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b. 1878-d.1914
John Mabon was born on 9 January 1878. He was the son of Scottish parents William Mabon and Margaret (Rae). William and Margaret had married on 11 December 1874 in Swinton, Berwickshire, Scotland. It was the first marriage for both of them. William was working as a blacksmith and Margaret a domestic servant.
William and Margaret had seven children together. Our subject John was their second child and their first son.
A few years after their marriage William and Margaret left their home and families in Scotland and arrived in London with their first child Elizabeth.
Children of William and Margaret Mabon
- Elizabeth born 1875 born in Scotland
- John born 1878 born in Southwark, London
- Mary Margaret born 1880 in Lambeth.
- William Thomas born 1882 in Lambeth
- Janet born 1884 in Lambeth
- Agnes born 1886 in Lambeth
- Adam born 1889 in Lambeth
In 1878 when John was born, the family were living in Southwark and William was working as a blacksmith. In 1881 the family were residing at 51 Cornwall Road, Lambeth. They were sharing a house with two other families and William was working as a farrier. A farrier was a skilled professional that looked after the hooves of horses, donkeys or mules. The work required similar skills to that of a blacksmith.
Five more children added to the family but sadly one died in infancy. Mary Margaret had been born on 12 September 1880 and she died when she was three years of age.
By the time of the 1891 census the family were no longer sharing a house. They lived at 7 Bond Street, Lambeth (now called Bondway), William was still employed as a farrier. The oldest child Elizabeth was now working as a domestic servant and lived a few doors away from the family. John was 13 years old and employed as a printers errand boy. The younger siblings were at school, or yet to start. Life looked fairly settled for the family but they were not to stay in Lambeth much longer, as they were to return home to Scotland.
The next record that can be found is the death of William Mabon on 13 November 1899 at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. William was 52 and died from an infection and pneumonia. By this time the family were living at Halliday’s Park, an area in Selkirk. Margaret wasn’t working but William junior, Janet and Agnes were woollen factory workers. Selkirk’s industrial history is deeply rooted in wool, tweed and tartan production. By the late 1800’s there were multiple mills in the area.
Elizabeth had remained in London, where she worked.
The Military
Some time around 1900 John Mabon joined the militia of the 3rd Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. This was at the time of the second Boer War and the 3rd Battalion served as reinforcements to the military campaign in South Africa. John however only served for 157 days before then enlisting, as a private in the Royal Marine Infantry (Portsmouth) on 5 February 1901.
Recruits for the Royal Marines trained at Eastney in Portsmouth, which served as their key training ground. On enlisting John gave his date of birth as 8 January 1882, a full four years younger than he was. Why he did this is not known but it is possible that giving a younger date of birth protected him from serving in South Africa. John then uses this younger date of birth throughout his military career. The enlistment record states John had passed standard three at school and was able to swim.
John served in the Royal Marines for over eleven years and sailed on several ships, mostly around the United Kingdom. He was regularly reported as having a good character and was awarded several good conduct medals. This period was one of relative peace between the end of the Second Boer War and the start of World War 1, with no major conflicts, allowing the marines to focus on training, naval duties and garrison life.
John’s mother and most of the siblings remained in Scotland. On 8 May 1910 Margaret Mabon died at the family home in Selkirk, the cause of her death was an embolism of the brain. She was 56 years of age. At this time John was serving aboard HMS Swiftsure.
John seemed to be doing well in the Royal Marines, however after eleven years, he was invalided out on 7 June 1912, this was for neurasthenia and back pain. Neurasthenia was an ill defined medical condition, characterized by fatigue, headache and irritability. John was not awarded a pension, as he had suffered from syphllis in his early days of service and that then excluded him.
John Returns to Scotland
After his discharge John returned to the family in Scotland to stay with his brother. Within a few weeks he was found wandering the streets and was admitted to Rosslynlee Asylum, Dalkeith, where he spent four months before being transferred to Saint George’s Workhouse in Lambeth on 28th September 1912. He was accompanied there by two attendants, this transfer was because John was chargeable to the Lambeth Union. Charging didn’t always seem fair, yes John had been born in Lambeth but his family were from Scotland and had long returned there. He always gave his address as Hallidays Park, Selkirk, the family home.
It’s easy to see how unsettled John was, as after arriving at St George’s Workhouse, Lambeth, he was allowed to discharge himself seven days later, this was at his own request despite being four months in the asylum at Dalkeith.
The day he discharged himself from St George’s Workhouse, records state that John walked along the railway line, to go to Portsmouth. He was found on the line between Vauxhall and Waterloo and was taken to the Renfrew Road Workhouse in Lambeth for his own safety. John stayed there just six days before he was transferred to Horton Asylum, where he stayed until his death on 3 April 1914
He is buried in the Horton Estate Cemetery.
Authors Notes
John Mabon ended his days at Horton Asylum, he had been there for eighteen months, where his mental health gradually deteriorated. It is not known if there were any other relatives living nearby but most of the family were in Scotland. John did write to his sister and asked her to help him get discharged but he was never well enough.
