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b.1867 – d.1914
Introduction
This story is about my 2x Great Grandfather and has been made up from family memories and notes as well as records found in various archives.
Family and growing up
James Popplewell was born on the 22nd August 1867 to parents John Popplewell and Mary Elizabeth Popplewell (née Robinson). He was born in the small village of Elvington which lies about 6 miles southeast of York on the west bank of the river Derwent. In the mid 1800’s the village had just under 500 people residing there. There was a church, a pub, a school house and a village green. New brick houses (like in the picture below) were built in the 1860’s. James’s father, John, was a labourer by trade and in some records it shows him as a bricklayer – he could well have helped in the building of these houses, we’ll never know!
From the census information gathered it appears that James was the third eldest of thirteen children. However in a website about the history of Elvington another child is mentioned in the school records:
EXTRACTS FROM ELVINGTON SCHOOL LOGBOOKS, 1873-1880
12th December 1879: George Popplewell died last night after being absent from school less than a fortnight
It seems that George was born and sadly passed in between census collections. In the same school log books there is a J Popplewell (presumably James) with an attendance record of 87. This was taken from the first Sunday in January to the last in December, 1876. Many children left school at a young age to work as farm labourers. This was true for James as at the age of 13 he had moved from the family home to a local farm in the same village of Elvington named Brickyard Farm. Whilst here he took the role of an indoor farm servant.
(Elvinton village 1800’s)
Adult life and work
James is not found on any census for 1891 but re-appears in 1901 as the head of a family living with his wife Frances Chittenden Popplewell (née Maynard), his daughter, Elizabeth Chittenden Popplewell, then aged 2 and his Mother-in-law also named Frances Chittenden. At this point James had moved to London and lived at 10 Collett Road, Bermondsey. Although we are not sure of the exact date that James moved to London we know he joined the Metropolitan Police on 15th April 1895 as PC 236 in M Division. He stayed as a PC until he was pensioned out on 19th March 1913 just 10 months before he passed away at Long Grove Hospital. In 1887, James received a medal celebrating the Jubilee of HRH Queen Victoria (shown in the pictures below). Engraving around the edge states ‘PC J POPPLEWELL M DIV’N’.
This is where family stories and reality differ…it had been passed down through the family that James had been part of the suffragette demonstrations known as Black Friday in 1910. It was said that during the protests James was knocked off his feet and his helmet fell off. He was trampled on and left with a head injury after which he was never quite the same. This could well have happened, however there is no proof other than family hearsay! Records show that James was admitted to Long Grove Hospital suffering from Syphilis, from which he died in 1915.
