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b.1863-d.1929
Sydney’s Great Granddaughter Karen wanted to know more about her elusive ancestor who died at Horton Asylum in 1929.He is buried in grave number 782b in Horton Cemetery. She has given us permission to investigate his life and hopefully find out more about him.
Most of my research has been assisted by the information Karen has helpfully provided. She has done extensive research herself to try and find Sydney. Her grandfather was Walter Alexander Vaughan who might have been Sydney’s biological son.
So, what did we know about Sydney so far?
The first time we find him he is at church. On 27 August 1902 Sydney arrived at St Pauls Church in the parish of St Mary’s Newington in London. He was getting married…….
Cancelled Weddings
Banns had been read so the information that had been given was that Sydney was a 35-year-old painter and that his father was Samuel Vaughan a decorator. His bride was Alice Georgina Payne who was a 25-year-old spinster.
Her father was John Payne, a deceased Naval Officer. Both parties gave their address as 99 Sturgeon Road. The witnesses were Elizabeth Jane Payne who was the bride’s mother and an unknown character called A H Ismay.
There had been an attempt to marry the week before and a cancelled marriage certificate for the couple dated 18 August 1902 has been found. Why was this? The answer to this becomes clearer later in the story.
There are a couple of differences in the information. The couple’s address was recorded as 99 St Pauls Road and the bride’s father’s occupation is shown as an Officer in the Army. St Pauls Road does not seem to have officially existed.
But this was not the first time that a marriage for Alice had been arranged in this church. Karen found another cancelled certificate dated 12 July 1900 where it appears a marriage was to take place between Alice and a Harry Wheeler who was a mercantile clerk.
Banns had been read but at the last minute the wedding was cancelled. Why was this? Could it be that it was discovered one of the parties were already married or was someone coerced? Did one of the parties fail to turn up?
There are several candidates for Henry Wheeler, some of whom were married. It is not clear who he was. Karen believes she may have found him and that he was a married man, hence why he did not go through with the marriage.
Alice already had a child. A son named Walter Alexander Payne who would later take the surname of Vaughan. Walter was born 20 September 1900 at 12 Garden Row, his grandmother’s home. No father was named. Was Henry Wheeler his father or was it Sydney Vaughan?
Could Alice Georgina Payne provide a clue as to who Sydney was?
A few months after their marriage their daughter Dorothy Elizabeth Vaughan was born on 26 November 1902.
Dorothy’s birth certificate names Sydney as her father and describes his occupation as a Commercial Clerk. Dorothy was born at the General Lying in Hospital in York Road which was in Lambeth. It was a Maternity Hospital that served the poor. Alice gives her address as 12 Garden Row, the home of her mother.
I do wonder how present Sydney was during the marriage? After many hours of searching for Sydney, I uncovered this newspaper article which I think refers to the couple. This answers my question.
From the South London Observer dated 23 April 1904.
This points to the marriage taking place in 1902, there were 2 children and the wife (Alice) was his junior in age and lived with her mother in Stockwell. These details match our couple.
Sydney seemed to do as he pleased and was not present at all in the marriage at this stage. We learn that Sydney was a waterside labourer not a painter or a Commercial Clerk at all. In fact, his wife did not know what he did.
His residence was a hostel for down and out or low paid working men. He would have had to pay 6d a night to lodge there but a description of the Hostel in 1897 explained it was maintained to a good standard and designed to create a “homely and clean” environment.
Rowton House in 1897 near to the Elephant and Castle.
Sydney would have slept in a sleeping cubicle like this. Each cubicle was 7 feet 6 inches long and 6 feet wide.
The bed was sprung with a hair mattress, and he would have been provided with 2 sheets, a blanket and a quilt. There was also a peg to hang your clothes.
He would have had use of washing and bathing facilities. Sydney would also have been able to get a meal there or cook his own food.
Alice must have struggled and it is not clear if she received any maintenance after this. Luckily, she was able to live with her mother at Garden Row in Stockwell.
1909
We do not hear anything about the family for 5 years until 6 July 1909 when Walter and Alice were admitted to Princes Road Workhouse in Lambeth. Walter was very quickly transferred to Renfrew Road Workhouse.
On 7 July 1909, Walter was sent to Norwood Schools in Elder Road which was a Poor Law school for Pauper children. The Religious Creed Register for Renfrew Road Workhouse in Lambeth shows Walter was admitted with his mother from 12 Garden Row to the Workhouse on 6 July 1909. It seems from the Registers he was only at Norwood School until 10 July 1909 when he was transferred back to the Workhouse and then on 12 July 1909 Walter and his mother were discharged back to their home.
The Poor Law School register records that Walter’s father Sydney was a clerk, but this was Henry Wheeler’s occupation. Sydney was a waterside labourer. If Sydney had continued with his casual approach to his marriage, it is possible that this information was given ad hoc by Alice’s mother. Alice said in 1904 she did not know what her husband did. Alice herself was in Princes Road Workhouse at this time.
1911
The 1911 Census confirms the family were still living apart.
Sydney Vaughan was boarding at the home of James Hillier at 25 Crescent Road in Clapham. He was described as a married 41-year-old Signwriter working for himself. Is this our Sydney?
Looking at the return it looks as if the entry for Sydney has been completed by a different hand. If we compare this to his signature on his wedding certificate it is unclear if it is Sydney’s writing. However, it does look like something a signwriter would do to show off their skills. Did Sydney get someone to complete this for him?
1911 census
Wedding Certificate signature
Alice and the children in 1911
Alice, his wife, was still living at 12 Garden Row in Stockwell with her mother Elizabeth Payne who was a widow aged 65 who was taking in washing. The children Walter aged 10 and Dorothy aged 8 were also living there along with the stepsister of Elizabeth Payne named Rebecca Sawyer a single woman aged 48 who was blind. Looking back at the census returns we discover Rebecca had been blind from birth but more of Rebecca later.
1912
On 19 April 1912 Dorothy was in Renfrew Road Workhouse and was sent to Norwood School, but it is unclear how long she was there. There is evidence that both the children were in Norwood Schools again from 12 August 1912 to 13 August 1912 with the children’s relative listed as their mother. Then again on 17 August to 19 August 1912 when they were discharged into the care of their father. Address 12 Garden Row. There is clearly some confusion. Had Sydney returned to his wife and children?
1913 –1920 Sydney and Alice are sent to Asylums
Sydney himself was admitted to Lambeth Infirmary prior to 15 July 1913. A Reception Order dated 15 July 1913 signed by Harold Furness diagnosed Sydney with Delusional Insanity and he was sent to Long Grove Asylum. It is believed this is his first attack. His address was given as 12 Garden Row the home of his mother-in-law. His occupation was a Hawker. This information was provided by the London Metropolitan Archives as requested by Karen. Currently no further records are available.
On 12 August 1913 the children were sent to Norwood School again but again this appears to have been short term. On Walter’s record his father is described as Sydney, a labourer in Long Grove Asylum and Mother Alice at 12 Garden Row, Stockwell. This appears to be correct. But on Dorothy’s record her father is described as Harry. Her mother Alice’s address is unknown, and her grandmother is recorded as her nearest relative. Both children were in the School Infirmary.
From what I can tell Dorothy remained at Norwood School Infirmary until March 1914. Then on 29 September 1914 she was sent home to her mother at Garden Row. There is a further discharge date for Dorothy on 28 September 1915. She was sent to “The Grove” , a fever hospital in Tooting.
On 11 December 1918 Alice was admitted to Bexley Asylum. She was chargeable to Lambeth Union. Records show she was brought from 12 Garden Row and that this was not her first attack. She had been ill for 5 months. She was diagnosed with Mania. A reception order was signed on 9 December 1918 with continuation orders signed on 17 November 1919, 17 November 1920 and 21 November 1922. Information from the LMA as requested by Karen.
It is hardly surprising if Alice was struggling with her mental health. Her husband had been indifferent to her. She seemed to have little or no income. If it was not for her mother then she would not have had a roof over her head. Her children were in and out of the workhouse. Then her husband was diagnosed with delusional insanity. It was a lot to bear.
1921
Sydney is recorded in the census as a patient of Long Grove aged 58.
Alice is recorded in the census as a patient of Bexley Asylum aged 45.
The children Walter and Dorothy were living with their grandmother and Rebecca Sawyer at 12 Garden Row. They are aged 20 and 18 and both are out of work. Although in Dorothy’s entry the faint words Milliner/Dressmaker are written. Their grandmother must have been their rock.
Sydney’s death
On 22 April 1926 Sydney was sent to Horton Hospital. There was no improvement in his condition it seems. He died 3 years later on 4 May 1929 and was buried on 9 May 1929 in Horton Cemetery in grave number 782b. He had been in an institution for nearly 20 years.
He died from Bronchiectasis of the left lung. His given age was 66 years.
Alice Georgina Payne – Sydney’s wife
Alice’s birth certificate reveals her father was not William Payne who her mother had married in 1868. William was a Policeman and it appears that Elizabeth Jane Payne became estranged from her husband and came to Lambeth sometime in 1872.
Sometime shortly after this she started a relationship with Joseph Appletree/Applebee. The 1881 census supports this. The family at that time were using the surname of Appletree but when it came to births Elizabeth Jane used her married name for her children. It is unclear what happened to William Payne. There are newspaper items referring to a Police Constable William Payne, but I cannot say with confidence this is our man.
Joseph Appletree was a Navy Pensioner who was 28 years older than Elizabeth Payne. I believe Joseph was the father of Alice, Frances and Edith Payne. His background is unclear too. His surname may have been Appleby or Applebee.
It explains the confusion when it came to Alice’s wedding certificates and that of her sisters when it comes to naming their father.
What happened to Alice after 1921?
Alice was moved to Humberstone, Leicester City Asylum on 11 December 1923. She would never return home and died in January 1933. She was buried in Leicester City Asylum Burial Grounds on 5 January 1933.
The children
Walter, as we have seen, spent his early years in and out of the workhouse and Norwood School, a Poor Law School. It was a residential School for pauper children. He seems to have been unwell at times as there are workhouse notes which state he spent some time in the infirmary.
With both his parents in Asylums, Walter lived with his Grandmother Elizabeth Payne and his sister Dorothy. In 1921 he was an unemployed Coal Porter. In January 1928 he married Jeannie Gibbons and moved to Glasgow. They had one son named Walter Joseph. Walter senior died in 1966.
Dorothy, like her brother, spent her early days in and out of the workhouse system. She seems to have spent long periods in the Infirmary and there is a note that in 1915 she was sent to “The Grove” a Fever Hospital in Tooting. A hospital set up by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to care for the sick and poor.
By 1921 she was living with her Grandmother Elizabeth Payne. She was out of work. In July 1932 she married Harry Charles Lindfield, a widower who was 23 years her senior. They had one son in 1940. Dorothy lived a long life and died in 1982.
The Payne and Mizen families
I have investigated the background of Alice’s family in case anything relevant cropped up
Alice’s Grandfather, Samuel Mizen, was a Captain of a barge owned by the Kennet and Avon Canal Company; he died suddenly in 1861. Leaving his wife with a young family.
Alice’s Grandmother, Frances Martin, who married Samuel Mizen in 1847, moved to Lambeth after her husband had died and can be found living at 3 Antelope Cottages in Stockwell with her 13-year-old son Albert. This may be the reason why some of the family followed her. Francis was working as a Charwoman.
On 24 February 1873 she married James Sawyer, a widowed Greengrocer. Curiously at the time of the marriage, he was using the surname of Walters. James had a daughter named Rebecca Sawyer aged 11 years old at the time. This is the stepsister of Alice Payne’s mother who would later live with Alice at Garden Row.
Frances remained in Stockwell even after James’s death in 1881 and she looked after Rebecca who was blind. Frances died in 1894 and it appears that Elizabeth Payne took over caring for Rebecca from that time and she remained in Elizabeth’s care until Elizabeth died in 1925.
I decided to investigate Alice Payne’s wider family in case it led me to Sydney but alas no.
Elizabeth Payne nee Mizen – Sydney’s mother-in-law and her siblings
Elizabeth Jane Mizen was the eldest of 5 children, and her story has already been told.
Her sister Thirza or Thurza seemed to be another member of the family who approached marriage with a somewhat liberal view. After having a son named Samuel in 1872 in Princes Road Workhouse, she then went on to marry William Henry Watts Junior on 31 January 1874 at St Mary’s church in Lambeth. This man was a private in the Coldstream Guards.
I can find no trace of William Watts, so it is unclear what happened in this marriage. She then went on to marry again using her maiden name of Mizen to marry Joseph Helps on 13 May 1883. They had already been living as husband and wife prior to 1881.
After Joseph’s death in 1894 Thirza took on another surname of Bryant and lived with a John Bryant. I can find no evidence of a marriage. Thirza died in 1925 the same year as her sister Elizabeth Jane.
Thomas Mizen possibly went to America.
Albert Duncan Mizen went with his mother to Lambeth and lived with her until his marriage in 1882 to Emma Amelia Turner. Emma died in 1891 shortly followed by Albert in 1894. The couple had 2 children Thomas Henry in 1883, and Lottie known as Esther in 1885. Thomas would go on to marry Alice’s sister Edith on 25 October 1904. Alice was a witness of the marriage. Lottie died aged 16 on 7 April 1901 at Lambeth Infirmary. Her nearest relative was given as Elizabeth Payne of 12 Garden Row.
Thomas Mizen was in the Royal Navy, and he died on 30 December 1915 when his ship HMS Natal was sunk by an internal explosion near Cromarty. His body was never found, and he is commemorated on the Naval Memorial in Chatham, Kent.
Hester Mizen was a mere babe in arms when her father died, and she remained in Wiltshire living with her mother’s brother. She married Frederick Porton on 25 December 1883. They raised a large family and as far as I am aware she never visited London. She died in 1944.
The Payne sisters – Alice’s siblings – Sydney’s sister in laws
There were two surviving sisters of Alice it is assumed they would have known of Sydney and from information extracted from Census returns and Electoral Registers they lived in Garden Row.
Frances Louisa Payne, it is assumed, shared the same father as Alice was born in 1873. She married on 30 August 1891 Charles William Richard Green who was a plumber. She gave her father’s name as James Payne – another variation on the truth. The couple had 5 children.
Edith Miriam Payne as we saw earlier married her cousin Thomas Mizen. The couple had 6 daughters including twins and in 1911 Edith was living in Gillingham, Kent with her daughters. Thomas was at sea.
The workhouse records reveal that, like their Vaughan cousins, the Mizen children found themselves in the Workhouse at a similar time. This was even before their father sadly died. All 6 girls found themselves admitted to Renfrew Road Workhouse on 7 May 1913 after a 5-week spell at Medway Union. From the notes it appears Edith their mother was in Victoria Park Hospital. It was a specialised unit for dealing with heart and lung conditions. Poor baby Grace died whilst she was in the infirmary on 24 May 1913.
After Edith was widowed, she was left with 5 young daughters who in April 1915 of that year had returned to her care. The Electoral Registers show she moved into 15 Garden Row and remained there until her death in 1929. Living close to her mother.
Garden Row formerly Queens Gardens– the family home
Elizabeth Payne Sydney’s mother-in-law lived in this street for many years in fact Alice was born here.
Just off the Stockwell Road in the parish of St Andrew Booth described the street as poor. It was surrounded with streets of a higher standard.
This was the address where Alice lived despite being married. Sydney, it seems, could not provide a home for his wife, so she remained with her mother with the children. Sydney would visit his wife when it suited him. It appears to have been given as his residence and maybe he did come to live here with his wife and children from time to time.
It was a hub for Alice, her sisters and her children. Even if they moved away, they returned to Garden Row and to Elizabeth Payne.
Authors Thoughts
So, who was Sydney Vaughan? Have I found him? Well yes and no. After considerable and lengthy research, I have been unable to find his origins. I have searched through all the Lodging houses in Lambeth and Newington in the 1901 Census for anything that might seem likely but there is no trace of Sydney. I have tried different versions of his name but no luck. I have also tried to trace a credible record for Samuel Vaughan, his father. Again, nothing that fits. His early life is shrouded in mystery.
Unfortunately, vital notes regarding his admittance to Long Grove Asylum are not available and very few case notes survive from Long Grove. The most revealing evidence we have is his wedding certificate and the newspaper article from 1904 giving the state of his marriage. It proves that some of the information provided on the wedding certificate was untrue. It may be that Sydney Vaughan was not his name, and Samuel Vaughan may not have been his father.
What seems clear from the newspaper article is that he was a reluctant groom, perhaps that is why there was a cancelled wedding certificate a week before the actual wedding. Perhaps he did not turn up on 18 August 1902. Alice’s mother seemed keen to get her daughter married off. Alice already had one child and another on the way at the time of her marriage. Given the standards of the day, it is understandable her mother wanted her to have a husband. Unfortunately, Sydney was not husband material. It definitely was not a love match.
Sydney was unable to get regular work and felt unable to commit to the relationship implying he had been tricked into marriage. Alice seemed as if she wanted him out of her life because of his attitude to her but on the other hand, she was reluctant to give him up. It was very sad but probably quite common.
I did find some criminal records referring to a Sidney Vaughan aged 25 who was involved in some burglaries in 1895. The case was heard at Newington sessions against a few men who were recognised housebreakers. They were found guilty and Sidney received a 12-month sentence and was imprisoned in Wandsworth Prison. The age is wrong, but the geography is right. However, just because Sidney was not a good husband it does not mean he was a criminal.
I did spend a lot of time looking at the family of Alice Payne, the unfortunate wife of Sydney, as I was hoping it might lead me to him but sadly it did not. What I did find was a family who seemed quite at ease using different names to hide relationships, so Alice probably felt comfortable if she knew her husband used false information on the marriage certificate.
I hope that one day more information will come to light about Sydney and that Karen will have some answers about his life. In the meantime, we can at least record his story and know a little bit more about the man who lies in grave 782b in Horton Cemetery.
