Westbourne Square

[crunchyFrog]

Wow, so she could change her name to Mercer even though they weren't married?
Thanks for the photo, it's nice to have an idea. I'm so grateful, for your help. It seems very likely that Mary Kathleen had two more children..... raises a lot of questions about her.
Thankyou so much.

[avm228]

I have finally found where Westbourne Square was - now demolished and occupied by a 20th century development, Desborough Close.

Being up in the (never very fashionable) patch between the railway and the canal, it is unlikely to have been as grand as the previous image.  A nearby survival of pre-war architecture is Blomfield Villas, which may or may not be a guide to what Westbourne Square looked like (google images of Blomfield Villas - I don't seem to able to post an image link).  This general area was mostly developed in the 1840s-1850s.

[avm228]

Having now looked at the 1861 census I may have to eat my words about fashionability. There are some very large and apparently well-to-do households in Westbourne Square, some with 5, 6 or 7 servants - so it does look as though they must have been large and imposing residences.

You may be interested to know that 22 Westbourne Square was occupied in 1861 by John J Wynne, a 57 yr old Irish-born barrister, with his wife Marcia, four children and an Irish-born female servant.

[crunchyFrog]

Our theory was that she was a servant. We have a lot of “theories”. We thought she had an affair with Alfred Percy and that’s why Dorothy left. It’s all just speculation though. I need a time machine.

[avm228]

Have you got a copy of the Smith divorce papers?  They may be enlightening.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8049133

[crunchyFrog]

Cousin has bought them, haven’t heard from her yet. When I last spoke to her she was waiting on them. Hoping it lists a reason.
Interestingly Grandad apparently went to the house when he was a teenager to find his mum and found it was a brothel. I don’t know how grandad knew the address and he is full of stories.

[crunchyFrog]

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/spy/#zoom=18.99629628698031&lat=51.5210&lon=-0.1875&layers=173&b=1

I’m not sure about desborough square been westbourne square, according to this map. It’s close though. I’m thinking it’d be similar. Or is that whole thing called desborough close?

[avm228]

I can't access your link on my device, but comparing my (paper) Stanford"s map of 1862 with a modern map, it seemed to me the whole of Westbourne Square (which was small, and more triangular than square) is likely to be accounted for by the modern Desborough Close, which is larger.

[crunchyFrog]

Yeah, there’s nothing original now. Thank heap for everything. I’m going to have follow the Mercer connection, maybe see if I can some certificates. It’s fascinating