charles frederick malindine + emma elizabeth tweed
Charles was born at 166 Church Street in Bethnal Green on 24 March 1846 to Isaac Mallandain and Elizabeth Frederick. When he was only 2 years old, his father was sentenced to 18 months hard labour in prison, leaving his pregnant mother to support and care for him alone. Four months later, his mother gave birth to his sister but died one week later. There is no record of what happened to Charles or his baby sister after their mother’s death but it seems likely that they were both placed in the Workhouse as Charles’ sister died there six months later.
Charles was reunited with his father in 1849 when he was released from prison and two years later, they were living at 14 Granby Street in bethnal Green with Isaac’s cousin, Martha, and her two children. But six months later, Isaac left Bethnal Green without warning and when he didn’t return, Martha took five year old Charles to the Bethnal Green Workhouse and what happened to him after that remains a mystery.
Fourteen years later, Charles married Emma Elizabeth Tweed at St James the Great in Bethnal Green on 16 October 1865. He must have remained in contact with his father or with family members who knew his whereabouts as Charles listed his father’s occupation as a Soldier — Isaac enlisted in 1855, four years after abandoning Charles.
Charles was working as a General Dealer which referred to someone who sold goods such as fruit, vegetables or fish from a barrow or market stall in the streets. Emma was born on 24 November 1847 at the family home on Turk Street to James Tweed, a Cabinet Maker, and Elizabeth Mary Lambeth.
Emma was able to sign the marriage register, albeit in a shaky hand and misspelling her middle name, but Charles was only able to make his mark. Because of his illiteracy, Charles was at the mercy of clerks and their phonetic interpretation of his surname and as a result, the public records contain a variety of spellings including Malendine, Malandine, Malindine and Mallindine with one being no more common than the other. But his children and subsequent generations consistently used the Malindine spelling.
Their first son Charles was born on 7 August 1866 at 12 John’s Terrace in Bethnal Green and baptised at St Leonard, Shoreditch on 2 September. Charles’ occupation was listed as a Green Grocer which provides a bit more detail on the type of goods he was selling. They later moved to 2 Weatherhead Gardens in Bethnal Green where James was born on 27 April 1869 and he was baptised at St Matthias on 16 May.
In 1871, the family of four was living at 2 Mount Street and Charles was working as a Hawker, another term for a market trader or costermonger, and they went on to have four more children over the next nine years and all of them were baptised at St James the Great in Bethnal Green. Emma Elizabeth was born on 17 February 1872 , John on 29 August 1874, Annie on 17 February 1877 and William Thomas on 22 Jun 1880.
On 1 January 1879, the London Observer newspaper reprinted a fictional story that originally appeared in The Belgravia, a monthly London illustrated literary magazine founded by Mary Elizabeth Braddon that published ‘sensation fiction’. These stories combined elements from both gothic and romance fiction and were often woven around lovable rogue type characters particularly from the lower social classes. This particular story appeared under the tag line Local & Antiquarian Sketches with a title Costermongers Club and it included a character with similarities to Charles that seem too great to be coincidental and it raises the possibility that the author knew Charles well enough to base his character on him:
‘a certain Mr Mallindine who rejoiced in several aliases. One member knew him as Charles Frederick but it seemed the name most current was ‘bonnie charlie’ cleary an ironic sobriquet. But the treasurer settled the matter by stating that he was in the habit of playing the trombone at the residence — a coffee house — of Mr Mallendine’s uncle and that he knew his name to be the same as that of his avuncular relative.’
Charles, Emma and their six children were still on Mount Street in 1881 with Charles again described as a General Dealer and the following March, their daughter Annie was enrolled in the Virginia Road School. They had two more children: Rosina was born on 30 January 1884 and baptised one month later at St James the Great, and Frederick was born on 14 August 1888 and baptised on 9 September at the same church. When Rosina was enrolled in the Virginia Road School on 24 October 1888, the family had moved down the street to house number 111 possibly in search of larger accommodation for their growing family.
They were still there in 1891 and although Charles was listed as a General Dealer Shop, the column ‘neither employed nor employer’ was marked so it appears he was out of work at the time. Daughter Emma was earning some money doing piece work as a Fancy Box Maker and only their four youngest children — Annie, William, Rosina, and Frederick — were at home and sharing the four rooms with their parents. Their eldest sons Charles, James and John were living together at 63 Virginia Road and all were employed so it is possible some of their wages helped support their parents and younger siblings.
Over the next five years, their four eldest children all married: eldest son Charles to Mary Ann Dearing in 1892, Emma to Nathaniel Miller in 1894, James to Eliza Delevat in 1895, and John to Caroline Grint in 1897. On their marriage certificates, Charles was listed as a Labourer, Tea Cooper or simply Cooper so it appears that he sought other work to support his family.
By 1901, Charles, Emma and their four youngest had moved to 63 Virginia Row where they occupied 4 rooms. Charles was a General Labourer and Emma was listed as a Fruiterer and may have been carrying on Charles’s business while he worked elsewhere to earn more money. Daughter Annie worked as a Fancy Box Maker, William a French Polisher, Rosina an Ironing Machinist and 12 year old Frederick was still in school. Four years later, son William left home when he married Beatrice Deathridge.
They were still living at 63 Virginia Road in 1911 but only occupied 3 rooms. Charles was again working as a Fruiterer and Emma was assisting him in the family business. Thirty-four year old Annie had no occupation but Rosina was working as a Collar Machine Ironer and Frederick as a French Polisher. It appears Charles had initially entered ‘retired Dockside Labourer Port of London and Fruiterer’ but it was crossed out and Fruiterer/Shopkeeper was added to the form probably by the census enumerator. Charles also noted that he worked on his own account from their home so he must have been running the shop from their house.
Charles died in Bethnal Green in 1914 but his burial record has not been found. Two years later, Rosina married Frederick James Butcher Wastell at St Matthew in Bethnal Green on 24 April with her brother Frederick and sister-in-law Mary standing as witnesses. Frederick worked as a Marble Mason as did his father, and when they married, he was living at 7 Abbey Street while Rosina was down the same street at 11a, the home of her brother William and his family.
Their youngest son Frederick was the last to marry, to Amelia Lewis, at St Leonard, Shoreditch on 10 January 1923. He was living at 10 Caroline Place at the time and working as a French Polisher while Amelia was living with her family at 9 Albert Buildings on Leonard Street. She was born on 3 August 1894 to Henry Joseph Lewis, a Market Trader, and Mary Ann Edmunds. After their marriage, they remained in the family home at 63 Virginia Road along with Fred’s sister Annie and their only son, Frederick William, was born there on 11 April 1924.
Emma Tweed died in Bethnal Green in 1925 and was buried at Manor Park Cemetery on 27 January.
Their daughter Annie never married and eventually took over the family business. In 1939, she was still at 63 Virginia Road and working as a Greengrocer and her brother Frederick, a French Polisher, was living with her while his wife, Amelia, and son were living with the Murray family in Parkholme on Georges Road in Brentwood Essex. His son Frederick William would later marry the Murray’s daughter, Mary Mildred.
In 1939, Rosina and Fred were living at 7 Buckfast Street with their two sons, Frederick William and Charles Frederick. Fred was working as a Marble Machine Polisher and his son Frederick followed him in the trade as an Apprentice Marble Mason. Youngest son Charles was working in a less physically demanding job as a Clerk. Fred died in Bethnal Green in 1952 and was buried at Manor Park Cemetery on 12 December. Rosina died six years later and was buried in the same cemetery.
Fred died on 22 February 1949 at Virginia Road and he was buried at Manor Park Cemetery; probate on his £400 estate was granted to Amelia two months later. Amelia remained in the house on Virginia Road and last appears in the electoral registers in 1964; she died in Bethnal Green on 3 December 1974 and was buried at Manor Park three days later.
Annie left Virginia Road in 1949 and moved in with her sister Rosina and her family until her death in Bethnal Green in 1964; she was buried at Manor Park Cemetery on 16 October.