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b.1879-d.1911

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A mysterious young man from Argyle Street

Frank Walker was only 32 years old when he died, and he had spent the last 9 years of his life in asylums before he finally succumbed. What brought him to this point?

Facts about his life are scant and tenuous. Finding out what we do know was extremely challenging. Full of twists and turns. Wrong names and a lack of information. 

So, what do we know?

From the workhouse records and the 1911 Census (the only UK census he can be found in) we learn that Frank was born in Calcutta, India in 1879. He was admitted into St Pancras workhouse from 28 Argyle Street near Regent Street which is about a 2 mile walk away. His occupation was that of a Clerk; this was confirmed in the 1911 census and his death certificate.

The Religious Creed Register for St Pancras Workhouse shows he was admitted on 26 November 1902 from 28 Argyle Street. His stated religion was that of a Salvationist and he was sent to Claybury Asylum on 16 December 1902. The Register of Mental Cases showed he was admitted under section 16 and confirmed his nearest relatives were his Aunt Annie and Uncle William Boad of Hartlepool. This proved to be not quite correct.

 A year later there is an entry in the Settlement Records for him.  It appears maintenance for Frank was transferred – I believe to the county of London. Costs were 30 pounds, 5 shillings and 1 penny and an additional sum of £1 pounds, 10 shillings and sixpence. 

As the records said he was a Salvationist I went down the rabbit hole of thinking he may have had some involvement with the establishment at 30 Argyle Street which was the Salvation Army Prison Gate Home. This was a hostel for Ex-prisoners opened in 1891. By 1901 it had 84 boarders and was run by William Ayers and his wife Theresa. 

I searched the 1901 census for this Home, but Frank was not listed as a boarder there. No one of the right age or place of birth. In fact, I searched all of Argyle Street looking for a similar name, age and place of birth and no trace of Frank. However, further searches of St Pancras Workhouse’s unindexed records revealed why I could not find him anywhere in the 1901 census. Later on, as my quest for Frank’s identity became clearer it became obvious why I could not find him in 1901.

The Settlement and Relief Book for 1902 held the key to finding more about Frank. It confirmed what I already knew and more. His relative was William Boad of 5 Friars Street in Hartlepool, a retired Engineer. Frank currently had no weekly income and he lived in one room and his rent was 5 shillings and sixpence a week. He had been living at 28 Argyle Street for only 5 weeks and had arrived in England on 19 September 1902 from South Africa. He set sail on 10 September 1902 on the ship “Scot”. 546 days is noted on the records, and I am assuming that was the length of time he spent in South Africa. This would make his arrival there around March 1901. This is why I could not find him in the 1901 Census for England and Wales.

He was deemed to be alleged insane under section 16. So, what did this mean? As far as I can tell this was a Lunatic who could be brought before a Justice to be sent to an institution for lunatics.

Unfortunately, no case books for Claybury exist but Redbridge Heritage Centre was able to confirm that the Admission Book showed the following.

Reference number: 3836

Religion: Roman Catholic

Age on admission: 23

Condition as to marriage: single

Duration of present attack: about one week

First attack: Yes

Age on first attack: 23

Profession: Clerk

Cause of Insanity: Fever and Worry

Form of Insanity: Mania

Chargeable to the County of London

Discharged: relieved August 8 1906 to Bucks County Asylum, Stone.

From this it seems as if Frank became ill shortly after he arrived in London and was admitted straight away to the Workhouse. His religion differs and now it appears he is Roman Catholic. He seems to be suffering from fever and worry and has been diagnosed as having some kind of mania.

From Claybury he was relieved to Buckingham Asylum on 8 August 1906 and finally from there as he was not improved, he was transferred to Long Grove on 17 April 1909. It was here he would spend his final days.

His Death certificate reveals he died from Pulmonary Tuberculosis which he had had for about 9 months and Tuberculosis Enteritis for about 6 weeks. No details of any family are noted. Tuberculosis was highly contagious and unfortunately a cause of a high number of deaths in the Asylums.

Finding Frank and his family

The key to finding Frank’s family lay with finding his uncle and Aunt – Annie and William Boad of 5 Friars Street in Hartlepool. I could not find a William and Annie Boad but a search of the 1901 census of Friar Street in Hartlepool found a William and Annie Boag living there at number 5. William aged 60 a retired Marine Engineer from North Shields and Annie aged 64 from Durham. What was more I found a marriage record in 1868 of a William Boag marrying an Anne Christina Walker in Hartlepool.

The Darlington and Richmond Herald of 4 July 1868 made this marriage announcement “At Hartlepool at St Mary’s church, William Boag to Miss Ann Christina Walker, both of Hartlepool”. St Mary’s church is a Roman Catholic church in the Headland area of Hartlepool.

So, it appeared that Annie Boag was Frank’s paternal aunt and I made the assumption that Annie was the sister of his father.

Annie and William Boag

The next step was to trace Annie and William back in the census returns to see if I could find the connection with Frank. The 1901 census revealed Annie was born in Durham.

Back a further 10 years to 1891 William and Annie were living at 8 High Street in Bishop Wearmouth in Durham. Listed as the uncle and Aunt of a Richard Rochester, a 29-year-old Innkeeper.

Going back to 1881 Annie aged 44 was living at 14 Town Walls in Hartlepool. William is marked as absent. More tantalising was she had a nephew living with her whose name was Eden C Walker aged 15, a young sailor who was born in Calcutta. Was this Frank’s brother?

The 1871 census shows the couple living at 14 Town Walls and William is described as a second-class engineer to a boat. That probably explains his absence in 1881.

Prior to her marriage Annie aged 26 was living at 2 Frederick Street in Bishop Wearmouth in 1861 listed as the sister-in-law of William Rochester aged 29 a woollen draper and sailor. He also had two young sons, George and Frederick.

In 1851 she was working as a 16-year-old servant in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Finding her in the 1841 census proved difficult but I did find several Annie Walkers in the area and one did look promising. In Corbridge there was a Walker family that could be her family. Father was William Walker aged 35 a brewer and three children Maria aged 8, Anne aged 6 and Stevenson aged 4. 

Confirmation of the family would become clearer through investigating the Rochester family and the mysterious Eden C Walker and Stevenson Walker and after establishing Annie Boag née Walker was Frank’s aunt. I needed to find his parents and siblings. 

Frank’s parents and siblings

I started with tracing Eden C Walker who was born in Calcutta in the 1860s. I found a baptism for an Eden Curtis Walker in Family Search, born 22 August 1865 and baptised 28 September 1865 in a Roman Catholic church in Calcutta. His father was Eden S Walker and his mother was called Emily. Could Eden S Walker be Stephenson Walker? It is an unusual name however you spell it but it did seem possible that Stephenson was Annie Boag’s brother and in turn Frank’s father.

Further searches of Family Search for Stephenson Walker and his family in Calcutta proved this was indeed the case. It revealed the following baptisms for children who could be linked:

Eden Curtis baptised 28 September 1865, born 22 August 1865 father Stephenson Eden Walker and mother Emily

Curtis baptised 13 July 1869, born 1 July 1869 father Stephenson and mother Emily

Benjamin Ernest baptised 25 January 1872, born 25 December 1871 father Stephenson Eden and mother Emily

Louisa Genevieve baptised 13 January 1878, born 22 December 1877 father Stephenson Eden and Louisa Mary Ann

Frank Stevenson baptised 24 April 1879, born 21 April 1879 father Stevenson Edward and mother Louisa Mary Ann

It seems as if Stephenson Walker was indeed Frank’s father and he had been married a couple of times, firstly to Emily and secondly to Louisa Mary Ann who was Frank’s mother. The family seemed to have been living in India for a number of years.

Stephenson Eden Walker

Frank’s father was born in 1837 in North Shields, Northumberland to William Boys Walker and Ann Mary Chapman. He was baptised 29 July 1837 at St Mary’s Catholic Chapel in Bishop Wearmouth, Durham. His mother died when he was only one so this explains the absence of a mother in the 1841 Census entry I found.  He had two older sisters, Mary and the previously mentioned Annie Christina. Mary went on to marry William Clough Rochester the son of her foster parents George and Dorothy Rochester which now explains Annie’s connection with the Rochester family. 

At the age of nine, both of Stephenson’s parents had died so one wonders how he fared but in 1851 he can be found aged 13 working as an apprentice Book keeper for William Crozier a Draper at 27 High Street, Sunderland. However, in 1854 he took a completely different career move when on 24 February he signed up for a 4-year indenture in the Merchant Navy. By 14 July 1858 he received his certificate of competency as a Second Mate in the Merchant Service.

After this he must have decided to go and work in India and according to a Newspaper Article he was married on 29 August 1864 to Emily O’Connor in St Thomas Roman Catholic Church in Calcutta.

From Englishman’s Overland Mail 8 September 1864.

This marriage produced 3 children Eden Curtis, Curtis and Benjamin Ernest before Emily died in 1874. I cannot find anything further for Curtis and Benjamin so I assume they died in childhood.

Family Search records show that Stephenson went on to marry Louise Marian Jefferson on 9 February 1877. This was Frank’s mother and the marriage produced Louisa and Frank.

 Louise Marian Jefferson was born in India in 1859 to Barris George Jefferson who was a joiner and his wife Rose Eleanor Matthews. Both parents appear to have died before Louise was 7 years old. From a family tree on Ancestry, it appears she died on 26 October 1891 in India.

Frank’s birth was announced in the Indian Daily News of 25 April 1879.

It is here we get a vital clue as to the occupation of Frank’s father. He is part of the Bengal Pilot Service who were responsible for guiding shipping along the Hooghly River between Calcutta and the Bay of Bengal. It was part of HM Indian Marine.

Sailing ships in port on the river Hooghly.

It was 120 miles from the Bay of Bengal to Calcutta and it was a hazardous journey with swirling currents, strong currents and tides. The river pilots had to be skilful and brave. Their skills and knowledge were normally mandatory to guide shipping. Stephenson had years of experience.

Frank’s siblings

Eden Curtis Walker who was the eldest child of the family was Frank’s half-brother and 14 years his senior. They may not have been close due to the age difference and the fact that Eden was in England when Frank was 2 years old. 

Eden did return to India and on 1 December 1892 he married Maggie Isabel Shirreff at Allahabad. I have traced only two children from this marriage. An unnamed baby boy who was buried on 7 September 1893 presumably new born. Another son named Stevenson Eden Walker was born 11 August 1894 in Allahabad. From the Freemasons records it can be seen that at that time Eden was working as a Merchant but by 1898 he was a Police Inspector in the Uttar Pradesh region. This was a career that continued for the rest of his working life. Eden’s first wife died and on 17 December 1913 he married Maud Julia Powell who was 16 years younger than him. He died in India but Maud survived him, dying in India in 1956.

Eden’s son Stevenson became a Captain in the Indian Army and died in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1962.

Frank’s sister Louisa Genevieve who was 2 years older than him stayed in India for many years. On 15 February 1912 she married Walter Charles Hoare and they had 3 sons all born in India. Noel Walter Eden born 25 December 1912, John Michael born in 1916 and finally named after his uncle Frank Stevenson born on 20 July 1921. It seems touching that Louisa did not forget her brother and named her youngest son after him. 

Walter died in India on 2 January 1938 and shortly after that Louisa moved to England and can be found at 21 Matheson Road in Fulham in 1939. She died on 18 May 1946. Her 3 sons were all aircraft engineers. Noel married and emigrated to Canada

 Frank’s story

Based on all the data I have managed to pull together. It would appear that Frank was indeed born in India on 21 April 1879. He was baptised very quickly on 24 April 1879 into the Roman Catholic faith like his father and his siblings at the Sacred Heart church in Calcutta.

Checks on Find My Past for the baptisms of Frank’s siblings give addresses for the family as Dacre’s Lane in 1869 and Westons Lane in 1877. 

It seems as if the family lived close to Government House. Both streets still exist today. Westons Lane is now Westons Street and Dacre Lane or Decars Lane is now James Hickey Sarani, famous for eating establishments. Dacres Lane at the time of Frank’s birth was a famous place where sailors used to meet so you can understand why the Walker family lived there for a while as Frank’s father was a Master Pilot.

Frank lived in the city after the British Crown took over from the East India Company in 1858 in what is known as the British Raj period. English families were well established and there was a “tea” society where drinking tea at social events was the fashion. Whether Frank’s mother was involved in that world is difficult to say. He would have been at home with his mother and sister and probably educated at a Roman Catholic school. Louise died on 26 October 1891 aged only 32 she had lived in India all her life as far as I can tell. Frank was just 12 years old and his sister 14 years old. Who looked after them? Presumably their father was still working and it seems as if their elder half-brother Eden was working miles away in the north of the country. So, it is not clear who looked after the Walker children.

I can only assume that Frank remained in India with his family until around March 1901 when he went to South Africa. His occupation was that of a Clerk – so was he in the Civil Service. How did he get to go to South Africa at the time of the second Boer War? Was he involved in clerical work for the War effort? He was just 21 years old and was to stay there for 546 days if his workhouse records are to be believed.

According to passenger and workhouse records he was on board the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Scot. This departed from Cape Town for Southampton on 4 September 1902 and Frank embarked in Durban or Port Natal on 10 September 1902. This suggests this was the area where Frank was living. There were 62 civilian passengers and 941 troops on board.  The Scot was one of the most famous Cape Steamships. Built in 1890 and lengthened in 1896. It was a well-known sight on this route.

The steamship had gone missing in a severe storm in Port Elizabeth. Communication had been lost for a while before Frank embarked. But on 3 September 1902 news came that the ship and its passengers were in one piece. There was some damage but it appeared to be minor. On 6 September the ship left Cape Town for Durban, Madeira and its final destination Southampton. Frank came on board on 10 September.

On 20 September 1902 Frank and his fellow passengers arrived in the port of Southampton and according to newspaper reports there were 22 packages of South African Gold worth £93,186 (today that is worth about 14 million pounds), 510 mail bags and 440 cases of parcel post on board. No wonder they were anxious as to the ship’s whereabouts.

Frank disembarked at Southampton and found his way to London. Why he decided to come here and not go back to India is unknown. He had on him the details of his Aunt Annie and Uncle William Boag who lived in Hartlepool but little else about his family. At some stage he arrived in the capital and started to rent one room at 28 Argyle or Argyll Street for 5 shillings and 6d per week.

Booths Map shows Argyle Street shows it was a good area not far from Oxford Circus and Carnaby Street. 

 His workhouse records suggest he had no work. Quite what happened between 20 September 1902 and 26 November 1902 is unknown. Did Frank look for work? Could he not find any work? Why did he not go to Hartlepool to find his uncle and Aunt? Was he mentally unable to function on his own in London? It is not surprising that perhaps he did become anxious and unstable.  Claybury admission notes say this was his first attack and he had started to feel unwell sometime in mid-November. He was assessed very quickly and sent to Claybury Asylum under Section 16.

The notes made in the Settlement and Relief Book describe details about his relatives although the spelling of Boad instead of Boag suggests that perhaps Frank told them this or it was incorrectly spelt. There were details of his passage to England on RMS Scot. Was this taken from paperwork he had on him or was he able to tell them this? If so, this does suggest that he had an understanding of what had happened to him. So many unanswered questions.

 He had no settlement claims in the parish of St Pancras as he had only just arrived in England so the County of London took over his costs. He had fever and worry and he was considered to have some form of mania. Claybury Asylum casebooks have been destroyed so there are no further notes. He was transferred to Bucks County Asylum on 8 August 1906. There could possibly be some case notes at Buckinghamshire Archives but at present I am unable to check. 

Sadly, with no improvement Frank was sent to Long Grove Hospital on 17th April 1909 and he survived another 2 years 5 months before he succumbed to Tuberculosis and died on 29 August 1911 and was buried in Horton cemetery on 2 September 1911 in Grave 1530a. 

His aunt and uncle Boag were still alive at this point and living at the same address that was given in 1902 and one hopes someone let them know what had happened to their nephew from India. In turn one hopes that word was sent to his surviving relatives. His sister Genevieve kept his memory alive by naming her youngest son after him who was born in India in 1921 42 years after his namesake.

I can only feel sadness for such a young man so far from home and his family who became so unwell that he disappeared into the asylum system never to return to his loved ones ever again.

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