to work and died aged 51. Florence worked as a laundry maid and eventually settled in Washington, United States, near her younger brother Fred (Garnet Wilson). She died at the age of 60.
Of the three boys, two went into dentistry and the third was a successful fruit farmer in the United States. The children were very young when their mother died in 1885. Frederick was just six years old.
Details of the Divorce
The divorce papers detail some of the chaos the family were going through but a newspaper article about Annie’s death gives us more information. It says Annie had been unwell for a year, which was around the time of her divorce petition. She had become suicidal and Walter employed people to watch her. She had been sent away to Brighton but it appeared nothing helped.
On her return home, two doctors were called to certify Annie and arrange her admission to St Luke’s Asylum, in Old Street the following day. Annie never made it to St Luke’s. Despite people being with her, Annie managed to snatch a glass bottle stopper and choke herself.
The family moved house after Annie’s death but they remained in the Streatham area.
There is no evidence of the children attending school. In 1891 there was a governess living with the family at 29 Sistova Road, Streatham. It must have been important to Walter for his sons to do well.
1901 -Where is Frederick?
Unfortunately Frederick Charles Wilson cannot be found on the 1901 Census. He was then aged 22 and may have been in training or in an institution. His father was still living at the family home in Streatham with Frederick’s sibling, Florence.
In 1903 (OND), Frederick Charles Wilson, aged 24, married Edith Miriam Smith in Kings Norton, Worcestershire. Edith and her family lived fairly close to the Wilson family in Streatham. She was a music teacher working from home.
A year after the marriage, Frederick and Edith had a daughter Faith Stella Dorothy, born on 26 November 1904, at 14, Culmore Road, Balham.
They were living with Thomas, Edith’s father. Edith had registered the baby’s birth six weeks later. She names the father as Frederick Charles Wilson, a dental mechanic, although we don’t know if the couple were living together at this time.
Admission to Horton
On 12 April 1906 Frederick Charles Wilson was admitted to Horton Asylum. Edith and the baby had returned to live with her parents. No case notes have been found for Frederick.
Frederick appears in the 1911 Census in Horton, as a dentist mechanic and labelled a lunatic.
He remained at Horton until his death on 24 October 1914. The cause of his death was given as pulmonary tuberculosis.
Frederick Charles Wilson is buried in the Horton Estate Cemetery in grave 1257a.
Author’s Notes
After Frederick’s death Edith married Dudley William Booty. She died in 1931 aged 54. Frederick and Edith’s daughter Faith left England just before her mother’s death and settled in Canada, where she worked as a concert pianist and singer.
