THI in the Census

We now have Census records for THI and his family from 1841 to 1911 [the census records are only released after 100 years] so can build up the story of his life and family. The earliest data in 1841 is rather limited but the 1851 data, only placed on the web in 2005, is more useful as it confirms details of his parents and siblings for the first time.

1841

In 1841, aged 6, THI is at home with his parents, brothers and sisters in Chapel Street, Kings Lynn, Norfolk [HO107-Pc786-Fo20-Pg35-Line15] :

At this stage there are five children. [The column on the right tells us that 'Y' for yes, they were all born in Norfolk.] There is some confusion in the family as to who is to be called what : the 7 year old son is called William and the 1 year old is called Henry but in the next census William is called "Alfred W" and Henry is called "William H".

1851

In 1851, aged 16, THI is still living at home with his parents, brothers and sisters at 43 High Street, Kings Lynn, Norfolk [HO107-Pc1829-Fo247-Pg20-Sc90] :

His older brother, Alfred W, and he are described as butcher's assistants, presumably to their father William who is a butcher. William and Sarah have eight children at home in total : 3 sons and 5 daughters. We now know from other records that they married on the 7^th of February 1833 and Alfred W is 17 so there are probably no older children who have already left home.

Note too that William has a sister Frances staying with him. By 1861 she will be staying with a John Inkson and still be described as a sister, thus linking William and John as brothers.

1861

In 1861, aged 26, THI is living with his young family in Exton's Road, Kings Lynn, Norfolk [RG9-Pc1257-Fo135-Pg31-Sc195] :

At this time he is a Railway Clerk. The census records only two children : William A [2] and Martha H [1 month] although there is an interesting anomaly not far away at the Three Tuns pub :

We are fairly confident that this is Martha's family [she was a Garner and had a sister called Charlotte born in about 1845 - see 1901 below] so why is there a young Inkson here? He is the 'Forgotten Son' who seems to have been brought up away from his siblings if the little glimpses given by the census are correct.

1871

In 1871, aged 36, THI is living with his family in Burnham Sutton, Norfolk [RG10-Pc1856-Fo50-Pg9-Sc53] :

He is now a railway Station Master. The parish is so small that no street address is given. Burnham Sutton [apparently more correctly 'Burnham Sutton & Ulph'] is on the edge of the town of Burnham Market. The railway no longer serves the town in the 21^st century but lives on as 'Station Road' and the 'Railway Inn'. Both are close to what was Burnham Sutton and its parish church of All Saints. [The link opens a new tab, just close it to return here.]

At this stage the family consists of THI, Martha and six of their children : William A [11]; Martha H [10]; Alice W [7]; Harry G [4]; Lottie G [2] and Percy S [8 months]. THI, Martha, WAI and MHI were all born in Lynn, 18 miles / 30 km away, but AWI was born in Snettisham [halfway between the two] and youngest three were born in Burnham Sutton.

Thomas Henry, the now 14 year old 'Forgotten Son', is boarding in Holt, about 20 miles away from Burnham Sutton and is a scholar :

1881

In 1881, little has changed except the children at home. THI is now aged 46, is still living with his family in Burnham Sutton, Norfolk [RG11-Pc1989-Fo50-Pg8-Sc50] :

He is still a railway Station Master. The station clearly shows on old maps -this one from 1887. [Opens in new tab.]. By 1891 the railway is called the Hunstanton and West Norfolk Railway.

The family now consists of THI, Martha and the last five of their children : Lottie [12]; Percy [10]; George [7]; Emily [4] and Arthur [3]. All the youngest children were born in Burnham Sutton and Martha's mother is staying with them so we can see that she was born in Scotland in ~1813.

The older children, William A [21]; Martha H [20]; Alice W [17] and Harry G [14] have all left home and can be found elsewhere in the Census :

William A, incorrectly indexed as Jackson, is a Carpet Salesman and boarding at 40 Albert Gate, Westminster London [RG11-Pc0120-Fo7-Pg8-Sc53A] :

Martha H, however, seems to have gone courting as she is staying with the Helsdons at their Butcher's Shop in Thornham, 6 miles / 10 km away from Burnham. She is described as a Governess [RG11-Pc1989-Fo140-Pg22-Sc108] :

Is Henry, the widowed Mary Helsdon's son, the Helsdon that MHI marries? Also intruiging is the very next entry on the page : the cottage is occupied by the Thacker family. When William A's son is born in New Zealand in 1907 he will be called Bernard Thacker Inkson.

Alice W is working as a Parlour Maid at Shernbourne Hall, Norfolk, [RG11-Pc1990-Fo73-Pg1-Sc2] :

... and Harry G seems to be called Herbert, working as a Draper's Assistant and living at 151 to 158 Tottenham Court Road [RG11-Pc0187-Fo76-Pg12-Sc11] :

Thomas Henry, the 'Forgotten Son', has married and lives in Alexandra Road, Heigham, Norwich with his wife Emma and their first child, Winnie [9m] [RG11-Pc1952-Fo17-Pg8-Sc167] :

He is working as a bus conductor but keep your eye on Thomas Henry, he is going to move on to greater things ...

1891

By 1891, the family has advanced considerably. THI is now aged 56 and is living with the youngest of his family at 80 the High Road in Lee, a district of Lewisham, London [RG12-Pc0518-Fo97-Pg31-Sc155] :

He runs 'Tea, Coffee and Dining Rooms', probably at that address. Other than THI and his wife Martha, only Emily M [14] and Arthur E [13] are still at home. Emily seems to be an assistant in an inn and Arthur is a Chemist's Assistant.

William A will presumably now be in New Zealand [when did he go there?]. Martha H is now married and it looks as if she did marry that Henry Helsdon : they have four children and his mother Mary is living with them too. He is now the butcher in Thornham, Norfolk [RG12-Pc1562-Fo197-Pg20-Sc130] :

Alice W has married too and is also living in Lee, close to her parents, with her husband Thomas Plumb [from Burnham Sutton, Norfolk] and her two children [RG12-Pc0519-Fo3-Pg1-Sc415] :

In fact their address is 242 the High Road and Thomas is managing a 'Coffee Tavern' while AWI manages an inn. Is this where Emily M, her younger sister, works?

Lottie G is working as a housemaid for the Tritton family at 68 to 70 Cromwell Road in London [RG12-Pc0034-Fo82-Pg16-Sc80] :

... and Percy S is boarding with a family in Suffolk and working as a printer-compositor [RG12-Pc1443-Fo101-Pg13-Sc84] :

We know that George H is at sea [he is on the Norham Castle, his first ship] so that just leaves [or so we thought] Harry G. Perhaps he is already in the Army and therefore doesn't show up in the census?

There is, of course, also Thomas Henry, the 'Forgotten Son'. He is still living in Alexandra Road, Heigham, Norwich [now stated to be at number 61 which may be the same premises he was in in 1881 but no street number was given ten years ago] with his family [RG12-Pc1530-Fo116-Pg32-Sc228] :

Thomas and Emma now have four children and he is described as an omnibus driver groom. The children are Winnie E [10], Alfred [9], Nellie [5] and Dorothy [1].

1901

The family has now moved to 67 Ellerdale Street in Lewisham, not very far from Lee High Road [RG13-Pc554-Fo11-Pg13-Sc74]. THI is now 66 years old and is described as running a shop for his own account as a grocer while Martha, his wife, is described as a housewife. Only Emily M [24] is still at home although Martha's sister Charlotte Garner, a spinster, is living with them as a housekeeper.

Martha H and Henry Helsdon now have six children [including twins] at home and his mother Mary is still living with them in Thornham. He is now a farmer and butcher [RG13-Pc1881-Fo15-Pg2-Sc9] :

The two oldest of the children have already left home, one of them to appear below and the other to disappear from the 1901 record.

Alice W and Thomas Plumb [from Burnham Sutton, Norfolk] are now near to THI [RG13-Pc0538-Fo34-Pg59-Sc412] :

They now live at 43 Guildford Road in Greenwich, London and have four daughters of their own [including one born in Wells, Norfolk between the 1891 and 1901 censuses]. Alice W's niece, Martha H's daughter Ida, is living with them and working as a teacher and there are also three boarders, all young men teachers. Ida must have enjoyed herself.

Lottie G is now married to Harry Dainty and they are living in London where he is working as a coachman [RG13-Pc0108-Fo48-Pg51-Sc304] :

Note that they too probably had twins as both sons are noted as 2 years old. They are living at 25 Seymour Mews and Lottie G's brother Percy S [incorrectly indexed as Percy Tulnson and described as Harry's cousin] is living with them. He is still a compositor.

We know that George H is still at sea and Harry G is in South Africa, a Colour Sergeant in the Army Service Corps and a mere four weeks from his death. That just leaves Arthur E who has disappeared from the census records. We now know that he too was in the army : he signed up in January 1895 and was posted to the Army Service Corps in May that year. He was also in South Africa during the Boer war as a Sergeant in that corps and was awarded the South Africa medal with bars for both 1901 and 1902.

That leaves Thomas Henry, the 'Forgotten Son'. He is living at 2 Dereham Rd, Heigham, Norwich [RG13-Pc1844-Fo5-Pg1-Sc1] :

Thomas is now the owner of a cab and bus company with his own stables. Thomas and Emma have had two more children and all six are living at home. Winnie E now calls herself Ethel and is an assistant school teacher, Alfred is probably working in the family business : he is described as a cab driver and Nellie is hoping to become a school teacher too. The three youngest are not given any occupation but were presumably all at school. Dorothy is now 10 and the two new children are Charlie [9] and Harold [7].

1911

Thomas Harborow died in 1905 and Martha in 1909 so there is no census record for them. We have to follow the generation below. This census provides much more information than previous ones, as we shall see and the writing you see is that of the head of the family.

Thomas Henry, the forgotten son. He is living at 66 William St, Norwich with some of his family [RG14-PN11295 / RG78-PN614-RD225-SD2-ED6-SN318] :

Thomas still runs his own cab company and two of the boys are still with their parents. Note that Harold, now 17, is shown to be 'Harold Thomas'. The numbers next to Emma show that Thomas and Emma have been married for 34 years and that they had 7 children 'born alive' of whom 6 are still alive and 1 has died. We know from other records that Thomas and Emma had a daughter, Mildred Lucy E [baptised as Mildred Emma] who died at the age of one.

William A is in New Zealand so the next oldest in England is Martha Helsdon née Inkson. She is still living with Henry and some of the family in Thornham [RG14-PN11593 / RG78-PN???-RD234-SD2-ED1-SN27] :

We can see that Henry and Martha have been married 29 years and have had 8 children, all living. Only the twins, Neville and Victor [14] and Doris [11] are still at home, the rest are elsewhere.

Henry and Martha's oldest, Ida Lilian, has married Alberto Fetig and is living in Knaphill, Woking [RG14-PN03042 / RG78-PN???-RD33-SD1-ED15-SN100] :

There is a hint in the global records that the next oldest, Sydney W - last seen in the 1891 census - went to Australia. The next oldest to Sydney W, Ethel, is now 23 years old and living with and working for [along with 61(!) others that are not shown below] an umbrella manufacturer called Eli Gilbert on the Edgware Rd, London [RG14-PN00538 / RG78-PN???-RD7-SD2-ED2-SN273]:

The next is Ivy. She is still in Thornham but living with the Johnsons, being an assistant to Mrs Johnson [RG14-PN11593 / RG78-PN???-RD234-SD2-ED1-SN139] :

Finally, there is Norah. She is living with and working for, as nursery governess, another Johnson family in Wood Green [now very much part of London] [RG14-PN07247 / RG78-PN???-RD132-SD2-ED2-SN16] :

The next oldest of Thomas Harborow's children is Alice Plumb née Inkson. Alice and Thomas have moved to 177 High Street in Lewisham [RG14-PN2756 / RG78-PN95-RD29-SD3-ED7-SN21] :

All four daughters are still living at home but the information provided shows that Alice and Thomas had five children in their 24 years of marriage but one of them died. Of particular note is that Percy S[tanley] Inkson, Alice's brother, is staying with them [ten years before he was staying with the family of another of his sisters, Lottie] and he is still a compositor. he is working for W H Smith, a famous company in the UK.

The next in line of Thomas Harborow's children is Harry Garner Inkson but he died in South Africa during the Boer war so after him is Lottie Dainty née Inkson. She is living with her family at 9 Queensbury Mews West, South Kensington - close to London's Natural History Museum [RG14-PN00115 / RG78-PN???-RD2-SD1-ED28-SN296] :

Lottie and Harry now have four children, all boys, and Harry is still a coachman.

We have already noted the census record for Percy Inkson, next in line, so the next record is for George Harborow Inkson. He is living with his young family at 48 Avenue Rd, Lewisham, London [RG14-PN2755-RG78 / PN95-RD29-SD3-ED6-SN167] :

Being a sea-going man, this is the first time that George appears in the census for some time [he missed both the 1891 and 1901 censuses]. He has married Bridget and they have their first child, Martha Margaret [1⁹/₁₂].

The next in line is Emily Mary. She married Thomas George Booker in 1904 so should appear as Emily Booker but there is no sign of her or Thomas George in the 1911 census.

The youngest of Thomas Harborow's children was Arthur Edward Inkson. He returns to the census in 1911, living with his wife at 18 Victoria Dwellings, Dover [RG14-PN4591-RG78 / PN????-RD65-Dover-ED1-SN245] :

We can see that he is a vanman for Souter Mackenzie & Co, Mineral Water Manufacturers [the largest mineral water factory in Dover]. Arthur and Amy have been married for 6 years but have no children.

THOMAS HARBOROW INKSON AND FAMILY IN THE BRITISH CENSUS