mary ann mallindine + william wheeler
Mary was the daughter of Christopher Mallindine and Sophia Hall. Neither her birth nor baptism record has been located but subsequent records place her approximate date of birth between 1829 and 1835. Following her father’s death in 1844, the family’s situation was so bad they were forced to apply for parish relief to survive. By 1851, Sophia had moved to Wood Yard in Spitalfields with her four youngest daughters and worked as a Button Knitter to support her family. Mary worked alongside her mother while her three younger sisters worked as Box Makers to supplement the family income. There were few jobs available to women and most of them, like button and box making, consisted of piece work but the pay for each completed item was so low that most women had to work long hours for meagre wages.
On 1 May 1855, Mary married married William Wheeler at St Philip in Bethnal Green with Elizabeth Mallindine appearing as one of the witnesses. It is not known if this was her mother or her younger sister as the wedding took place around the time of her mother’s death. William was able to sign his name on the register but Mary and Elizabeth could only make their mark.
William was born on 29 January 1830 to Christopher Wheeler, a Silk Weaver, and his wife Frances Steed. With the weaving trade in serious decline, William chose to train as a Paper Stainer rather than apprenticing as a weaver. Initially, the trade involved block printing of patterns by hand onto short rolls of paper and the job also included the hanging of wallpaper for their customers. But by the mid 19th century, much of the handwork was replaced by mechanized printing from engraved metal plates onto the longer rolls common today.
When they married, Mary and William lived next door to each other on Sclater Street and she was expecting their first child. They moved to 28 Wellington Street where their first daugther Eliza Elizabeth was born on 4 November 1855; she was baptised at St Matthias, Bethnal Green on 25 November.
In 1861, Mary, William and six year old Eliza were living at 9 White Street behind St Matthew’s church. William was still working as a Paper Stainer and Mary was also working at home on piece work as a Fringe Maker. On 12 April 1862, they had a second daughter, Mary Ann, who was baptised on 11 May at St Matthias in Bethnal Green but sadly, she died later that year. It is likely that Mary and William had another child between Eliza and Maria but no birth or death record has been found. In the 1911 Census, Mary noted that she had given birth to 8 children but only 7 have been found in the records.
The family was living at 24 Anglesea Street when daughter Emma was born on 24 December 1863; she was baptised at St Matthias on 17 January. By 1865, they had moved to 48 Luke Street where their first son William was born on 9 July and he too was baptised at St Matthias on 30 July. Maria was born at 3 Hare Street on 22 December 1867 and baptised at St Matthias on 19 January 1868. They named their next daughter Mary Ann as well and she was baptised at St Matthias on 5 July but died within the year.
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In 1871, the family was living at 5 Wood Street in Bethnal Green where William continued to work as a Paper Stainer. Mary was no longer working on piece work and all of their children were attending school. Later that year, their youngest son Henry was born and on 1 October 1871, he was baptised at St Matthias.
Ten years later, the family was still on Wood Street and their son William was working alongside his father as a Paper Stainer while his sisters worked at home — Eliza as a Trimming Maker and Emma as a Feather Dresser.
On 14 December 1884, their eldest daughter Eliza married Felix William John Chick at St Peter in Bethnal Green. Her sister Emma acted as one witness along with William Wheeler, father or son. Felix was born in Shoreditch on 29 July 1860 to Felix Chick, a Carpenter, and his wife Tamzen Walden. He was a Plasterer from Stoke Newington in north-east London and likely met Eliza while working in Bethnal Green. Sadly, Eliza died less than a year after their marriage and she was buried at West Ham Cemetery on 6 December. The cause of her death is not known and it doesn’t appear they had any children as no infant birth or death records have been found. Two years after Eliza’s death, Felix married a second time to Lydia Bentley and they had six children together.
In 1891, the Wheeler family was again found at 5 Wood Street. William and his son were still working together while Emma was working in a Feather warehouse, Maria as a Boot Sewer and Henry as a Paper Warehouseman. On 5 September, Emma married Frederick Alexander Wilkin at St John in Bethnal Green with both William and Maria Wheeler acting as witnesses. The signature for William on this register is different than the one on Eliza’s marriage record so perhaps it was William the younger who stood as witness for Emma.
Fred was four years younger than Emma, born on 3 April 1868, to Alexander and Jane Wilkin and baptised at St Martin in the Fields on 14 June. His family moved to Mile End shortly after but returned to Westminster by 1881. Fred worked as a Clerk as did his father and just before his marriage, the 1891 Census notes that he worked in a trust company’s office while his father worked as a Messenger at the Admiralty.
Emma and Fred moved to north London after their marriage before moving to Essex and finally Surrey. The first of their four children, Frederick William Gerald, was born on 7 October 1892 and baptised at St Matthias in Stoke Newington on 24 September 1897. His sister Vera Kathleen was baptised on the same day although she was born several months before, on 16 June 1897. Adria was born on 8 March 1899 in Ilford and Kenneth Henry was born on 26 November 1906 also in Ilford. By 1911, they had moved to Croydon in Surrey and were living at 20 Fairview Road in Norbury where Fred worked as a Registrar for an electrical manufacturing company. He died in Norbury on 28 June 1925 and by 1939, Emma and two of her adult children, William and Adria, had moved to 28 Ellison Road in Wandsworth, South London. Following Emma’s death on 26 January 1952, her daughter Adria remained in the house on Ellison Road until her death in 1981. Vera was the only one of their children to marry — to Wilfred Churley in 1922 — and they had one daughter, Joan.
By 1901, William Wheeler had died and the widowed Mary was living at the Waterlow Industrial Dwelling at 165 Finnis Street in Bethnal Green with her son William, now working as an Engineer’s Labourer, and Maria, a Book Binder. The building was one of many constructed by the Industrial Dwellings Company to replace the slum tenements in Whitechapel and Bethnal Green but rather than relieving the housing shortage, these developments often had the opposite effect as those evicted from the slums could not find alternative accomodation and more people were forced into the existing tenements. When the new buildings were finally completed, many in the slums could not afford the higher rents in the new and improved developments.
Even with two wages coming in, Mary and her two children could only afford a three room flat with a sitting room, kitchen and one bedroom. Mary and her daughter likely shared the bedroom while William slept in the sitting room. The three of them were still there in 1911 and William was working as an Engineer’s Storekeeper and Maria as a Book Folder.
Mary Ann died in Bethnal Green in 1916 aged 80 years. Maria remained in their flat on Finnis Street and was still there in 1939, retired and living on her own. William has not been traced beyond 1911 and Henry beyond 1891.