Townsend Robert 1852

Townsend, Robert 1852 – 1931				Father:	Townsend,	John		1812-1879
				Mother:	Francis,	Sarah Margaret		1815-1892

Birth date	Birth place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Christening	Place	Borough
10 Feb 1852	Bermondsey	Jan-Mar 1852	London	Rotherhithe		Vol 1d, p 475	7 Mar 1852	Bermondsey	Southwark
Death date	Death place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Cause
22 Mar 1931	Manor Park	Jan-Mar 1931	Essex	West Ham		Vol 4a, p 237

Berry, Ellen Cork, Eire 1851-1926	Marriage				Atherton, Emma Maria Poplar London 1851-1914	Unmarried Partnership
	Date	18 April 1875				Date	commenced 1881-1890
	Place	Trinity Church, Newington				Place	Stepney
	District	St Saviour, Southwark				District
	County	London				County
	GRO ref.	Vol 1d, p 37				GRO ref.

Children		Birth date	Birth place	Death date	Death place	Marriage date	Marriage place	Spouse
Robert John Townsend		16 Sep 1875	Rotherhithe	8 Aug 1927	Rotherhithe	25 Dec 1898	Rotherhithe	Lydia Fanny Brooker

Lilian Emma Atherton		16 Aug 1891	Mile End	Apr-Jun 1958	Essex SW	26 Dec 1915	Little Ilford	William Kelly
John Edward Atherton		4 Mar 1899	Mile End	14 Apr 1954	Australia	28 Jun 1925	Ilford	Ethel Montgomery

Records
Date	Source		Residence		Occupation
7 Apr 1861	1861 England Census		21 Surrey Place, Rotherhithe		Scholar
2 Apr 1871	1871 England Census		21 Surrey Place, Rotherhithe		Lighterman
18 Apr 1875	Marriage				Lighterman
11 Oct 1875	Birth registration, Robert John		149 Abbeyfield Road, New Road, Rotherhithe		Lighterman
26 Jun 1880	Admissions Register for Ellen		63 New Road, Rotherhithe
3 Apr 1881	1881 England Census		56 Princes Road, Bermondsey		Lighterman
5 Apr 1891	1891 England Census		61 Senrab Street, Mile End, Stepney		Lighterman
1892-1895	London Electoral Registers		61 Senrab Street, Mile End, Stepney
25 Dec 1898	Marriage, Robert John				Lighterman
21 Mar 1901	1901 England Census		54 Harcourt Avenue, Manor Park		Lighterman
2 April 1911	1911 England Census		48 Harcourt Avenue, Manor Park		Lighterman (unemployed)
26 Dec 1915	Marriage, Lilian Emma		48 Harcourt Avenue, Manor Park		Retired Lighterman
28 Jun 1925	Marriage, John Edward		48 Harcourt Avenue, Manor Park		Waterman (retired)
22 Mar 1931	Probate record		48 Harcourt Avenue, Manor Park

Additional Information Robert John followed in the profession of his father as a lighterman. Robert’s wife Ellen was admitted to Brookwood Lunatic Asylum on 26 June 1880. The 1881 England Census shows her resident there. On 27 June 1884 she was transferred to the London County Lunatic Asylum, Coulsdon. The discharge register for Brookwood records no improvement in her condition. Ellen remained at the Coulsdon asylum until her death on 7^th November 1926 (see 1891 and 1901 England Census returns). After Ellen’s admission to Brookwood Robert was either confused or evasive about his marital status. In the 1881 census he stated he was unmarried, and in the 1891 census he described himself as single. However in the 1901 census he said he was married, and in the 1911 census he correctly declared he had been married for 36 years. In the 1881 census, age 5, and the 1991 census, age 15, Robert and Ellen’s son, Robert John, was living with his grandmother and aunt. Robert lived for many years with Emma Atherton (see 1891, 1901 and 1911 census returns). Emma (Emma Maria Thomas) had married George James Atherton, a widower, in Bromley in 1874, and probably had two children by him, Geoffrey and James. George Atherton died in 1884. Emma had two further children, Lilian Emma and John Edward, in 1891 and 1899 respectively. Although surnamed Atherton on their birth certificates, they were without doubt Robert Townsend’s issue, since their father’s first name is stated to be Robert on their marriage certificates.