william mallindine + elizabeth mary pearce
William was born on 29 April 1831 at the family home on William Street in Bethnal Green and was the ninth of ten children born to William Mallindine and Martha Edghill. He was baptised on 23 May at St Leonard in Shoreditch. Three weeks after his ninth birthday, his mother died but William, his elder brother Francis and his younger brother George remained with their father. The family was living in James Place in Bethnal Green at the time and his father was working as a Weaver. They were still together when the 1841 census was taken but his father was working as a Labourer no doubt due to the depression that impacted the weaving industry in the mid-18th century.
In 1851, twenty year old William was living with his eldest brother John William and his family on Booth Street in Spitalfields. His brother had followed his father into the weaving trade but William chose a different path and was working as a French Polisher. Brothers Francis and George were living with another brother, Thomas, and his family on Granby Street and their father was receiving parish relief and living at the Whitechapel Union Dispensary on Leman Street.
On 13 March 1854, William married Elizabeth Mary Pearce at St Matthew in Bethnal Green and her father John and sister Susan were witnesses. William was living at 14 Granby Street, his brother Thomas’ address, at the time and Elizabeth was next door at number 13. William, Elizabeth, and the two witnesses all signed the register with their mark.
Elizabeth Mary Pearce or Pierce was born on 20 May 1833 in Willow Walk in Shoreditch and baptised at St Leonard Shoreditch on 30 June 1833. She was the daughter of John Scott Pierce, a Weaver, and Mary Percival who were married on 11 June 1827 in Whitechapel. John and Mary had ten children, 8 daughters and two sons, and lived on Booth Street and later Grey Eagle Street.
William and Elizabeth moved to 42 Booth Street after they married and their first daughter, Elizabeth Brown, was born there on 16 March 1855 three days after their first wedding anniversary. She was baptised at St Matthew in Bethnal Green on 20 July 1856 and the baptism register confirms that William was still working as a French Polisher.
They moved to 5 Hope Street in Spitalfields and two more children followed, William was born on 13 March 1857 and baptised on 5 April at St Matthias in Bethnal Green, and Martha was born on 17 July 1859 and baptised on 7 August also at St Matthias.
By 1861, they had moved to 8 Dorset Street and William was working as a General Dealer which was a term used to describe a shopkeeper who sold a variety of goods, like a modern corner shop. Along with their three children, Elizabeth’s 18 year old sister Eliza and 16 year old brother William were also living with them.
Mary Ann was born in 1861 but no birth record has been found. She was not baptised until 20 March 1864 at Christ Church Spitalfields on the same day as brother Henry who was born in the summer of 1863. When they were baptised, the family was living at 8 Dorset Street and William had returned to work as a French Polisher. Henry died before his second birthday and was buried at the Tower Hamlets Cemetery on 20 February 1865.
Thomas was born on 28 October 1865 in Spitalfields but once again, his baptism was delayed and occurred on the same day as younger sister, Clara, who was born on 15 April 1869. They were baptised at St Matthias on 9 May 1869 and at the time, the family was living at 1 Felix Street. Emily was born in Poplar in 1870 but she died in Whitechapel two years later.
In 1871, William, Elizabeth and their seven children were living at 22 Pelham Street in Mile End New Town. Their two eldest children were working – Elizabeth was a Fancy Box Maker and William a Printer. On 5 September 1872, their ninth and final child, George, was born at the family home on Pelham Street. His baptism was delayed and he was nine years old when he was baptised at Christ Church Spitalfields on 11 December 1881.
In the late 1870s, their younger children were of an age to marry and the family celebrated three weddings at St Matthew in Bethnal Green in three years. Son William was the first to marry, on 27 August 1876, to Elizabeth Scammell then Elizabeth married John Weedon on 8 July 1878 and finally Martha married Alfred Scammell on 22 December 1879.
The family was still on Pelham Street in 1881 but they had moved to number 74, in the same building as the Weaver’s Arms public house. Four of their children were still at home: Mary Ann, a Fancy Box Maker, Thomas a French Polisher, and scholars Clara and George. Their son William emigrated to New Zealand sometime between 1880 and 1883 and once established he sent for his wife and three children.
The family suffered another loss when daughter Mary Ann died in 1884 aged 22 years and three years later, William died in Whitechapel aged 55 years. Three months after William’s death, his son Thomas married Elizabeth Worgan at St Matthew in Bethnal Green and he was still living in the family home on Pelham Street at the time.
Daughter Clara married Albert Gentry at St Matthew Bethnal Green on 5 October 1890 and her brother-in-law Alfred Scammell was one of the witnesses. They were both living at 7 Canrobert Street and Albert was working as a Painter. Just two months after celebrating a wedding, their eldest daughter Elizabeth died of tuberculosis on 17 December 1890 at the London Hospital. It does not appear that Clara and Albert had any children and she died seven years after their marriage in the Bethnal Green Workhouse.
In 1891, Elizabeth was living in a single room at 120 Buxton Street in Mile End with her 18 year old son George. She was ‘living on her own means’ but her occupation also included the note that she was a retired grocer. Son George was working as French Polisher. Her daughter Martha, her husband and two daughters were living in the same house in two rooms.
Elizabeth Mary Pearce died on 12 April 1892 at 57 Jersey Street Bethnal Green.