Author Topic: Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901  (Read 3205 times)

Offline IgorStrav

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Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901
« on: Tuesday 30 December 14 21:36 GMT (UK) »
My great grandfather, Victor Desire Van Steenhoven, lived with his family in St George in the East, having come to London from Antwerp in the 1870's and marrying at St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Commercial Road, in 1877.

In the 1881 he was at 40 Hungerford St, just off the Commercial Road, occupation Cigar Maker.

In the 1891, he was at 3 Meredith Buildings, which seem to have been a set of tenements between John St and Wellclose Place, also in St George in the East. Occupation again Cigar Maker

In the 1901, he was at 32 Walburgh St, Stepney, still a Cigar Maker as was my grandmother, his daughter Emily.

I imagine that they will have worked together at the factory, and I would love to know where it was - reasonably local to their various addresses, I imagine.

Any suggestions how to track it down?

thank you for your interest.
Pay, Kent. 
Barham, Kent. 
Cork(e), Kent. 
Cooley, Kent.
Barwell, Rutland/Northants/Greenwich.
Cotterill, Derbys.
Van Steenhoven/Steenhoven/Hoven, Nord Brabant/Belgium/East London.
Kesneer Belgium/East London
Burton, East London.
Barlow, East London
Wayling, East London
Wade, Greenwich/Brightlingsea, Essex.
Thorpe, Brightlingsea, Essex

Offline jennifer c

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Re: Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 31 December 14 00:47 GMT (UK) »
Have a look at eastlondonhistory.com they have a very good article on cigar making in the East End.

Jennifer
Stevens /Godfrey /Rudgley /Claridge/ Gipson /George /Bliss
Census information is Crown Copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline barryd

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Re: Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 31 December 14 05:00 GMT (UK) »
It is not easy (or impossible) to trace anyone to an employer. Possibly in an Apprenticeship? Certainly a coal miner or railwayman. One very horrible part of a wife's life is when the Authorities are trying to remove her from Bethnal Green after her husband, a cigar maker, died leaving her with 5 children and pregnant with the 7th.

1857: ORDERS OF REMOVAL BETHNAL GREEN, LONDON. 14 NOVEMBER 1857

"when her husband, Charles Triggs, was apprenticed to Mr. Sanderson of Silver Street, Cheapside for seven years [who is thought to be  C.J. Sanderson, Cigar Manufacturer of 22 Silver Street, Cheapside City of London] and he resided and slept at his mother’s house................."
Of course that does not say who he was working for at the time of his death.
3 of the sons went to America. All in the cigar making business. One died in New York and the other two in New Haven, Connecticut. One stayed in England and became an Insurance Agent and the other joined the British Army as a Private and retired as a Captain. Not bad for widow with 7 living children!

Offline IgorStrav

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Re: Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 31 December 14 13:38 GMT (UK) »
Thank you for your replies.  I wasn't thinking of apprenticeships, more of whether there was a local cigar factory - in my innocence (now comprehensively corrected by that fascinating article on the industry in eastlondonhistory.com), I thought that there wouldn't be very many.

I will try and map out the locations of my family's addresses and overlay some of the factories mentioned in the article - but my great grandfather and grandmother could easily have worked in one of the smaller tobacco workshops.

There is a family story that my g.grandfather ran away to the US with the family's savings, leaving my g grandmother with some young children to look after - however, he was unsuccessful there, and came back to London with his tail between his legs,  and waited outside the cigar factory for my grandmother to come out of work, so that he could ask her for money.

I have tried to research this story several times, with no success in finding travel records for him, or indeed pinning down the precise time when this was supposed to have happened.  The family are together in the 1901, and my grandmother married in 1902 and presumably gave up work - and indeed, the remaining children of the family weren't that young in the early years of the century - yet another thing I should have asked my grandmother about.......

Pay, Kent. 
Barham, Kent. 
Cork(e), Kent. 
Cooley, Kent.
Barwell, Rutland/Northants/Greenwich.
Cotterill, Derbys.
Van Steenhoven/Steenhoven/Hoven, Nord Brabant/Belgium/East London.
Kesneer Belgium/East London
Burton, East London.
Barlow, East London
Wayling, East London
Wade, Greenwich/Brightlingsea, Essex.
Thorpe, Brightlingsea, Essex


Offline IgorStrav

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Re: Cigar Factory in St George in the East, 1881-1901
« Reply #4 on: Monday 17 April 17 16:09 BST (UK) »
I just wanted to add to this that, as you do, I was exploring FindMyPast Newspaper articles, and entered Steenhoven (my grandmother's name) in the search box.

And she popped up as an entry within a description of a works outing in 1899 for Abrahams&Gluckstein in the East End of London. 

And when I googled Abrahams&Gluckstein lo and behold they were a cigar making factory at 26 Whitechapel High Street (which was around the corner from where she was living).

Very interestingly the family who owned the factory developed a catering business with a partner called Lyons which became the very famous Lyons brand of Tea House fame.

I haven't as yet been able to find an image of the factory, as the whole area of London has been extensively redeveloped.

Yet another lesson about never giving up and keeping on searching to find new entries online.....

Pay, Kent. 
Barham, Kent. 
Cork(e), Kent. 
Cooley, Kent.
Barwell, Rutland/Northants/Greenwich.
Cotterill, Derbys.
Van Steenhoven/Steenhoven/Hoven, Nord Brabant/Belgium/East London.
Kesneer Belgium/East London
Burton, East London.
Barlow, East London
Wayling, East London
Wade, Greenwich/Brightlingsea, Essex.
Thorpe, Brightlingsea, Essex