Help me solve my family mystery! (1850s, London, Hobbs/Laurance)

[QueenoftheWest]

UPDATE:

I ordered Louisa Mary Julia Laurance’s birth record and this is what it said:

When born: 23rd February 1857, 3 Bath Street, Albany Road

Father: Laurance John Laurance

Mother: Sarah Laurance formerly Eclestone

Rank of profession of father: Gentleman

As with Lawrence’s birth record, Sarah was the informant.

This was instrumental in solving the mystery of how Benjamin & Elizabeth Hobbs and Laurance John & Sarah Laurance were ‘related.’ As it turns out, they were not related at all, they all lived together at 3 Bath Street! Benjamin and Elizabeth Hobbs were still living there (albeit with a different family) in the 1861 census with Lawrence!

This was confirmed by Louisa’s death record:

When died: 2nd July 1857, 3 Bath Street, Albany Road

Age: 4 months

Rank or profession: Daughter of Laurance John Laurance, Gentleman

Cause of death: Diarrhoea (Google tells me that it was likely Cholera Infantum)

This time the informant was Elizabeth Hobbs of 3 Bath Street, Albany Road, who was present at the death.

Even though they were not related by blood, the residents of 3 Bath Street were clearly very close and perhaps, in a way, Benjamin and Elizabeth became a surrogate family, which is why, when for whatever reason Lawrence could not be cared for by his biological parents, it made perfect sense for them to become his informal adoptive parents.

However, I am no closer to discovering who Laurance John & Sarah were or what happened to them.

[QueenoftheWest]

Unfortunately, the only Laurance Laurance I could find that fit was Moses and Rayner’s son but he died in 1855 so he can’t be my Lawrence’s dad.

All I have are the facts:

Between 2nd July 1857 and the time of the census in 1861, something had happened to either Laurance John or Sarah (or maybe both of them?) and I know that it must have happened in Camberwell.

There was only one death in this time period in the Camberwell registration district that is a possible fit:

John Lawrence d. 1858 aged 22.

I believe this John Lawrence is the son of John Busley Lawrence & Jane. John Busley was a solicitor who died in 1856. In 1851, their son John was living with them in Camberwell but in 1861, it is just Jane and her daughter Margaret.

John Busley was clearly very educated but went bankrupt in 1829 and in 1837 he was discharged from Fleet Prison (which I believe was a debtor’s prison).

I suppose this might explain why Laurance John Laurance was also very educated but relatively poor?

John Lawrence (1836-1858) also had a sister called Louisa who died in 1851 so this could explain why his daughter was called Louisa?

I feel a bit like I’m clutching at straws but I’ve ordered the death certificate anyway.

Sarah is still a complete mystery… I have absolutely nothing…

[Spidermonkey]

When is the last time that your Laurence Laurence appears? Could it be that Lawrence the son of Moses married Sarah, then died, but any subsequent children Sarah had out of wedlock, she ascribed to her deceased husband?

[QueenoftheWest]

Laurance John Laurance never actually appears on anything. He is never the informant on any certificates and those are the only records I've got 

Unfortunately, Lawrence Lawrence never married and died in 1855 in France so it seems very unlikely.

http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/fajf/pdfs/stern_p147.pdf

Also the fact that his occupation changed from 1856 to 1857 makes me think that he probably was there, why would Sarah bother to change it? Gentleman is so vague though... wish it had been something more specific!

I am still looking for any evidence that Laurance John & Sarah actually married.

[QueenoftheWest]

Update:

Have discounted John Lawrence through paper trails and Lawrence Lawrence son of Moses and Rayner through DNA.

I have one last potential father - a man called Lawrence Lawrence b. 1814 in Lambourn, Berkshire.

He married a lady called Elizabeth Partridge in 1837 and they had 1 child, a daughter who was also called Elizabeth.

He was a tea dealer and grocer. Going off the census, he lived in the Hackney area from 1841 to 1861. In 1865, he is listed in a Post Office directory in East Street before he moved to Mina Road in Walworth (adjacent to Camberwell) sometime between 1865 and the 1871 census. East Street and Mina Road are just up the road from Albany Road where Laurie, his mother and his sister resided in 1857. In 1876, he is listed in the Freemason registration book as living in Camberwell (1). He then retires to Ramsbury (2), Wilshire.

A few points: (1) The fact that Lawrence lived only a short (10 minute) walk from Albany Road. I realise that it was at least 8 years after Louisa was born but did he have a connection to the Camberwell area? Laurie was still living there with his adoptive parents until he got a job as an errand boy and moved away around 1871. (2) I believe Laurie's adoptive father, Benjamin Hobbs, was born in Ramsbury, Wiltshire. The Hobbs family comes from this area; in fact, when Lawrence Lawrence was living there in 1881, his neighbour was a Thomas Hobbs. Lawrence's mother's family also came from this area. He was born in Lambourn which is around 7-8 miles away.

I've been exploring the possibility that Sarah moved to Camberwell deliberately to stay with the Hobbs family. How would she have known them? Did the father of the children direct her to them after she fell pregnant again?

This would explain why Sarah & Lawrence were not married. However, it would not explain his profession on the first birth certificate. Lawrence Lawrence, grocer, frequently referred to himself as 'Gentleman' which is the profession on Louisa's birth and death certificate.

I would appreciate it if I could just get some fresh eyes and a second opinion. I feel like I am starting to see connections in coincidences, which often happens when trying to break through brick walls. Does anyone think it's a possibility?

My late grandfather used to talk about Laurie and we bonded over our shared love of genealogy. I feel as though I am doing this for him as he always wanted to find out why Laurie, seemingly, did not exist before 1871. He never knew who his grandfather really was, only who he became when he changed his name and married. He never mentioned to my grandfather that he was 'adopted' but I am not really sure whether he knew himself.

I am also posting to the DNA board as I just received my mum's DNA results and am wondering where to go from here.

Queenie 

[jonw65]

There was a Sarah Eccleston(e) around in the London area.
1851 in Lewisham, Kent, Sarah Eccleston, 25, House Maid, in a posh household. Born Norfolk Lingley, which should be Langley.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGRM-TK7

Louisa’s death record:

When died: 2nd July 1857, 3 Bath Street, Albany Road
informant was Elizabeth Hobbs of 3 Bath Street, Albany Road, who was present at the death.

A marriage in Lambeth, 14 July 1857
William Dallimore, Widower, Shoe Maker
+
Sarah Ecclestone, Spinster, father Samuel Ecclestone (decd), Labourer
She signed
Image
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9XW-W986

They appear to be in St. Pancras in 1861, in Sandwich Street
William Dallimore Head 45 Bootmaker, Wilts Helperton
Sarah Dallimore Wife 35 Langley Norfolk
Eliza Dallimore Daughter 19 Surrey Kennington
possibly a lodger and a visitor on next page
Image
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-L3FW-1D7J

William's first wife Charlotte seems to have died in Pancras in Dec 1856, possible burial 19 Dec. So a fairly short time to the remarriage, perhaps William and Sarah were already acquainted
A newspaper item from 1855 puts Mr Dallimore in Sandwich Street, possibly not so close to where LJL was born though.

All this supposes that Laurence Laurence senior and Sarah Ecclestone were not married, as might be implied from the two birth certificates, and indeed that he may not have been around that long. It's just an idea.

[scotmum]

Did you rule out this death?

Deaths Dec 1865   
LAURANCE    Laurance        Hackney    1b   286    

[jonw65]

Did you rule out this death?

Deaths Dec 1865   
LAURANCE    Laurance        Hackney    1b   286   

LAURANCE, LAURANCE       
Age at Death (in years): 0 
GRO Reference: 1865  D Quarter in HACKNEY  Volume 01B  Page 286

[jonw65]

I would also have to say that you would be unlikely to find any "gentleman" living in Bath Street!

31 Ferdinand Street in St Pancras in the 1851 census was home to a Cow Keeper, Thomas Knight.
And he is in the 1852 PO London Directory at 31 as a Dairyman. A railway porter and his wife were also living there in 1851.

The 1857 London Directory has John Fencock, Dairyman, at 31 Ferdinand Street, Hampstead Road.
He is still there in the 61 census, Milkman. Two other households, the heads being a plasterer and a plumber.