james arthur samuels + elizabeth weedon
James was born at his grandmother’s home on Hanbury Street on 13 July 1881 to John William Samuels and Mary Anne Mallindine. He was baptised at St James the Great in Bethnal Green on 7 August. When he was born, his family was living at 35 Mape Street but shortly after they moved down the street to number 7 where they remained for the next 20 years.
He married his second cousin, Elizabeth Mary Ann Martha Weedon at St Andrew in Bethnal Green on 4 February 1900 and her aunt, who was also Mary Anne’s cousin, signed the register as one of the witnesses. Elizabeth was born on 17 July 1881 to Elizabeth Brown Mallindine and John Thomas Weedon. When they married, James was working as a Builder’s Labourer and they were both living in the Samuels family home on Mape Street. James and Elizabeth were just nineteen when they married.
James and Elizabeth had six children and their first, Elizabeth Martha, was born on 7 July 1900, five months after her parents’ marriage. The following year, they were living in two rooms at 7 Mape Street and James was working as an Engine Driver’s Stoker. His mother, brother and father-in-law lived in 3 rooms and his half-brother, Thomas Hellen, and his family occupied one room. In all, the family occupied six of the eight rooms in the house.
Son Arthur John was born on 23 December 1902 followed by John Thomas on 15 July 1905, and Harry Edward on 2 October 1908. The family was living in the Shepton Houses in Welwyn Road, off the Globe Road when Harry was baptised at St Andrew in Bethnal Green on 21 October. Shepton House was built by the East End Dwellings Company to provide housing to the working class poor of the area following the slum clearances in the early years of the twentieth century.
Like many other East End families, the Samuels left the overcroweded conditions of Bethnal Green and moved to Forest Gate in Essex. In the 1911 census, the family of six was living in 3 rooms in a house at 89 Pevensey Road in Forest Gate and James was working as a Crane Erector on the construction of public buildings. Elizabeth was pregnant when the census was taken and six months later, she gave birth to her fifth child and second daughter, Caroline Mary, on 19 October. Their final child, Leslie George, was born on 13 May 1914.
Eldest daughter Elizabeth Martha was the first to leave home when she married Donald Hector Leonard Knowles at St John in Bethnal Green on 1 April 1923. Donald was a China and Glass Merchant like his father and when he married he lived at 24 Morris House as did Elizabeth. They had one son, Ronald Arthur, born in Bethnal Green on 25 April 1929. In 1939, they were living at 129 Roman Road where Elizabeth worked as a Shop Manageress and Donald as a Caterer’s Assistant while son Ronald was living across London with the Bayley family in Hounslow. Donald died in Poplar on 27 November 1968 and was buried at the Newham Cemetery on 2 December. Elizabeth died six years later and was buried at Newham on 5 April 1974 and son Ronald died in Havering in 1997.
Arthur married Evelyn Maud Chamberlain in Hackney in 1938 and they had two sons. In 1939, Arthur was living at 90 Hassett Road in Hackney with his father-in-law and brother-in-law while his wife was living with her mother in her home town of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. At the time, Arthur was employed as a Chauffeur. Arthur died in Hackney on 16 March 1972 and Evelyn in Biggleswade on 30 March 1979.
John married Lilian Ann Mohr in Poplar in 1932 and they had one son. In 1939, they were living at 52 Mostyn Grove in Poplar and John was working as a Lorry Driver. The moved to Maldon, Essex and in 1955, Lilian died aged 46 years. John remarried to Laura Clarissa Chambers three years later. He died in Chelmsford, Essex in 1984 and Laura died in 1998.
Harry married Eliza Ann Price in Bethnal Green in 1933 and they had one daughter. After they married, they lived Mansford Street in Bethnal Green and Mulberry House on Moravian Street before settling on Temple Dwell. They were still there in 1939, along with Eliza’s mother, and Harry was working a Dock Labourer. They lived in the Tower Hamlets for the rest of their lives; Harry died in 1988 and Eliza in 1992.
Caroline married William Brown in Bethnal Green in 1935 and they had one son, Terence, born in West Ham on 29 January 1937. William worked as a Gas Fitter and in 1939, they were living at 40 Amity Road. Caroline died in Bethnal Green on 6 April 1989 and her son died in 2010.
Leslie married Doreen Constance Harradine in Dalston on 29 August 1936 and they had six children. They were living at 6 Medway Road in Bethnal Green in 1939 and Leslie was working as a Veneer Preparer. Doreen died in Clacton on Sea in Essex in 1995 and Leslie died in Ipswich on 20 June 2008.
Between 1914 and 1922, James and Elizabeth left West Ham and returned to the East End. They were living at 36 Gretton Houses off the Globe Road in 1922 but four years later, they had moved to 24 Morris Houses and finally on to 29 Chisenhale Road in 1937. They were still there two years later, although all their children had left home and only James and Elizabeth were living there, and 58 year old James was working as a Crane Driver. He died in Poplar in 1951 and Elizabeth died in Hackney in 1966.