Henry (b abt 1865 - alive 1911, prob 21) and Maria Ann (b EDNEY abt 1867 - alive 1911) ANTHONY of Bethnal Green, east London
Page created December 2010; revised 5 October 2014
Links:
Immediate ancestors:Mary Ann BENDON and possibly Edwin Herbert ANTHONY; John William and Martha Nottingham EDNEY (p[age to follow) - Immediate descendant: Edward David ANTHONY
The Anthony story - ANTHONY research notes
index of surnames
Henry ANTHONY and Maria Ann ANTHONY nee EDNEY are given as the parents of Edward David ANTHONY on his birth certificate (1899 Q4 Bethnal Green 1c 191). They also appear as his parents in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (see below).
Henry's mother was Mary Ann BENDON; his natural father may have been a Henry BENDON who has not yet been identified with confidence (see Mary's page); Henry was partly brought up by Edwin Herbert ANTHONY, who may have been his natural father too. This is known from Henry's birth certificate, childhood census appearances and his marriage certificate.
Maria's parents were John and Martha EDNEY - known from her birth and marriage certificates and childhood census. They were from Bethnal Green in east London and John was a porter. Their page will appear when I get round to it...
Henry seems to go fairly straight from living with his parents to marrying Maria - their marriage certificate gives them both Maria's family's address, and his age as 18 and hers as 17 (I think she may be adding a year). He gave his occupation as Porter then.
There's a fairly shaky possibility for Maria in the 1881 census - living as a domestic servant in the house of a butcher called Peter Kingston and his family in Bethnal Green. However this Maria Ann EDNEY is listed as 16 and her birthplace isn't given, so there's not much to corroborate it.
There is no evidence of any and no time either I don't think - Maria was also under 20 when she married Henry.
Henry and Maria married on 17 February 1884 in the Bethnal Green parish church.
They had twelve known children, all born in Bethnal Green (evidence from censuses given below, except for Edward David where I also have his birth certificate, and I think the odd middle name filled in by David Anthony, a cousin in this line; David also gave me some GRO index references for these births which I ought to check):
Sarah Ann about 1884
John Henry about 1886
Henry John about 1887
Edwin Herbert about 1889
Maria Margaret about 1892
Jane Elizabeth about 1894
George about 1896
Edward David 7 November 1899
Annie Elizabeth about 1901
Martha about 1903
Eveline about 1905
Alfred Henry about 1907
Henry worked in the railways. In the 1890s he was a porter (from the 1891 census and the 1899 birth certificate of his son Edward); from at least 1901 to 1921 (from the 1901 and 11 censuses, and the 1921 marriage certificate of his son Edward) he was a shunter. Shunter was an extremely hazardous occupation - it involved moving steam locomotives around the rail depot or station, hopping on and off and among them while they were moving around the sidings. According to an article I found on the net, it was the second most dangerous occupation in the country around 1900, after merchant seaman but ahead of miner, etc. The death rate in one year was over 5 per 1000 employed. So Henry was a bit fortunate to survive 20 years at it.
Maria doesn't seem to have given an occupation at any stage, but the children all look to have taken jobs from about 14 onwards - see census entries below
In 1891, Henry and Maria were living in Bethnal Green:
RG12/0266/f196 - 10 Cudworth Street, Bethnal Green, London
All ANTHONY except the lodger:
Henry Head, M, 25, Railway Porter, St Georges E
Maria Ann, Wife, M, 23, Whitechapel
Sarah Ann, Daur, S, 6, Scholar, Bethnal Green (same occ and bp for 2 younger)
John H, Son, S, 4, Scholar, Bethnal Green
Edwin H, Son, S, 1Mo[? - looks like a single digit followed by Mos], Scholar, Bethnal Green
Boarder hard to read but TheGenealogist.com transcribes Charles Buckman, 20, Sugar Refiner and I can't say much different. He's S and born London.
I think the Anthonys and their lodger seem to have occupied 4 rooms at this address. They also look to have sub-let a room to another young couple and their two small children.
Henry J (who is part of the family 10 years later) is not listed. Assuming this isn't just clerical error, I speculate he, as a 3-year-old, might have been with a relative to give Maria a chance to look after her new baby.
I should note that on the same page of the census, at number 8 is an EDNEY family with a daughter Mary Ann - possibly the head, Henry, is my Maria Ann's older brother? Look in this street for the Edneys in 1881 and earlier censuses? Move this note to the EDNEY page when I make it.
In 1901 they are still at the same address (fairly unusual for the families around this time and place it seems). Although they still only occupy 4 rooms, there is no other family listed there. Perhaps that family was out on census day, or perhaps the Edneys stopped sub-letting and knocked a wall through as their family grew.
RG13/0290/f79 - 10 Cudworth Street, Bethnal Green, London
All ANTHONY
Henry, Head, M, 35, [word struck out: Tra...?] Points Shunter LNW Rly, London St Georges
Maria A, Wife, M, 34, London Whitechapel
Sarah A, Daur, S, 17, [a word struck out] Dresser, London Bethnal Green
John H, Son, S, 15, [a word struck out] Chandler's Labourer, London Bethnal Green
Henry J, Son, 13, London Bethnal Green
Edwin H, Son, 11, London Bethnal Green
Maria M, Daur, 8, London Bethnal Green
Jane E, Daur, 6, London Bethnal Green
George, Son, 4, London Bethnal Green
Edward, Son, 1, London Bethnal Green
In 1911 they are at another address in Bethnal Green, a couple of streets away. I haven't subscribed to a 1911 census provider yet, but thanks to David Anthony for sharing some information. I think the reference is RG14/1432. ED15, Bethnal Green South West
69 Somerford Street
All ANTHONY
Henry, Head, Married, 46, Shunter, St George's London
Maria Ann, Wife, Married 27yrs, 45, Bethnal Green
Edwin Herbert, Son, Single, 21, Carman, Bethnal Green
Maria Margaret, Daughter, Single, 19, Tailoress, Bethnal Green
Jane Elizabeth, Daughter, Single, 16, Costume Maker, Bethnal Green
George, Son, Single, 14 Errand Boy, Bethnal Green
Edward David, Son, Single, 11, School, Bethnal Green
Annie Elizabeth, Daughter, Single, 9, School, Bethnal Green
Martha, Daughter, Single, 7, School, Bethnal Green
Eveline, Daughter, Single, 5, School, Bethnal Green
Alfred, Son, Single, 3, Bethnal Green
This address is just three doors down from the 1911 address of the TILLBROOKs, whose daughter Maud, aged 14 at this date, was to marry young Edward in 1921.
Henry is mentioned on the certificate of that 1921 marriage - he would have been about 56 and his occupation was still given as shunter.
I have no evidence of any.
Henry died (of heart failure caused by old age) in Bethnal Green Hospital, in 1945 aged 79. His occupation was given as railway ticket collector so I guess he sfited to that rather than the more demanding job of shunter as he grew older. Maria died five years later, at home (still 69 Somerford Street), of a similar cause. She was listed as the widow of a railway shunter, so I guess Henry must have done that for long enough for it to stick as his main occupation.
I haven't yet looked for any wills or anything.
For Edward, of the ancestral line, see his page.
David Anthony has found marriages in the GRO indexes for most of the other children:
John to Eveline PERKINS in 1906 in Bethnal Green
Young Henry has no known marriage, but he registered his father's death in 1945, giving his own address in Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Edwin to Jessie V REEDER in Mile End Old Town in 1916
Maria to George J EADES in Bethnal Green in 1915 - George was a witness to her brother Edward's marriage in 1921
Jane to Elias SCHOLTER in Mile End Old Town in 1923
George to Emma S COLNUTT in Bethnal Green in 1923 - Emma had been a witness to his brother Edward's marriage in 1921
Annie to Benjamin WORBY in Bethnal Green in 1922 - Annie registered her mother's death in 1950 and gave the same address as her own - perhaps she (with or without Benjamin) moved in with her elderly parents/widowed mother to fill the house and help take care of them.
Martha to Patrick BARNET in Bethnal Green in 1924
I don't have time to do GRO index searches or otherwise check these - but I do note the appearance of two of the names on the marriage certificate I do have for Edward.
If you are interested in this family I'll be pleased to hear from you. Click this link to email me at deletethis.ianwilliamson161@gmail.com but delete everything up to and including the first dot, leaving just my name and number @ service provider. Please do not delete the automatically-generated subject line, so that I know your email is not spam. You can add more to the subject but if you delete what appears I may not read your mail.
Links:
Immediate ancestors:Mary Ann BENDON and possibly Edwin Herbert ANTHONY - Immediate descendant: Edward David ANTHONY
The Anthony story - ANTHONY research notes
index of surnames