elizabeth henrietta bristow

Elizabeth’s birth record has not been located but her date of birth is believed to be 24 May 1883. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Bristow, nee Avis, who was widowed in 1879 and went on to have two children before her second marriage. In 1881, Elizabeth’s mother was living with Henry Crouch on Old Ford Road in Bow and later records notes that her second child born out of wedlock in 1884 was Henry’s illegitimate son. As Elizabeth Avis and Henry Crouch appear to have lived together from 1881 to 1884, the assumption is that he is also Elizabeth’s father.

Elizabeth with Robert and Nell
c. 1915

Elizabeth first appears in the records in the 1891 census with her mother and half-siblings on Gales Gardens in Bethnal Green. Her mother had married a second time in 1885 to John Lardent and the children from his first marriage were also living with them in what was a blended family. The following year, her mother died and it doesn’t appear that John was willing to support his wife’s children as two years later, Elizabeth’s sister applied to the parish for relief on behalf of their 9 year old brother Charles. The older girls likely found jobs as servants but there is no record of what happened to 10 year old Elizabeth and she does not appear again until she married Edward Mallindine on 28 January 1900 at St Paul in Old Ford.

Her address on the marriage register was simply Old Ford and she was working as a Machinist at the time. She listed her father’s name as Henry Bristow and his occupation as a Carpenter and this may have been a reference to her mother’s first husband and the father of her older half-sisters.

Elizabeth had thirteen children between 1901 and 1930 but only six or eight were fathered by Edward Mallindine. Elizabeth and Edward separated and she had a long term relationship with Charles Bridger. He was lodging with Elizabeth and Edward in 1911 but it is not known how long he lived with them or whether their relationship started before Edward left the family home. Edward is known to have left by the early 1920s but he believed that Margaret Frances, born in 1918, was his daughter so he must have been living with Elizabeth until at least this date.

After Edward left, Elizabeth continued to live with Charles until her death in West Ham in 1941. It appears Charles then left his children in the care of Elizabeth’s daughters and nothing further is known of him.

elizabeth avis

Elizabeth Avis was born at the family home on Uxbridge Street in Lambeth on 1 February 1848 and baptised at St John the Evangelist on 28 February. She was the fourth of eight children born to Nathanial Avis, a Labourer, and his wife Elizabeth. Her father was originally from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire and her mother from Paddington in London but by 1841, they had settled on Neptune Place in the parish of St Mary in Newington south of the Thames.

Elizabeth’s father worked as a Labourer and by the time the 1851 Census was taken, the growing family was living at 14 Uxbridge Street in Newington where they lived for the next 40 years. When Elizabeth finished school, she was sent out to work as a servant and in 1861, she was employed by Jane Harrison, a widow and lodging house keeper in Trinity Square.

Five years later, on 21 May, she married Robert Henry Bristow at St Mary in Newington. She had returned to the family home by the time she married while Robert, a Boot Rivetter, lived on Bedford Street with his family. Robert was born on 6 March 1841 in Kennington to William Bristow and Emily Duke. William was a Shoe Maker by trade and Robert likely apprenticed with his father and continued to work alongside him after he married.

Elizabeth and Robert’s first son, Robert Lancelot, was born on 2 July 1867 and baptised at St Mary, Newington on 8 September. Daugther Florence Elizabeth was born on 4 March 1870 and baptised at St Mary on 19 June but she died sometime before 2 April 1871 when the census was taken. Robert’s father died in 1870 and he took over the family’s boot making business which was most likely run from their home on Bedford Street. They named their next daugther Florence Louisa and she was born in the fall of 1872. Ada Elizabeth was born on 4 April 1875 and Mary Elizabeth Hope in the spring of 1879.

Robert died in the first quatrer of 1879 and shortly after, on 20 April, their three youngest children were all baptised at St Mary, Newington. If Robert died of a fever or other infectious disease, the children may also have been ill and the baptism may have been seen as a precaution in the event of their deaths as well. As with many other families, the death of the primary wage earner had a devastating effect on the family and on 4 June 1879, Elizabeth was forced to admit her two eldest daugthers to the Newington Workhouse. There is no record of what happened to Robert, although at thirteen he may have been able to earn a small wage, or baby Mary. A note in a later Poor Law record notes that Elizabeth went to work in service in the Old Jewry after her husband died and it was unlikely that she would have been able to take her children. As her mother had died in 1878 and her siblings were all raising their own families, it seems that Elizabeth was not able to find any family members to care for her daughters while she went out to work.

Hanwell School Dining Hall
© workhouses.org.uk

Several weeks after entering the workhouse, Florence and Ada were discharged to Hanwell, a residential school operated by the Board of Guardians for pauper and orphaned children. The school accomodated 1500 children and they received basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic as well as occupational training which for girls consisted of needlework, cleaning, scullery work, and nursery care. Six months later, Elizabeth admitted herself to the Newington Workhouse but again there is no record of Robert or baby Mary.

When the 1881 census was taken in April, Elizabeth was living at 86 Ford Road in Bow with Henry Crouch and although they were recorded as husband and wife, no marriage record has been found. Her three eldest children were also living with her but there is no sign of little Mary. Henry worked as a General Shop Keeper and 14 year old Robert was working as a Messenger boy but their situation must have been unstable as later that year, on 25 October, Florence and Ada were once again admitted to the Newington Workhouse. The Poor Laws of the time required parishes to support those who were well established in the parish and anyone who could not prove long term residence in the parish would be removed or returned to their home parish to seek relief. It is not known if Elizabeth applied for relief in Bow or knowing the outcome, returned her daughters to Newington. Two days after their admission, they were once again discharged to Hanwell School but it is not known how long they remained there.

Elizabeth remained in Bow with Henry and on 24 May 1883, she gave birth to another daughter, Elizabeth Henrietta. No birth record has been found under Bristow, Avis or Crouch to confirm who her father was but Elizabeth Henrietta used the name Bristow throughout her life. It is uncertain whether any of the Bristow children remained in the Crouch household after 1881 but at the very least, they were in and out of the home as Florence and Ada were once again admitted to the Newington Workhouse on 16 January 1884. They were transferred to Hanwell the next day and not discharged from until 8 May but there is no information on whether they returned to Bow to live with their mother or went elsewhere.

On 3 December 1884, Elizabeth gave birth Charles in Bow and he was registered the following January under the name Bristow but the Poor Law record from 1893 confirms that he was the illegitimate son of Henry Crouch. Elizabeth and Henry parted ways shortly after and she left Old Ford Road for Mape Street in Bethnal Green.

One year later, Elizabeth married John William Lardant at St Mary Newington with her younger brother James Avis standing as one of the witnesses. The other witness was Elizabeth Avis who may have been a sister-in-law, niece or perhaps a cousin. John was born in Bethnal Green on 24 March 1850 to James and Mary Ann Lardant and he was employed as a Silk Winder. He was widowed eight months before when his wife Elizabeth Preston died leaving three children under the age of 10 years.

In 1891, John and Elizabeth were living on Gales Gardens in Bethnal Green along with his two youngest children — 14 year old Elizabeth and 10 year old Rebecca — and Elizabeth’s four youngest children. Eighteen year old Florence was working as an Envelope Cementer and sixteen year old Ada as a Trimming Hand while the younger ones were still in school. The eight members of the combined families were living in just three rooms.

Barely six weeks after the census, Elizabeth died in Bethnal Green aged only 44 years. There are no available records to shed light on what happened to her children after her death or if John Lardant continued to support them but their situation obviously deteriorated as eighteen year old Ada took their brother Charles to the Bethnal Green Workhouse in the last week of August 1893. When she was interviewed by the Board of Guardians one week later, she advised them that her mother had died 7 years ago and the father two years previously with an additional note that Charles was illegitimate and his father’s name was Crouch. The examination notes also confirm that Charles was admitted from 22 Cheshire Street but it is not clear who the children were living with.

On 25 December 1894, nineteen year old Ada married George Richard Sell at St Thomas in Stepney with her sister, Florence Louisa, as one of the witnesses. George was born in 1869 in the parish of St George in the East in Stepney to James and Eliza Sell. When they married, they were both living at 13 Pole Street in Stepney and George was working as a Carman. They had two sons, George Robert on 28 September 1895 and Robert Joseph born on 15 Sep 1897, and by 1901, they had left Stepney and settled on Chamberlain Road in Edmonton, North London where George worked as a Brewer’s Drayman. But their happiness was short lived as George died in the fall of 1901 followed by their youngest son Robert in 1905. Ada and her 16 year old son George were living at 12 Lavers Road in Stoke Newington in 1911 where she worked as a Dressmaker and George as a Tea Merchant’s Clerk.

One year later, she married fellow widower Alfred George Augustus Stone in 1912. Alfred was born in Pimlico on 28 October 1875 to Henry Stone, a Shoemaker, and Ellen Sophia Parsons. He married Florence Edith Ashenhurst at St Ann, Tottenham on 31 May 1902 and they had two children, Henry George Augustus born on 25 July 1904 and Florence Gladys Mildred on 14 December 1907. Ada and George had one son, Stanley Alfred born on 15 May 1916, and they next appear in the records in 1939 living at 40 Hewitt Road in Hornsey. Alfred was working as an Opthalmic Lens Edger and son Stanley for the Post Office. Alfred’s son Henry had married Lily Glover in 1930 and they were living in Hendon along with Florence Gladys. Ada died at St Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham on 16 April 1952, her husband Alfred died at Tooting Bec Hospital two years later and their son Stanley died in Herefordshire in 2004.

The last record of Elizabeth Avis’ son Robert was in the 1881 census. He was not with his mother and siblings in 1891 but later records show that he joined the Army Service Corps and served in India, and modern day Pakistan, for thirty years. His sister Florence also travelled to India and The Times of India reported on her subsequent marriage in 1897:

January 31 at Christ Church Rawulpindi by the Rev Handford MA, Staff Sergeant George Ernest White CTD to Florence Louise eldest sister of Staff Sergeant RL Bristow Commissariat Transport Department.

Army Service Corps

The marriage register shows that Charles Bristow was one of the witnesses at their wedding so it is possible he travelled to India with Florence. No other records relating to Charles have been found so it is not known whether he joined the army, travelled as a civilian or remained in India.

Robert married at Christ Church the following year, on 22 November, to Maud Edith Battman and they went on to have three children. Robert Claude Battman was born on 18 May 1900 at Chapri, south of Peshawar, and baptised in nearby Cherat on 9 June. When their second son, Basil Lancelot Battman, was born in Peshawar on 17 November 1905, Robert had risen to the rank of Conductor with the 33rd Mule Corps but he was transferred to the Supply & Transport Corps in Kohat by the time their daughter Dora Maud was born on 15 March 1907.

Robert appears in various India Army lists and other military records throughout the First World War and he was awarded both campaign and long service medals. Their son Basil died in Karachi on 19 June 1921, aged only 21 years, and there are no further records relating to daughter Dora but eldest son Robert Claude followed his father and joined the Indian Army rising to the rank of Brigadier. Robert last appears in the Army list in 1922 but later retired and returned to England and settled in Surrey where he died on 8 April 1927. His son Robert Claude and his wife, Elsa Margaret Fairfax, also returned to England and in his retirement, he wrote a memoir of his time in India called ‘Memories of the British Raj’; he died in Eastbourne on 4 August 1982 followed by Elsa on 4 April 1984.

Florence and her husband, George White, remained in India until the 1930s and there are five known children of the marriage. Florence Louise was born in Peshawar on 23 October 1897 followed by George Ernest on 25 September 1899 in Nowshera and Georgina Ethel on 11 January 1903 in Peshawar. Ernest Robert Bristow was born on 28 October 1905 and served in the RAF before becoming a commercial pilot. He served as a pilot in the Second World War and died in a plane crash on the Isle of Arran in Scotland on 10 August 1941. Percy Alfred Bristow was born on 6 November 1912 at Naini Tal. George returned to England and settled near St Day in Cornwall but there are no records to show whether Florence travelled with him or died in India before his return. George later remarried and died in St Day on 23 June 1945.