After his second wife died, George seemed to move around, lodging at various places in London. His marriage to second wife Emily FELLA was so short that it didn’t feature in any of the censuses (they married in 1873 – she died in 1875). Luckily for me, Emily’s death certificate lists George as the informant and his residence as 54 Swinton St, London (Emily also died here).
Death Certifcate of Emily Jane FELLA -1875
A quick search of Rumsey’s site informs me that houses still exist at this site:
I am aware that house numbers changed at some time in the past and need to check that number 54 Swinton St today is the same number 54 Swinton Street of 1875. Even so, it’s another address for me to visit when I’m in London. I like being able to get a feel of how my ancestor’s lives may have lived.
I used Google’s street view for a quick peek at the area. (Click and drag the orange man on to the map and use the on screen tools to have a look around.)
Did the PALMERs live (and in Emily’s case, die) in these buildings:
Whilst reading my copy of ‘Your Family Tree’ magazine, I came across a great resource for people with London ancestors. The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection includes an 1843 London map which you can transpose over google’s current satellite map. This would have saved me a lot of time a couple of years ago.
I don’t have many links to London in my tree. The only significant person in my tree to reside in London was George Wright PALMER and part of his family.
George was born in Portsea and his job in the Royal Navy caused him to move around a bit. For some reason, George was in London at the time of the 1871 census. He was living at 33 Marshall St with his first wife, Mary Ann and youngest son, Edward.
Palmer family in 1871 census
When I went on the hunt for this address a couple of years ago, I had to switch between windows and use educated guesses to pinpoint the locations. With Rumsey’s site, I was able to search and quickly locate Marshall St in Westminster.
Marshall Street, Westminster
Here is a photograph I took of what I believe to be 33 Marshall St (I found it the hard way but using this map overlay it was so quick and simple):
33-36 Marshall Street c2000s (no.33 in foreground)
Here is a picture I found of 33 – 36 Marshall St, taken in the 1960s (annoyingly from the opposite direction to my picture):
33-36 Marshall Street c1960s
It’s hard to say how long George and his reduced family lived at this address. Mary Ann died the next year and he married his second wife, Emily Jane FELLA in 1873. Tragically, she died just two years later.
I’m not often able to find detailed information on the houses in which my ancestors lived, which makes the details I found at British History Online even more special:
Most of these buildings […] were erected in the 1820’s by or under the supervision of Thomas Finden after the closure of Carnaby Market […]. This redevelopment was uniformly planned, small in area and scale, but forming to-day an unusually pleasant oasis for pedestrians, and offering facilities for shopping away from the through streets. There is accommodation for shop-keepers over the shops, as well as for chamber trades such as tailoring. The least altered parts are the block bounded on the west by Newburgh Street and on the south by Ganton Street, and the two pedestrian courts west of Newburgh Street—Lowndes Court and Marlborough Court. The prevailing form was thefour-storey terrace house fronted in stock brick, two windows wide with plain window-openings, and a continuous plain parapet with stone coping. The windows, most of which have their original narrow glazing-bars, have stone sills. The ground floors were built as shops from the beginning, for this was the period of the planned shopping street… The ground floors of Nos. 33–36 Marshall Street have thin pilaster-strips and a continuous entablature; space appears to have been provided for shop-windows but, except at No. 35, these spaces have only one domestic-size window each. The ground floors of Nos. 20–22 Peter Street are similar.
(From: ‘Marshall Street Area’, Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (1963), pp. 196-208. via British-History.ac.uk (Date accessed: 10 Jan 2010).Â
I’ve been gone a while as I haven’t had much time to do genealogy lately. I haven’t even emailed my fabulous archivist for more information on the new lunatics I’ve uncovered from the last information received (She’s probably glad for the break).
At least this glorious snow we’ve been having will give me an opportunity to try and get in the swing of things again.
I’m going to sit back and relax now, read my brand new family tree magazine and wait for inspiration to strike. I’ll be back.
(Oh, and thankyou for the compliments and blog awards – you’re all very kind).
I received the case notes for Wilson BUCHAN today. The contents were very interesting. Wilson’s case is sad but what strikes me from these notes is that the sense of family was very strong. It also strikes me that insanity very much runs in my family.
On the 17th June 1875, Wilson BUCHAN was admitted in the Royal Aberdeen Lunatic Asylum.
I can almost visualise Wilson – his description was more unique than that given for his sister Agnes. At age 60, he was a short man with a square, stooping figure. His eyes were black, his hair grey with a bald scalp and his complexion ruddy.
His history upon admission reads:
The present attack , supposed to be the first, has lasted for eight months during which time he has twice attempted suicide. There is a strong hereditary predisposition to insanity, his father committed suicide, his sister Mrs James Tait was in this Asylum two years ago, and his nephew James Third is at present a patient here. According to the medical certificates, he distresses himself unreasonably about his wife’s death, will not engage in his ordinary occupation, imagines that the Police are to apprehend him for murder & stealing, talks of committing suicide and has been found with a rope round his neck.
On the 7th October 1876, Wilson was “Removed by his friends – Much Improved”.
I have become even more interested in these small fishing villages where everyone seems to be related and plan to do a bit more research on them.
Other facts I have managed to glean from these records:
Wilson’s wife died before June 1875 (this was unclear on his death record)
his father (& Agnes’) committed suicide
a sister Mrs James TAIT (also Agnes’ sister) was in the asylum two years ago,
a nephew, James THIRD presently in the Asylum
a son John Buchan (and his address – 91 Cairnbulg)
3 daughters – Mrs Mary BUCHAN or Stephen; Mrs Robert STEPHEN; Christian BUCHAN
Next Steps:
Work out his sister’s & daughter’s names by finding their marriages
Gain more information about the locality (map of houses)
I received another reply from the wonderful archivist at NHS Grampian archives. Apparently, Agnes’ brother Wilson was also admitted into the Aberdeen Royal Lunatic Asylum. Wilson was suicidal when he entered the asylum in June 1875. He was released under the authority of John BUCHAN in October 1876. He had either recovered from his ‘melancholia’ or was being cared for at home.
While I wait for the case notes to arrive, I’ve been looking into John BUCHAN as he seems to be playing a vital role in his families lives. I don’t know yet whether this John is Agnes’ son or another family member. There are 2 or 3 John Buchans of the right age in the Lonmay parish in 1881. One married to a Mary PIRIE and one to an Isabella. I downloaded the death record of the only appropriate Lonmay death record (between 1876 and 1930) – this John was married to Mary PIRIE and his mother is recorded as Nancy BUCHAN (father – Arthur).
Statutory Death Record of John Buchan, 1907
At first glance, it seems the other John in the 1881 census is my man. HOWEVER, the names Nancy and Agnes do sound similar – could this be an error? The informant was the man’s son, who was 18 on the 1881 census and so very likely to know his grandmother well.
A quick google search reveals that Nancy seems to be a nickname for Agnes. This record is looking more likely to be a match. Hopefully, the case notes will give me a clue (at least to whether the John Buchan whom Wilson was released to was in fact Agnes’ son).
Then it dawned on me, dear readers, the case notes had also given son John’s occupation as ‘carter’. The same occupation is recorded on these records and so, in a village full of fisherman, I can be fairly confident this is my man.
1881 Census Record of John BUCHAN & family and FINDLAY servant
Before I go, however, the census record and the name Mary PIRIE seemed very familiar to me. Then I noticed the name of their servant, Agnes FINDLAY – this was a direct ancestor!
I even blogged about this Agnes’ gravestone a few months ago. I had often wondered if this Agnes was related to her ’employer’ as her mother was a Buchan. It turns out young Agnes (Mad Agnes’ grandaughter) was living with her uncle. I will look into this situation more and report back. I LOVE genealogy!
If you’ve only just found this blog – this particular story starts here.
