violet daisy emma thake
c. 1913
Violet was born on 30 September 1893 to Henry Thake and Flora Wacey and her birth came only four months after her parents married in Putney, south London. She was baptised the following January at St Stephen’s Church in Clapham Park. But by 1901, Violet was living with her maternal grandmother, Emma Wacey, in West Ham along with five of Emma’s six children who ranged in age from 15 to 25 years. It is not known if Violet lived with her parents first and was later placed in the care of her grandmother or if she had always been in her grandmother’s care.
In 1908, Violet, her grandmother and uncle Charles Wacey emigrated to Canada and settled in Weston near Toronto. Violet was working as a shop assistant and her uncle was a labourer on the road crews while her grandmother had a private income likely from an annuity.
Violet married Alfred Henry Mallindine at St John in Weston on 4 October 1911 and they moved from Weston to Carleton Place near Ottawa where their four children were born. Violet died of typhoid fever on 3 September 1917 and was buried at St James Anglican Cemetery in Carleton Place.
henry thomas thake + flora louisa selina wacey
Henry was born in Putney in the fall of 1873 to Henry Thake and his wife Emily Jane Phillips. Henry grew up in Putney and worked as a painter and decorator for most of his life. He married Flora Wacey on 23 May 1893 at the Emmanuel Church in Putney. Flora was born in Gorleston, Suffolk in 1873 to James Frederick Kemp Wacey and his wife Emma Caroline Smith.
In 1891, Flora, or Florrie as she was known, was living in Great Yarmouth, Suffolk and working as a housemaid with the Bradsham family on Wellington Road. Her mother and four younger siblings were living on Burnt Lane in Gorleston, a coastal village south of Great Yarmouth. It is not known how Florrie and Henry met but it appears their marriage was a hasty one as their daughter Violet Daisy Emma was born in Putney four months later. Henry Frederic Charles was born in Putney on 3 June 1895 and Daisy May on 1 July 1897.
By 1901, the family had moved from Putney to Peckham and were living at 27 Wivenhoe Road. Henry was working as a glazier and his two younger brothers, Albert and Samuel, were also living with them. Their daughter Violet was not with the family but rather living with her maternal grandmother, Emma Wacey, in West Ham. Henry and Florrie had two more daughters, Ivy Agnes on 23 January 1902 and Flora Louise 23 September 1904.
Henry and Florrie were still in Peckham when the next census was taken but they were living at 10 Wivenhoe Road and the seven members of the family occupied just four rooms. Henry was working as a house painter, son Henry was working as a music operator with a perforated music company and his brother Albert was still living with the family.
Henry enlisted in the Territorial Force on 21 June 1915 and was assigned to home duties at Holland Road in Brixton as part of the 6th London Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. His family was living nearby at 85 Hydethorpe Road in Balham. Henry’s army service was plagued will ill health and he was first admitted to the London General Hospital suffering from bronchitis and emphesyma on 14 October 1915. He remained in hospital for almost five months and when he returned to his unit, he was transferred to Harrogate in Yorkshire. He spent time in the Royal Bath Hospital in Harrogate and the General Hospital in Leeds for emphysema and rheumatism. In May 1916, he was examined by the medical army board and he reported that he had been suffering from rheumatism since 1898 and had lead poisoning three times — likely as a result of the lead paint used at the time. He was found to be unfit to continue his service and discharged from the army on 16 June.
On 3 August 1919, son Henry married Mabel Dakin at St Peter in Battersea. The family celebrated two more weddings in 1923 when Daisy married Frederick Hance in the spring and Flora married William James Cleghorn in the summer. Henry Thomas Thake died in Wandsworth in 1926. Ivy Agnes married William J Clark in the summer of 1928. Florrie Wacey did in Wandsworth in 1934.
henry thomas thake + emily jane phillips
Henry was born at Rettendon near Chelmsford in Essex in the fall 1844; he was the youngest of seven children born to James and Mary Thake. His father was born in Stanstead, Essex and worked as an agricultural labourer while his mother, from Wickford, worked as a Charwoman.
The family was living in Rettedon when the census was taken in 1851 and James was still working as an agricultural labour. His two youngest sons were in school but eleven year old William had left school and was also working as a farm labourer. His mother, Mary, died in 1853 and his father in 1860 leaving Henry an orphan at the age of 15. In 1861, Henry was living with his sister Mahalah and her husband Thomas Kemp at 8 Sabbarton Road in Poplar.
Henry married Emily Phillips in West Ham in the summer of 1864. Emily was born in Bath, Somerset in 1842 but her family has not yet been traced. They moved to Poplar, East London after their marriage but by 1867, they had moved to Putney where their first daughter, Charlotte Mahala, was born. They were back in Poplar when second daughter Emma Lavinia was born in 1868 but returned to Putney where Rebecca Rosina was born in 1870. One year later, the family was lodging in a house a 9 The Platt in Putney with the Hugman family and Henry was still working as a labourer. His sister Mahala and her husband had also moved to Putney and were living on Windsor Street in 1871.
Their son Henry Thomas was born in 1874, followed by Albert William in 1876 and Florence Emily in 1881. The family was still living at 9 The Platt in 1881 but now they occupied the whole house. Their fifteen year old daughter, Emma, was not with the family and hasn’t been found elsewhere but she was likely working as a domestic servant. Their last son, Samuel Francis, was born in 1886.
Ten years later, they were still in Putney but they had moved to Pentlow Street where Henry was working as a bricklayer’s labourer and Emily as a laundress. His son Henry was working as a soap packer and 14 year old Albert as an errand boy while daughter Charlotte was lodging on Sefton Street in Putney and working as a laundry girl.
Emily Jane Phillips died in Wandsworth in 1900 and the following year, her husband Henry was in the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Infirmary which consisted of six buildings and housed over 700 people in both the pauper’s wing and the infirmary. Henry died in Wandsworth in 1902 but it is not known if died in the infirmary.