alessandria mallandaine + robert william morris
Alessandria was born on 17 April 1875 in Chatham, Kent to Isaac Mallandaine and Caroline Keane. Her birth was registered under the name Allessandra but in most subsequent records, she appears as Alexandria or most commonly as Alessandria. Her father was serving as a Hospital Steward with the Army Hospital Corps and the family lived at the Chatham Barracks until her father retired from the army and moved the family to Salford in Lancashire.
On 1 September 1900, Alessandria married Robert William Morris at the Stowell Memorial Church in Salford with her sister, Gertrude Florence, standing as one of the witnesses. Robert was the son of Robert William Morris, a Cloth Finisher, and Eliza Lucas. His parents were originally from Yorkshire but moved to neighbouring Lancashire to work in the cotton mills in and around Manchester.
When they married, Robert was living at 45 Doddington Street, next door to Alessandria and her family, and working at one of the local mills as a Pattern Card Maker; he was responsible for transferring complex weaving patterns from a printed design to paper punch cards. These cards were used by the Jacquard machine that enabled the power loom to read and weave the desired pattern.
Their first child, Elsie Victoria, was three months old when the 1901 Census was taken on 31 March and the family was living in four rooms at 47 Shawcross Street in the Pendleton area of Salford. On 20 February 1902, Robert enlisted in the army with the Lancashire Fusiliers to fight in the Second Boer War in South Africa. His attestation papers note that he was 23 years old, 5’7” tall, 124 lbs with light brown hair and brown eyes. He served in South Africa from 1 March 1902 until 30 July and fortunately for both him and his family, his service was limited due to the end of the war in May 1902. He returned home and in August, he was ‘discharged at demobilization at his own request’ and was awarded the Queen’s South Africa medal with clasps for service in the Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal.
Alessandria was pregnant with their second child when little Elsie died, aged two years, in the first quarter of 1903. Robert William was born on 18 May 1903 followed by Edie on 21 November 1905 and Albert on 15 August 1908. By 1911, they were back on Doddington Street in Ordsall, living in 5 rooms at number 49, and Alessandria’s widowed mother, Caroline, was living with them.
Less than a month before the census, Alessandra gave birth to another daughter who is listed as Emma in the census return but it seems they changed their minds and decided on another name because when her birth was registered, it was under the name Ella. She was baptised, under Ella, at St Clement on 11 October 1911 but sadly, she died just before her first birthday.
Robert and Alessandria had two more daughters: Ethel was born on 17 November 1912 and Edna on 7 May 1915.
The family lived on Doddington Street for many years and Robert continued to work as a Pattern Card Maker. In 1930, their son Albert was the first to leave home when he married Charlotte Connor. They had three children and in 1939, they were living at 84 Silk Street in Salford and Albert was working as a Dock Labourer. They later moved to Winton Road in Pendleton where Albert worked as a lorry driver for Heinz. He died of lung cancer in 1979 and Charlotte died three years later.
Children possibly Edie, Albert and Robert
On 21 November 1931, Edie married Horace Reid at St Philip in Salford with Ethel Morris and Fred Reid as witnesses. Horace was born on 19 May 1904 in Salford to Robert Reid and Mary Ann Dodd. He was working as a Glass Bottle Sorter when he married and was living at 21 Middlewood Street while Edie was still living at home at 49 Doddington Street. In 1939, they were living at 253 Gateford Road in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and Horace was working as a Furnaceman in a glass foundry but it does not appear that they had any children. Horace died in Worksop in 1987 and Edie died in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1993.
Ethel married Thomas McWilliams in Salford in 1936 and they went on to have one daughter. He was born in Manchester on 11 Dec 1906 to Hugh McWilliams and Sarah Knight. In 1939, they were living at 27 Melverley Road in Manchester and Thomas was working as a Monotype Operator. Thomas died in Manchester in 1989 and Ethel less than one year later.
Several months after Ethel’s wedding, the family celebrated a second time when Robert William Jr married Ethel May Bristow. They had two children and in 1939, they were living at 49 Doddington Street and Robert was working as an Acetylene Welder. Ethel’s parents were living next door at number 50.
There was a third wedding in 1936 when Edna married Thomas Mainwaring in Salford. He was born on 7 December 1909 to Samuel Mainwaring and Margaret Crow. In 1939, they were living at 108 Royal Oak Road in Manchester where Thomas was managing a Butcher’s shop. They had two sons. Thomas died in Rhuddlan, Wales in 1993 and Edna died in Colwyn in Oct 2006.
Alessandria died in early 1957 in Salford and her husband Robert died in the summer of 1972.