Edward Hawker and Louisa Oke

 Edward William Hawker was born in 1850, the eldest son of what became a South Australian dynasty. His father George Charles Hawker, together with two of his uncles, selected acreage for a sheep station at Bungaree, near Clare in South Australia in 1841. They had arrived in the colony the year before, cashed up with family funds. Edward was born in the hut built by his father and uncles. He ended up with 14 siblings (11 survived childhood). He was educated at boarding school in Adelaide (St. Peters College) and at Cambridge University in England. 

 

Louisa was born in Adelaide in 1854, the 3rd child of 10, to Paul and Lavinia Oke who had migrated to South Australia from Truro in Cornwall. According to Aunty Alma, Louisa was working as a 17 yo housemaid at Bungaree station in 1872, when she became pregnant to Edward who was home on holidays from his studies at Cambridge Their daughter – Mary Elizabeth - was born in Adelaide in 1873 and though Edward is named as the father on her birth certificate, there is no evidence that he acknowledged or supported her.
Louisa married Charles Horen in Holy Trinity Church, Adelaide in 1877. He was listed on the marriage certificate as a Wharf Labourer. They lived in the Adelaide/Port Adelaide area for the next 30 years and, though they had no more children, Louisa’s large family of parents, siblings and their families were nearby. Little more is known about Louisa who died at the age of 47 in 1902. 

Edward went on to have a privileged career as a lawyer and politician with an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography - http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hawker-edward-william-6604 - He married Mary Letitia Stawell in London in 1890 and they had 5 children. According to the ADB, “he was considered to be never more than an earnest, persevering, rather prosy politician, who favoured rigid economy and retrenchment”. He inherited the Bungaree property in 1895 and died at the age of 90 in 1940.

John and Charlotte Boyle

 John was born in Ireland during the Great Famine (1845-49). By 1871, he and his family had emigrated to Scotland. The census shows that they lived in Old Kilpatrick, then a small town on the banks of the Clyde River outside Glasgow. John and his father Denis were (ag) laborers, his sister Roseann was the housekeeper and brother James was an Ironstone miner. In April 1873, John travelled back to Ireland to marry Charlotte (a possible family connection through her mother who was born a Boyle) in Saint Johnston Parish Parochial House in Raphoe, County of Donegal - a Catholic Church.

The couple returned to Scotland and went on to have 7 children – the youngest Margaret died aged 3.  John worked as an Agricultural labourer and then a Carter. But by 1901, aged 56, he was a Watchman working for the town council in the then rapidly growing town of Clydebank. In the same census, their 4 daughters were working as French polishers in the Singer sewing machine factory. By the time of next census, that job would spark a dispute which became world famous. Aside from Fanny – our ancestor – no marriages or families have been found for the other 5 Boyle children.
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Singer’s factory was built on 46 acres of farmland at Kilbowie, Clydebank. With nearly a million square feet of space and almost 7,000 employees it produced an average of 13,000 machines a week, making it the largest sewing machine factory in the world, and yet demand continued to exceed production.
 

Early in 1911, twelve women cabinet polishers at the plant went on strike when their work was re-organised in a way that disadvantaged them. Three defect repairers were withdrawn from a team of fifteen women working in the cabinet polishing department, and the repairers' duties were added to those of the remaining twelve women but they were offered no increase in pay. The women were paid piece-work rates and were likely to lose around 2 shillings from their usual 16 shilling weekly wage packets.  Within two days almost all of the then 11,000 workforce went out on strike in sympathy with the women.
The Industrial Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) and the Socialist Labour Party backed the striking workers but management went on the offensive by closing the works and threatening to remove production to other plants in Europe. Three weeks later, the strike committee conceded defeat. Soon afterwards the company started a culling campaign which resulted in the sacking of over 400 workers. The strike is considered the first battle between labour and international capital in Scotland if not in the UK.

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By the 1911 census (the same year as the strike), only Catherine was clearly still working in the polisher job. Fanny was a mother of 6, and Mary J and Susannah weren’t living with the family and haven’t been found elsewhere. John (snr) was still a Watchman but died before 1917 when Charlotte died of Hemiplegia (possibly following as stroke) (a widow at that time). Hemiplegia is a condition caused by brain damage or spinal cord injury that leads to paralysis on one side of the body. It causes weakness, problems with muscle control, and muscle stiffness.
 

John and Charlotte’s eldest son John (jnr) enlisted for WWI in about 1914 in the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, 6th Battalion. He would’ve been aged about 40. He was killed in action on 25th September 1915, the day the Battalion fought the Battle of Loos in France. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Loos

 

John and Ann Tinkler

John and Ann were born, grew up and were married in Durham in the North of England, he in 1836, she in 1840. Ann’s father was a husbandman (a farmer) and later a railway worker. She probably had little or no schooling (She signs Francis Bennett’s death cert in 1877 with “X”). John worked as a Boiler Smith – someone who made or repaired metal boilers (probably ones that were used in steam engines). John’s family had connections in the Durham area that went back many generations. The surname Tinkler probably originated in the area. One version of its origin, a variant of Tinker, is from an occupational name for a mender of pots and pans.   

In the 1861 UK census John Tinkler (25), his wife Ann (20) and their 11 month old baby were living in Haswell, Durham. Haswell rose to fame in the early 1830s with the discovery of coal and the establishment of the world’s first modern coal mine (one having a steel cable down the shaft). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell,_County_Durham

Three years later in 1864, then with 3 children (Sarah Jane, Stephen and baby John) they emigrated to Australia from Liverpool (together with his brother Robert Tinkler, 20, Labourer and her sister Sarah Patterson, 21, Domestic servant). They travelled aboard the “Sam Cearns” arriving in Melbourne on the 17th October 1864 and settled in Sebastopol, south of Ballarat. 

 
Sebastopol was so named in 1855 because the blasting of the rock to access the gold-bearing leads under the basalt plateau was said to be like the guns firing during the 11 month siege of Sevastopol in Russia during the Crimean War. It was a separate working class town servicing the rich gold mining fields south of Ballarat.

John worked as a blacksmith. He died 3 years later, at the age of 31 on 4th October 1867 from “Pneumonia nephritis” (from death certificate). 1867 must’ve been a tough time for Ann. Both her husband and baby son (George) died that year, she had three other small children to look after (aged 6, 5, and 3) and she was pregnant with her fifth and last Tinkler child (Francis) who was born in December 1867. She married Francis Bennett the following year. 

Ann had 6 more children with Francis Bennett, four of whom survived. He was a miner and also died youngish (48) in 1877. Ann was again widowed, this time with 8 children (4 Tinklers – oldest 15 and 4 Bennetts – youngest 7 months old). Her 3rd husband was Frederick Plater whom she married in 1880 and had they had 2 more children. Ann lived in Sebastopol for around 40 years from its earliest days. There were occasional references to her in the local paper The Ballarat Star:

 
1878
“Ann Bennett v Ann Doyle, threatening language.
Mr Gaunt appeared for the complainant. The evidence was rather contradictory, and the case seemed to have arisen over a dispute, in which a long handled saucepan played a prominent part. There was also a cross case. The bench considering each party to blame and fined each 10s with 5s costs”

1882
A letter from Mr Plater, offering excuses for non-payment of fines inflicted by the magistrates for the non-attendance at school of his stepson Bennett was read, but the matter having passed beyond the board's jurisdiction no action was taken.

1884
On Saturday night last a couple of young people well known at Sebastopol were united in the holy bonds of matrimony. The affair was upon us suddenly, and for once even the local “correspondents” were taken unawares; but this is not surprising when it is considered that the bride is but 16 years of age. The bridegroom is Mr W. Williams, and the bride is Miss Hannah Bennett, daughter of Mrs Plater. Both have lived at Sebastopol since their childhood.

1891
The next case was in reference to lost money. The finding of a ten pound by two little boys Plater and Jenkins, who handed it to Constable Taylor. After keeping it for some time no claimant appearing, the money was handed by the constable to the parents of the boys, who were, however, required to give a guarantee to refund the amount received by them should a claimant appear. A young man named James Caddy ultimately claimed the money and Constable Taylor had seven pounds refunded to him, but there appearing to be some dissatisfaction as to Caddy being the proper owner, the constable wisely refrained from taking the responsibility of arbitrator upon himself, but summoned all parties to the Police Court to allow the magistrates to decide the ownership. Caddy, in support of his claim, stated the streets he traversed when he imagined he lost the note, and produced an advertisement in a morning’s paper of his loss. Constable Stewart gave evidence of Caddy having reported the loss to him on the date named by Caddy. A statement was made by Mrs Plater that the claimant told her he was not the young man who lost the note, and her evidence was corroborated by her daughter, Mrs Murphy. Caddy produced a certificate of the withdrawal of the money from the bank. The bench ordered the restitution of the money in the possession of the police to Caddy, who will, if he so desires, be enabled to sue the parents for the amounts retained by them.

Around 1900, three of her children: Stephen Tinkler, John Tinkler and James Bennett and their families moved to Western Australia where they worked as miners in Kalgoolie. Ann and Fred Plater remained in Sebastopol where most of Ann’s remaining children still lived. Ann died there in 1904, aged 64, having outlived 5 of her 13 children. After her death, Frederick remarried and lived another 19 years. He also outlived his second wife but was buried with Ann in the Ballarat (new) cemetery when he died. Ann’s surviving 8 children went on to have 38 children between them.

Joseph [Patrick] and Sarah McDade

 Joseph Patrick McDade (known as Patrick) and Sarah nee Martin were both born into Catholic families in Donegal, Ireland in 1846 at the beginning of the Great Famine (also known as the Irish Potato famine) which lasted from 1845 to 1849. It is estimated that during that time, 1 million people died and a further 1 million emigrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)

There had always been regular shipping and movement of workers between Ireland and Scotland, but in the years between 1841 and 1851, the Irish born population of Scotland doubled. Patrick and Sarah’s families among them.

In the 1861 census Sarah was listed as being 18 but was probably more like 15 (from dates of later events). She was a bleachfield worker, living with her parents Charles and Mary Martin and siblings Charles, a laborer and Julia, also a bleachfield worker. All of them were likely to have worked in textile production.

   A bleachfield or croft was an open area of land (usually a field) used for spreading cloth and fabrics on the ground to be bleached by the action of the sun and water. They were usually found in and around mill towns in Great Britain and were an integral part of textile manufacture. Linen production became a major industry in Scotland, second only to agriculture.

 Ten years later, Patrick and Sarah were married at St Peters Catholic Church in Partick, near Glasgow on 2nd January 1871. He was a bricklayer’s labourer aged 25 and she was 24. Both signed the register with an “x”. Of their parents, only Patrick’s mother Margaret was still alive at the time. The census that same year lists the household as: Patrick McDaid 25, Mason’s labourer, Sarah McDaid 25 his wife, Julie Martin 27 (Sarah’s sister) (worker in paper mill) and Charles Martin 40 (her brother) (hammerman in shipbuild yard).

    The village of Partick was situated on the River Clyde, several miles west of Glasgow and closer to Scotland’s West Coast. In the mid 1800s, dredging and widening of the river was done to improve shipping access to the Port of Glasgow. The area all along the river bank developed quickly with the Industrial Revolution. The population growth in Partick went from 5,000 in 1851 to 17,500 in 1871 to 36,500 in 1891. Patrick's work as a labourer in the buiding industry would've contributed to the provision of housing for the expanding population. Tenements were built but unfortunately they became increasingly overcrowded and eventually turned into slums.

 

Shipping on the Clyde 1881

Patrick and Sarah had 3 children and changed address within Partick between each census. Their eldest child, Margaret, died at the age of 8. In 1891 Patrick, 40 was a Plasterer’s labourer, Sarah, 41 his wife, daughter Mary Ann 17, was a fishmonger assistant and son Patrick 15, was a Plumbers apprentice. Patrick died on 21st February 1894 in Saint Hospital, Renfrew of Erysipelas – a bacterial infection, aged 48.

By 1901 Sarah was living with her daughter Mary Ann in Clydebank. Mary Ann worked at the Sewing machine factory and Sarah was housekeeper. I haven’t found Mary Ann in the 1911 census but if she was still working at the Singer sewing machine factory – she would’ve been 37 – she would’ve been caught up in the famous workers strike that also involved her Boyle sisters-in-law. In 1911, Sarah was living her sister Julia Martin. She died in April of that year of Bronchitis and Heart Failure aged 65.
 

Charles and Sarah Redgate

Charles and Sarah were both a couple of months old at the time of the 1851 census - He 3 months, she 2. Charles was the oldest child of an eventual seven for parents Agnes and Henry (a silk lace-maker and later, a publican). The family lived in Radford – an inner area of the city of Nottingham.

Lace was a hot fashion item for both men and women and lace-making was a big industry in Nottingham in the 1800s. It grew from being a handmade, home-based business to an industrial, factory-based enterprise relying on machines for mass production.

Radford Textile Mill was built by 1883. The site contains the 'Merino Mill', the 'Silk Factory' and the Perseverance Iron Foundry and Midland Works (mouldings). [It’s likely that the foundry produced the machines – and spare parts - for the factories].

Old Radford Mill

Charles worked as a Moulder in an Iron Foundry all his adult life. An Iron moulder created the mould into which molten metal is poured. There was a system of wooden or metal frames or boxes that came apart and contained sand. The workers produced a model (or pattern) of the desired object and then made the mould around it in a precise mix of sand/clay/water. A Moulder is a more skilled job than the Founder (or pourer) of the molten metal.

The Iron Moulders a stained glass window by Stephen Adam, c 1878.

 

Sarah Jane was the 3rd of nine children of Henry Vickery Brown and Sarah Brown, nee Barlow. When she was 20 – she was working as a Lace mender together with seven other members of her family who were also lace industry workers – all except the youngest children.

Charles Henry and Sarah Jane were married in 1872 in Radford, Nottingham. They had five children in seven years and then no more (including Walter, the middle one, who died young). The surviving four became lace workers too. Sarah has no listed occupation after her marriage but probably contributed to the lace work done in the home. Each census shows the family at a different address. [It’s possible they were renters and were squeezed by overcrowding in the town caused by population growth.]

The growth of Nottingham

 Before the 16th century the population of Nottingham probably never exceeded 3000 people. Then it started to increase - by 1750 it was about 10,000, in the first census of 1801 it was almost 29,000 and by 1841 it was over 50,000, packed into almost the same area as that of the medieval town. Nottingham was surrounded by its open fields and could not expand to any extent until the Enclosure Award of 1865. This overcrowding led to the appalling yards and alleys containing 6000 back-to-back houses in the town. The Government in 1844 appointed a Commission to look into the state of great towns. Thomas Hawkesley, Borough Water Engineer, testified to the Commission that he considered Nottingham to be the worst town in England.

In 1911, when they were both aged 60, they were living with their youngest daughter Beatrice and her husband and Sarah’s unmarried sister Annie. Charles was still listed as working as an Iron Founder. Sarah died in 1921 aged 70 and Charles soon after in 1922.

William and Elizabeth Stansell

 William Stansell (also spelt Stansall or Stansull) was born in the town of Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1854, the first child of Robert, 25 and Ann, 21. He became a Tinsman or Tin Smith. 

A tinsmith, sometimes known as a tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. Unlike blacksmiths (who work mostly with hot metals), tinsmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal. Tinsmiths fabricated items such as jugs, pots and tankards, candlesticks and cutlery. Also, needle cases (and other “tins”), stovepipes and guttering.

Elizabeth Merchant (or Marchant) was also born in 1854 in Barnsley, Yorkshire - around 90ks from Newark. Most of the information about her comes from her marriage certificate which doesn’t name her father. The only link to her birth family is that one of the marriage witnesses was called Mary Merchant. Other information on the certificate is that they were married in Yorkshire on August 19, 1877, they were both 23 and signed their own names.  William’s occupation was listed at that time as Brazier (a worker in brass). Afterwards, they moved back to Nottinghamshire.

 

William and Elizabeth, unusually, appear in almost all of the censuses they lived in. William continued to be a self-employed Tinsmith his whole life. Also unusual is that Elizabeth has a listed occupation as a Tailoress in 1881 and 1891 despite having their four children in those years.

Tailoring – the making and repairing of men’s clothes - was a poorly paid profession and the conditions in which the women worked and the wages paid to them were an example of ‘sweating’ which was common in all major towns in cities. The development of sewing machines in 1850 changed the manner of the work and the speed with which garments could be made, turning the acquisition of ready-made clothes into a reality for a large proportion of the population. What didn’t change, in any real sense, were the wages paid out to the tailoresses themselves. There was also no change in the sexual division of labour within the industry. ‘Women were concentrated in the low paid work processes, mainly machining. Wages paid to the seamstresses were abominable and the way in which they were obliged to live was fearful… They had to finish off a pair of men’s trousers for 1¾d and they had not only to fetch the work from the factory… but sometimes had it returned for being badly done. They were able to turn out about 12 pairs a day but had to find their own thread… they earned about 1/-2d a day or 5s a week assuming they worked an 8 hour day and 5 day week’. http://victorianoccupations.co.uk/t/the-tailoresses-of-rowhedge/

In the 1891 census, their youngest child was one month old. Others in the household include a 16 year-old apprentice and 73 year old cousin - Mary - who was “deaf and dumb”. Elizabeth would’ve had her hands full. Her only daughter, Laura, followed her into the trade becoming a dressmaker. In 1901, William’s widowed father Robert, a bricklayer, was living with them.  Elizabeth died in September 1916 at the age of 62. William died three years later in December 1919 at the age of 65.