The Hudson Family Newsletter

Issue 3
Christmas 2000

Introduction

Christmas is upon us, and I thought it was time I sent another Family Newsletter, to update you on my progress. Unfortunately, work has taken me all over the country since May, and away from my computer, and so research time has been very limited. In addition, I wanted to create a website to disseminate the research, and this is now up and running. If you are able to visit it, you will find electronic copies of all three Newsletters, with more family photographs, and of better quality, than I have been able to include in the Newsletters. The address will be found at the end of this Newsletter. Please let me know what you think.

Update on the BRYER Family

Since the last Newsletter, I have traced some of the history of another of the children of John Henry Bryer and Emma Berry. Frederick was the third child of John and Emma, born on 26th December 1839 at 5 Mellick Place, St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey. When the family moved across the river to St Giles, in about 1854, Frederick, who would have been fourteen by then and well able to earn his own living, seems to have stayed south of the river for a time and became an engineer (or so he was described on his marriage certificate). On the 25th December 1860, Frederick married Frances Bennett, the daughter of another Cab Proprietor, at the Trinity Church in the Parish of St Mary's Newington. In the 1881 Census, Frederick is described as a Map Engraver, and in the 1891 Census as a Geographical Engraver. In both 1881 and 1891 Frederick, Frances and family were living at 157 Shardeloes Road, Deptford, which today can be found on an A-Z map of London in New Cross, a stone's throw from Goldsmith's College.

Their family consisted of six children: Frances Elizabeth Emma, born at 9 Clarence Gardens Regent's Park on 25 May 1867; Frederick John, born on 18 January 1869 also at 9 Clarence Gardens; Florence Adelaide born 14 September 1870 at 53 William Street Regent's Park; Ernest Walter, born on 26 June 1873 also at William Street; Alfred William, born 16 May 1875 at 32 Cooks Road, St Peter Walworth in the Parish of St Saviour (modern-day Southwark); and Percy Arthur, born in about 1880, probably in New Cross. You can see a more graphical representation of this family as a

It is interesting to look at the names given to the children, because they provide a clue to family make-up. Even before I had confirmation that this Frederick was the son of John Henry and Emma, I had a strong suspicion that he was the right one, because of the way he had named his children: the first born daughter is named after her mother (and her maternal grandmother) and her paternal grandmother, the first son is named after his father and his paternal grandfather, the third shares her names with two of her cousins, the fourth and fifth children are named after three of their father's brothers, and Percy Arthur shares one of his names with his uncle Arthur.

Of these children, I know only that Frederick John married Henrietta Drake on 23rd August 1892 at Hatcham in the Borough of Greenwich.

Update on the BISHOP Family

You may remember from Newsletter Number 1, that I had found that Walter James Bryer's wife, Phoebe Bishop, had been born in the village of Dalham in Suffolk, and that her father Robert Bishop had been a miller there before moving to London and becoming a cab driver. I have now had a chance to look through the Dalham Parish Registers, and have an update on the Bishop family of Suffolk.

Robert Bishop (aged 22) married Mary Ann Ely (aged 20) on 20 April 1841 at Dalham Parish Church. Both were single, and Robert was described as a Miller and Mary Ann was a Servant. Robert's father was Frederick, also a Miller, and Mary Ann's father was William Ely, a Labourer. I could only find one other marriage in the Dalham registers where Frederick Bishop was given as the father, and that was of James Bishop (aged 52, bachelor, Labourer) to Sarah Watkinson (aged 28, spinster, Servant), which took place on 27 September 1862.

Mary Ann (or Marianne) Ely was baptised 24 December 1820, the daughter of William and Sally Ely. Their other children, as far as I have been able to find, were Elizabeth (born 3 March 1827, baptised 2 September 1827), Sarah (baptised 25 July 1830) and Maria (baptised 28 July 1833). Robert Bishop does not appear to have been baptised in Dalham, so the hunt continues for his place of birth and his mother's name. Of Robert and Mary Ann's children's baptisms, I have only been able to find two records: John William was baptised 25 Dec 1842, and Phoebe (born on 8 August 1848) was baptised on 3 September 1848. On the first baptism record, Robert was described at a Labourer, on the second, he was a Miller's Labourer.

Family Memories

Since the issue of Newsletter Number 2, I have had a fascinating letter from Margaret Thirlwell with some memories of childhood in the thirties which I hope she will not mind me sharing with you.

"Our granddad, Walter Hudson, came to live with us at Crown Road, Virginia Water when we were quite young. We only had a three-bedroomed house and there were already Mum, Dad, Phyllis, [Thelma], Eve, Georgina, myself and Edith living there, so I just don't know how my poor Mum managed. I do know that Auntie Rose, who was my Godmother, and childless would not have him, and Auntie Florrie (Georgie's Godmother) did not have any family at home at the time, or any of Mum's brothers (Uncle Alf (Sandy), Uncle Fred, or Uncle Walter did not appear to have room or did not want him). Looking back, I know why - he certainly liked his drink and was often brought home from The Crown worse for wear, and Mum and Dad had to get him up the stairs to bed, which he used to wet every night! I don't think we helped the situation much though, as I remember Georgie and I putting holly and a dead hedgehog in his bed (no wonder he wet it!) We also used to stand on the windowsill of the outside loo and call him names out of the window, or try to spit at him when he walked by. He was a very grubby smelly old man and we hated him, especially as our poor Mum had to look after him. Perhaps the rest of the family gave her some money for doing it, I don't know, but we were quite poor (but very happy) and she would have been glad of any financial help.

To supplement our food ration during the war, Dad kept rabbits which, fortunately, bred constantly, and two were usually killed and skinned by Dad every Saturday for a rabbit stew dinner, with all the vegetables from the garden and the allotment which would fill the pot and our hungry tummies! We also had chickens, but that was really because of me. I always wanted some little baby chicks to play with (I wonder if that was where my nickname Chicky came from) and used to make some with yellow wool round cardboard milk bottle tops…One day, probably for a birthday present, Auntie Henny came home from Staines Market with eight real little baby chicks for me. I was over the moon, but Dad wasn't very happy because we had to make a run for them, but Mum thought when they got older that we would have fresh eggs. As it was they all turned out to be cockerels and Dad sold them to a neighbour (Mr Tupper) for his daughter Joan's wedding feast! However, as he had the henhouse built and the run made he got some real chickens and we did get a few fresh eggs to supplement the powdered egg on rations. Sometimes, when money was short and Dad couldn't afford any coal from the coalman (Mr Airies - who also lived in Crown Road) he would "swap" a couple of rabbits or half a dozen eggs, with a few vegetables thrown in, for a sack of coal - as that was our only heating and for hot water. Although we did have a bathroom it was very cold, and took so much hot water, that our baths were in a tin bath on a Saturday night in front of the fire (two in at a time) and scorching hot fluffy white towels on the fireguard to dry us. I loved that, and can still smell the towels "scorching" when I think about it. Dad did extra work in gardens on the Wentworth Estate, and green-keeping and caddying at the golf club. Everyone was very kind at the golf club and gave Dad little treats to bring home for us. Sometimes the chef would give him a whole Grosvenor Pie with eggs in it (not like the horrible stuff you buy in the supermarket now, but made by the chef). That would feed us all for a couple of days. One thing I really looked forward to was when he was given a whole tine of Jacobs Wafer biscuits, some were pink and some were chocolate coloured. These were a special Saturday night treat with our cocoa, after we had had our bath, or when we all had to get under the solid oak refectory table when the sirens went. I don't know if that would have saved us if a bomb had fallen on the house, but we didn't have an air-raid shelter. A few bombs did fall in the fields around us, one breaking all our windows at the back, but we were really quite safe in the country. One did fall on a house on the edge of the Wentworth Estate and some people were killed. We must have been very ghoulish little children, because I can remember going up to look at it, and there was blood all down the stairs. Of course it was empty and we went round the beautiful garden and picked a lovely bunch of flowers for Mum, until the local bobby came and gave us a ticking off and sent us home - we didn't know that we were doing anything wrong though."

I hope Margaret's memories have stirred some memories of your own, and if you feel impelled to put pen to paper, please do so, and I shall include some more in the next newsletter.

From additional information I have had from Phyllis, I understand that the Foster family move to Crown Road Virginia Water just before the outbreak of the Second World War, so putting that together with Margaret's reminiscences, I deduce that Rosina Jane Hudson, wife of Walter must have died around 1939, which caused Walter to have to go to live with the Foster Family. Does anyone remember how long he lived at Crown Road before he died? Is he buried at Virginia Water Churchyard? Any memories may help me to pinpoint his year of death so that I can get his death certificate.

Some More Family Photographs

I do not have very many new photographs to include in this newsletter, but I thought I would include a couple of my Mum, Thelma, for your entertainment, and also to see if they jog any memories. Firstly, a delightful photo of Thelma when she was about a year old. When I saw this photograph, only a few weeks ago, I thought at first that it was a picture of myself when a baby, the likeness is striking (see the photo of me for comparison!)! She is sitting outside a shop, and since the photographer is The London Portrait Co. Aldershot, I am guessing that she is sitting outside Mrs Lilian South's grocery and sweet shop next to the parish school in Station Row, Shalford, near Guildford. Lilian was one of the witnesses at Victoria May Hudson's subsequent marriage to Henry James Foster and was also Thelma's Godmother. Thelma often spoke of "Auntie South", although I never knew the exact relationship, nor any thing else about Mrs South, until I started excavating the family history. She was married to Ben South, and they had two children, Bill and Winnie. Bill used to run "Tony Morelli's Accordion Band" during the Second World War. The family is still remembered by older residents of Shalford.

The second photograph of Thelma was taken in about 1949, and appears to be a studio portrait, although there is no photographer's stamp on the reverse.

Also found in Mum's photograph album is this study of Cecil Foster in uniform. Does anyone know his rank and regiment, his date of and place of marriage to Henny? Any little detail would be of interest, as I know very little about Cecil since he died when I was quite young (circa 1960?)

Next, a photograph of Victoria May, Phyllis, Edith and Evelyn, with a gentleman called Johnny Cowdrey standing next to a milk van. Does anyone know where and when this was taken, and who Mr Cowdrey was? Evelyn seems to be wearing a forage cap (could it have been Cecil's - they look very alike).

Next is a wedding photograph of "Alf and Gladys". This is Alfred Hudson, brother of Walter and Victoria May. I don't know when or where the photograph was taken - it was kindly given to me by Ken Turner. It is difficult to judge by the clothes what year the marriage took place, but I suspect late 1920s or early 1930s.

The next photograph is of Victoria May's sister Florence and her son Jack Pateman. The inscription on the reverse reads "Home on 48hr leave back from Dunkirk. 1940". Jack's forage cap has a chequered design, similar to some Scottish Regiments style. Does anyone know which Regiment he served with? And who is the little boy in the foreground? This is another of the delightful photographs given to me by Ken Turner.

This is the wedding photograph of Jack Pateman and Edith, taken by a photographer in the Holloway Road, London N7. I am not sure of the year but Jack is still wearing his army uniform. Does this photograph strike a chord with anyone?

Finally, a photograph of Walter Hudson, brother of Victoria May, his wife Annie Rosina, and their three daughters, Joan Thelma, Patricia Joyce and Rosina May, taken at Aldershot in 1937 and kindly lent to me by Pat Wallis. Perhaps you can pick out the family resemblances!

Postscript

I do enjoy producing this Newsletter, and would welcome any additional information anyone can give me, however insignificant it may seem. I hope that next year I shall be able to do more research, and fill in many of the gaps that still exist in the family tree.

If you would like to contact me with your own memories, family documents, photographs, or indeed anything you would like to contribute to the family history, then I should be very grateful.