annie ashton + albert hawker
by George Lomas
Annie was baptised at the parish church in Charmouth, Dorset on 12 January 1862; she was the first child born to John Ashton and Kezia Kenway. When she was nineteen years old, she married Albert Edward Hawker. At the time, she was living with her aunt, Elizabeth Bowditch, and her family in Chard, Somerset but her marriage was registered in the Axminster district so she may have returned home to marry in Charmouth.
Albert Hawker was born in Chard in 1863, the son of Joseph Hawker and Elizabeth Froom, and worked as a mechanic in his father’s engineering company. Following their marriage, they returned to Chard where their first child, Archibald Albert, was born on 14 November 1881 — only six months after their wedding.
Annie and Albert remained in Chard and had four more children — Ivy May was born on 11 March 1883 followed by Minnie Kathleen in the early months of 1885. On 11 Jun 1885, both daughters were baptised at St Mary in Chard and at the time, Albert was working as an Aerated Water Manufacturer. Mabel Agnes was born on 6 September 1886 and baptised on 4 November, with Albert’s job clarified somewhat on the baptism register as Soda Water Maker, and Cecilia Elizabeth was born on 28 December 1888 and baptised on 23 February 1889.
By 1891, the family had moved to Bristol and were living at 30 Victoria Street where Albert was working as an Engine Fitter and Annie as a Dressmaker. Their son, Archibald, was living with Annie’s great aunt Rebecca Taylor and her husband George in Charmouth but he left Dorset to join the army when he was 18 years old.
Sadly, Annie died in 1895 aged only 33 years and her death led to the break up of her young family. It appears that Albert was not able to cope with caring for his five children aged 6 to 15 years as he left Bristol without them and relocated to Aldrington near Brighton on the south coast. There is no record of what happened to their daughters between their mother’s death and the next census but by 1901, Albert had remarried to a local woman named Emma Marriott and had a son, Cecil Joseph, in nearby Shoreham one month before the census.
Archibald initially enlisted in the Militia with the 3rd Battalion of the Dorset Regiment at Dorchester on 30 October 1899 but two days later, he transferred to the Rifle Brigade. His attestation papers describe him as being 5' 3" feet tall, 115 lbs with brown hair and blue eyes and when he enlisted, he was working as a Grocer for Mr Ford in Charmouth. He listed his next of kin as sister Ivy and her address as 23 Balfern Grove in Chiswick. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion as a private and served in England for two years before being posted to South Africa from 16 December 1901 to 3 February 1903. He served his remaining term in England until he was discharged on 8 October 1908 on the grounds that he was no longer medically fit for service.
In 1901, their eldest daughter, Ivy, was in London working as a Launderess at the Female Lock Hospital in Paddington while Minnie and Mabel, aged 16 and 14, were admitted to the Preventive House girls’ home in Bristol. The home was operated by the Bristol Female Mission Society whose aim was to prevent poor and disadvantaged young women from falling into prostitution by providing them with opportunities for more respectful forms of employment such as domestic service or factory work. But the society soon discovered that many of the young women they encountered were ‘ignorant of duties expected of them in domestic service’ and to remedy this, they opened the Preventive Home ‘where girls between the ages of 12 and 16 would be taught the duties expected of a domestic servant.’
Six year old Cecilia was adopted by Edward Darke Bennett and his wife Eva Mary Whitehead and the oral family history suggests that Albert may have received money in exchange for allowing his daughter’s adoption. Edward Bennett was a commercial traveller for a drapery business and in 1901, he was living at 33 Sydenham Hill in Bristol with his wife, 12 year old Cecilia, known as Cicely, and 4 year old niece Ivy Whitehead.
Archibald Albert married Florence Hemstock at St George, Camberwell on 22 April 1905 with his uncle William Ashton listed as one of the witnesses. In 1911, Archibald and his wife were living in Greenwich along with their three sons and he was working as a Colour Grinder. They had six more children over the next 15 years.
Daughter Ivy married Edward Henry Loop in south London in 1905 and they welcomed daughter, Dorothy, one year later; in 1911, they were living in 3 rooms at 11 Quicks Road in Wimbledon where Edward worked as a Carpet Layer. Sisters Minnie and Mable were both living in Bristol and working as domestic servants while Cecilia was working as a draper’s shop assistant at 63 Broad Street in Worcester. Six months later, she married the proprietor, James Smith Wilcox, and they went on to have three children — Nora, Cicely and Frank.
Annie’s husband, Albert, had two more children with his second wife, Gladys Florence was born in 1902 and Albert Edward in 1907, and by 1911, the family had moved to a three room flat at 31 West Terrace in Sydenham in the London borough of Lewisham where Albert was employed as an Iron Mould Maker at a glass factory. The census also notes that Albert and Emma had been married for 12 years or in 1899 but the actual marriage record has not been found. There are no records that confirm whether Albert remained in contact with any of his children or if his second wife even knew of their existence.
In 1939, Archibald was living at 12 Pendragon Road in Lewisham along with wife Florence and two of their daughters, Ellen and Mabel. He was working as a Gas Stoker which was classified as heavy work and meant his family received additional rations. His wife Florence died in Lewisham in 1946 and Archibald died three years later.
Ivy May’s first husband was killed in action in France in 1916 and two years later, she married again to Thomas Edward Manser and they had one son, Douglas. In 1939, they were living at 14 Victory Road in Wimbledon along with her daughter Dorothy and her husband George Francis. Thomas was working as a Public Convenience Attendant. Ivy died three years later followed by daughter Dorothy in 1964 and husband Thomas in 1969.
Minnie Kathleen seems to have stayed in Bristol although she never married. She died on 8 July 1938 at the Ham Green Sanitorium in Bristol. The house and grounds at Ham Green were purchased by the city council at the turn of the century and turned into an isolation hospital to treat those infected during a smallpox outbreak. In 1934, the hospital was expanded to include a sanitorium for tuberculosis patients as well as a nurses’ home. In the probate record, Minnie’s address was listed as 4 Martin Street in Bristol so it is not known if she was working at the hospital, a patient there or staying in the nurses’ home. Probate was granted on her £168 estate to her sister Ivy.
Mabel Agnes hasn’t been traced beyond 1911 but her sister Cecilia was still living on Broad Street in Worcester with her husband and daughter Cicely as well as James’ daughter from his first marriage, Zena May. Cecilia died in Esher, Surrey in 1957; she was predeceased by husband James in 1954.