Alfred
Titheradge was born in Paddington area of London on 3 September 1859 and was
baptised in Bayswater, St Matthew on 2 October 1859. He was the fifth child of Edward Eatrill
Titheradge and Eliza Peters. On the 1861
census he is found at home with his parents and 4 siblings at 85 Moscow Road, Bayswater. When he was 10, in 1869 there was a fire in
the property where Edward and Eliza lived.
The fire was reported nationally in newspapers but although the children
are mentioned and counted there is no mention of a child called Alfred. We found this very strange. The 1871 census finds Edward and Eliza
living in Moscow Road but again no mention of Alfred. At first we thought he must have died but no
death record or burial record could be found.
Then in 1881 he appears in the marriage records when he marries Phoebe
Perrett on 28 March 1881 at Paddington, St James and the couple appear living in
Caroline Place Paddington on the 1881 census, with Alfred’s occupation a
saddler and Phoebe a cook. Then he
vanishes again no death record, no children from the marriage and no presence
in any census. So what happened to
Alfred?
For 20
years this was the story as we knew it.
Then as more records have become available on line we have managed to
fill in some of the story.
Although
Alfred was not at home in the 1871 census we found an entry for him as an inmate aged 11 in Dartford, Farningham, Horton Kirby
and South Darenth Home for Little Boys. The records are not easily available for this
institution so we have no idea why he was there or when he went. Did his parents send him because they could
not afford all their children, did he run away or was he sent because he did
something wrong?
Confirmation
that this Alfred found on the 1871 census was the correct one came from School records for Bayswater that
show in 1872 Alfred returned to Paddington area to live with his family at 75
Moscow Road and went to school, being admitted on 16 September to St Matthews School Bayswater with his former school listed as Farmingham Home
School, Kent.
After Alfred’s
marriage to Phoebe both individuals disappear and it was only last week that we
found one possible reference to Phoebe.
There
is a Phoebe Perret sailing to Australia, listed under her maiden name aged 24
and marked as single arriving in New South Wales aboard the “Samuel Plimsoll”
on the 16 June 1883. Is this the same
Phoebe Perrett that married Alfred? The age is right and there was only one
Phoebe Perrett born around this time.
The
next reference we have of Alfred Titheradge is Philadelphia USA in the
Philadelphia City Directory between 1888 and 1902
1888 Alfred Titridge,
oysters, 1801 S Broad h2219
1890 Alfred Titheridge,
rigger, h 210 Mendenhall
1894 Alfred
Titheradge, engineer, at 1718 Jackson
1902 Alfred
Titheradge, electrician, at h 4626 Linmore
The
final set of records that come to light show that Alfred was married to
Elizabeth (also referred to as Lizzie) although no marriage record has yet been
found. We know Elizabeth was born around
1867 in London but that is all we know.
Over a
ten year period between 1887 and 1897 they had 8 children (or maybe more since
it mainly the burial records we have found). All but one child died in the
first two years of life. The children
were:
1.
Male Deteradge, born August 1887. Died on 5 September 1887 aged 2 weeks and
buried at Mt Zion Cemetery. Address 2221
Mendenhall Ward 26.
2.
Lotta E Titheradge, born September 1888. Died on 9 June 1889 and buried 11 June,.aged
9 months. Address 2210 Mendenhall Street 26 Ward.
3.
Maud
A Titherage born about August 1889 and christened on 5 August 1889. No death or
marriage record has been found.
4.
Mary Titheradge, 8 March 1891. Died on 16 March 1891aged 8 days and buried at
Mt Zion Cemetery. Address 1718 Jackson
Street.
5.
George Alfred Titheradge, born about October
1892. Died 20 March 1893 aged 5 months,
buried 22 March 1893 at Philadelphia Italian Episcopal Mission, L´Emmanuello.
Address 1718 Jackman. Cause of death marasmus which is extreme under
nourishment with marked loss of weight.
6.
Alfred Titheradge, born 26 February 1894 . Died on 27 February 1894 1 day old.
8.
Elizabeth Titheridge born 22 May 1897 baptised
4 July 1897 at Italian Episcopal Mission, L´Emmanuello. Died 9 December 1897.
1.
Why
did Alfred go to the home for Little Boys when he had parents and siblings? And
when did he go?
2.
How
did Alfred get to America - there are no records of his arrival on any
passenger list found so far?
3.
What
happened to Phoebe Titheradge? Was Alfred a bigamist who married again while
still married or did Phoebe die or did
he and Elizabeth live together unmarried?
4.
Did
any of Alfred’s children survive to adulthood?
5.
Why
does his death record show him as married when Elizabeth died 5 years earlier?
If you can help answer any of these questions
please get in touch or post comment below.
6 comments:
Hi,
I believe I may have found Alfred's daughter Maud. I believe she may be my great-grandmother. My grandmother's mother's maiden name was Maud A. Titherage and she married Ralph A. Gras Sr. According to our records she was born on August 5th, 1889 and died in October 1980.
Maybe we can figure this out?
Amber Funk Ovecka
This is really exciting that we might have found some descendants of Alfred, we thought all his children had probably died.
Would you be able to give me details of Maud’s marriage to Ralph as I have been unable to find it in any records that I have access to.
If your date of birth and place of birth is verified for your great grandmother there can be little doubt this is the same person. The records show Maud as daughter of A Titheradge and E Titheradge and she falls nicely into the succession of children born every 18 months. The census records for Maud Gras show her parents were born in England. There are a few other Titheradge/ Titheridge family members in the USA but the “Titherages” don’t arrive until after 1900 so Maud is not related to them. There was a James Fabian Titheradge who died in Philadelphia in 1847 but we don’t think he had any sons to carry on the family name.
It would therefore seem you are related to the Titheradge family who have been traced back to Daniel Titheradge and Rebecca Baker in Portsmouth, Hampshire in 1744. I can send you more details if you wish. I don’t know if you were aware of this family line before you read the blog?
In my research I have come across a previously unidentified Mary R Titheradge Gras Hovel born in Philadelphia on 10 July 1910 and died in Hatboro Pennsylvania on 17 April 2002 and was married to Francis Coates. I presume that this is one of Maud’s children, can you confirm this?
Alfred is the brother of Henry John Titheradge, my husband’s great grandfather.
Thank you so much for telling me about Maud.
I am Amber Ovecka's Aunt and will confirm for you that Mary R. was Maud
's daughter born before she married Ralph Gras. My grandmother always said she was an orphan which was proven to be true as Alfred died when she was young and she was raised in an orphanage. Or, at least, that is what I always had been told. After her marriage to Ralph, she had more children. She always said she had 13, but we have never found proof of that many. I only know of my mother and aunts and uncles which totaled 9. My one aunt found reference to twins who were born and died. Thank you for filling in some of our history.
Karen Clark
Thank you for your comment, I'm glad you found the article useful and found out more about your family.
I have not yet found any reference to more children born to Maud but here in the UK we do not have reference to all the american records. If you are looking for births it is worth thinking about all possible spelling variations. It I amazing how many ways Titheradge can be transcribed! Often the T at the start can be mistaken for an L or F, plus the i can be an e or even y, and the end can be edge or idge.
I cannot find Alfred's marriage to Elizabeth / Lizzie anywhere in either US or UK. I will keep looking and let you know if I find any extra information.
Hi Ann,
Karen Clark is my relative.
Thank you again for this wonderful information regarding our ancestors.
Bonne
Hi Bonnie Thank you for your comment. Glad you found the information about Alfred interesting. When I started researching Alfred I didn't know there were any of his children who got past childhood, so it is wonderful to be in touch with all the descendants of Maud.
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