sarah maria mallandain + william collins
Sarah was born on 20 April 1842 and baptised at St Matthew on 25 May 1845. Her older brother John was baptised on the same day along with George and Elizabeth Putt whose family also lived at 10 Ely Place. Sarah was one of two surviving children born to John Mallandain and his wife Elizabeth Walker. Before her fourth birthday, four of her younger siblings had died and when she was 15 years old, her 11 year old brother and 10 year old sister died within a week of each other.
On 19 February 1868, Sarah married widower William Collins at St Mary in Islington. William was born in south London in 1839, the son of Francis Collins, and worked as a Pork Butcher at the time of his marriage. After they married, they lived next door to Sarah’s parents on Ely Place before moving to Martha Street in Bethnal Green.
Their first son, John William Mallandain, was born on 16 December 1871 and baptised at St John Bethnal Green on 25 February 1872. Alice Euphemia Maria Mallandain was born in 1876 and George was born in 1880 but their baptismal records have not yet been found. In 1881, the family lived at 6 Copperfield Road in Mile End New Town where William worked as a Painter and Decorator. By 1891, they had moved to 18 Lansdell Place in Bethnal Green where William was working as a Paper Hanger and his eldest son as a Printer Compositor.
Two years later, their daughter Alice married William John Shelford on 23 October 1893 at St Simon’s in Bethnal Green. William was born in Bethnal Green in 1872, the son of Alfred and Mary Shelford, and worked as a mattrass maker in his family’s shop on the Globe Road. They had five children but only two survived — Harry was born in 1896 and Ernest in 1907.
Sarah and her son John were living on Lansdell Place in 1901 but neither William nor George were listed with the family. It is possible that they were away working but they have not been found elsewhere in the census. Their daughter Alice and her family were living at 30 Cavendish Street in Shoreditch.
Sarah died in Bethnal Green in the summer of 1910. In 1911, William was still living on Lansdell Place along with his two sons and the census notes that he and Sarah had twelve children but only three survived. His eldest son John was still working in the printing business while George was employed as a Builder’s Labourer. George was listed along with his wife, Alice, but no marriage record has been located.
When he was 49 years old, John married Elizabeth Mary Rumble Sheppard at St Simon Zelot’s in Bethnal Green. Elizabeth was born on 4 March 1867 to David Sheppard, a Plasterer by trade, and his wife Eliza. Elizabeth grew up in the same neighbourhood and her family lived next door to the Collins family for many years. John was still living at 18 Lansdell Place when he married and continued to work as a Printer's Assistant. Elizabeth was a widow when she married John; she married William Henry Talbot at St Simon Zelot's on 27 September 1900 but he died only five years later. John and Elizabeth did not have any children but they remained in Bethnal Green and in 1939, they were living at 6 Allas Road.