thomas william mallindine + alice rose allman
Thomas was born on 20 Mary 1860 at 53 Weymouth Terrace to George Mallindine and Amelia Skinner and baptised on 27 June at St John the Baptist in Shoreditch. He was eleven years old when his family moved from Weymouth Street to Alfred Place where they lived for the next twenty years.
When he was twenty, Thomas began a relationship with seventeen year old Alice Allman who lived down the street at 8 Alfred Place with her parents Joseph Allman and Emily Dawson. The Allmans were originally for Norwich and had moved to London about 1871. Thomas and Alice’s relationship resulted in a pregnancy and on 30 January 1881, they married at St Thomas in Bethnal Green when Alice was 8 months pregnant with his father and her mother signing the register as witnesses. As both Thomas and Alice were under the legal age to marry, they would have required their parents’ consent.
Their son Thomas was born on 1 March 1881 but the event was overshadowed with tragedy as Alice died in childbirth. When the census was taken one month later, Thomas was living with the Allman family at 8 Alfred Place along with his newborn son although his family was just down the road at number 3. The Allman’s daughter Louisa was also living with them along with her husband and two young children and while Thomas was working as a Cabinet Liner, his mother-in-law or sister-in-law likely cared for his son as well. But sadly, little Thomas did not survive his first year and died on 22 December 1881.
ellen sarah smith
Thomas returned to his parents’ house and married a second time to Ellen Sarah Smith on 25 May 1885 at St Augustine in Haggerston. He was listed as a 24 year old widower and Ellen was just 18 years old. She was born in Norwich in the summer of 1866 to Thomas Smith, a Carrier, and Harriet Dawson — who was the sister of Thomas’ first mother-in-law, Emily Allman. The Smiths also moved to London in the early 1870s and Thomas likely met his second wife through the Allmans.
Thomas was working as a French Polisher when they married and Ellen was a Domestic Servant, living at 17 Holms Street. They moved to rooms at 79 Scawfell Street where their first son William Thomas was born on 29 April 1886; he was baptised at St Augustine in Haggerston on 23 May. Herbert Charles was born on 8 July 1888 and baptised at St Augustine on 29 July but he died one month after his first birthday.
In 1891, Thomas, Ellen and their young son were living in 2 rooms on 26 Broke Road in Shoreditch along with his wife’s younger sister Rose who was working as a Domestic Servant. Several months after the census, Ellen gave birth to their first daughter, Ellen Rose, on 26 September at 40 Brownlow Road although the family was still living on Broke Road; she was baptised on 16 October at St Augustine. They had moved again to 73 Marlborough Road by the time Florence Maud was born on 26 January 1894 and again less than three years later to 58 Pownall Road where Thomas George was born on 26 September 1896.
Despite the three moves in five years, the family remained in a rather small geographical area across the Regent’s Canal from Thomas’ childhood home on Alfred Place (renamed Talavera Place). Regents Row ran alongside the northern bank of the canal and the three streets that ran parallel to Regents Row to the north were Pownall Road, Broke Road, and Brownlow Road with Marlborough Road bisecting each of them.
Thomas George was baptised when he was two years old at St Chad on Dunloe Road on 4 October 1898. Another baptism followed a week later when four year old Florence was baptised at the same church and the baptism registers confirm they had moved a fourth time and were living at 23 Pearson Street.
In 1901, Thomas and Ellen were living in 3 rooms at 8 Frederick Place along with their four surviving children and Thomas was still working as a French Polisher as was his fourteen year old son William. Thomas lost his second wife when Ellen died in 1907 of unknown causes and was buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery in Waltham Forest on 28 December.
rose emily smith
Less than two years later, Thomas married a third time into the same family. He married Ellen’s younger sister, Rose Emily Smith, on 29 August 1909 at St Ann in Hoxton with his eldest son William and his fiancé Rhoda Knott as witnesses to the event. Rose was eleven years younger than Thomas and was born in St Luke in Finsbury just after her family moved to London in 1871. Their home addresses listed on the marriage register reflects another move to 78 Rushton Street.
They were still on Rushton Street in 1911, living in four rooms, and all four of Thomas’ children, aged 15 to 24, were still at home. Son William was working as an Automatic Hand at a Screw Making factory, Ellen was Gloving & Boxing in the boot trade, Florence was a shop girl for a card board box maker, and Thomas was a shop boy at a Boot Factory.
The family celebrated two weddings in two years; first, William Thomas married Rhoda Georgina Knott at Christ Church in Hoxton on 10 May 1913 with her younger sister Florence as a witness. Rhoda was born on 23 October 1889 in Bethnal Green, to James Knott and Ellen Nesling, and was raised by her mother after her father’s death in 1900. In 1911, Rhoda was living on Brewer Street near London Fields with her mother and sister and the census return shows that William completed the form for them.
On Christmas Day in 1914, Ellen Rose married James Glen at St Anne in Hoxton and her father and sister Florence attended and signed the register as witnesses. The address for both of them was 14 Hemsworth Street which was at the western end of Rushton Street, not far from her family home, and James was working as a Checker.
With the outbreak of war, youngest son Thomas George enlisted and although his attestation papers have not been found, he is believed to have served as a Private with the Royal Fusiliers. He was killed in action on 20 December 1915 at Gallipoli and was buried in the Redoubt Cemetery in Helles, Turkey. He was just nineteen years old and one of 56 000 British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in the Gallipoli campaign.
Ten days before Thomas was killed, James Glen enlisted in army with the Machine Gun Corps and was mobilized the following spring. While he was away at the front, Ellen gave birth to their first of their five children, son James, on 9 July 1916 but she received shocking news 10 months later after James was wounded in action on 21 May 1917 and suffered a gunshot wound to his face and both ear drums were perforated resulting in a serious hearing loss. He was transferred to the South African Hospital in Richmond Park, Surrey and was deemed no longer fit for service by an army Medical Board on 24 December and discharged from the army on 14 January 1918.
Florence married William Edward Killwick on 2 May 1920 at St Saviour in Hoxton and they had six children.
Thomas’ third wife Rose died in Shoreditch on 22 December 1930, aged 59 years, and was buried five days later at Chingford Mount Cemetery. They were living at 118 St Johns Road in Shoreditch at the time but Thomas later moved in with his son William and daughter-in-law Rhoda. In 1939, the three of them were living at 59 Kingsway in Enfield along with Rhoda’s mother Eliza and William was working as a ‘B & S Automatic Setter’. Thomas died in Romford in 1946 and his son William died at the Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield on 21 April 1954; he was predeceased by his wife Rhoda on 29 January 1953.
Ellen and James Glen stayed in Hackney after the war and had four more children: Leonard Glen was born on 3 March 1921, Doris on 12 November 1924, and twins Stanley Charles and Eileen Glen were born on 23 June 1931. By 1939, they’d left the East End and moved to semi-detached house at 2 Bernwell Road in Chingford, Essex. James was working as a Gold Watch Case Journeyman, James Jr was a Printer Compositor, Leonard was a clerk for a cable and wireless company, Doris was a Government Machinist, and their eight year old twins were at school. Two years later, sixteen year old Doris died in Epping. Ellen and James’ four surviving children all married and the couple had at least six grandchildren. James died in Barking in 1972 and Ellen in 1975.