1851/1861 census lookup please - Blake family - completed with thanks

[millerina]

Please could somebody have a look for:

Frances Blake b.1850 in the Bethnal Green area

On her marriage cert from 1877 it says her father was called George Blake, a Mariner - and her mother may have been called Jane (from an IGI entry).

They should hopefully be found somewhere in the Bethnal Green area?

Many thanks,
millerina 

[Meliora]

Hello,, Millerina,

Found this in the 1851 census

HO107/1545   folio 378  page 24
Whitechapel Union Workhouse.

Jane Blake  age 38 Unm   Servant  b  Christchurch
Frances  Blake  age 10 months   b  Workhouse.

1861 census
RG9/255   folio 135  page 26
11, Cross St  Bethnal Green

William Blake  head  age  58  House Painter  B  Bethanl Green
Jane Blake  sister  age 47  Laundress  b  ditto

No sign of Frances in the 1861 census, perhaps she was in a school or orphanage somewhere.

Meliora

[millerina]

Hi Meliora,

Thanks for the lookup, that is really interesting, definitely worth some more research!

Many thanks again,
millerina 

[Meliora]

Just a passing thought.

If, according to the 1851 census, Jane Blake, unmarried,  is the mother of Frances, why does Frances state her father's name is Blake on her marriage cert.   

Was this a question of "saving face", not wishing her husband to know she was illegitimate ?     Perhaps Jane had told he at some time that her father's name was George without saying it wasn't Blake &  that he was a "mariner" to explain his absence.

There is a Civil Reg. birth entry that fits.

Frances Blake
June ¼ 1850  St George in the East  2  97.

I wonder, too, whether the WHitechapel Workhouse records would have any info on this birth.  The records would be at the LMA.

Meliora

[jorose]

Who were the witnesses at the marriage?

(It's very common for a 'father' to magically appear on the marriage certificates of illegitimate children - sometimes it's the name of an uncle or their grandfather, sometimes the right first name for the father but the wrong surname, sometimes appears to have been pulled out of thin air!)

I can see this interesting entry in 1861:

RG9/46 folio 75 page 34
116 Mount St, St. Georges Westminster
??gan Green, 26, butcher employing 4 men, b. London
M. A. Green, 25, wife, b.
F. K. Green, 5, dau, b. London
F. Blake, 9, step-daughter, b. London
F. Allen, governess, 23, b. London

Probably this family is Edgar Green (it could be Edgar in the census, if you squint hard enough) and Mary Ann Blake, who married in Reigate in 1853 (freebmd).  In 1871, they appear as Edgar Green, wife Mary Ann, and daughter Florence (stepdaughter F. Blake not with them).

[millerina]

Hi Meliora and Jorose,

Thanks for your thoughts on this - I am having a lot of trouble with this Blake family! 

I guess it is possible that her father may not really have been George Blake, but I'm not really sure how I can prove that that Frances is "my" Frances.. Unless my Frances has her age recorded wrongly on the census, that does seem to be the most likely match for her birth..

One of the witnesses on the wedding cert is the grooms brother, Henry Miller, but the other is a lady called Catherine Wensley, so I have no idea who she may be!? The marriage was on Christmas Day in 1877 at St James the Less, Bethnal Green.

Also, I noticed that whereas her husband James Miller signed the register with a "x" to represent his mark, Frances seems to have signed her own name, so presumably she has had some basic education?

millerina 

[millerina]

Just had a look at my tree and realised that Catherine Wensley married the other witness, Henry Miller a year later... My memory is getting terrible these days! I thought the name was slightly familiar! Sorry if I have confused anyone!

millerina

[jorose]

There are also a couple of births for 'Fanny Blake' on freebmd.

In later censuses, does Frances always give her birthplace as Bethnal Green? And what were her and her husband's addresses when they married?

[Hollylianne]

Heya!
I too am having terrible problems tracing my Blake's in London. I have a George Walter Blake...but geeze...his age changes on every record!!! I hope you have more luck than me!
Hollie x