DURNFORD

Until recently family history told us nothing more than "Joseph Durnford came from Devizes." We had no knowledge of his parents or of any brothers and sisters he may have had. We now know more thanks initially to the 1881 Census, the IGI, and the Wiltshire 1851 Census. and www.durnfords.co.uk provided much more information.

Jacob Durnford, twin brother of Esau was born on 3/10/1802 at All Cannings. Described variously as a shoemaker or labourer, he married Martha Baker on 25/8/1827 at Wilsford near Pewsey. Their son, Joseph, was born on 14/1/1831 and christened on 20/3/1831 at Devizes. The 1841 Census shows the family living at St John’s, Marlborough. Jacob is described as a labourer. Three children to Jacob and Martha are listed: Joseph aged 10, Thomas aged 7, and Edwin aged 2. When a fourth son, John, was born later that year, Jacob’s occupation was a toll collector. Jacob died of pleurisy on 1/6/1844 at St Martins, Marlborough. The 1851 Census shows his widow, Martha ‘Dunford’ living at Rosemary Lane, Marlborough. She was 42 and a laundress, place of birth: Fittlelton. Two sons are listed, Edwin ‘Dunford’ aged 12, born at All Cannings, and John Durnford aged 9, born at Mildenhall [see below.]

Joseph, and Thomas [see below], were probably already in London at this time. A blacksmith by trade, Joseph married Harriet Day (born on 25/10/1828 at Rushall, Wiltshire) on 5/8/1855 at St John the Baptist Parish Church, Hoxton (Shoreditch.) The marriage certificate shows his deceased father as a shoemaker. Harriet’s father is James Day, a general dealer (previously a farmer). Residence at the time of marriage is New Gloucester Place, Hoxton. Their children were (1) Fanny Maria on 2/5/1856 (bap. 25/12/1856), (2) Alfred Joseph on 27/7/1858 (bap. 8/3/1868), (3) Ellen Martha on 2/8/1861 (bap. 17/9/1868), (4) Henry (Harry) James on 20/1/1864, (5) Emily Elizabeth on 20/8/1867, and (6) Mary Ann on 11/9/1870 (who died in 1872). All were born in Shoreditch.

Fanny Maria married James Nash, cabinet maker, on 18/2/1877 at St John the Baptist Church, Hoxton. The Durnford address at this time was 16, Flemming Street. James’ father, also James, was an egg merchant. He was the supplier of the Durnford’s Regulator. This was a machine that regulated the temperature for egg incubation. Trade leaflets describing the Regulator still exist and the Regulator was sold right across the country. It is believed to have been invented by Joseph Durnford. The 1881 Census sees Fanny and James at 11, Baising Place, with children, Minnie Fanny aged two (who died aged 5), and William J. aged one. In 1891 and 1901 they were next door to the Durnfords at 17, Flemming Street. A second Minnie Fanny had been born in 1887 along with Lily Harriet born in 1890 and Fred two years later. They later moved to Edmonton, North London. In 1901 William J. Nash lived at 18, Flemming Street with wife, Sophia, and two year old daughter, Alice.

Alfred Joseph married in 1878 [see below].

The 1881 Census shows Joseph and Harriet with the rest of their children at 16, Flemming Street. Joseph’s mother, Martha aged 72, lived with them. Martha was still there, with Joseph and Harriet, in 1891. Her place of birth was now shown as Wvelsford (Wilsford?) Martha died on 23/3/1892.

Ellen Martha (described as a servant in 1881) married John Hitchcock, railway porter of 2, Craven Street, City Road on 31/7/1882 in Bethnal Green. His father was Joseph Hitchcock, writer. Ellen and John had children and later lived at Edmonton.

Harry James, a painter and decorator, never married. He would invent gadgets to do with locks, or for the kitchen, which he never had the money to patent. Several people stole his ideas. When a pensioner, on a pre-War ten shillings a week and half-starved, his mind was affected and he was taken into a mental home. There he spent his last few years where he happily believed that he was foreman over the (white-coated) doctors and staff. He died in 1941.

Emily Elizabeth married Henry Henson, of 38 Newton Street, on 1/4/1888 in Shoreditch. Henry’s father was William Richard Henson, a house decorator. The 1891 Census has Elizabeth and Henry at 18, Flemming Street alongside the Nash and Durnford families. Henry was a carpenter and joiner born in 1866. Their children were Emily Elizabeth born in 1889, Albert Henry, 1890, Mabel Ellen, 1893, George Thomas,1895, Alice Ada, 1897, and Harold Richard, 1899. By 1901 the family lived at 23, North Terrace, Sutherland Road, Lower Edmonton.

Joseph died on 11/10/1909 and Harriet died on 6/8/1910, both at 16, Flemming Street.

Alfred Joseph Durnford was born on 27/7/1858 at 43, Nicholas Street, St Johns Road, Hoxton. On Christmas Day 1878, from 29, Rutland Street, Alfred married Mary Ann Dyus (born on 17/12/1855 at 38, Bacchus Walk, Hoxton, although her family originated from Birmingham and Warwickshire.) As a youth Alfred had worked on the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, having his lunch perched inside the cross at the top! He also worked on Alexandra Palace. At some time he was a messenger for the Bank of England. Lying about his age, he joined the City of London Police at the age of 17. After helping put away a gang of Hoxton criminals, he and other policemen were subject to revenge attacks, one of which put Alfred in hospital. By 1881 he was described as a City porter. He was also a freeman of the City of London. Alfred and Mary Ann had 3 children. Will(iam) Alfred was born on 1/3/1880 at 91, Marlborough Road, Shoreditch, Fred(erick) Walter on 10/7/1884, and Beatrice Harriet on 23/6/1889 at 44, Markhouse Avenue, Walthamstow. At this time Alfred was a packer. With her chest damaged, laid in cotton wool, Beatrice was not expected to survive. Alfred also briefly ran a sweet shop & tobacconists in Walthamstow. Will and Fred boarded at Cordwainers’ School in the City. By 1901 the family had moved via Tottenham to 22, Denny Road, Edmonton. Around 1903/4, Alfred was on his way to work by train with his feet up on the opposite seat. Being in this position, he was able to brace himself as his train crashed into another train in a tunnel. A number of people were killed. Alfred refused to go to hospital and insisted on being sent home. Had he gone to hospital he would have qualified for railway compensation. He was off work for a year with back injuries. Alfred retired in 1921 and, being a member of the Skinners' Company, Alfred and Mary Ann moved into 18, Skinners' Almshouses, Palmers Green, North London. Mary Ann died on 24/4/1932. Alfred died on 12/2/1941.

(I) WILL, a freeman of the City of London, married Lilian(?) in 1903. She divorced him many years after going off with the lodger! Will and Lilian(?) had 2 children, Percy and Lily. Will worked in the City for a firm called Pryke(?) & Palmer who supplied bathroom and kitchen fittings. He lived with Gert(rude) for many years until she had a mental breakdown and died. Then, on 27/11/1954, Will married Rose Kearley who outlived him. Will died in 1956 and Rose in 1971.

(2) FRED married 3 times. He was firstly a policeman like his father. Fred was on police duty at the Sidney Street Siege. There is a photo of Winston Churchill peeping out of a shop doorway at the siege. One of the policemen around him is probably Fred. After he left the police, he was chief commissionaire at Lloyds of London. He was on duty there when George V opened the building c.1930. After lunch, George V and Queen Mary emerged. George, swaying at the top of a flight of stairs, was clearly the worse for wear after a few drinks. Ignoring protocol, Fred took his elbow, guiding him down the steps towards the car. George was then not capable of getting in the car. Irritated, Queen Mary thumped George in the back saying, "Get in, George," and he fell in the car! Later in the 1930s, Fred was chief doorman at the Brighton Aquarium and subsequently the Imperial Theatre there. Fred first married in 1906 to Alice M. who died in 1928. They had 5 children: Fred(erick) (who married Alice and had a son, Christopher, who went to Malaya), May, Iris (married to John) who died of cancer, Dolly (Doris), and Leonard who died in a mental home.

Fred's second marriage was to Florence May French who had a son from a previous marriage. She died, aged 72, in 1951 at Brighton. Fred's third marriage on 19/1/1952 was to Ethel Mary Blacksley who outlived him. Fred died in 1969 and Ethel in 1980, both at Southend.

(3) BEATRICE had been given piano lessons by a music professor for a term. The lessons stopped with her father’s railway accident. She carried on teaching herself and supplemented the family income by giving piano lessons at nine pence a time. Some of her pupils did quite well and took part in music festivals at Crystal Palace. Beatrice had previously sung with children’s choirs at Crystal Palace. Alfred would not allow her to work so she remained at home until her marriage. She married Frederick Augustus Taylor (a joiner or cabinet maker, born 4/1/1882 at 5, Campbell Road, Finsbury Park) in April 1916. They lived firstly with her parents at 22, Denny Road, Lower Edmonton, where their first son, Leonard Victor was born on 12/11/1918, and secondly at 16, Goodwyns Vale, Muswell Hill. In 1926, with £500 in notes withdrawn from bank savings, they paid cash for 40 Ecclesbourne Gardens, Palmers Green, birthplace of their second son, Ronald Philip, born on 19/6/1928. Fred died on 14/11/1959. Beatrice later moved to Frinton-on-sea, place of many family holidays, until her death on 7/11/1973.

Leonard (a British Rail Welfare Officer) married 3 times, first to Joan Jeanette Jeffery, having one son, Peter (born on 14/11/1947), who married(?) Gwen Cumins. Len and Joan divorced and he married Ada Catherine Ann Boyce (nee Derriman) and moved from Kent to North Wales. After she died he married Misty (Gladys Mary Enid). Len died on 14/4/1994 at Rhyl.

Ronald (an antiquarian bookseller) married Doreen Brenda Camidge (born 5/6/1929) on 28/3/1953 at Palmers Green, London. They had 3 children, (1) Adrian Michael born on 29/2/1956 in West Finchley, (2) Caroline born on 1/6/1959 at Cumnor, Oxford, and (3) Anne Shirley born on 30/1/1963 at Billericay, Essex. The family moved to New Barnet, Herts. Ronald and Doreen divorced. Adrian (signmaker, and latterly graphics coordinator, at London Zoo) married Philippa Margaret Noone (born 27/1/1955 in Germany) on 15/7/1978 at Wood Green. They have one daughter, Eve Noone Taylor born on 31/10/1988 at Leyton, East London. Caroline married Mark Christopher Fisher (born 9/7/1961) on 17/8/1985 at New Barnet and, moving to Welwyn Garden City, had a girl and a boy, Vicky (Victoria Stephanie born 30/6/1992) and Jamie (James Michael born on 1/8/1996.) Anne married Graeme Howard Alexander Macdonald (born on 23/2/1960 at Ayr) on 2/10/1993 at Thundridge, Herts. They moved to Scotland where they had a boy and a girl, Calum Ian (born 8/10/1994 at Inverness) and Niamh Caitlin (born 3/3/1997 at Ayr).

Of the other sons of Jacob, Thomas Durnford, a warehouse man of Helmsley Street, Hackney, had married Mary Ann Hellier of London Fields, on 9/1/1854 at the Parish Church, South Hackney. Mary Ann’s father, Robert, was a tailor. Thomas (now a coachman domestic servant) and Mary Ann had a son, Thomas Henry, born on 5/4/1860 at 15, Nicholas Street, Hoxton. The 1881 Census shows the family living at 1, Golbourne Mews, Kensington. Mary Ann, born in Sidmouth, Devon, was 3 years older than Thomas. Two children, Frederick and Mary Ann are listed. Frederick William, a warehouse porter, was born in Poplar in 1862. Mary Ann (junior) was born in Old Ford in 1870. Registers for the period also show a Henry Stanley, of Poplar, who was born and died in 1873.

The 1881 Census shows the two younger sons of Jacob and Martha to be both in London. Edwin Durnford, aged 42, was at 11, Baising Place (same address as Fanny & James Nash.) He was a labourer, born on 27/8/1838. His wife was Jane aged 50, born St Luke’s, Middx. Edwin, a carman at Herbert Street, Shoreditch, had married Jane Oliver, of Featherstone Street, St Lukes, on 23/12/1860 at St John the Baptist Church, Shoreditch. Jane’s deceased father was Henry Oliver, a glassfitter. John Durnford was a witness at the wedding. Edwin, of 13, Essex Street, Shoreditch, died on 5/8/1911.