Arthur James Hagger 1893 - 1917

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your enquiry relating to your great uncle. I have found him on the 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' CDRom which tells us that he was in the 1/9th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, born in Islington, enlisted Ashton-u-Lyne, killed in action 30 June 1917 in France and Flanders. He was a private and his number was 351936. His residence was West Green Middlesex. We also found him on the Commonwealth War Graves website where he is listed on the Thiepval Memorial.

You may find more about him in local newspapers in the London area in the week or so after his death. (The local papers here published obituaries for soldiers from this area). You also need to check the National Archives website (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) for his service record and their online campaign medal roll.

We have a war diary for the 1/9th for 1915 - 1918 (MR1/1/3/5) which would give you interesting background information about the movements of the battlion as a whole but nothing about him in particular. You might also be interested in R A Bonner's 'Volunteer Infantry of Ashton-u-Lyne, 1859 - 1971) - we have copies for sale at £25 + £3.49 p&p, payable to Tameside MBC)

Please let me know if we can help you further

Yours

Alice Lock
Local Studies LIbrarian

ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH

"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds."

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen served with the Manchesters, injured in the same summer that Arthur J died he wrote this poem while recovering from his wounds. Sadly he returned to the war in 1918 and was killed a week before the armistice was signed.

Back another step with the Browns

Stephen and Charity's marriage certificate has arrived. Stephen is the son of William Brown, Hawker. Charity Moss is the daughter of George Moss, Soldier. Can't find either father at the moment but have ordered some CD-ROMS from Kent Family History society of parish records so I hope these will help. They were married on Christmas Day in 1857 - I thought this was very romantic until I realised that of course Christmas Day was almost the only holiday most people got at this point in historty. One of the witnesses is an Ann Brown - don't know if she's a mum or a sister to Stephen. I hope I can get a bit further back, its amazing though how much I have found considering what a common name it is.

The Haggers

The Haggers

Nellie Esther Hagger was born in December 1890, the daughter of Henry James Hagger and Annie Louisa Winter. The wedding certificate for Henry and Louisa shows they were married in 1886 in London and at the time Henry gave his occupation as Tobacconist and Insurance Agent. Annie was the daughter of Charles Winter and so far I've not been able to trace him at all, alhough he is given as deceased on her marriage cert and I've found an Annie Winter living in London on the 1871 census with her mother and siblings, mother Mary is given as widow so that would fit. Also a very poor family, Mary had 6 children including Annie and was working at that time as a Shoe-Binder and living in 1 room of a building in Cock Yard, Westminster.

Henry James' father is given as Henry Hagger, Bricklayer and I'm also having trouble tracing them but I've found a Hagger One Name Study and am hoping someone can help me get further back. Stop Press: Peter Hagger of the OneName Hagger website/study has come up trumps. I think he's found Henry James Hagger's birth cert and the 1871 census shows them under Haggar – its the same family I'd been looking at in the 1881 census correctly now as Hagger which has a Henry as the head and a Clara (witness on Henry James' marriage cert ) who is Henry James' older sister. When the birth cert for Henry James comes I should hopefully be able to track Henry and Mary Ann's marriage and go further back.

In the 1891 census, Henry J and Louisa were living in West Conduit Street in the Clerkenwell area of London with Nellie, aged 4 months and Henry C Hagger aged 3. Henry J gives his occupation again as insurance agent and on Nellie's birth certificate it is Prudential agent. Somehow over the years he lost his job because on Nellie and Leonard's wedding certificate (Eastbourne 1915) he was a labourer (deceased). He died in 1899, I'm just waiting for his death cert but I think this is right because at that census Annie is the head of the household living with Nellie, Henry C and Arthur J aged 8. I believe Arthur died in the first world war, I haven't found out yet what happened to Henry C.

The Flower Sellers...Hedley Lucas

I never see the folk who stand
With flowers to sell in crowded street
but that I think that still more grand
Than coloured country come to greet
The Town, is toil without pretence
Of those who offer gems for pence.

More about the Browns

From the Kent Family History Society, who I asked to decipher the census returns and tell me anything they could about Chatham in the late 19th C.

"Your Brown family are living in Ship Alley Chatham 1861 and the 1871 address the East End Brook was a part of the road known as the Brook, which was a less than salubrious area of Chatham at that time, it was probably a tenement with many families living there, usually one room for each family!
This area consisted of little alleys and courts which came off the Brook, bearing in mind that Chatham was a military town with army and navy barracks not far away; this is where soldiers & sailors went for their entertainment in the pubs and brothels that were found along the Brook.
Needless to say not everyone who lived along there was a criminal or prostitute, but they were very impoverished, this was a very poor area."

Hmmm, have today received Charity's death certificate. She died of Syphilis in the Union Workhouse, Chatham in 1890. Now of course that doesn't make her a prostitute - Stephen might have given her syphilis but it points to a life lived on the margins. She was only 54 when she died. There is a book that the Kent Family History Soc recommended called the Chatham Scandal which I must order from the library. Apparently its about: It was at this time that Britain experimented with government supervision of prostitution through the Contagious Diseases Acts, and the area around Chatham was one of the districts in which the Acts were applied. Enforced by Metropolitan policemen in plain clothes, the Acts forced women the police suspected of being prostitutes to undergo medical examination for venereal disease. If they were found to require treatment, the women could be forcibly detained in hospital for up to nine months.

The other bit of news for this week is that I found a bit on the Tate website confirming that The Flower Girl was painted by Shannon in 1900 while he was only holiday in Eastbourne and so I think we can confidently say this was definitely Dora holding Naomi Pretoria. I'm really desperate to find out what happened to Dora, Albert and Naomi but can't find marriage or death certs for Naomi nor death certs for Albert/Dora - must see if Dad has more info on his grandparents. He remembers an old photo of them in a caravan, apparently they were living there (to Nellie's horror) when Leonard and Nellie first met. They were married in 1915.

Finally, I have Albert's birth certificate (born 5/5/1866), son of Stephen Brown and Charity Brown nee Moss. This is great as I have now definitely found Stephen and Charity's marriage record and when the certificate arrives it will confirm Stephen's father's name so I can go back another generation on the Brown side.

Brown Family So Far....

Right...so Leonard Brown was born on 11th April 1892 in Sheeness, Kent ( 4 School Lane which is interesting because it shows that his parents, Albert and Dora must have lived in houses sometimes. Albert's occupation is given as General Labourer. Dora Brown's maiden name is given as Stewart but on their marriage certificate it is given as Steward. I expect neither of them were literate, Albert definitely wasn't because his "mark" is on the marriage cert. They were married in Eastbourne in 1888 aged 23, allegedly, and Albert's occupation is Labourer. Their parent's names are given as Stephen Brown, occupation Tin-man (often a euphamism for Tinker or gypsy) and Charles Steward (deceased) a Labourer. Their address at time of marriage is just Seaside Inn. They were married in Christ Church Eastbourne which is a Catholic church - this caused some interest when I relayed this to Dad as he in turn told Auntie P who says there is a family rumour that Albert "kidnapped" Dora from a convent. Hmmm.

I cannot find a Dora Steward of the right age anywhere, not on the censuses and not on the birth registers. Its very, very irritating. If they are Stewarts rather than Stewards then I am up a flaming gumtree because I imagine there are a fair few Charles Stewarts around on the records :-)

Without much hope I went looking for traces of Stephen Brown, Albert's father. Stephen wasn't actually a terribly common name in the 19th century and initially I went looking for a household in Kent or Sussex with an adult Stephen and a son Albert. I couldn't find them at first but I did find an adult female, a Charity Brown, in the 1871 census living with son Albert aged 5 (which matches the age given on marriage cert) and two other children, a Henry Brown aged 1 and an Amelia Brown aged 14. Charity was apparently born in Kent and the family were living in East End Brook - there is a street in Chatham just called Brook or The Brook. No house name is given and other people on the same census page are shown as living "Back of Birmingham Pub, High Street" so I think they were living rough. The Brook is near the dockyard and I wonder if there was work there. Charity's occupation is shown as General Hawker. She is shown as married and this set me off looking for Stephen again and to confirm this was the right Brown family I needed to confirm that Charity was indeed Stephen's wife. Just discovered Charles Dickens lived in a house in the Brook, Chatham as a child but this would have been 50 yrs before the Browns! It was certainly the poor end of town, the Workhouse was around that area.

I found Stephen and Charity in the 1861 census, thank God for jobsworth census people!! Stephen Brown was 24 ish in 1861 and gives his birthplace as Faversham, Kent. They are living at something indecipherable Alley in Chatham and his occupation is given as M.... Stone Dealer.
Amelia is just 2 - so she was probably actually 12 in the next census, ages and dates often differ.
There is a Thomas Brown aged 1 and who I guess didn't survive as he isn't on the next census.

By 1881 Charity (mistranscribed as Chantry) and Stephen are living in Eastling Rd, Ospringe near Faversham Kent with an Elizabeth aged 8, an Ernest aged 6 a Mary A aged 3 and Henry aged 12. I'm assuming Amelia and Albert have left home by then. I say home but there is no house no given so again I'm assuming a tent? Stephen at 46 is shown as "no occupation" and I wonder if he was unwell as there is no trace of him on the 1901 census. I think I've found a record of Charity's death cert in 1890. I#m also hoping that I've found he Marriage cert for Stephen and Charity in 1855 as this should give me Stephen's father's name and Charity's maiden name.

I don't know yet if this is a wrong turning but in the 1851 census there is a Stephen Brown living in Chislett, Canterbury in a one house dwelling with 25 other people, including his parents Thomas and Harriett. Their occupations are Agricultural labourers and there is also a Henry Brown, brother aged 29. The names fit - Stephen called his first son Thomas and another son Henry. I won't know if this is right until I track down either Stephen's birth or marriage cert.
I am pleased with getting back this far though, which was more than I hoped.

More to come in another post on Dad's mum's family, the Haggers.

Hulett work in progress.

After several obsessive sessions on the computer and lots of waiting for birth and marriage certs here is where I've got. On my mum's paternal line.

William Reginald Hulett, born 17th May 1897 in Leicester (25 Oxenden St)

Son of William George Hulett (journeyman die sinker) and Sarah Hulett formerly Lovell

William George Hulett married Sarah Lovell on Christmas Day 1882 at All Saints Church in Nottingham. He was 24 and a "pressman" living in Kettering. He was the daughter of George Hulett, gardener. She was 25, the daughter of Daniel Lovell, builder. Witnesses were Thomas ....illegible.. Lovell and Jane Lovell.

I the 1871 census William Hulett, aged 12 is living in 23 New Town, Woodford, Northants, registration district of Thrapston with father George Hulett (30) an agricultural labourer, his wife Eunice (46 born in Leighton, Huntingdon) and their other children Charles (7), Samuel (21) and Sarah (15).

In the 1881 census William is 22, living in Melton Street, Kettering , occupation shoe rivetter.still with George and Eunice and his brothers Charles and Samuel but no mention of Sarah but I'm assuming she would be married as she would be 25.

Bloody hell, William George married Sarah Lovell ok? William George's mum ws Eunice Hulett formerly Whiteman according to his birth cert. Sarah Lovell's mum was Elizabeth Lovell formerly Whiteman. Hmmm, kissing cousins I wonder?

Anyway 1891 census William is 31, should be 32 he's forgotten his age :-) With Sarah and Sarah's mum Elizabeth Lovell (mistranscribed Lobell) , I;m assuming George is now dead, Eunice died in 1899 of Bright's disease. William and Sarah have 3 children so far, Daniel E (3), Jessy (5 months) and Nellie (6).

I cannot find William, Sarah or my grandfather William R on the 1901 census which is really irritating. Daniel got married in 1912 and Nellie in 1902, I have no record of any of the sibilings deaths and they don't appear on the 1901 census either.

Ok so tracking back William George's father was George married to Eunice nee Whiteman. Eunice Whiteman (born 1821 in Leighton Huntingdonshire) in the 1841 census was living with her mother Elizabeth and her sister Elizabeth (20). Now this is weird because also on that census are May and Priscilla born in the same year as Elizabeth junior (1821). And then three boys John, William and Thos(?) born 1816. So that looks like two sets of triplets live and survived in the early 19th century???

It gets better, Eunice Whiteman and Elizabeth Whiteman both seem to have got married on the same day and I think their children got married - will track marriage certs to prove it. Wow, it sounds like they were very close. George Riseley Hulett is the name given on the marriage cert (which I'm now awaiting) and he was born in 1820 in Oakley, Bedfordshire - there is an IGI reference to a George Riseley Hulett born in 1820, son of Samuel and Mary Hulett but I can't get back any further than that without access to parish records. Riseley is a place name not very far from Oakley in Bedfordshire so must be Samuel or Mary's birthplace I think.

Bad news for my mum on the origins of the name Hulett -
Hulett

Origin: English

Spelling variations of this family name include: Howlett, Howlet, Hullett and others.

First found in Yorkshire where they were seated from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Randall and William Howlett settled in Virginia in 1623; Thomas Howlett settled in Salem Mass in 1630; another Thomas Howlet settled in Virginia in 1635.

Making A Start

After a conversation with my parents, in Spain, today I decided to make a start on finding out about the Brown/Hulett history.

I started with Eric Gordon Brown m Ida Elaine Audrey Hulett ie my parents.

Dad told me his dad was Leonard Brown born 11th April 1892 in Sheerness, Kent. I've found and ordered the birth cert. I also found by looking in the 1901 census that by 1901 Leonard Brown and his parents Albert and Dora Brown were living in Eastbourne (which ties in as Dad was born in Eastbourne). Albert and Dora were 32 and 33 respectively at the time of the census but given how many Albert Brown's there are around I can't go any futher until I can get more info off Leonard's birth cert. My Dad doesn't think I'll get very far as he reckons Albert's family were gypsies but we'll see. They certainly weren't born in Eastbourne as stated on the census cos I've checked all the Eastbourne registered births and there isn't an Albert Brown.

One of the bits that really interested me is that dad's father had two siblings, one called Albert and another called Naomi Pretoria which is just an amazing name. Did a quick google and realised that she was born April 1900 (according to census) and in July 1900 the British captured Pretoria in the Boer War so I think someone had a burst of patriotism in the register office :-)

Now, according to my Dad there is a painting in London called The Flower Girl and his granny (Dora) is in it - he hasn't seen it but remembers being told by family. How I am kicking myself now that I didn't talk more to my Auntie Dee (also a Dora!) as I think she would have remembered so much more being older and a woman! I've done some googling and there is a painting called the Flower Girl and I think it might be this one

If this is the right painting it would be Dora at 32 with Naomi Pretoria in her arms as it was painted in 1900. I can't believe she would have been travelling from Eastbourne to London to sell flowers so perhaps they were living in London and moved to Eastbourne shortly before the census? Don't know how to find out more. Might phone up Eastbourne and find out if there are any records relating to Lime Tree Terrace, if they were rented houses for example??

Dad's Mum is proving hard to track down a birth certificate for. She's Nellie Esther Hagger and my dad reckons (from info from my Auntie Dee) thar she was born in December 1889 but there is no Nellie E or Nellie Esther registered in 1889 or early 1890. There is a Nellie Esther Hagger registered in Jan/Feb/Mar register for Holborn (London) in 1891 so she could be a December 1890 birth, registered in the new year. Might get the birth cert anyway to have a look and must pump Dad for more information. Leonard and Nellie's marriage certificate might tell me more also? Can't wait for the certs to arrive this is so exciting.

Made a very brief start on Mum's side. Think she's given me the wrong year of birth for my grandfather as the only William Reginald Hewlett I can find is in 1897 but is Leicester which would fit. And I've found my granny Isa Cassandra Chambers (what a name!!) born in Aston, Warwickshire in 1905. I remember them both, but only very dimly as granny died when I was quite young and although my grandfather died when I was an adult, we didn't see that much of him as he had 11 children and goodness knows how many grandhildren so we weren't that important to him, especially as mum had moved so far away (mentally and emotionally) from home in Birmingham. I'm going to pursue it though cos Hulett is a very interesting name and Mum thinks it is Huegenot, how romantic :-)