john william mallendane + emily jane brett
John William was born on 28 July 1862 at 11 Ely Place in Bethnal Green, the son of John Mallendane and Ann Callaghan. On his baptismal record, his given names are reversed and he is listed as William John, as is his father. In the 1871 Census, his name is recorded as William so it seems likely that his family called him by this name, possibly to distinguish him from his father. In the majority of official records, he was listed as William or William John and only occasionally as John or John William. The spelling of his surname also varied from record to record but in most cases, the records reflect a more phonetic spelling such as Mallendane or Mallandane, however, there are also a number of odd deviations including Mallandale and Mallandan. Since William could not read or write, the actual spelling of his name was in most cases up to the clerk who completed the official register.
William was not with his family in the 1881 Census and has not been found elsewhere but one year later, he married Emily Jane Brett on 25 December 1882 at St Thomas in Bethnal Green. Emily’s brother Joseph acted as one of the witnesses and both William and Emily were listed as living at 9 Bird Cage Walk in Bethnal Green. Emily’s family were living at 14 Hamilton Row in 1881 so William may have had lodgings on Bird Cage Walk.
Emily, or Jane as she was known, was born in Bethnal Green in 1863, the daughter of Henry Brett, a Braid Maker, and Ann Eliza Slater. Jane worked as a Braid Maker in 1881 but was listed as a Silk Winder on the marriage register.
William and Jane lived in Bethnal Green for the next 40 years and had twelve children — 7 boys and 5 girls. Their first child, William Joseph was born 6 May 1884 at 7 Hamilton Road in Bethnal Green but died only six months later. John Henry was born on 8 June 1885 at 29 Lotty Street and baptised at St James the Great on 28 June. Alfred James, known as James, was born on 20 August 1887 at 3 Darling Row and baptised one month later at St James the Great. Edward, called Teddy, was born on 18 December 1889 at 41 Hamilton Road and baptised at St James on 12 January 1890.
The family appears in the 1891 Census at 27 Wennington Road in Bethnal Green and William was employed as a Boot Laster. His sister, Hannah, was also living on Wennington Road in 1891 along with her husband and 3 month old daughter. Sadly, William and Jane lost a second child when six year old John Henry died only months after the census was taken.
A year later they had moved to 20 Gardeners Row where their first daughter Emily Jane was born on 24 March 1892; she was baptised on 10 April at St James the Great but died shortly after. Elizabeth Ann was born on 3 April 1893 at 29 Gardeners Row. It appears they moved to yet another house on Gardener’s Row, number 14, before their son William Thomas was born on 2 December 1895. Frederick Henry was born on 8 June 1898 at 2 Collins Place but he died the following spring. Sarah Ann was born on 16 January 1900 at 41 Surat Street and baptised at St Simon Zelots one year later. She was listed as Livia in the 1901 Census but appears under her legal name in most other records so it may have been an error during the census transcription.
Although they moved numerous times, they remained in a relatively small area of Bethnal Green between Victoria Park and Meath Gardens — the site of the old Victoria Park Cemetery. The privately owned cemetery was open from 1842 to 1876 and contained an estimated 300 000 bodies but fell into serious disrepair before the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association approached the owners and requested permission to convert the site into a public garden, which was finally opened in 1894.
Between 1891 and 1901, Collins Place was renamed to Salter Street and William and Jane were still there at the time of the 1901 Census. William’s occupation was listed as Journeyman Salesman and Bootmaker so he may have been trying his hand at a new job while still working as a bootmaker to support his family. He eventually gave up his job as a bootmaker and worked full time as a costermonger — someone who sold fruit and vegetables from a wheeled barrow.
Their daughter Rosina was born on Surat Street on 11 April 1902 followed by George Henry on 5 March 1904, Alice Martha in 1906 and Lily May in 1909. Sadly little Lily died shortly after birth and of their thirtee children, only eight survived to adulthood. By 1911, they had moved to 3 Type Street in Bethnal Green and all eight children were living with them along with Rose Curness, a lodger, who would marry son Teddy one year later. The family of eleven occupied only five rooms and while the elder children were all working, the youngest ones were still attending school.
Their daughter Elizabeth Ann was the first to leave home when she married George Albiston at St Simon Zelots in Bethnal Green on 7 April 1912 with her parents as witnesses. On Christmas Day eight months later, Teddy married Rose ‘Kitty’ Curness at St James the Less, Bethnal Green with his brother James and future sister in law, Ellen Saunders, standing as witnesses. Teddy was a Sawyer by trade and worked at the Clarke Company in Bethnal Green at the time of his marriage. Rose was born in Poplar in 1890, the daughter of Frederick Joseph Curness, a Printer. Teddy and Kitty had one son, Edward Henry William, born on 7 January 1916.
One year after Teddy’s wedding, James married Helen Beatrice Saunders at St Simon Zelots on 3 August 1913 and they went on to have seven children. Sarah Ann was living with her parents on Type Street and working as a barmaid when she married Harry Stone at St James the Less, Bethnal Green on 4 April 1920. They had two daughters, Eileen born in 1923 and Doris two years later.
Rosina was the next to marry, to Albert Rutland in Bethnal Green, and they had two sons, Albert and George. Three years later, William Thomas, known as Bill, married Ann Curness on 9 August 1926 at the Bethnal Green Registry Office. At the time, Bill lived at 8 Type Street and was employed as a Fruiterer while Annie was employed as a Fruiterer’s Saleswoman but it is not known if they worked together. They had two children, Violet and William Frederick, both born in Bethnal Green, and later left the city and moved to Dagenham in Essex where Bill ran a fruit stall for many years. Bill’s marriage certificate reflected a different spelling of the family name Mallandine — and this continued on his children’s and grandchildren’s birth and marriage records. His brothers Edward and George also adopted this spelling.
The Curness Sisters
The two sisters, Rose and Ann, married the Mallendane brothers, Edward and William John. Rose and Ann were the daughters of Frederick Joseph Curness and Rosina Bone. Rose was born in Poplar in 1890 and Ann in 1895. Their mother died in 1900 and in 1901 Rose and Ann lived with their father and two of their four brothers at 8 Jodrell Road in Bow. Frederick remarried in 1903 to Emma Hartley but sadly, she died only three years after their marriage.
George married Lillian Jessica Waller in 1927 and had two sons, Ronald and Leslie, and one daughter. Alice was the last to marry, in 1928, to Ernest Huby and they also had two sons, Joseph and Ernest.
John William died of cardiac failure on 18 July 1937 in Bethnal Green. His occupation was Retired Street Trader and at the time of his death and he still lived at 3 Type Street in Bethnal Green. Emily Brett died on 10 March 1950 and was buried at Manor Park Cemetery.
Teddy died in Bethnal Green in 1947 aged only 58 years and his sister Elizabeth Ann died ten years later. Bill died in November 1975 and was buried on 1 December at Eastbank Cemetery in Dagenham. George died the following year, Sarah Ann in 1986, Rosina in 1991 and lastly Alice in 1998.