RICHARDSON, Robert - Friends of Horton Cemetery

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b.1839-d.1902

Robert’s parents, Robert Richardson (1800-1875) and Ann Stevenson (1815-1885), had two daughters before they wed, Eliza in 1830 and Harriett in 1832. This would indicate that, unless Ann’s birth year given in the following censuses was wrong, she was only 15 when she gave birth to Eliza.

In total, the couple had 10 known children including the subject of this narrative Robert junior –

Eliza 1830-1868. Married Richard Henry Juby on 26^th February 1855.
Harriett 1832-1900. Married Henry Molson on 10^th January 1855.
Sarah Ann 1835-1887. Married William Robert Duff on 25^th July 1853.
Thomas 1837-c1904. Married Sarah Messenger on 17^th December 1860.
Robert 1839-1902. Married Jane Winup on 24^th October 1860.
Charles 1841-1841. Died aged 2 weeks old.
Mary Ann 1843- After 1911. Married John Bailey on 22^nd December 1863.
Martha 1845-1894. Married William Robert Scriven on 24^th October 1864.
Jane Eliza 1847- After 1861.
Susannah 1849-1922. Married William Waugh on 8^th September 1867.
Emma 1855- After 1881.

Eliza was baptised as the daughter of Robert senior and Ann Richardson in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth, on 30^th July 1830. The family was living in Wickham Street, and her father was working as a groom. Her sister, Harriett, was baptised in the same church on 29^th June 1832. The family were then living in Gloster Street, and their father was recorded as working as an ostler.

Robert senior and Ann were eventually married on 9^th June 1833 in Saint Mary’s Church, Newington. Robert senior, a bachelor, was aged 32 when he married 18-year-old spinster Ann Stevenson. The marriage entry states they were both of this parish, but it does not indicate that Ann was still a minor; their marriage was witnessed by Robert and Elizabeth Rothery.

When their daughter Sarah Ann was baptised on 8^th February 1835 in St Mary’s Church in Lambeth, the family was living in Oakley Street. Robert senior was still working as an ostler. Their son Thomas was born c1837, but I have been unable to find a baptism for him in the Lambeth or Southwark area.

Robert is Born

On Easter Sunday 31^st March 1839, Ann gave birth to Robert. Robert senior and Ann took their son to St George the Martyr Church, Southwark, to be baptised by Reverend George Weight. Robert was one of 15 children baptised on Sunday 26^th May 1839. His father was recorded, in the baptismal book, as working as a timber merchant and living at New Street, Borough Row, Southwark.

The 1841 Census was taken on the evening of the 6th of June and the enumerator recorded Robert senior and Ann as living in Pearl Row, Borough Road, in the district of St George the Martyr. Robert senior had changed trades again and was recorded as being a carman, a driver of a horse-drawn delivery vehicle. The children were listed as being Eliza aged 11, Harriet aged 9, Robert aged 2, and baby Charles, who Ann had given birth to just two weeks previously. Robert’s 7-year-old sister, Sarah, was a patient in St Thomas’ Hospital, Southwark.

Sadly, baby Charles did not thrive and died shortly after the census was taken.

Over the next ten years, Ann gave birth to four more children, Mary Ann, Martha, Jane Eliza, and Susannah. The 1851 Census records the enlarged family as living at 51 Wellington Street, Southwark St George, Surrey. Robert was now aged 12, and he and his brother Thomas were working as errand boys. Sisters Eliza and Sarah were working as artificial flower makers to help support the family. Their father was now working as a coal porter and carman.

Ann gave birth, on 2^nd April 1855, in their home in Market Street, London Road, Southwark, to her last known child who they named Emma.

Robert Marries Jane Winup

Robert was aged 21 when he married 21-year-old Jane Winup, on 24^th October 1860, in Saint Mary’s Church, Kennington Park Road, Southwark. The couple both gave Wellington Street as their addresses.

Jane was the daughter of William, also a coal carman, and Susanna Winup. It would seem likely that the fathers were colleagues working in the same industry. The witnesses to the marriage were Robert’s mother Ann, and his brother-in-law William Duff. Only Ann signed her name on the marriage entry, with the others using an X for their names.

Robert and Jane were to have seven known children –

Susannah 1861-1863.
Ann Barbara 1863-?
Maria 1866-1935. Married James William Fullilove.
Mary Ann 1869-1871.
Ellen/Helena 1872-1886.
Eliza 1874-? Married Thomas William Harrison.
William Robert 1878-1886.

Robert senior, Ann, and their daughters Susannah and Emma were recorded as living at 33 Market Street, Southwark, Surrey when the 1861 Census was taken on the evening of 7^thApril. Robert senior was now working as a greengrocer and carman, with his shop being ideally positioned as the street was in the heart of Southwark’s market district near Borough Market.

Also living there were his daughter, Sarah and her husband William Duff and their children, who were also named Sarah and William. Sisters Mary Ann and Martha were away elsewhere working together as servants.

The same census recorded Robert and his pregnant wife Jane as living at 32 Kings Street. Robert was working as what looks like a ‘Davver’ (AI has suggested it could be Daver / Daverer: A dialect term associated with textile workers such as in the wool or cotton industry).

On 31^st August 1861, Jane gave birth to Susannah, the first of their six daughters. Susannah was baptised on 13^th October 1861 in St George the Martyr Church, Borough High Street, Southwark. Her father’s occupation was noted as being a labourer and their address as 11 Flint Street, Friar Street, Southwark.

A Birth and a Death

The latter part of 1863 saw a birth and a death in the family. Two-year-old Susannah died from pneumonia in her home, 38 King Street on 29^th September 1863. Her death was registered by her pregnant mother Jane on 2^nd October. Robert’s occupation was noted as a Hawker.

A month later, on 30^th October 1863, Jane gave birth at home to their second daughter, Ann Barbara. A baptism has not been found for her.

Robert and Jane’s third daughter Maria was born on 20^th February 1866. Robert’s occupation was noted as being a ‘Working Carman’. Like her sister Ann Barbara, Maria does not seem to have been baptised soon after her birth.

On 5^th December 1869, Jane gave birth, at her in-law’s home 33 Market Street, to her fourth daughter, Mary Ann.

The 1871 Census for England was taken on the night of 2^nd April and Robert and his family were recorded as having moved to 23 Market Street. Robert and Jane were both aged 30 by now, and Robert was working as a ‘Coal Dealer’ to support his wife and daughters Ann aged 7, Maria aged 5, and one-year-old Mary Ann.

Robert’s parents Robert senior and Ann, and his sister Emma, were still living along the road at number 33 Market Street where Robert senior still worked as a greengrocer.

Sadly, at the end of 1871, Robert and Jane’s daughter Mary Ann died.

On 2^nd February 1872, at 23 Flint Street, Jane gave birth to their fifth daughter, Ellen.

Robert’s Father Dies

Robert senior was aged 74 when he died from bronchitis in his home on 12^th January 1875. His death certificate stated that he was a coal dealer at the time of his death. His widow Ann’s whereabouts after his death is unknown as is her death. [NB – it was not in 1885].

Eliza, the sixth daughter born to Robert and Jane, was baptised on 1^st July 1877 in St. Alphege Church, Southwark. Also baptised on that day was their other daughter, Helena/Ellen. The family abode at that time was 12, Flint Street and their father Robert was working as a carman.

Robert and Jane’s daughter Maria was 12 years old when she was eventually baptised in All Saints Church, Walworth, Southwark, on 23^rd February 1878. Towards the latter part of that year, 42-year-old Jane gave birth to her last known child, a son who they named William Robert.

Daughter Ann, who was working as a pill box maker, was admitted to Newington Workhouse on 4^th Dec 1879; she was later discharged on 30^th December.

A Move to Lambeth

The family moved to 15 Linwood Place, Lambeth, and when the 1881 Census was taken on 3^rd April, it recorded Robert as aged 42 and working as a ‘Coal Carman’. Daughter Ann, aged 18, was still working as a ‘Box Maker’ while Maria aged 15, Ellen aged 11, and Eliza aged 7 were all at school. Jane was busy at home with 2-year-old William Robert, and for the first time, a servant, Betsy Appleton, was working for them.

Daughter Ann, a box maker, was admitted again to the Newington Workhouse on 24^th October 1881; she was later discharged at her own request on 5^th November. She was admitted to the St George Road Workhouse on 27^th July 1882 but discharged at her own request the following day. Roughly 6 weeks later, on 8^th September, she was admitted again to St George’s and gave birth to her illegitimate daughter who she first named Jane. Ann, and her 2-week-old baby, were discharged on 27^th September 1882. Ann later registered her daughter as ‘Ann’, not Jane.

On 6^th August 1883, Robert’s daughter Maria, claiming to be 20 years old, married James William Fullilove in St John’s Church, Walworth. Their witnesses were Maria’s uncle William Robert Duff and Annie Lockton.

Robert’s daughter Ann and granddaughter Ann were both once again admitted on 6^th December 1883 into the Newington Workhouse. They were both discharged on 27^th February the following year. This is the last record found for baby Ann.

A year later, on 23^rd January 1885, just Ann was admitted into the St George’s Workhouse, but the next day was discharged to the Newington Workhouse Infirmary where she stayed until her discharge on 28^th February 1885. It’s not known when Ann was readmitted, but she was discharged from St George’s on 26^th January 1886. This is the last record I found for Ann.

Robert and Jane’s daughter Ellen died on 30^th October 1886, and on 12^th November 1886 their son William Robert died. Digital images are not currently available for these death entries, so it’s not known why they died. Robert, Jane, and their daughter Eliza, have not been found in this census despite searching through all the enumerator’s entries for Linwood Place.

Robert’s daughter Eliza married Thomas William Harrison when she was 20 years old. When couple married in St John’s Church, Newington on 14^th October 1894, Eliza gave 27 York Street as her address.

A Wife and Seven Children Buried

After 34 years of marriage, Robert’s wife Jane was 55 years old when she died from Hepatic cirrhosis and Dropsy, on 14^th November 1894. Their married daughter, Maria Fullilove, was present at her death at 27, Linwood Place, Newington. Jane’s body was buried on 20^th November in Newham, London.

Having buried his wife and five of their seven children, Robert must have been in a distressed state, but the exact circumstances of his admittance into the Newington Workhouse on 2^nd June 1896 are unknown. He was discharged on 17^th April 1897 to the Kent County Lunatic Asylum, Maidstone, Kent. Situated on Hermitage Lane in Barming Heath, it was commonly known as Barming Heath Asylum. Later, when the 1901 Census was taken there, his previous occupation was noted as being a coal carrier, but now he had been labelled a lunatic.

On 7^th August 1902, Robert was admitted to the Horton Asylum in Epsom where he died on 30^th October that same year. His death certificate stated that he had been a Coal Carrier of Newington Workhouse, Walworth, and that his cause of death was from bronchitis and heart disease.

Robert’s body was laid to rest in grave 63 in Horton Estate Cemetery on 5^th November 1902.

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