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Alfred (3) Woodhurst was born in Bethnal Green in 1864 to parents Alfred (1) Woodhurst and his second partner Mary Ann Edridge. The GRO reference is [Birth Index: Bethnal Green 1c 251, 1864 (June)].
The 1881 Census finds him living with his mother at 22, King's Bench Walk in Southwark. He is described as aged 17 and occupied as a cabinet maker. The census record cites his surname as Edridge but in adult life he went by his correct Woodhurst surname. It also states that he was born in Southwark; this may have been just a mistake, or perhaps Mary Ann was trying to avoid any reference to her life in Bethnal Green with Alfred (1).
He married Alice Jennings at the Christ Parish Church in Southwark, Surrey on August 11th 1884. The marriage certificate [Marriage Index: St. Saviour 1d 174, 1884 (Sept)] names him as Alfred Edridge Woodhurst but the second forename was not registered at birth. He made a X-mark instead of signing his name. He is described as a bachelor aged 20 and occupied as a milkman, and Alice as a spinster aged 19 (but probably only 17). Both gave their place of residence as 6, Boundary Row. His father is described as a hatter Alfred Woodhurst, allegedly deceased, and hers as a veterinary surgeon Frederick Jennings, also allegedly deceased. The witnesses were his mother, who also made an X-mark, and Jane Hampshire whose connection is unknown. Boundary Row, just a quarter of a mile from King's Bench Walk, branches off from the west side of Blackfriars Road and lies a few hundred yards east of Waterloo Station.
It is not known why Alfred (3) gave up cabinet making and became a milkman - perhaps the latter job ensured a more stable income.
Although he apparently believed in 1884 that his father was dead, the latter was not in fact the case - Alfred (1) was still alive in the Hanwell Asylum at that time. Perhaps Mary Ann had concealed this.
It is strongly suspected that his wife was Alice Selina Jennings, born in Peckham, Camberwell [Birth Index: Camberwell 1d 586, 1867 (March)] to parents Frederick Jennings and his wife Rosa Ann (nee Fairey or Farey). Frederick, who was born in Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire and had been a horse dealer in 1851, married Rosa Ann in 1852 [Marriage Index: Shoreditch 1c 467, 1852 (Dec)]. The 1861 Census finds them living with four children at 2, St. James Place in Camberwell St. Giles where Frederick was occupied as a horse keeper. The 1871 Census finds Alice Selina at age "4" living with them at 5, Britannia Terrace in Camberwell, Frederick now being occupied as a labourer. The 1881 Census finds her at age "14" living with them at 153, Rye Lane in Peckham. Frederick was now occupied as a "horsebreaker", a term commonly associated in that period with "veterinary surgeon".
It appears that by 1891 Alfred (3) and Alice had parted. There is no GRO reference to a prior death of his wife, nor any reference in the Divorce Index to their having divorced. The 1891 Census finds him at age "27" ostensibly living (or staying) with his mother Mary Ann and brother William (8) at 25, Lithgow Street in Battersea, described not as a milkman but as a cabinet maker. He is falsely described as unmarried, which may have been merely an error or may have had some ulterior motive. It is not certain that Mary Ann did actually have her sons with her at the time of this census.
The 1891 Census finds Alice Selina living with her mother Rosa at 39, Heaton Road in Camberwell, occupied as a dressmaker and described as unmarried. The household included her brother Thomas, occupied as a horse keeper. It appears that her father Frederick had left Rosa, because he was then living - with no other family - at 10, Luido Street, about half a mile from Rosa. His occupation was horse clipper. This property also contained, in a separate household, a younger and widowed laundress Ellen Davies and her son. It may be that Frederick had left Rosa prior to Alice's marriage to Alfred (3) and that Alice had described him on her marriage certificate as dead as a token of dismissal from her life. Later in 1891 she married George Robert Cockburn [Marriage Index: Camberwell 1d 1494, 1891 (Dec)], a man 13 years older than herself, and by him produced several children. At the time of the 1891 Census he had been unmarried and boarding at 6, Gaywood Street in Southwark and occupied as a hosepipe maker. The 1901 Census finds Alice Selina and George Robert living at 59, Choumert Grove in Peckham Rye, together with her mother Rosa. Rosa was now declaring herself to be a widow, but Frederick was still very much alive - at the time of this census he was back in the county of his birth, still occupied as a horse clipper and living at 14, Gas Lane in Cambridge with the afore-mentioned widow Ellen Davies. He died aged "84" in 1907 [Death Index: Cambridge 3b 270, 1907 (June)].
During the 1890s Alfred (3) took up a new partner Eliza Gilbey, and in 1898 produced by her a child Alfred Edward. He was then living at 9, Netherwood Street in Kilburn and occupied as a milk carrier. Eliza was evidently born around 1873 in or near Stepney; she may have been Elizabeth Eve Gilbey [Birth Index: St George East 1c 406, 1873 (Dec)].
The 1901 Census finds Alfred (3) and Eliza living at 1, Kelson Street in Kilburn. He was still working as a milk carrier. He is again wrongly described as unmarried and is wrongly ascribed a middle initial "H" on the schedule. His partner is named as "Eliza W. Gilbey", the "W" presumably denoting "Woodhurst". She is described as unmarried and the schedule's field for her relationship to Alfred (3) is blank. Also in the household was Mary Ann, aged "63", occupied as a monthly nurse.
In 1904 Alfred (3) was summoned before the Hampstead Petty Sessions for failing to make payments to the local workhouse. A report published by The Hampstead and Highgate Express on August 13th 1904 stated the following:
Alfred Woodhurst, of Netherwood Street, was similarly summoned with regard to his child, aged eleven months [thus, William George (1)]. Mr Weekley said the child was admitted in June in consequence of illness, and defendant was ordered to pay 2s. a week. Up to the present he had not paid anything. Defendant said he was out of work and could not get employment. He was a milkman, and when the bye-law was made stopping the shouting the rounds did not pay and his firm sent him off. The Bench adjourned the case for a month and said that in the meantime the child might perhaps be restored to its mother.
In 1905 Eliza, then living at 40, Queen's Avenue, was summoned before the Kilburn magistrates for using obscene language in that street and was ordered to pay the cost of the summons [The Kilburn Times, issue of August 18th 1905].
He died in 1913, barely three weeks before the death of his brother William (8). The death certificate [Death Index: Poplar 1c 671, 1913 (March)] states that he died aged 48 on March 30th 1913 at the Sick Asylum in the Bromley-by-Bow subdistrict of Poplar. He had been residing at 48, Blount Street in Limehouse and had been occupied as a milk carrier. The informant was his partner Eliza, of the same address, who had been present at the death. She registered the death the following day. The cause was certified as pulmonary tuberculosis.
Eliza died aged 57 in 1930 [Death Index: Stepney 1c 168, 1930 (June)].