Need some help with a mystery!

[AlexNoodle]

Hi guys

Got a bit of a toughy here. A family friend of mine is trying to find out some info about her father. She was born in 1935 in Stoke Newington, daughter of May Alexandra Rowland formally Verrall. There is no father's name down on the certificate, but the informant was a guy called John Hallbury. She was told by her sister that he was her father. The birth occured at 66 Allen Road in Stoke Newington but they subsequently moved to 3 St Charles Square in Kensington. (This is shown by the info on the certificate - where birth occured, mother was living at 3 St Charles Sq, John Hallbury down as occupier of 66 Allen Road now of 3 St Charles Sq.) However, she has tried to find a record of his death and found only one possibility - a death in 1944 in Battersea for a Jesse Rhodes otherwise John Hallbury. He was aged 76 on his death and his occupation was a greengrocer - address 86 Ingrave Street.
I can find no births for a John Hallbury, but the only Jesse Rhodes I can find with a birth date of around 1868 is one born in Rochdale to a William and Susan. In 1901 he is living with his brother Alfred, still up north. I am a bit stuck with this one. I have asked my friend to tell me anything more she remembers about what she was told about her father. As he would have been about 67 when she was born if we go from the info from this death cert, which may or may not be the right person. So awaiting any further info, but I thought while I wait I would try you guys!! Does anyone have the Kelly's Directory for London between the years of 1935 and 1944? If he is a greengrocer he should be in there. Alternately, if anyone also has access to the postal directory for the same time, that would be great too. Any help would be appreciated. I'd love to be able to give my friend something...

Thanks in advance!

Alex

[janan]

Hi
Have you looked on www.historicaldirectories ? Might be a relevant directory there to search. Great site when it works - it isn't at the moment
Cheers Jan

[AlexNoodle]

thanks, what does the url end in? is it .com .co.uk ?

Thanks

Still puzzling....

[janan]

Possibly .org  I've got it bookmarked but doesn't give full address and site still not working
Jan
PS It is .org just found a way of finding out full address

[sandiep]

had a look in my 1938 Post office directory but couldnt find either Hallbury or Rhodes  sorry

sandie

[AlexNoodle]

Thanks for looking Sandiep!

I'm not too familiar with post office directories, are they arranged by name or by road or both?

Thanks again

Alex

[sandiep]

Post office directories  have private by names
  trade by trades then names
commercial  by types then by name  so they are quite easily searched.  the one I have is on cd and is in a PDF file so you can also use the search facility on there to narrow search.

sandie

have you thought of trying the electrol rolls for the area?

[jorose]

There is only one Hallbury in Historical Directories; 1915, a Miss Violet Hallbury, dairy, 22 Prince of Wales Road NW.  This ties in with a possible (!!) Jesse Rhodes aged 33 on the 1901 census:

Penge London
Jesse Rhodes, 33, dairy man, b. Greenwich
Harriett, 32, b. Scotland
George, 10, b. Blackheath
Violet, 8, b. Richmond
Kate, 6, b. Penge
Frank, 5, b. Brixton
Jessie, 3, Brighton
Albert, 2, Surrey


If you search the old London Gazettes at http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ you'll find notices in 1921/1922 relating to the bankruptcy a Henry Hallbury also at 22 Prince of Wales Street, purveyor of dairy products.  There are no Hallburys listed on freebmd.rootsweb.com - so it seems likely that Violet and Henry 'Hallbury' are the Rhodes - whether Henry is another name for one of the sons of Jesse or Jesse going by another name??

In 1914 the dairy at 22 Prince of Wales Road was run by a Mr Wilson Lupton, so it seems the Hallburys/Rhodes were there from about 1915 to 1921.

This Jesse Rhodes is listed in 1891 in Charlton, as 'Jessie Rhodes', on Ancestry if anybody could pull him up.  With brothers William Rhodes, b. 1865 (head), Enoch (1874) and Samuel (1876).  The brothers are in 1881 with father George Rhodes from Cannock, Stafford, a dairyman, and an extra brother Elijah Rhodes aged 9, no sign of Jesse/Jessie.

[jorose]

There's also a Mr H. Allen, dairyman, bankrupt also at 22 Prince of Wales in 1923 (London Gazette)  He's then listed in subsequent records as  'Henry Rhodes, described as H. Allen'  (you can find this by searching for the address).  I would say this is the same as Henry Hallbury of the same address; so we have Hallbury=Rhodes=Allen = dairymen of London, possibly also Jesse/Henry are the same person, or Henry is a relative of Jesse's in some way.

Allen is interesting, because Jesse Rhodes m. possibly Harriet Currie Allen, June 1895 quarter in Croydon, according to freebmd.