thomas mallindine + elizabeth evans
Thomas was born in Bethnal Green about 1832 to Sophia Hall but neither his birth nor baptism record has been found to confirm the name of his father and it does appear that he was ever married to Thomas’ mother. Thomas had three siblings, two older and one younger, but it is not known if they all had the same father. When Thomas was two years old, his mother married Christopher Mallindine and he took on his step-father’s surname. His mother and step-father had four more children and the large family lived in Shoreditch and later off Phoenix Street, north of the old Spitalfields Market.
© John Thomson
Christopher Mallindine died in 1844 and as a result, the family was left in a dire financial state but they managed to stay together. In 1847, Thomas’ sister Ann married Alexander Bass who had apprenticed as a Glass Cutter or Glazier and by 1851, Thomas was living with them at 4 Vine Place in Spitalfields and working alongside his brother—in—law as a Glazier. But by 1858, Thomas had moved to John Street and was working as a Fishmonger, selling raw fish and seafood such as cockles, musssels and oysters; his occupation is later listed as a General Dealer or Hawker so he likely started selling fish from a cart in the street markets but may have moved on to selling other items.
On 24 May 1858, he married Elizabeth Evans at St James the Great in Bethnal Green with her sister Mary appearing as one of the witnesses. Elizabeth was born about 1838 to William Evans and his wife Elizabeth and at the time of her marriage, she lived on John Street with her family; her father also worked as a street hawker, specifically a costermonger, who sold fruit and vegetables from a cart. When he married, Thomas told the registrar that his father was Charles Mallindine, a weaver, but when his sister Ann married years before, she listed her father as Thomas Hall, also a weaver. Neither Thomas nor Elizabeth could read or write and both signed the register with only their mark.
They were living at 12 John Street when their daughter Elizabeth was born on 21 February 1859; she was baptised on 13 March at St Matthias in Bethnal Green and her baptism register notes that Thomas was working as a Shoe Maker which was quite a change from his previous work but he may have been looking for an opportunity for more stable employment and possibly higher wages.
In 1861, they were living at 22 Trafalgar Place in Bethnal Green, south of the present day location of Somerford Street, but then it was a small street tucked between the Great Eastern Railway line and the Jews Burial Ground near Whitechapel Road. Thomas’ work as a shoe maker was short lived and he had returned to working as a General Dealer in the street markets. Also in the household was Martha Herring, a 14 year old boarder, but it is not clear if she was related or simply living with the family to help care for their daughter while they worked.
© Mapco
(click image to view a modern map)
On 2 January 1862, their son Thomas was baptised at St Bartholomew’s church in Bethnal Green. The baptismal register listed his date of birth as 3 December 1861 and the family was still living on Trafalgar Place. One month later, Thomas registered his son’s birth but the details he provided contradict the information on the baptismal register. His son was registered under the name William with a date of birth of 24 December 1861 and the place of birth was 12 John Street. With the birth dates so close together, it seems these two records must relate to the same child but there is no explanation for the inconsistent details.
On 5 December 1864, Thomas and Elizabeth appeared as witnesses when her younger sister Sarah married Thomas Rye at St James the Great. Sarah and Thomas were both living on North Street, near Trafalgar Place, and Thomas was working as a Blacksmith along with his father.
Their third child, Charles Christopher, was born on 13 March 1865 at Trafalgar Place and like his brother, his birth was registered as required by law but no baptism record has been found. After seven years in Trafalgar Place, the family moved to Thomas Street near Bethnal Green Road and St Matthew’s Church but less than a year after the move, 38 year old Thomas died, on 9 November, of bronchitis. Elizabeth was present when he died and acted as the informant when the death was registered two days later.
Without any financial support, Elizabeth was forced to apply for parish relief shortly after Thomas’ death but the record contains the barest of information and there are no details on her children or any other family.
john william rye
On 1 November 1868, Elizabeth married John William Rye at St Matthew in Bethnal Green. John was only 18 years old, 11 years Elizabeth’s junior, and also worked as a General Dealer. There was an existing family connection between the two as John’s older brother Thomas had married Elizabeth’s younger sister Sarah in 1864. When they married, Elizabeth was back on John Street, but this time at number 4, while John lived at 7 Southborough Place which as very close to her old home on Trafalgar Place.
Following their wedding, they settled on Dog Row which was near their old neighbourhood but on the north side of the railway line. Their first son, John, was born on Dog Row on 27 May 1870 and baptised at St James the Great on 19 June. By 1871, they had moved to 4 Thomas Street where John was listed as a 24 year old General Dealer and Elizabeth’s age was given as 28 years, shaving 5 years off her true age, but this discrepancy in ages also appears in subsequent records. Elizabeth’s son Thomas and daughter Elizabeth were recorded under the name Rye rather than Mallindine and their relationship to John was son and daughter rather than step-son and step-daughter. Sadly, their son John died about six months after the census was taken.
In 1871, Elizabeth’s sister Sarah and her husband Thomas Rye were living at 10 Thomas Street — known today as Hague Street — and Cornelius Kelly, who would soon marry Elizabeth’s daughter, also lived on the street at number 8.
Cat’s Meat Man
Over the years, Thomas Rye appeared in the census records as a Costermonger, General Dealer and Hawker but there were also periods where he worked as a Dock Porter and in 1901, as a Herring Curer. It seems that while he sought other work, his wife Sarah carried on his work in the street markets but it isn’t until the 1901 census that there is any indication of exactly what wares they sold in the markets. While Thomas was working on the docks in a herring factory, Sarah was working as a Hawker selling cat meat. Thankfully, this meant she sold cheap meat scraps for pets rather than selling actual meat from cats. The Cat’s Meat Man (or woman) would visit the local slaughterhouse or knacker’s yard and purchase scraps of meat, most often horsemeat, and offal that was not fit for human consumption. They would then make their rounds often calling out ’meat, meat’ to attract their customers’ attention.
John and Elizabeth had a second son, William Henry, in the spring of 1872 and five years later, her daughter Elizabeth left home to marry Cornelius Kelly. In 1881, John and Elizabeth were living on Suffolk Street in 3 Carrow’s Buildings along with their 8 year old son William and her son, Charles aged 16 who was working as a Potman. Thirty-three year old John was also working as a Potman, someone employed in a public house to collect and wash glasses, while Elizabeth was listed as 38 years when in fact she was 43. Sadly, they lost a second son when ten year old William died in the fall of 1882; the cause of death is not known nor the burial location. Six years later, Elizabeth died aged 50 years.
Thomas does not appear with his family in the census nor has he been found elsewhere but on 6 August 1883, he married Julia Howard at St James the Great in Bethnal Green.
Charles married Margaret Lydia Grandy on 6 January 1891 and they settled in rooms in a house in Brick Lane. When the census was taken several months later, John was living and working at the Shakespeare’s Head public house on Barnsley Street in Bethnal Green and listed his occupation as a Beer Retailer. The pub was only a short distance from Trafalgar Place and Southboro Place and also listed in his household was a housekeeper, Elizabeth Wood, and a Potman named Henry Richings.
John was still working at the pub when he died on 20 August 1891 and probate on his estate, valued at less that £10, was granted to his brother Thomas of 12 Pitt Street in Bethnal Green.