b.1886-d.1914
Henry’s family
Henry was the third child of five born to George Holden and his wife, Florence Emily Traies. His siblings were
George Edward 1881 – 1916.
Florence Annie 1883 – 1963.
Walter Frank 1890 – 1966.
Charles Ernest 1893 – 1918.
George (1856 – 1937) and Florence (1860 – 1938) were both born in Brighton, Sussex. They married in 1881 in St Mary’s Church, St James Road, Brighton. George’s occupation is given as “watchmaker” and they are living at 55, St James Road, Brighton.
In April of that year a census was taken and by then George and Florence were living in The Pier Tavern at 3, Margaret Street, Brighton where he is described as a “beer shop keeper”. (The Pier Tavern, which opened c1867 closed c1893.)
The 1891 Census
By 1891 the family had moved to London and were living at 25, Westmorland Road, Newington, which is shown on Booth’s Maps as, “Fairly comfortable, good average earnings”. George is now 34 years old and the couple have four children, George Jnr, who was born in Brighton, Florence, born in Walworth, Henry, born in Clerkenwell and Walter born in Newington.
Geroge Snr’s occupation is shown as “confectioner”. Interestingly, Florence’s father was a “pastry chef” so possibly he helped to get George a job.
Also living with them was Mary Holden, George’s widowed mother aged 73 years.
The 1901 Census
In 1901 the census shows the family now complete with son Charles who was born in Walworth. They are living at Howich Mansion, 62, Woolwich Rd, Charlton. George Snr is working at the Woolwich Dockyard as a “hay presser, miller”. George Jnr is a “Labourer, Iron stamper” at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. Florence is a “Cylinder gauger, cartridge factory” in Greenwich.
Henry is noted as suffering from Epileptic fits and not working and Walter and Charles are still at school.
Henry’s Epilepsy had started when he was around 5 years old (1891). In 1907 when he was admitted to the Colony, his father stated that, “nine months prior he (Henry) took himself to Greenwich Infirmary “to free his family from keeping him and with the hope of being sent to the Colony” (Ewell Epileptic Colony.)
On 21 February 1907 Greenwich Union discharged Henry to theColony and he was admitted the same day.
Henry later says that his father is crippled with Rheumatism and so he felt it was the right thing to do – a hard but compassionate choice by this young man who will soon be declared “insane.”
In the Colony
The notes taken on admittance say that Henry is single and has no occupation. He has been suffering from Epilepsy for 16 years. He is neither dangerous nor suicidal.
When the doctors first interviewed Henry he apparently “gave a good account of himself”. He said that his epilepsy started following a bout of Scarlet Fever but later it was found that prior to the Scarlet Fever there were questions about trephising him (creating a small hole in his skull to relieve the pressure.) https://www.osmosis.org/answers/trephination
He has always been teetotal and his fits come at any time with no warning.
He is said to have a rather somnolent manner but is “able to execute ordinary mental arithmetic calculations well”. He has never worked and believes that his fits have become exceptionally severe, but he seems very willing to work on the farm. Previously Henry’s father had told the admitting officer that his brother had committed suicide, Henry appears not to know of the suicide but says that one of his father’s brothers had fits and died young.
Report of 28 Feb 1907: “He is suffering from insanity with Epilepsy evidenced by stupor and prolonged incapacity after his fits and liability to losses of self control.”
Throughout the next two years his fits are regular and severe and although he is labelled “weak minded, dull, depressed and confused” he is consistently said to be well behaved and working well on the farm. At this time he is not on any medication but in Jan 1910 he is prescribed Stront.Brom daily. (Stontium Bromide, a sedative.)
In January 1911 Henry is again described as suffering from insanity with Epilepsy in his report but he is “weak minded, becoming progressively more demented, frequent fits, confused and deep depression following.” He also suffers a couple of falls and has one or two minor health issues.
It is said in April that he has become “duller and less efficient as a Colonist in the last few months” and his medication is reduced.
Henry appears in the 1911 Census of the Epileptic Colony when he is said to have been a “watchmaker’s assistant.”
January 1912 sees Henry transferred to Chestnut Villa. No reason is given, but there he “improves and gives no trouble”. Later in April his fits are so severe that they “prevent him from being much of worker”
On May 6th we see a change when Henry becomes, “much excited and impulsive this morning, striking out at another colonist without provocation” and he is “transferred to hospital for a day or two.”
By July, although Henry is still going out with the farm party he does no work but is still said to be “sociable, quiet, clean and tidy, memory poor.”
No further notes are made for this year which is unusual as they are normally made quarterly
Report of January 19th 1913. “He is childish and shows no initiative. Not much work (farm.) No trouble.”
No further notes are made until October of this year and then unfortunately, the record says “see new ledger,” but no other ledgers have been found. There are however a number of loose notes which may, one day, help us to finish the story. We do know that Henry died on 15th February 1914, just four months after the last note was taken but there are no “final statistics” or Coroner’s certificate which usually give information about the cause of death.
However I did buy the death certificate and found that the cause of death is simply “Epilepsy”.
Henry was buried on 20th February 1914 in the Horton Estate Cemetery in Grave 987 b.
Henry’s family.
The first census taken after Henry was admitted to the Colony, (1911) finds his family living at 111, Tuskar Street, East Greenwich. (Below, typical housing in Tuskar Street. The Holden family had four rooms so presumably the house was split into upstairs and downstairs flats.)
His father George is now 54 years old and is once again describing himself as a “watch maker,” rather surprising in view of his being “crippled with rheumatism”. However, his mother Florence is still alive aged 49 and his brother George is a furnace stoker at a gas works. Walter is a general labourer, also at the gas works and Charles works for the Delta Metal Co, probably in their Greenwich works. Florence had married in 1905 but she and her husband and two small children are also living at the same address.
George died, aged 80 in the Mar Q of 1937, probably in early February as he was buried on 22nd Feb in Greenwich. Florence died just one year later in January 1938, registered in Dartford, Kent. No burial record has been found.
George Edward 1881 – 1916. George was baptised on 11 September 1881 at St Mary’s Church, Brighton although his birth was not registered until DQ 1881.
George married Louisa Nowlan on 20 August 1911 at Christ Church, East Greenwich. No children have been found.
George served as a Private in the army in WW1, 7th Battalion Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Sadly he was killed in action on 29 September 1916 and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, Picardie. Pier and Face 11c.
Florence Annie 1883 – 1963.
Born in Walworth, Surrey, Florence was baptised at St Paul’s Church, Lorrimore Square, Southwark.
Florence lived with her family until 1905 when she married Alfred Henry Sams.
They marry at Christchurch, Greenwich; Alfred is a ‘mechanic.’
As mentioned above she and her family were still living at 111, Tuskar Street in East Greenwich in 1911.
Florence and Alfred had three children, Alfred William born1906, Daisy Florence born 1908 but died May 1914 aged 5 years, Edward Walter Henry born 1913 and Stanley C born 1915.
Alfred served for a short time in WW1 as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery.
I can find no reason for the short duration of his service but he died in 1926 aged 46 so possibly his life was shortened by his war service.
From about 1918 the family lived in an area of East Greenwich right alongside the Blackwall tunnel, in housing that was built to re-house people whose homes had been lost in the building of the tunnel. The area had previously been marshland but became home to industries like the gas works where various members of the Holden family worked, and the previously mentioned Delta Metal Co which provided much needed jobs.
Alfred, Florence and some of her siblings lived at no 14a The Huts, Tunnel Ave, over a period of nearly twenty years, moving in the 1930s to the West View Cottages, presumably a step up from The Huts.
‘By the end of the 19th century most of the open marshland of the Greenwich peninsular had been developed – the landscape was dominated by vast industrial complexes. The largest of these was the East Greenwich Gas Works built in the 1880s by the South Metropolitan Gas Company. “The huts” on Tunnel Avenue, were part of a flourishing community of industrial workers that grew up on the Peninsular, with its own church, St. Andrew in the Marsh, a school (Dreadnought School), shops, public houses, and a transport system that was enhanced by the opening of the Blackwall Tunnel in 1897.’
Alfred Sams died in 1926 and in 1936 Florence married for a second time to Henry G Smith. In the 1939 Register they are living with Florence’s son Stanley in Erith, Kent. I believe that Florence died on 9th June, 1964 in Plumstead and is buried in Erith Cemetery.
Walter Frank 1890 – 1966.
Born on 9th August 1890 in Southwark, no baptism found.
Walter lived at home until his marriage and in the 1911 Census he is shown as a general labourer, working at the gas works.
On August 8th 1914 Walter marries Florence Emma Norris at Christchurch,
St Marylebone, Middlesex, just eleven days after the outbreak of WW1.
Walter attested at Woolwich on 2 January 1915 and gave his address as 10, Aldburgh Street, Woolwich Rd, East Greenwich. He joined the Royal Army Service Corp and by the time he was discharged on 9 August 1919 he was a Staff Sergeant Major attached to 92 Field Ambulance as a laboratory assistant. On his discharge it says that he has “defective vision” attributable to his service, possibly the effects of chemical weapons or chemicals used in the laboratory?
Previous occupation, Chemical worker with the South Metropolitan Gas Co.
Walter and Florence had only one child, Doris Edith Holden. Tragically Doris died on 1st May 1919 from Diphtheria and Cardiac failure, three months before Walter’s discharge. Hopefully he would have been given short leave to come home to his wife at this sad time.
In 1939 Walter and Florence were still living in Greenwich and his occupation is given as “Leading hand, Sulphate Ammonia Plant”. They continued to live in the Greenwich area until the mid 1960s when the electoral roll shows them living in Stanmore, Harrow, Greater London. I have been unable to find a record of this death in the area but one in Oxford in 1966 is a possibility.
Charles Ernest 1893 – 1918
Charles was the youngest in the family, born in Walworth in 1893.
In the 1911 census he is living with the family at 111, Tuskar Street, East Greenwich and is working as a general labourer for the Delta Metal Company.
In the September Q 1914 Charles married Esther Elizabeth Hamilton at Christchurch, Greenwich. Their first child, Ernest James, was born on 5th August 1914, followed by twins Kathleen Dora and Phyllis May born 3 June 1917. By this time the family are living at 92, Earlswood Rd, Greenwich and Ernest Snr is shown as a ‘toolmaker’ at the girls’ baptism.
Sadly it seems that Charles may have been one of the early victims of the ‘Spanish Flu’. He died on 31st October 1918, from ‘Influenza and double Pneumonia’; he was just 24 years old.
I do believe that this was a close family, living and working in a relatively small community. They had their share of sadness as many of this era did and Henry’s illness must have been difficult to deal with throughout his childhood and teenage years. His decision to take the burden off his family seems very mature and I wonder how his parents and siblings reacted to his decision.
Once he had entered the Colony his family did visit him. His father George wrote once and visited twice, his brothers Walter and Charles visited once each and George Edward went twice. Walter, George and Charles’s future wives visited several times, apparently making the long journey alone.
He also had visits from cousins and local friends, thirteen visits were recorded in the seven years he was a Colonist. Sadly the only person not recorded was Henry’s Mother, Florence. Perhaps it was just too much for her. I like to think that Henry’s family and friends cared for him, although the visits appear to have stopped in July 1912.