Martin Genealogy Blog

Elizabeth (Lizzie) MARTIN was born in Lambeth in 1879.

Lambeth Cemetery (West Norwood) shows a Charles MARTIN as owner of grave number: 29935-114, when an Elzabeth A Martin was buried in 1901. Could this be our Charles and his daughter, Lizzie?

Lizzie had appeared on the 1891 census living with her father, Charles Frederick, her mother, Emma (sometimes shown as Emily), her elder sisters, Mary, Katie & Annie, and younger brothers, Charles, William, Frederick & Jack, at 37 Duke Street, Lambeth. After this we know nothing more of her.

The MARTIN family moved to 43 Engleheart Road in November 1905, when William MARTIN 1 (Charles & Emma’s son) moved with his wife Emily (née COOPER) and their first-born, William 2 (my grandfather), who was born earlier the same year.

We don’t know what prompted the move but we do know that William 1 set up a window cleaning business in Catford and, from the 1911 census record for the house, we find that W’s brother Jack (then 21) was an assistant, along with a William WELLS (also 21), both of whom lodged with W’s family.

William & Em grew their family there, with the addition of Emily (1907), Harry (born Henry, 1909) and Violet (1911). William 1 died in 1912, after falling from his ladder.

After that, we know that Em and her children remained living there and Em & W’s first son, William 2, was living there with his wife, Emily Rose BELCHEM when their first child, my Dad, William 3, was born there in 1926, and his brother, Pete, in 1932.

We understand that various cousins lived nearby in the late twenties/early 30s. William 1’s daughter, Emily, married William BROOME, and their son Clive remembers living nearby.

I’d love to know what happened to Charles & Emma’s other children. Did they remain in Lambeth? Did any, apart from Jack, move to Catford?

William Martin 1 (b December 1884, Lambeth) had the following jobs:

1901 Census: Painter

3 Aug 1903: his marriage certificate: Iron Founder

5 Jan 1905: on his son, William Martin 2’s birth certificate: Hardware Warehouseman

23 Jan 1905: Peabody Trust tenant records: Warehouseman, Cockburn Iron Works, Westminster. The Post Office had a registration in 1905 for: M. Cockburn and Co. Ironfounders, 282 Westminster Bridge Road. He could have walked to work from Peabody Buildings, Stamford Street, in about 20 mins.

April 1911 (Census for 43 Engleheart Road, Catford): Window Cleaner (employer). His brother, Jack, was lodging in the same house and was shown as Window Cleaner’s Assistant.

6 October 1912: William Martin 1’s death certificate: Window Cleaner

I’ve now got a copy of the 1911 census records for 43 Engleheart Road, Catford, which gives the following info:

• William Martin (1) (Head), 26, m 8 years, Window Cleaner (Employer), b Lambeth
• Emily Martin (Wife) 24, m 8 years, 4 children all living, b Lambeth
• William Martin (2) (son), 6, b Lambeth
• Emily Martin, (daughter), 4, b Catford
• Henry* Martin (son), 2, b Catford
• Violet Martin (daughter), 6 months, b Catford
• Jack Martin (brother), 21, single, Window Cleaner, assistant, b Lambeth
• William Wells (assistant), 21, single, Window Cleaner, assistant, b Woolwich

Jack was born John Martin and was William 1’s brother. We understand that one of William’s brothers took over the window cleaning business after W died in 1912. Looks like it was probably Jack! Would be great to find out if Jack married and who his family was.

*Henry was known as Harry. He married Grace Ingram and died 1997, Worcester Park, Surrey. He and his brother, William 2, were great mates throughout their lives.

I’ve now got the marriage certificate for a Charles Frederick MARTIN to Emily RICHARDSON, married 11 July 1871 at St Thomas’ Church. At the time of the wedding Charles & Emily were living at 9 Thomas St, which is where their first daughter, Emma, was born on 29th October the same year. It is noticeable that no Martins were witnesses. The witnesses were William RICHARDSON, Emily’s father, and Mary RICHARDSON (not sure what relation she was to Emily), who signed with her ‘mark’. I wonder whether this was a bit of a ’shotgun’ wedding, with Emily almost 6 months pregnant on her wedding day! I have sent off for several birth certificates for the children of Charles MARTIN and Emma. Each time the certificate gives the mother’s name as Emma MARTIN (nee Richardson) but the father’s name as Frederick Charles MARTIN, rather than Charles Frederick. So who was my gt gt grandfather, really? We first encountered Charles was on the 1903 marriage cert between William MARTIN and Emily Sarah COOPER, Parish Church, Christ Church, Southwark, Surrey (LONDON). William’s father is given as Charles MARTIN, coal porter. The coal porter profession fits well with a family legend of this man being covered in coal dust and known as ‘black dad’. After Dad & I met with one of the researchers at the Family Records Centre we’re certain that these records are for our family members.

I now need Charles’ death and birth certificates.

Dad & I went to London on 18th & 19th May 2007 to try to fill in some particular gaps in our knowledge of our Martin ancestors. We went to:

1. Peabody Buildings - the one just of Stamford Street, Lambeth, where my granddad, William MARTIN, lived just after his birth, with his father, William MARTIN & mother, Emily Sarah MARTIN (nee COOPER). We took photos of the estate, which will appear on the website soon. It was built to house London’s poor but had an unexpectedly well cared for look to it now!
2. Some of the streets where our family lived:
   i. Charles Street (now Nicholson Street) had none of the original housing. Probably bombed or just redeveloped. Have taken photos of the current street.
   ii. Duke Street (now Duchy Street), had very little of the original housing. The plot of grassy parkland just East of the northern part of Duchy St is where Cory Square used to be, when granddad was born there in 1905. Have taken various photos of the area.
   iii. Goding St (no 36, to be exact!). On visiting the street, there are no houses on the south side. On the north side there are businesses underneath the railway arches. Presumably the houses were destroyed in WW2 or were pulled down at some other time. I’ve written to London Metropolitan Archives for further info.
3. Christ Church, Southwark (Blackfriars Bridge Road), where William MARTIN & Emily COOPER were married in 1903. Have taken photos of the church, though the actual building our folks got married in was bombed in 1941.
4. Family Records Office - I wanted get advice on how best to increase certainty we are looking at the correct records for Charles MARTIN & his family. A Frederick Charles Martin appears on the birth certificates of his children (William, Emma & Catherine). Clive, one of the researchers at the FRC, advised us that this was almost certainly the same person as the Charles Martin given in the census records we have (1881, 1891, 1901) and also in the marriage certificate of his son, William (1). On his advice we’ve ordered the marriage certificate for a Charles Frederick MARTIN & Emily (not Emma) RICHARDSON (Lambeth 1871). This should give us some more clues. This was my first visit to the FRC. If you haven’t been before it is excellent.
5. London Metropolitan Archives - Another first visit. On the advice of the helpful Ms Wagg, from the Peabody Trust, we found the rent record books for K Block, Peabody Buildings (Stamford Street estate) and found that our William MARTIN moved to 22 K Block with his wife, Emily, in late January 1905 (about 2 weeks after granddad was born), and left in Nov 1905, with the comment: gone to Catford. This was probably to the house at 43 Engleheart Road, Catford, that the family lived in until the early 1930s.

This Emma was the daughter of Charles & Emma and she appears only on the 1881 census. She was born 6 months too late for the 1871 census. Details as follows:

• Born on 29 October, 1871, at 9 Thomas Street, Lambeth
• Father: Frederick Charles Martin (not plain Charles), Carman. He was also the informant, living at 9 Thomas Street, Gibson Street, Lambeth
• Mother: Emma Martin, nee Richardson
• Registration District: Lambeth
• Subdistrict: Waterloo Second Part, Surrey
• Date registered: 7 December 1871

What happened to Emma? She would have been 19 by the 1891 census and would have left home, maybe she was married. I can’t find any trace of her!

I’ve got hold of a birth certificate for William Martin. The similarities with the certificate I have for Katy are clear: same mother and father, born in Lambeth.

• Born on 7 December 1884, 97 East Street, Lambeth
• Father: Frederick Charles Martin (census gives him as Charles), coal porter (his profession as given in 1881 census)
• Mother: Emma Martin, nee Richardson (same as Katy)
• Registration District: Lambeth
• Subdistrict: Lambeth Church 2nd, Surrey
• Date registered: 16 January 1885

East Street appears to have been a narrow alleyway containing poor housing, just of Lambeth Walk.

According to the 1881 and 1891 census, Katy would have been the 2nd eldest of Charles’ & Emma’s children. I sent off for a birth certificate, details as follows:

• Born on 2 October, 31 Charles Street, Lambeth
• Father: Frederick Charles Martin, Deal Porter*
• Mother: Emma Martin, nee Richardson
• Registration District: Lambeth
• Subdistrict: Waterloo Second Part, Surrey
• Date registered: 8 November 1875

* The census tells us that her father was Charles Martin. The Birth certificate gives him as Frederick Charles Martin.

Later in his career we know Charles as a coal porter. At this time he was working as ‘deal porter’ - a job which involved lugging wood to and from barges and around the many timber yards that can be seen in Lambeth on the Godfrey Edition of the Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Waterloo & Southwark, published in 1894 and later.

The 1891 census shows Charles & Emma living with their 8 kids at 37 Duke Street, Lambeth. The 1881 census shows another older girl, Emma, who has presumably left home by the 1891 census. The full list of their offspring is as follows (all are born in Lambeth):

1. Emma - b 29 Oct 1871
2. Mary - b abt 1873 (envelope folder in 1891)
3. Katy - b 2 Oct 1875 (sweet maker/confectioner in 1891)*
4. Annie - b abt 1877 (domestic servant in 1891)
5. Lizzie - b 1879 (still at school in 1891)
6. Charles - b 1881 (worked as a carman in 1901)
7. William - b 7 Dec 1884 (painter in 1901 - presumably decorator rather than artist; was an engineer for Cockburn’s Iron Works, Westminster Bridge Rd, in 1905; ran own window cleaning business in Catford till he died in 1912)
8. Frederick - b abt 1886-7
9. John (Jack) - b 1891. He was 1 month old at the time of the 1891 census, which puts his DOB in March 1891.

I sent off for a birth cert for Mary, b 1875, 31 Charles Street (interestingly Mary’s brother was living at 9 Charles St with his bride-to-be, Emily Cooper, in 1903).
It gives the father’s name as Frederick Charles Martin (full details elsewhere).