Susan CROTTY
b.1869 – d.1909
Family History
Susan’s story was first published in 2021. In 2026, at the Horton Cemetery Heritage Day, two of her granddaughters and a granddaughter were able to provide more details about Susan’s life. Reopening the story then revealed that a visitor book had been located for Susan since the original publication. All new details are now woven into the following story.
Childhood
Susan Elizabeth Smith was born in the autumn of 1869, the daughter of George Smith, a cab driver, and his wife Susan.
From her granddaughter and great granddaughters in 2026, we now know the wonderful detail that Susan had red hair.
On the 1871 census, Susan is living with her parents and siblings in Wellington Mews, Kensington. Although ‘Mews’ today conjures up an image of rather exclusive quiet backstreets, for an 1870s cab driver the accommodation would have provided space for his horse and carriage plus accommodation above for his family. George may not have owned his own horse and carriage, many cab drivers hired them or shared them. Mews houses were usually built cheaply, aimed at workers, and the living conditions above would have been primitive.
By the census of 1881 the family has moved to Lambeth and her father had a new job. In the early 1870s a campaign had started to provide shelter for cab drivers. The drivers were not allowed to leave their horses and cabs unattended and were often on the road for long hours. The temptation for some was to ‘take refreshment’ from pubs with obvious concerns for safety. The first shelter for cab drivers opened in 1875 and George Smith’s occupation in 1881 was cabman’s shelter attendant. The family is still at the same address ten years later in the census of 1891, so it seems likely that George’s job at the shelter had given the family security.
In 1862, a few years before Susan’s birth, Charles William Crotty was born. His father was an omnibus conductor but by the census of 1881 he had become a coffee housekeeper on the Old Kent Road in Southwark. This appears to be quite a step up for the family who are even able to afford a servant to help. When Charles was old enough, he became a cab driver and in 1887 he was found guilty of being drunk while in charge of his cab. Perhaps he used the cabman’s shelter where George Smith worked and that was how he met Susan.
A new family
On the 7th June 1891 Susan Elizabeth Smith married Charles William Crotty at Emmanuel Church, Camberwell.
Their first child, Charles, was born the same year, followed by George in 1896, Walter in 1898 and Susan in 1901. The census of that year showed that the couple are now living in Clayton Street, Kennington and that Charles is still working as a cabdriver.
Caroline was born in 1904, Arthur in 1906 and their last child, Daisy, was born in 1908. The couple had a total of seven children, all of whom survived into adulthood. Charles seemed to have stable employment and the couple never moved far from the support of Susan’s parents so all would seem to be going well.
Admission to Manor
But just a year after Daisy was born, on July 29th 1909 Susan was admitted to Manor Asylum where she died a month later from chronic Bright’s disease and heart disease. Her descendants inform us that Susan had ‘milk fever’ (mastitis) which lead to Bright’s Disease.
Bright’s disease affected the kidneys and caused heart problems. What caused Susan to develop Bright’s disease is unknown but it could be triggered by infection or by diabetes amongst other causes. Symptoms of the disease include apoplexy, convulsions and blindness.
Visitors to Susan
It is very comforting to know that Susan had several visitors during the month she was in Manor. Her husband Charles visited her on August 5th, as did her sons, Charles, Walter and George. Their address was given as 58 Pearman St, Westminster Bridge Road, London.
Her sister Mrs H Ware and her niece Florrie Ware visited on August 6th and 13th. They were living at 5 Onslow Place, Soth Kensington.
Her brother Arthur Smith visited; he was living at Railway Terrace, Kings Longley, Herts.
Finally, her friend Mrs Sock visited her
All of the above attended Susan’s funeral. The sense of family love and loss is tangible because of this visitor book record.
Susan died on the 20th August 1909 and was buried six days later in grave reference 475b.
Life after Susan’s Death
From the 1911 census we learn that Charles has kept his family together. There was a ‘visitor’ staying with the family, Elizabeth Green, widow. Perhaps she was there to help care for the children, Daisy, the youngest was only 3 years old and Charles was still working as a cabdriver.
Three of the boys, Charles, Walter and George all served in World War One, Walter survived but Charles and George were both killed. Susan’s widowed husband Charles died in 1920. His was a tragic death, which the family were able to tell us about. He was involved in a car accident while driving his Hackney carriage. Sadly, Charles was crushed by the steering wheel.
Caroline, Susan’s daughter
Caroline married Herbert Lambson in 1924 and they went on to have six children: Hilda, Violet (Vikki), Gladys, Albert, Barbara and Norma. Susan’s granddaughter, Leigh is the daughter of Caroline Ann and is one of the family who have helped with this story.
Denise, who also assisted is the daughter of Barbara.
This is a photo of Caroline when she was about 17 years old. Caroline died just two days after her 81st birthday in 1985.
Charles, Susan’s son
Family research has found that Charles William Junior joined the Royal Navy in 1910 as a boy; he was 5ft 5” tall, had auburn hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Charles died aboard the HMS Indefatigable when it sank during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Only two people survived form 1019 on board.
George, Susan’s son
George joined the 11th London Regiment. He served in Gallipoli before transferring to Egypt, where he died on November 7th 1918, aged 23 of a chronic kidney infection, potentially as a result of wounds. He is remembered with honour at the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery.
Walter, Susan’s Son
Susan’s great granddaughter, Denise was able to tell us that Susan’s son, Walter, had received a medal from King George V for Distinguished Service, awarded for his bravery, outstanding leadership and courage during air attacks on ships which were landing in Sicily in WW2.
He survived the sinking of two ships.
The photos in this story were provided by Susan’s great granddaughter, Leigh, showing Walter at Buckingham Palace with Susan’s daughters who are the older ladies in the back row from left to far right: Daisy, Sue & Caroline; far right, is Leigh’s grandmother. Her Mum is not in the photo as she was 15 and working for Cable & Wireless. Caroline’s three sisters, her brother and four cousins are also in the photo.
