Charles Pomeroy b. 1854 SD - Abode

 

Charles Pomeroy b 1854 Supporting Data - Abode

Charles Pomeroy was born in 1854, and Baptised on 29th October 1854. His parents were John and Mary Pomeroy from Broadwindsor. I believe he was born at Giles Cross, Roman Road, Bradford Peverell, Dorchester, Dorset, England. .

This article is an attempt to put together an evidential timelime of places that he lived from various records. It is supporting data to the full article about Charles Pomeroy.

 

 

{slider title="Dorset" class="green solid" class="icon" open="false"}

Dorset is a county in southwest England. It’s known for the Jurassic Coast, a long stretch on the English Channel where the cliffs contain many fossils, and rock formations show millions of years of geological history. Two prominent natural landmarks are Durdle Door, an ancient stone arch, and the layered cliffs at nearby Lulworth Cove. The towns of Poole, Weymouth and Swanage are popular for their sandy beaches.
The county town is Dorchester. The Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning "place with fist-sized pebbles". The Saxons named the town Dornwaraceaster (the suffix -ceaster being the Old English name for a "Roman town"; cf. Exeter and Gloucester) and Dornsæte came into use as the name for the inhabitants of the area from Dorn (a reduced form of Dornwaraceaster) and the Old English word sæte (meaning "people"). It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD 845 and in the 10th century the county's archaic name, Dorseteschyre (Dorsetshire), was first recorded.

After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the county's border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.

The county has a long history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Romans conquered Dorset's indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the Early Middle Ages, the Saxons settled the area and made Dorset a shire in the 7th century. The first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset during the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. Dorset has seen much civil unrest: in the English Civil War, an uprising of vigilantes was crushed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in a pitched battle near Shaftesbury; the doomed Monmouth Rebellion began at Lyme Regis; and a group of farm labourers from Tolpuddle were instrumental in the formation of the trade union movement. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, and the large harbours of Portland and Poole were two of the main embarkation points. The former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating.

Dorset is also the ancestral home of my branch of the Pomeroy family, particularily Broadwindsor.

{slider title="Clerkenwell" class="blue solid" class="icon" open="false"}

The Clerkenwell area apears to be the first place of landing in London both before and after marriage. Clerkenwell is an old parish, outside London Walls. It had something of a poor reputation in the past.

It also had a historic one.

Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerks' Well in Farringdon Lane (clerken was the Middle English genitive plural of clerk, a variant of clerc, meaning literate person or clergyman). The first surviving reference to the name is from 1100. In the Middle Ages, the London Parish clerks performed annual mystery plays there, based on biblical themes. Part of the well remains visible, incorporated into a 1980s building called Well Court. It is visible through a window of that building on Farringdon Lane.

The Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks is one of the oldest London Guilds, having received its first charter from Henry VI in 1442. Its predecessor, the Fraternity of St Nicholas, is mentioned in records as early as 1274.
Originally, as the name suggests, our members consisted of the clerks of the local parishes in the City of London. In modern times, the Company has established a separate charity fund, which gives grants to a range of causes. Many members are also involved in the upkeep and oversight of some of London ancient churches.

St James Clerkenwell

• The parish of St James, Clerkenwell, has had a long and sometimes lively history. The springs which give Clerkenwell its name are mentioned during the reign of Henry II.

• The parish clerks of London used to perform their mystery plays based on Biblical themes, in the neighbourhood, sometimes in the presence of royalty.

• In approximately 1100 a Norman baron named Jordan Briset founded a Benedictine nunnery dedicated to St Mary, which became wealthy and influential. It had a place of pilgrimage at Muswell Hill, and the parish kept an outlying tract of territory there until the nineteenth century.

• At the dissolution of the nunnery under Henry VIII, the church, which by then seems to have acquired a second dedication to St James, was taken into use by its parishioners who had already been using a part of it for some considerable time. The site of the nunnery was granted to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk in 1540 but the freehold of the church passed through various hands until it was conveyed in 1656 to trustees on behalf of the parishioners, who at the same time obtained the right to appoint the vicar. Unlike other parishes, they retained it after the Restoration of 1660. Elections of vicars were held, with all the excitement and paraphernalia of parliamentary elections, right down to the early years of this century and a distinctly Low Church tradition was thereby established.

 

Charles Pomeroy and family, places of abode, aka homes.

Not all of the abodes are strictly within the Parish Boundary of Clerkenwell, but for our purposes, they will be treated together, under the general heading of Clerkenwell.

An OpenStreetMap of the area with the four places of residence identified so far. Each less than 1m to the next as the crow flies. The information about the places of abode are brought forward from the investigations outlined below, so this is out of chronological order.

1. 29 John Street was probably between Wilmington Square and Spa Fields. Lost to the construction of Rosebery Avenue.
2. 20 Torrens Buildings, Torrens Street, Angel, Islington, the street is still there but the buildings are demolished.
3. 104 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell, the building still exists.
4. 18 Palmerston Buildings, City Garden Row, the street is still there but the buildings are demolished.

 Something of a summary conclusion brought forward.

The investigations in Clerkenwell area residency begin.

Having found the locations of Charles Pomeroy's home, the next task is to find out the current Parish and from there the date appropriate Parish and the associated Parliamentary Division and Ward.

 

The above map is ESRI Church of England parish map. It is open at the approximate location of 29 John St near Wilmington Square. The orange dot that you can see on opening is the location of the Church of the Our Most Holy Redeemer. Click on the dot for information about the church, and elsewhere on the map for data about the Parish. Below, a bit later on, you can see an image of the Spa Fields Chapel. The distinctive round dissenting chapel, once the Pantheon, was demolished in 1886 and replaced with the Church of the Holy Redeemer that still stands there today. The orange dot.

 

 

Boundary Maps and administrative names

The search for the Parish name and which Ward to help find the correct Register of People eligible to vote, aka Register of Voters, aka Electoral Roll.

Start with County and Hundreds.

 

The parish map of Middlesex 1880 from 'A Vision of Britain Through Time', zoomed in to the Clerkenwell area.

 

 

 

 The same map but zoomed in to the Clerkenwell area. The Map has additions of red and blue circles from the summary OpenStreetMap above, indicating the approximate position of Charles Pomeroy's homes with his growing family.

 A later 1885 Map of Islington

 

 Islington, then Islington South, then part of St. Peter's ward with Torrens Street and City Garden Row picked out. Map downloaded from 'A Vision of Britain Through Time'

 

Honing in on the exact location of the address of the abode

British Library Fire Insurance Plans

Another great find.

 A source of information to help identify places is the British Library. The above map is part of a series of fire insurance plans. It is part of the Crace Collection of Maps of London.

 

Individual sheets should identify streets and perhaps buildings, at each abode. The general Key plans first, to help identifiy which detail sheets to look at. Each detailed sheet covers a very small area.

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 The timeline of Charles Pomeroy continued

1877 Charles 23 years of age

 

1877 Register of Voters

Not necessarily expecting to find anything of significant in 1877, the first viable 'Register of People entitled to Vote' for our purposes. Part of the Finsbury  Parliamentary Division, St. James Clerkenwell, has five Wards.

1. St. James, Pentonville
2. St. Phillip's
3. St. Mark's
4. St. James Clerkenwell
5. St. John's

Page turning through the digital book, through Occupiers and Lodgers, there are no entries with the surname Pomeroy.

He would have had to be a qualifying person in 1876 in the Parish to have made it onto the register for 1877.

 

 

1878 Charles 24 years of age

Similarly, again page turning through the digital 'Register of People entitled to Vote' book for 1878, through Occupiers and Lodgers, there are no entries with the surname Pomeroy. There is now a gap in source records on Ancestry from 1878 to 1885, for this Register.

From the find in the 1885 Register that 29 John Street was in Ward no. 2, St. Philip's, I have come back to the 1878 register to look for addresses instead of people. I have found that there is a John Street in Ward 1, St. James, Pentonville, as well as a John Street, Spafields, in Ward no. 2, St. Philip's. Spa Fields is just to the South of Wilmington Square, the other side of the soon to be constructed Rosebery Avenue. Spa Fields has and interesting history, including some riots and bad Graveyard practices.

19TH CENTURY · CLERKENWELL -- Among the rioters and resurrectionists: the turbulent history of Spa Fields --- Spa Fields Chapel, formerly the Pantheon, as seen in Walter Thornbury’s Old and New London: Volume 2, 1878

 1878 Register of Voters

The 1878 Register not only confirms the suspicion of John Street being in the anticipated location, but that as it is recorded as being in the occupation of John Thomas Hodges, and not Charles Pomeroy. Look out for this name in the 1881 Census. It is therefore unlikely that Charles Pomeroy was eligible to vote, as a secondary resident in a multi-occupancy residence. Though, not conclusive without the missing registers between 1879 and 1884.

 

Metropolitan Police

On 6 May 1878 he joined G Division of Metropolitan Police in London, when he was still single and 23 years of age.

Marriage

Charles Pomeroy returned his home County of Dorset, to marry Charlotte Elizabeth Cousens in the Parish Church of St Mary Maiden Newton, on 15 December 1878.

He is confirmed as a Police Constable living in Clerkenwell which is in London.

 

 

Lets look at each address in order.

Clerkenwell

Fielded by Euston Station, British Library, St Pancras and King's Cross Stations in upper left and the River Thames at the bottom, the location of the four homes of Charles and Charlotte Elizabeth Pomeroy, in and around the Clerkenwell area on a Bing Aerial Map. Click the map to open in a new tab.

 

{slider title="Hammersmith" class="red" class="icon" open="false"}

 

Metropolitan Police

 

I have not yet found out when Charles Pomeroy transferred out of G Division but as hie retirement papers are drawn up in Hammersmith Division. From page 2 of the retirement papers, he is married to Charlotte Pomeroy and lives at 6 Beaconsfield Villas, Fulwell Road, Teddington, Middlesex, in May 1903.

His last firm record in the Clerkenwell section is in the 1892 Register of Voters.

Location

Starting with an Ordnance Survey First Series map from 'A Vision of Britain Through Time'.

 

An extract of a boundary Map of Hammersmith 1900.

 

 

 Mansion House Street lies between King Street, with the Tramway, and Glenthorne Road, to the North. Latterly called Leamore Street.

 The photo is from Google Streetview of 16 Leamore Street. If the street numbering did not change with the street name, this could have been 16 Mansion House Street. Click on the photo to go to Google Maps.

 

 Approximate extent of The Grove Ward, Hammersmith based on locating and colour washing the roads listed in the Register of Voters for that Ward, 1901. Mansion House Street highlighted.

 

Register of Voters

Moving on from the location, to evidence of occupation at a particular location.

 

 

 It has definitely been easier finding data for Hammersmith than Clerkenwell. Firstly, I found the reference to Charles Pomeroy on a general search in FindmyPast. That led me to The Grove Ward and Mansion House Street. A search on Google Maps did not reveal a street map of that name, but National Library of Scotland Maps, Ordinance Survey 25" Map did reveal its position. The Hammersmith book of Register of Voters has a a Street Index, which indicates that Mansion House Street is in District 7, and that the main section, Division 1 voters, commences on page 340.

Clerkenwell was complicated by a number of Boundary changes and name changes. Hammersmith around 1900 does not suffer the same problem.

 

1901 Register of Voters

Following on from the list of potential records I found in FindmyPast, I located the 1901 record on Ancestry. FindmyPast takes you to the image of the record in the same way that Ancestry does, but Ancestry allows the navigation through the whole of what was once a microfilm. It could be that you can do that on FindmyPast, but I have not explored to find out how. Being able to scan along allows me to find front cover and header pages, and the information therein, as above.

A bonus, a record for a Richard Henry Pomeroy in Mansion House Street, as well as a Charles Pomeroy.

 

Now we have established an entry for Charles Pomeroy at 16 Mansion House Street, we need to track back in time to find out how long he has been registered there.

Starting with 1890. In fact worked back to 1890, but it is easier to read 1890 onward.

1890 Register of Voters

 Time for a rethink. Coming backwards, I had thought that the reason the Even numbers on Mansion House Street were missing was that only one side of the street had been built. No, that is not the reason, they are in different Wards. With the absence of the even numbers there was also an absence of Charles Pomeroy.

There is Charles Pomeroy at 16 Mansion House street in the 1890 Register of Voters. To avoid you having to read the next records until 1901, let us think about dates. To be in the 1890 register, Charles Pomeroy was in Hammersmith in 1889. Our Charles Pomeroy was living at 18 Palmerston Buildings in the 1891 Census entry, and was in the 1892 Registers of Voters for Parliamentary Borough of Finsbury, East District, North Polling District, Parish of St. Luke, Middlesex, Ward No. 1 City Road West, at number 18 Palmerston Buildings. He was therefore there for the period up to 1891. It is very improbable that our Charles Pomeroy was both at 18 Palmerston Buildings and 16 Mansion House at one and the same time. I therefore conclude that the Charles Pomeroy of 16 Mansion House is a different person.

Ward 5, Ravenscourt District.

I have done the research, so I will continue posting it here.

There are also records for a Richard Henry Pomeroy, also of Mansion House Street. No known connection but reproduced here for completeness.

Ward 6 - Thr Grove District.

Another interesting find, also in Ward 6 - Thr Grove District., a collection of Police Cottages in Brook Green, which is outside the 1901 version of the Ward.

 

1891 Register of Voters

 

 

1892 Register of Voters

 

 

1893 Register of Voters

 

 

1894 Register of Voters

 

 

 

1895 Register of Voters

 

 

From this year the odd and even numbers of Mansion House Street are both in the same Ward, Number 7 The Grove.

 

1896 Register of Voters

 

1897 Register of Voters

 

 

1898 Register of Voters

 

 

 

 

1899 Register of Voters

 

 

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{slider title="Teddington" class="orange" class="icon" open="false"}

Teddington is a Parish and Town in the Parliamentary Division of Uxbridge in the County of Middlesex. It is in the Hundred of Spelthorne, at the southern end of the ancient County of Middlesex. According to the below map the population of Middlesex in 1831 was 1,358,200, which includes London. London was the largest city in the world between 1831 and 1925 and is the only city to have held the Summer Olympics three times. Another site states it was the Largest in 1825. 

London was the first Megacity in the world.

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution almost a million people lived in London. It was the largest city in the world and the centre of the British Empire , which, at that time was growing at a rapid pace .

As more and more people moved to the city from the countryside London needed more and better transportation systems. In 1863 it became the first city in the world to start an underground railway system.

London was still in the County of Middlesex, and subsequently County of London in 1889. London still contains the City of London and the City of Westminster. Teddington remained in Middlesex but is now part of London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, since 1965, part of Greater London.

 

 Part of the OS 25" Maps, centred around Teddington, with Hampton and the River Thames.

 An Extract from Wikipedia

Teddington's beginnings

Bushy House was built in 1663, and its notable residents included British Prime Minister Lord North who lived there for over twenty years. There have been isolated findings of flint and bone tools from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in Bushy Park and some unauthenticated evidence of Roman occupation. However, the first permanent settlement in Teddington was probably in Saxon times. Teddington was not mentioned in Domesday Book as it was included under the Hampton entry.

Teddington Manor was first owned by Benedictine monks in Staines and it is believed they built a chapel dedicated to St. Mary on the same site as today's St. Mary's Church. In 971, a charter gave the land in Teddington to the Abbey of Westminster. By the 14th century Teddington had a population of 100–200; most of the land was owned by the Abbot of Westminster and the remainder was rented by tenants who had to work the fields a certain number of days a year.

The Hampton Court gardens were laid out in 1500 in preparation for the planned rebuilding of a 14th-century manor to form Hampton Court Palace in 1521 and were to serve as hunting grounds for Cardinal Wolsey and later Henry VIII and his family. In 1540 some common land of Teddington was enclosed to form Bushy Park and acted as more hunting grounds.

A large minority of the parish lay in largely communal open fields, restricted in the Middle Ages to certain villagers. These were inclosed (privatised) in two phases, in 1800 and 1818. Shortly afterwards, the Duke of Clarence lived there with his mistress Dorothy Jordan before he became King William IV, and later with his Queen Consort, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. The facilities were later converted into the National Physical Laboratory.

Economic change

In subsequent centuries, Teddington enjoyed a prosperous life due to the proximity of royalty, and by 1800 had grown significantly. But the "Little Ice Age" had made farming much less profitable and residents were forced to find other work. This change resulted in great economic change in the 19th century.

The first major event was the construction of Teddington Lock in 1811 with its weir across the river. This was the first (and now the biggest) of five locks built at the time by the City of London Corporation. In 1889 Teddington Lock Footbridge, consisting of a suspension bridge section and a girder bridge section, was completed, linking Teddington to Ham (then in Surrey, now in London). It was funded by local business and public subscription.

After the railway was built in 1863, easy travel to Twickenham, Richmond, Kingston and London was possible and Teddington experienced a population boom, rising from 1,183 in 1861 to 6,599 in 1881 and 14,037 in 1901.

Many roads and houses were built, continuing into the 20th century, forming the close-knit network of Victorian and Edwardian streets present today. In 1867, a local board was established and an urban district council in 1895.

In 1864 a group of Christians left the Anglican Church of St. Mary's (upset at its high church tendencies) and formed their own independent and Reformed, Protestant-style, congregation at Christ Church. Their original church building stood on what is now Church Road.

The Victorians attempted to build a large church, St. Alban's, based on the Notre Dame de Paris; however, funds ran out and only the nave of what was to be the "Cathedral of the Thames Valley" was completed. In 1993 the temporary wall was replaced with a permanent one as part of a refurbishment that converted St Alban's Church into the Landmark Arts Centre, a venue for concerts and exhibitions.

A new cemetery, Teddington Cemetery, opened at Shacklegate Lane in 1879.

Several schools were built in Teddington in the late 19th century in response to the 1870 Education Act, putting over 2,000 children in schools by 1899, transforming the previously illiterate village.

 

The investigations in Teddington area residency begin.

Charles Pomeroy was living at 18 Palmerston Buildings in the 1891 Census entry, and was in the 1892 Registers of Voters for Parliamentary Borough of Finsbury, East District, North Polling District, Parish of St. Luke, Middlesex, Ward No. 1 City Road West, at number 18 Palmerston Buildings. He was therefore there for the period up to 1891. Following any move outside of the particular Register of Voters it is anticipated that there would be at least a year before being included in the Register for the new area.

Register of Persons Entitled to Vote

 

A useful source of information is the Register of Persons Entitled to Vote. Women were not entitled to vote and only some men, and only in selected elections.

Ownership Electors - Parliamentary and Parochial

Occupation Electors (Other than Lodgers)

• Division one - Persons entitled to vote in Parliamentary, County, and Parochial Elections
• Division two -  Persons entitled to vote in Parliamentary and Parochial Elections, but not County Elections
• Division three - Persons entitled to vote in County, and Parochial Elections, but not Parliamentary Elections, and those prefixed with a † are not entitled to vote in Parochial Election either.

Lodgers - Persons entitled to vote in Parliamentary and Parochial Elections,

 

Teddington had been divided into 2 wards and subsequently 4 wards.

 Our family could be in Fulwell Ward or Upper Teddington Ward

These front pages are similar irrespective of which year in the period. The detail follows within the particular address tab.

The "Register of Persons Entitled to Vote" is published generally for a year, 1st January to 31st December, and this is where I will place this record in the timeline. However, it should be remembered that the register is compiled the year before publication so could easily be six months out of date upon publication. There is therefore a time lag in this information. Also, as the published date is generally 1st January it will be the first entry of each year in our timeline, followed by other records chronologically.

Other sources of data regarding abode are Baptisms, Marriages, and Death Records, together with Census Records.

 

 Teddington

Bing Maps aerial view of the three homes of Charles and Charlotte Elizabeth Pomeroy in Teddington, together with the White Cottage, one time home of their eldest son William Henry Pomeroy, and Teddington Cemetery, opened in 1879. Baptised as Edith Marian Pomeroy but buried as Edith Mary Pomeray in Teddington Cemetery on 19^th March 1895, 10 weeks old.

 

{slider title="Hillingdon" class="grey solid" class="icon" open="false"}

Hillingdon is

Hillingdon and Hillingdon Heath

Bing Maps Aerial view with Hillingdon Hoispital, the site of the old Workhouse, lower left, and The Prince Albert, Charles and Charlotte Elizabeth Pomeroy's first home in the area, together with the locations and relative distance of the places in Hillingdon Heath, on the upper right.

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Collation of Places of Abode for Charles Pomeroy extracted from the preceeding records 

No.	Section	Place of abode	Estimate of commencement at abode or date of record containing location	Estimate of finish at abode or date of record containing new location
1	Dorset	Giles Cross, Bradford Peverell, Dorset	Birth - 1854	1861/1871
2	Dorset	Compton Valence, Dorset	1861/1871	c.1878
3	Clerkenwell	29 John Street, near Wilmington Square	1878/1880	1882/1884
4	Clerkenwell	20 Torrens Buildings, Torrens Street, Islington	1882/1884	1887/1889
5	Clerkenwell	104 Saint John Street,  Clerkenwell	1887/1889	1889/1891
6	Clerkenwell	18 Palmerston Buildings, City Garden Row	1889/1891	1892/1893
7	Teddington	6 Beaconsfield Villas, Fulwell Road, Teddington	1892/1893	1904
8	Teddington	2 Albert Villas, 23 Prince's Road, Teddington	1904	1905
9	Teddington	1 Albion Villas, 17 Prince's Road, Teddington	1905	1910/1911
10	Hillingdon	The Prince Albert Public House, Colham Green	1910/1911	1912/1913
11	Hillingdon	3 Stewkley Terrace, 38 Heath Road, Hillingdon, Uxbridge	1912/1913	1930/1931
12	Hillingdon	47 Marlbrough Road, Hillingdon, Uxbridge	1930/1931	1931/1932
13	Hillingdon	4 Virginia Cottages, 60 Heath Road, Hillingdon, Uxbridge	1931/1932	1938
14	Hillingdon	7 Nelson Lane, Hillingdon, Uxbridge (Only Charlotte)	1938	1940