Our Charles(2) married Ann Lewis, in 1846. She was the daughter of
William Lewis, a carpenter. At the time
of the marriage Charles was a clerk living in Blaenafan, Ann was living in
Llanellen. According to a letter from
Charles he had been working at James & Harris. Not sure what type of business this was. My contact in Abergavenny tried unsuccessfully
to find more about this firm – “an online copy of Pigots 1844 directory of South Wales Llanelly Parish and Brynmawr" lists
William James and William Harris but no addresses are given. They are listed separately under the section
named “beer retailers” in the directory. There are no trade names such as “James &
Harris”. A beer retailer could not sell
quantities of beer of more than 4 ½ gallons!"
Shortly after their
marriage, Charles and Ann moved to Bermonsday, an area of London on the south bank
of the river Thames, part of the Borough of Southwark. Charles(2) occupation listed on his son Charles(3)
birth certificate was tanner. Reading about the history of manufacturing in this area in the
1850’s shows leather goods were one of the products produced. “Industries that were
deemed too noisome to be carried on within the narrow confines of the City of London had been located here - one such, that
came to dominate central Bermondsey, was the processing and trading of leather and hides.”
Why such a move for
Charles and Ann? I often find a move is
because of encouragement from a family member or friend already living
there. Although Charles(2) left
Bermondsey prior to the 1851 census I did a little more digging and found a Lewis D. Powell. Was this Lewis Daniel, Charles(2) brother? He was the right age and born in Abergaveny. Did Charles(2)
encourage Lewis to join him in Bermondsey in the tanning
industry? Lewis was living a few doors down from where Charles and
Ann had lived so he was very likely his brother.
From Wikipedia comes the following description "By the mid-19th century parts of
Bermondsey, especially along the riverside had become a notorious slum — with
the arrival of industrial plants, docks and immigrant housing. The area around
St Saviour's Dock, known as Jacob's Island, was one of the
worst in London. It was immortalized by Charles Dickens's novel Oliver
Twist, in which the principal villain Bill Sikes meets a nasty
end in the mud of 'Folly Ditch' an area which was known as Hickmans Folly — the
scene of an attack by Spring
Heeled Jack in 1845 — surrounding Jacob's Island. Dickens provides a
vivid description of what it was like:"
"... crazy wooden galleries common to the backs of
half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath;
windows, broken and patched, with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen
that is never there; rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would
seem to be too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter; wooden
chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud and threatening to fall into it
— as some have done; dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations, every
repulsive lineament of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and
garbage: all these ornament the banks of Jacob's Island."
From a letter written by Charles(2)in
1847, as well as information on his son’s birth certificate - Charles(2), his wife
Ann, and newborn son Charles(3) were living at Hargrave Square, on the north side
of Alice Street, Bermondsey.
The following description is taken from the original
records of Charles Booth's[1} survey into life and labour in London, dating from
1886 to 1903. Although written some 50
years after our family left, a telling description nonetheless. Hargrave Square
– “2 story house with forecourts. Crowds
of children here; many doors open; dirt abundant; the houses are four-roomed with
wash-houses and small yards”[1].
Certainly in Charles letter he describes
a living condition that was troublesome and expensive. The move to London was probably precipitated
by the desire to improve his family’s living condition and circumstances through
the perception of higher wages offered in London.
In reality expenses were so
high that any financial gain was quickly used up by the high cost of living. As Charles pointed out in his letter, being
away from family and friends meant they had to pay for “every little turn that
is done for them”.
”… I have to inform you that we have felt the result of the expenses
attached to what I have before mentioned we can scarcely manage to make to ends
meet as the price of provision being so remarkably high and being away from all
friends we have to pay for every little turn that is done I have endeavored to
better my situation but Trade being so dull I have been quite unsuccessful my
present situation is not one to my mind as the wages is low, I will give you a
brief of both of my earnings and of my expenses in the first place my standing
wages is 18 shillings per week sometimes I have over time and sometimes
none. I have only one room to live in
and do everything which we pay 3 shillings per week for where you cannot swing
a cat round without killing it 1s/9d per Cwt. for coal; bread 1s/6d the half peck
loaf; potatoes 1 1/2d per lb. and everything is very dear it is my intention
before next winter set in if I cannot suit myself better than the present to
try for a country berth as things are more reasonable in the country.”
It is not surprising that by
1849, Charles and family had made the move to Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in Wales. In the 1851 census Charles occupation was
listed as a Tallow Chandler (to make or sell candles). Their address in the 1851 census was 159 City
Rd., St. Martins, Haverfordwest.
Daughter Ann was born in Haverfordwest in 1849, as
were all the other children (except for the mystery son William who was born in
Abergavenny). In John Lewis Powell’s
family bible
it states that the family moved to Abergavenny in 1857, probably as a result of
Charles death June 20th 1857.
By the 1861 census Charles
widow Ann was living in Abergavenny with her six children, her youngest
William, being only a month old. This
child was born 3 years after her husband’s death. Is this an error by the census taker or was Ann
looking after a relative’s child? Did
she remarry someone who also had the last name of Powell? The birth of this son was a red herring for
me when I was looking for Charles(2) death, I was looking after 1861 – not
1857. Something else odd - why would
she use William again, she had already named child #5 Alfred William.
My contact at the Abergavenny library found a burial for William Powell of Byefield Lane aged 10 months on 11 Jan 1862 at St. Mary's Church. The 1861 census did not show any other Powell family living in Byfield Lane. There was no record of his burial at the "old" cemetery in Abergavenny. So far this child remains a mystery.
Young William died at 9 months old, on the 9th of January and Ann is listed as his mother.
My contact at the Abergavenny library found a burial for William Powell of Byefield Lane aged 10 months on 11 Jan 1862 at St. Mary's Church. The 1861 census did not show any other Powell family living in Byfield Lane. There was no record of his burial at the "old" cemetery in Abergavenny. So far this child remains a mystery.
Young William died at 9 months old, on the 9th of January and Ann is listed as his mother.
p364,
p121 Alice Street, Rothsay Street, Hargreave Square, Hargreave Place, Williams
Street, Ferrand Street Charles Booth online archives
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