Dorrington Family in Romford, Essex

[anican1]

albert was my great grandfather. he went to australia in the late 1880s (as a teenager and without his family) and came back to england in 1908. he was a published writer of short stories and novels, and the information i have about him was found in a biography, i believe in the australian public records archives. i just can't seem to find anything else.

[Tati]

Hi both,

http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080351b.htm

DORRINGTON, ALBERT (1874?-1953), author and journalist, was born probably on 27 September 1874 at Fulham, London, son of William Dorrington, policeman, and his wife Hannah, née Byford. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham. When he was about 16 he 'drifted' to Australia where, after brief stays in Melbourne and Adelaide, he travelled through the German settlements in South Australia; in Queensland, the Torres Strait, and Palmerston (Darwin); and in outlying western New South Wales, supporting himself through canvassing and other jobs. Germans, Chinese, Kanakas, Afghans and Japanese, often unpleasantly perceived, populate much of his fiction. In 1899 Dorrington settled at Waitara, Sydney, where he lived with Leonora Anderson, who bore him several daughters. For seven years he replated silverware for a Pitt Street company

 

Great pic of him! 

[Necromancer]

The William (House Painter) and Hannah are the couple who married in Romford ... Hannah's PoB in 1881 is Sudbury, and she can be seen as Hannah Byford in 1871 Clerkenwell .... born Sudbury ...


Ah - Tati - great find, and I see he was born in FULHAM - so that is the right couple, but why a House Painter not a Cop ?

 

[Necromancer]

he went to australia in the late 1880s (as a teenager and without his family) and came back to england in 1908

LOL - and there I was looking for him in England in 1891 and 1901 ..... 

[Tati]

The biography gives his dates
Birth - 27 September 1874, Fulham, London
Death - 9 April 1953, Ruislip, London

Strangely, in April-June quarter 1953 there's one death for an Albert Dorrington (Harrow 5f 323) but his age is 94

[Necromancer]

Looking again at the handwritten 1881 page, the name is deffo Ernest and a comment 'Ricketts from Birth' .....


so most odd, but mum Hannha is firmly Hannah Byford from Sudbury.


I'd be tempted to invest in the Marriage Cert to check Williams occupation at that time and also any birth Cert we can find for Ernest / Albert again to check fathers occupation.


Is this just one big coincidence ?


Births Mar 1876 
 
DORRINGTON  Ernest Harry     Fulham Vol 1a Page 261



I'll look again in 1891 to see if Wm and hannah are still around and what his occupation is 10 years later ...

 

[anican1]

yes, that's the biography i found...
so if this is the right william and hannah dorrington, why is a house painter? hmmmmm.....
albert's first two daughters were born in austraila, and my grandmother was born in england in 1909...
thanks for helping...

[Necromancer]

cant see either William or Hannah in 1891 .... but maybe William remarried ?

Deaths Mar 1888   
 
DORRINGTON  Hannah 37   West Ham  Vol 4a Page 42

[anican1]

i would love to see that record!! ..is it online?