frederick mallandain + sarah vaughan
Frederick, the son of Peter Mallandain and Elizabeth Hodges, was born on 20 August 1822 and baptised on 20 October at St Luke Old Street in Finsbury. His father was an Inkstand Maker and Frederick most likely apprenticed with his father and worked along side him in their shop. Following his father’s death in 1848, he carried on the family business with his mother and younger brother, Charles.
St Ethelburga and the Gherkin
Frederick married Sarah Vaughan on 31 January 1853 at St Ethelburga in Bishopsgate. Sarah was born on 21 December 1821, the daughter of George Wildbore Vaughan and Eleanor Renton, and baptised on 13 January 1822 at St Andrew in Holborn. Her father was listed as a House Agent on her marriage certificate although he had a varied career as a Bow Street Officer, a Clerk and a Broker.
Following their wedding, Frederick and Sarah moved into the Mallandain family home on James Street and where they remained for the next twenty years.
Their first son Frederick Charles was born on 3 June and baptised on 15 February 1854 at St Mark Old Street followed by daughter Sarah Ann who was born on 28 April 1855 and baptised at St Paul Bunhill Row in Finsbury. Sadly only one month after Sarah’s birth, Frederick Charles died and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery on 3 June 1855. Their tragic loss was compounded when Sarah Ann died on 2 August 1855; she was buried at Abney Park Cemetery three days later.
Two years after losing their first two children, their son Henry was born on 4 April 1857 and baptised at St Mark Old Street on 21 June. Their good fortune continued when son William was born on 19 March 1858 and a third son named Frederick Peter was born on 8 September 1860.
In 1861, Frederick and Sarah were still living in the family home on James Street along with their three young sons. Frederick carried on business as an Inkstand Maker but was no longer operating as Peter Mallandain & Co. as he appears simply as ‘Frederick Mallandain’ in the 1862 and 1872 Post Office Directories.
Son Edwin James was born on 12 January 1862 and baptised on 16 September at St Mark Old Street. He was listed as James in both the 1871 and 1881 census returns and as Edward in 1901 so it is unclear what name he or his family regularly used. Their youngest son George was born on 8 October 1863 and baptised at St Mark Old Street on 15 May 1864.
The family was still on James Street at the time of the 1871 Census and Frederick’s occupation was listed as Ink Stand Cabinet Maker. Their two eldest sons, 13-year old Henry and 12-year old William had finished school and were also working — one as a Machine Boy and the other as a Ruler Boy — but the three younger boys were still attending school.
One year after the census, Sarah Vaughan died in Holborn on 17 April 1872 aged 51 years. The family suffered one final loss when Frederick died on 30 October 1874; he was buried at Victoria Park Cemetery on 9 November. The entry in the Somerset House Death Extracts notes that Frederick ‘committed suicide by poison’ and although a Coroner’s Inquest was held, the details were not published in the public records. Newspapers of the day often reported on inquests but no details regarding Frederick’s death have been located. He may have been despondent following the deaths of his wife and son but the reasons for his suicide are not known. When Frederick died, he left four sons — the eldest sixteen and the youngest only nine — but there is no record of what happened to them in the months following their father's death.
On 7 July 1875, son William was admitted to the Gray's Inn Workhouse and discharged one month later at his own request. The following year on 24 June, he was back in Gray's Inn but discharged himself five days later.
In February 1880, eldest son Henry also entered the workhouse but at Highgate and although he was discharged on 6 March, he was admitted to the Gray's Inn Workhouse just two days later. He remained there until his death on 6 January 1881 so it may have been poor health that caused him to enter the workhouse in the first place.
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By 1881, their son William had married and had a daughter of his own and they were living at 30 Bath Street in St Lukes along with his three brothers, Fred, James and George. Bath Street was very close to their home on James Street (now called Mallow Street) and lay across Old Street to the north so it appears they remained in the area after their parents’ deaths.
Two years later, Fred also entered the Highgate Workhouse, on 24 March, and although it is unclear, the discharge record from 3 April appears to note that he was discharged on orders from the doctor. There is no further record of Fred until his marriage in Hull, Yorkshire in 1892.
It is not known how long the remaining brothers lived together but by 1884, George had left to marry.
Edwin James remained in London although it appears he never married. In 1881, he was employed as a Waiter and the Marshall Report notes that he may have been working at the Sir John Falstaff on Gracechurch Street. He hasn’t been located in the 1891 census but in 1901, he was living at 1 Fairbank Street in Hoxton and working as a Licensed Victualler’s Assistant. A Licensced Victualler was someone who ran a public house that also served food. He appears in the Electoral Rolls in 1905 at 3 Fairbrank Street where he rented one unfurnished, back room on the first floor from a Mr Roberts at the same address. He died in Shoreditch in 1907 aged only 45 years.