I have been getting carried away as many family history researchers do when they see an interesting thread to follow. I had every intention of writing about the Walkers from Rotherhithe, the family of my maternal Grandmother. Since the publication of the 1921 Census return I have checked names against the records to see what new information I might glean. My Great Grandfather, Cornelius Walker lived most of his married life in the village of Offord D’arcy in Cambridgeshire, not far from Huntingdon. I came across his Census return for 1921 and discovered that my Mother’s sister, Rene (spelled with a double accented ‘e’), aged just 2 years was visiting. Also in the house was a Boarder, Henry Leonard Bennister but he was just 7 years old and a full time scholar.
This intrigued me because I had grown up with stories about a family called Bennister who were close friends of my Grandmother, Grace Wilcox, but who I never met.
And here lies the problem. I got carried away searching the Bennister’s and discovered so much information that it requires a lot more patient study before I write about it. That’s why I need to write about the Walkers.
In a previous post I described their origins in Rotherhithe.
My Great Great Grandfather, Samuel Walker, the son of a Baker, married Emma Humphries in Kings Cross in 1847 – 177 years ago. In the marriage register Samuel is described as a Cheesemonger. Whether this was wholesale or retail, I am uncertain. If it was retail then he would have shop premises but I have found no records showing this. If it was wholesale then he would have been trading possible from the wharves near London Bridge. Either way, there was a lot of money to be made in in selling cheese. Although a cheap source of protein it also had good keeping properties in the days when there was no refrigeration. I have found a newspaper report from 1848 where a Samuel Walker of Messrs. Rutt and Son, Cheesemongers, was a witness in a case of one of their employees being charged for stealing samples of cheese using a ‘taster’ to bore holes. He was caught on a wagon in a railway yard. This is a report from a Greenwich and Deptford newspaper so therefore this could well be my Great Great Grandfather who was the witness in the case.
Samuel and Emma had two children while living in London and then Samuel moved his family to Croydon in Surrey. The 1861 Census return shows that Samuel, aged 35 , is living in Chapel Street, Croydon. This street has either been renamed or has disappeared. It was quite common for towns and cities to have more than one street with the same name and the Post Office, as it became busier with deliveries, negotiated to have streets renamed to save a lot of wasted journeys by their delivery workers. However, studying the next page of the Census return I discover that the next road that the enumerator went along was Wandle Road. In 2023 this has a major road cutting across it and I wonder if this was at the expense of Chapel Street ?
At No. 5, Chapel Street, were Samuel, Emma aged 34 and their four children. Henry, 9, Emma 7, Frederick 2, and my Great Grandfather Cornelius aged 1. Lastly but not least was Mary Humphrey aged 73. She was Emma’s Mother, my three times Great Grandmother. Henry was born Samuel Henry after his Father but I think I shall stick to Henry as that what was what he was recorded as in the Census returns so that he was not confused with his Father. He was probably called Henry by his parents and siblings.
At this stage of his life, Samuel was a Commercial Traveller. Was this still connected to the Cheese trade I wonder?
Ten years later and the Walker family have moved again. In the 1871 Census return I notice there are two additional children, Mary Ann 8 and Adelaide 6. I also notice the absence of Frederick who at the age of 12 has either been forgotten or is visiting another household on the day of the Census count.
Frederick in fact had not been forgotten and was not visiting but he was a Boarder at the Protestant Grammar School in New Shoreham, Sussex. He was one of 92 Boarders at this school. I found the following information on this website.
Founded by W.H.Harper in 1842 before Nathaniel Woodard started his school and college, the Grammar School was originally in East Street before moving to Pond Road. Later known as the Protestant Grammar School (in pointed opposition to Woodard’s ‘higher’ church school) it outgrew the Pond Road premises and started annexing nearby houses such as Hutchins Place (now Westover) and others. Later known as the Shoreham Grammar School it moved away in 1965 when the old Georgian buildings that once housed it were demolished and replaced by the Community Centre.
This must have been a costly exercise for my Great Great Grandparents . Frederick went on to become a bit of an adventurer and was the interesting subject of his Father’s will. That is a later story to be told.
In the 1871 Census the Walker family are living in Albert Terrace, Hackney which yet again no longer exists. I wonder if war damage is also responsible for the loss of many London roads during the 20th Century? I get the impression that Albert Terrace may well have looked like those terraced houses in the Eastenders soap.
So I am recapping on the family makeup at this point in time.
| Samuel Henry Walker (my Great Great Grandfather) | 1825 -1888 |
| Emma Walker (nee Humphrey | 1827 – 1884 |
| Henry (Samuel Henry) | 1852 |
| Emma | 1854 – 1887 |
| Frederick | 1859 |
| Cornelius (my Great Grandfather) | 1861 – 1929 |
| Mary Ann | 1863 |
| Adelaide | 1865 |
By the time of the 1881 Census return, Samuel has moved his family yet again. This time they have moved to Brixton. The Census enumerator was not very detailed in his recording of the Walker family in Brixton and only gave initials for every one other than Samuel Snr. In the house at Brixton, No. 33 Lambert Road, a three story terraced Victorian house.
Here were Samuel and Emma and their children Emma, Cornelius, Mary Ann and Adelaide. Henry and Frederick have left home. Also in the house were a young woman called E.F.Lyon and she is described as a Visitor. Then there is S.W.Thrush, a Boarder decribed as a Hosiers Shopkeeper. My Great Great Grandfather is described as a Commercial Traveller in the Provision Trade.
Commercial Travellers were a cut above Salesmen and they were dealing direct with shops and taking commissions on top of their salary. I have a suspicion that Samuel Walker was working in the London area mainly because he was in the provision trade.
At this point my Great Grandfather, Cornelius was 21 years old. The Census return failed to give him an occupation. I have absolutely no idea at this point about what he did and how he made an income. This is important because in the future all records describe him as of Independent Means.
I do know that seven years later, in 1888, Cornelius married.
Cornelius married Susan Furnell on 18 November 1888 at the Parish Church of St Martins in Kentish Town. The address for both of them in the registry book is 14 Allcroft Road, Kentish Town. Cornelius’s father was described as a Provision Merchant and Susan’s father, John, was a Builder. (Susan was a witness at her sister Theresa’s wedding in 1882 where John Furnell was described as deceased) The witnesses were George and Theresa Felstead.
Since 1881 and 1888 Samuel Walker has ceased being a Travelling Salesman and has become a Provision Merchant.
Cornelius and Susan left London and moved to the village of Offord D’Arcy near St Neots in Huntingdonshire. They lived in Kendal Cottage, Littleworth End. They lived here until the end of their lives.
My Great Grandparents had two children, one of them was my Grandmother.
| Grace Adelaide Wilcox | 1890 – 1980 |
| Alice Frances Walker | 1894 – 1974 |
At every birth, marriage and death registration, Cornelius Walker is described as of Independent Means. Where he got his income from and why, I can find no trace or record to give me a hint. The expression ‘independent means’ describes somebody who gets an income from investments rather than from job.
The answer lies in the fact that during the past 8 years, Samuel Walker has become a Merchant in his own right. He has premises in London Bridge. In his eldest son’s Marriage registration, Samuel is described as a Provision Broker. This is a step up from Merchant.
Most importantly, he died ten days before Cornelius got married to Susan. I believe that Cornelius’s investment and income was from his father’s business. However, there is another tale to be told and in the future I shall be describing the contents of Samuel Walker’s will to gather information for this.