0 0
Read Time:16 Minute, 10 Second

b.1879-d.1911

Introduction

Unfortunately, none of the definite records found for Mabel referred to her family. Not even her death certificate gave me any mention of a family. The 1911 census entry for Mabel when she was in Long Grove Hospital gave her age as 32, her status as single and that she was born in Peckham. Based on this information I checked records for all Mabel Andrews born between 1877 and 1881. There were 23 entries. Of those 16 were outside London, which left 7 possibilities. There was only one born in the Camberwell area which covers Peckham, but I checked the others just in case. None of the others fitted, they had either died as children, or had married or were still alive after our Mabel had died.

This left me with Mabel Andrews born on 15 July 1879 to George Michael Andrews and Sarah Anne Bridle. So, this is the story I will tell.

Mabel’s parents

George and Sarah had married on 2 May 1874 at St Saviour’s church in Southwark. George is described as a Jeweller from St Andrew’s, Newcastle. His father is named as Thomas and he was also a jeweller. Sarah was of St Saviour’s parish and her father is named as Henry Bridle, a Hop Warehouseman. The witnesses to the marriage were Henry Bridle and Mary Aldred.

George came from a large Norfolk family where all the men in the family were either Watchmakers, Jewellers or Cabinet Makers. Sarah’s family was a much smaller family. She had one brother, Thomas. Her father heralded from Hampshire and her mother from Chelsea. The Hop industry was bustling at this time especially in the Southwark area and Sarah’s father would have had plenty of work.

No recorded children are born to George and Sarah for 5 years and Mabel is their first-born child. Born on 15 July 1879 and baptised on 5 October 1879 at St Saviour’s church, Southwark, she was given the name Mabel Caroline Anne. The family address is given, ironically, as 78 Asylum Road in Peckham.

Mabel’s birth certificate below.

The 1880s

The 1881 Census shows the family had moved to Shoreditch and were living at 75 New North Road. George, aged 32, is  a jeweller’s Manager from New Buckingham in Norfolk. Sarah Anne is described as Anne, aged 28, from Southwark. Mabel aged 1 from Peckham. A visitor was also living with them, the widowed Mary Mears aged 46, a nurse from Besthorpe in Norfolk. There was also a lodger called Harriett Faulkner who was an unmarried 75 annuitant which meant she had her own income and was therefore contributing to the Andrews family income.

During the 1880’s the family grew with the addition of –

Cecil George born 20 June 1881 at New North Road in Shoreditch

Daisy Alice Pauline born 19 February 1883 at Charing Cross

Ethel Gertrude born 4 June 1885 at Wandsworth Road

Percy Frank born 7 June 1887 at Kimberley Road in Nunhead

All the children were baptised at St Saviour’s church in Southwark. During this time their father George remained in employment as a Jeweller.

1890s

In 1891 the census shows the family living at 322 Wandsworth Road in Clapham. George, now aged 43, is a Jeweller’s Assistant. The other members of the family are Sarah Anne aged 38, Mabel aged 11, Cecil aged 9, Daisy aged 8, Ethel aged 5 and Percy aged 3. Sarah’s father, the widowed Henry Bridle, is also living with the family, aged 64. They shared the house with a Hamilton Reaves, a Watchmaker and his wife.

The Electoral Register suggests they lived there until at least 1894.

1900s – A decade of change for the family

By the time of the 1901 census the family had moved again to 13 Vivian Road in Clapham. They are the sole occupants of the property. Booth’s maps describe the area as mixed, 2 storey houses very similar to others in the area. George, aged 52, is  a jeweller’s assistant. He is described as married, but Sarah is not recorded as living with the family. Mabel is now aged 21 with no employment, Cecil is aged 19 and working as a metal engineer, Daisy aged 18 is following in her father’s footsteps as a jeweller’s assistant, Ethel is aged 15 and Percy is aged 13.

There is a possible entry for Sarah for 1901 as a patient of the Homeopathic Hospital in central London, recorded under the patient’s name of Annie Andrews, a 49-year-old housewife born in Southwark. It seems like Mabel’s mother had a condition that needed medical intervention.

This proved to be the case as on 17 April 1902 Mabel’s mother, Sarah Annie, died aged 48. The family were now living at 36, Ravenscourt Gardens, Fulham. Sarah had Phthisis exhaustion which was another name for Tuberculosis or consumption, an infectious disease which affected the lungs. Despite the treatment she received there was no cure at that point in time, so death was inevitable.

Booth’s Maps describe Ravenscourt Gardens as “Well to do”, quiet and respectable. This shows Tuberculosis did not purely affect the poor.

On 25 December 1902 Mabel’s father remarried a single lady named Elizabeth Peachy at Grace Hill church in Folkestone. The newspaper of the day recorded the event. 

The Norfolk News reported on 3 January 1903 

“A pretty wedding of local interest took place at Grace Hill Church, Folkestone, on Christinas Day, the Rev. R. M. Spoor, minister of the church, officiating. The contracting parties were Mr. George M. Andrews of Ravenscourt Gardens. London, W., and Miss Elisabeth (Lilly) Pechey, youngest daughter of the late Mr. Samuel Pechey of Thetford. The bride, who was given away by her brother, Mr. Henry Pechey of Great Yarmouth, wore her travelling costume, grey voile, trimmed with silk and passementerie, hat and feather boa to match. She carried a beautiful shower bouquet of white flowers. Her bridesmaid was Miss Ethel (niece), who was dressed in Wedgewood blue, heavily trimmed with silk to match, white fur boa, black picture hat. and bouquet of white and yellow flowers. The service was choral, and its conclusion the happy pair left to the strains of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March,” very effectively rendered by the organist. Mrs. Walton. The bride was well known and much respected in Thetford and neighbourhood. The presents were numerous and handsome.”

Courtesy of British Newspaper Archives

The question must be asked as to why the couple decided to get married in Folkestone and how they came to know each other? Thetford and New Buckenham in Norfolk were about 20 miles apart. It is possible that as both the Pechey and Andrews family were business people their paths crossed. 

Why Folkestone? The only connection that can be found is that Elizabeth Pechey’s sister Mary Edwin lived there with her husband Thomas. They ran a Draper’s shop where Ethel Pechey  (niece and bridesmaid) lived with them too.  Perhaps it was considered a nice venue. There is no mention of the Andrews family.

What happened to Mabel and her siblings immediately after their father’s marriage is not known but over the next few years the family were to go their separate ways.

Mabel’s epilepsy

Mabel may have had epilepsy for some time, or it may have been a recent thing. The census records indicate she did not have employment which may have meant she was unable to work. She must have become too ill at some point, and she can be found in the Religious Creed register for St Dunstan’s Infirmary in Fulham. She was admitted on 9 November 1903 and discharged on 27 November 1903 with a note she had been sent to the Epileptics Home. I am assuming the Board made a successful quick application to The Meath Home of Comfort for Epileptic Woman and Children. Her death certificate confirms she had been there prior to Long Grove.

The Meath Home was located at Westbrook House, in Godalming, Surrey. It had been founded and opened by Mary, Countess of Meath in 1892. She described it as “a happy home for epileptic women and children”. The home encouraged its patients to be engaged in useful work.  For example, they made and sold baskets and were encouraged to work in the gardens. It was considered a kind and pleasant place for patients.

Unfortunately, no records survive for the Meath House of Comfort so it is difficult to say how Mabel fared under their care.

From Newspaper articles it seems as if there were only a few beds for “deserving cases”. So, Mabel must have been a deserving case. It was open to all regardless of religion. The fees were small, and the competition was fierce. For example, when it opened in 1892 there were 400 applications for 50 beds. Patients would not be dismissed unless they were cured or wished to leave.  

However, Mabel did leave. But not because she was cured.

Westbrook House

Admission to Long Grove

Mabel’s condition must have deteriorated and because the establishment did not cater for the insane, it can only be assumed that she was assessed and deemed as unable to remain at the Meath Home. On 30 July 1907 she was admitted to Woking Asylum and from there she was moved as she was “not improved” to Long Grove on 3 September 1907.

Shortly after Mabel was admitted to Long Grove her father George died on 18 February 1908. By now he was living in Felixstowe with his second wife Elizabeth. Probate of £202 and 10 shillings was granted to her. This is worth about £25,000 today.

Mabel was to remain at Long Grove until she died. The 1911 census records her as a single woman, aged 32, formerly a Laundry Maid born in Peckham. 

The death certificate reveals Mabel’s cause of death was Epilepsy, Bronchitis and Bronchopneumonia of 12 days duration.

Mabel’s Siblings

What happened to Mabel’s siblings after their father’s marriage to Elizabeth Pechey has not been easy to piece together. It looks as if Mabel at least was still in the Fulham area until 1903 as she was admitted into St Dunstan’s Infirmary in Fulham.

Cecil

Cecil George Andrews was described as an “imbecile” on his school records of 1889 and 1890 but there seems to be no further mention of this.  In the 1901 Census he is working as a metal engraver so if he did have some learning needs, he seems to have been able to work.  I believe he can be found on the 1911 Census living at 50 Estcourt Road in Fulham, a visitor in the home of Albert Seymour a Plumber. Cecil was working as a Porter at a Wallpaper Manufacturer.

The Electoral Register shows Cecil G Andrews living at 14 Bramber Road in Fulham in 1918. The 1921 Census shows a Cecil G Andrews aged 38 years and 11 months living at the same address. He is single and working as a canvasser. The head of the house is an Eliza Chivers, widowed, aged 62. Her son Arthur is also living at this address. 

This Cecil George Andrews appears to have died in 1924. I am unsure if this is Mabel’s brother but cannot find any further possibilities.

Daisy

Daisy Alice Pauline Andrews, who was born on 19 February 1883, was still living at home in 1901 with her father, and working as a jeweller’s assistant. Tracing her proved difficult. I managed to trace that she married in the April quarter of 1908 in Islington. I eventually tracked down that she married Abraham Steel who was the son of Micheal Staal, a Dutch Diamond polisher. His surname had become anglicised as Steel. Abraham was a jeweller too. They had one daughter in 1916 named Audrey. Sadly, Daisy died on 7 November 1930 in Berchem in Belgium aged 47.

Gertrude

Gertrude Ethel Andrews, born on 4 June 1885, seems to be the only child that had a connection with her father after he remarried. In 1911 Ethel, as she was known, was living with her stepmother Elizabeth at 11 Holland Road in Felixstowe. She went on to marry Frank Goode Cross a carpenter in April 1912. She too only had one daughter, born in 1920. She was given the unusual name of Betty Silence Cross. Ethel died in Portsmouth in 1958 aged 73.

Percy or Arthur

Percy Frank Andrews born on 7 June 1887 proved to be enigmatic too. I could not find a viable story for a Percy Frank Andrews, but I could find one for an Arthur Frank Andrews born on 7 June 1887. Checking birth certificates showed there was no birth registered for an Arthur Frank Andrews born in June 1887, so it seems as if Percy also went by the name of Arthur.

Arthur Frank joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker on 9 June 1908 for 12 years and served throughout World War 1. He was discharged on 17 December 1919 with a ‘very good character’. His occupation at the time of joining up was that of a pastry cook.

On 28 January 1912 he married Louie Cox at St Matthew’s church in Fulham. By the time of the 1921 census the couple were living at 15 Cornwall Street in Fulham. Arthur was working as a labourer and Louie as a Cook. In 1939 the couple were living in the Kings Road in Fulham, and they were proprietors of a Café although I can find no further confirmation of this. Arthur or Percy died sometime between 1939 and 1945. I could not find a death certificate, but I have deduced this by looking at Electoral Roll entries for Louie, his wife and he ceases to appear after 1939. As far as I can tell the couple were childless.

The Andrews Family

Mabel’s fathers’ family was large, and all the men of the family were occupied in Watchmaking, Cabinet Making or the Jewellery trade. Her Grandfather Thomas lived in Norfolk but Thomas junior, Edward and George her father moved to London. However, there was friction within the family as a newspaper article of February 1864 reveals. Thomas junior of London was charged with threatening the life of his brother William who was living in Diss. William stated he lived in fear of his brother, and he had also had a few disputes with his father. William’s testimony reveals Thomas had run away from home and that he (William) had helped him out financially until he found work. I am not sure the brothers ever resolved their differences.

In 1891 Thomas junior and George Andrews lived next door to each other in Hackney, so it seems as if they at least remained close.

Mabel’s Uncle Edward Andrews committed suicide in September 1906. He also was in the Jewellery trade and reports of his suicide are desperately sad.

From the Eastern Argus and Borough of Hackney Times dated 22 September 1906

 “Suicide of a Mare Street Tradesman.

 The sad death of an old and respected Hackney Tradesman, Mr. Edward Andrews, watchmaker and jeweller, of 352, Mare Street, was investigated by a Hackney jury on Saturday. The widow, Hepzibah Mary Andrews, stated that they had been married for 39 years, and there were nine children. Of late his business had fallen off, but he was not in debt to any extent. During the last three months he had been very changed and his head so bad that she could not answer for him at all. He was a member of the Serapis Angling Society, and she heard that he had a sunstroke whilst fishing. He did not drink to excess. On Wednesday afternoon he told her that he was going to Clerkenwell. She told him they would wait tea for him, but he replied, “ No, don’t wait, I don’t know how long I may be.” That was the last time she saw him alive. As the evening wore on her daughter suggested that he had gone on to his fishing club, and she went to bed. She woke at one o’clock and, finding he had not arrived, went downstairs. He frequently lay on the couch looking at the newspaper if he had not seen it during the day, but he was not there on this occasion. In the letterbox was a little cardboard box, which the deceased must have delivered during the evening, containing his watch and a letter. The letter read: “Dear Heppy —Sell all, pay all debts and give up the place. Am going mad. What will become of me I don’t know. No one has tried harder than me, but all has gone against me, broken down in all my ways. You will be able in the future to be master and mistress. My trouble and sorrow are too much for me. Your broken-hearted husband. I enclose watch and chain. and have no money but a tin halfpenny. God bless and help you Good-bye all.’ 

Next morning the police told her that her husband’s body had been recovered from the Lea near Stannard’s Boathouse. A note was found on him on which he had written: “My troubles are more than I can possibly bear. Put me in an asylum.’

 Ernest Marshall, of 397 Mare Street, said the deceased called on him twice on Wednesday. He complained that business was bad (as it was all along Mare Street), and said his troubles were killing him, but afterwards he became quite jocular. Other evidence having been given with regard to the finding of the body. the jury returned a verdict of “Suicide whilst temporarily insane.’ 

Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archives.

We will never know if Mabel was made aware of this sad situation.

Author’s thoughts

Mabel seems to have come from a stable family background where her father seems to be in employment all her early life. Whether he was an actual Jeweller is difficult to say but he could have been involved in making items or selling them. His marriage to Sarah Bridle Mabel’s mother seems to suggest at that point it was one of the same social standing. However, the move from Peckham to 36 Ravenscourt Gardens in 1902 seems to be an upwardly mobile move. Certainly, his marriage to Elizabeth Pechey seems an ambitious move.

After her father’s second marriage it’s difficult to know if Mabel and her siblings stayed together. Was there anyone to look after Mabel? 

After her admission to St Dunstan’s Infirmary in 1903, she was lucky to be accepted into The Meath Home of Comfort. Newspaper articles suggest this was a kind and caring establishment where the patients were given the best care that could be given at that time. Sadly, there was no improvement in her condition, and she found herself in Long Grove where she passed away. In the absence of records, it’s difficult to know if anyone from her family visited her. The lack of family information on her death certificate suggests not and that she died without them knowing what had become of her.

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
Previous post Lendvai, Peter Erwin
Next post BRADY, James Ernest Quinland