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This page draws mostly upon material from documents supplied by Mr. John Bathurst of Quebec from his Collection of Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Records of the Family of Bathurst, and appears here by his kind permission. The John Bathurst Collection [JBC] assigns to each individual Bathurst a unique four-digit reference number prefixed by a #.
Robert (2) Bathurst [JBC: #4988] was born at Holywell Lane in Shoreditch on February 1st 1808 to parents Robert (1) Bathurst and his wife Sarah (nee Hitchins). He was christened at St. Leonard, Shoreditch on February 22nd 1808.
He first married Sarah Platt at St. Dunstan, Stepney on May 14th 1826 [IGI: Batch M055765]. The witnesses were her father Samuel Platt and Robert (2)'s married sister Sarah (1) (nee Bathurst) Lindford.
Sarah Platt was christened at St. Matthew, Bethnal Green on April 28th 1805, and her brother James on August 29th 1806 [IGI: Batch C046983]. Their mother was Judith (nee) Golden who had married Samuel at St. Mary's, Whitechapel on July 18th 1802 [IGI: Batch M000664].
Sarah died after producing two children and was buried at the Gibraltar Road Burial Ground in Bethnal Green in 1829, aged 25.
Robert (2) next married Angelina (2) Tansley at St. John, Hackney on August 10th 1829 [St. John Parish Register]. The marriage appears also in Pallot's Index as follows:
Bathurst Robt. w [widower] - Angelina Tansley St John Hackney 1829
Angelina (2) also died after producing two children and was likewise buried at the Gibraltar Road Burial Ground in 1831, aged 24.
He next married Mary Frost at St. Bride, Fleet Street on February 4th 1833 [IGI: Batch M022421]. The witnesses, who also married one another in the same church on the same day, were her older brother Thomas Edward Frost and Elizabeth Martha Edwards. Mary was one of at least eight children born to parents John (1) Frost and his wife Diana (nee) Cowdell.
The 1841 Census finds Robert (2) with Mary and several of his children living at 10, Bacon Street in Bethnal Green, where he was occupied as a willow square maker (willow squares were used to make the seats of chairs). The record correctly indicates that Mary was not born in Middlesex.
In 1842 Robert (2) gave witness testimony to a trial at the Old Bailey, as follows [Proceedings of the Old Bailey]:
Case 1444: May 9th 1842.
[Indictment] RICHARD FOSSEY was indicted for stealing, on the 14th of April, 1 willow cutting gauge, value 8s., the goods of Robert Bathurst.
[Witness] ROBERT BATHURST. "I am a willow-cutter, and live in Bacon Street, Bethnal Green. The prisoner worked for me for nearly two years - on the morning of the 14th of April, about seven o'clock, I missed a gauge, and found it in pawn in the Hackney Road - I had seen it safe about eight o'clock in a rack in the workshop - the prisoner had left me about ten days at that time - I sent for him - he came to my house, and denied all knowledge of it - I gave him into custody - this produced is it."
[Witness] THOMAS ROWLEY. "I am assistant to Mr. Cotton, a pawnbroker, in the Hackney Road. On the 14th of April, the prisoner pawned this gauge, in the name of John Davis - I am sure of him."
[Witness] HENRY COTTON. "I am a policeman. I took the prisoner in charge."
Prisoner's Defence. "I know nothing about it."
[Verdict] not guilty.
In 1845, when his father died, he was living at 59, Church Street in Mile End New Town.
He was a willow square maker in 1847, but was described as a dyer by his daughter Matilda when she first married in 1849.
The 1851 Census finds him living with his wife Mary and daughter Delia Diana at 27, Orange Street in Bethnal Green and occupied as a willow dyer master.
In 1852 he was a bonnet maker.
Mary died aged 44 at 3, Pleasant Row, Stepney Green on April 10th 1856 [Death Index: Stepney 1c 332, 1856 (June)] after producing the three children listed below. Robert (2), described as a master dyer of 3, Pleasant Row and present at the death, was the informant. The cause of death was certified as "morbus cordis (and) dropsy".
On December 27th 1856 he married for the fourth and last time, to a widow Sarah (nee Brown) Robinson at St. Peter, Stepney [Marriage Index: Stepney 1c 1028, 1856 (Dec)]. He was then occupied as a dyer, aged 48. His father is described simply as deceased, as was her father Richard Brown. The witnesses were his daughter Sarah (2) and John Brown whose connection is unknown. Sarah, then aged 47, was residing at 3, 'Savills' Buildings. Saville Buildings formed part of Redmans Row, known today as Redmans Road.
Sarah Brown may have been born on August 25th 1809 of parents Richard Brown and his wife Sarah, and christened on October 22nd 1809 at St. Saviour, Southwark; if so, she had younger siblings Mary, George, Elizabeth Roselia and Richard also christened there [IGI: Batch C055182]. However, census records give her birthplace variously as Middlesex/Clerkenwell/Bloomsbury. It is possible that her first marriage was to Henry Robinson at St. Mary, Harmondsworth in 1838 [Marriage Index: Staines 3 185, 1838 (March)].
In 1859 Robert (2) was recorded as being a general dealer.
He died aged 52 at 3, Essex Street, Globe Fields in Mile End on August 4th 1860 [Death Index: Mile End 1c 333, 1860 (Sept)]. The cause of death was "disease of the liver, 4 years". The death certificate describes him as a "house owner". The informant, present at the death, was "S. Bathurst" (presumably Sarah) of 47, Great George Street in Bermondsey. His Will, proved by his widow Sarah acting as sole executor and beneficiary, left effects under 200 pounds.
The 1861 Census finds Sarah, described as a retired dealer aged "51" and born in Bloomsbury, as a visitor in the household of a widowed general dealer Emily Collier at 1, Camomile Terrace in St. John Hackney.
The following year Sarah would remarry to Henry Bromley. The 1861 Census finds him, described as a widowed brick labourer aged "50" (but probably nearer 56) and born in St. Lukes, living with three of his children at 17, Randells Cottages in Islington St. Mary.
On November 2nd 1862 Sarah married Henry Bromley at Hackney Parish Church [Marriage Index: Hackney 1b 507, 1862 (Dec)]. Both gave their address as Morning Lane in Hackney. Her father, described as an engineer, is misnamed on the certificate as Richard "Robinson". Henry's father was a brick maker John Bromley. John Brown was again a witness, the other being Sarah Ann Lawrence whose connection is unknown.
The 1871 Census finds Sarah and Henry - described as a railway labourer - living at No. 36, Great Northern Cottages in Islington. It may be significant that when John Brown witnessed Robert (2)'s Will in 1857 he cited his own address as 1, Northern Cottages in Islington. In this census Sarah's birthplace was given as Clerkenwell.
The 1881 Census appears to find Sarah and Henry living at Albion Cottage, Caves Terrace in Almeria Road, Islington. Her birthplace is given here as Bloomsbury.
Henry appears to have died aged "87" in Islington in 1892 [Death Index: Islington 1b 380 (or 390 - page unclear), 1892 (March)], and Sarah appears to have died aged "85" in 1895 [Death Index: Islington 1b 189, 1895 (March)].
Robert (5) died young. His birthdate in the St. Matthew register precedes that of his half-sister Angelina Tansley by slightly less than 6 months, indicating that Robert (2) was having an affair before Sarah died.
Mary (2) was with her parents in the 1841 Census but not in the 1851 Census. She probably died in 1844 [Death Index: Whitechapel 2 402, 1844 (Sept)].