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Richard William (3) Woodhurst (RW3) was born in 1852 to parents Richard William (1) Woodhurst (RWW) and his first wife Susannah. His birth certificate [Birth Index: Bethnal Green 1c 258, 1852 (Dec)] states that he was born on November 16th 1852 at his parents' home which was now at 14, Suffolk Street in Bethnal Green. This Suffolk Street was that part of today's Coventry Road – branching off Three Colts Lane - lying south of the railway line. The informant was RWW, described as a dyer.
The 1871 Census finds RW3 at age 18 living at 18, Blanchard Road in the London Fields area of Hackney - the home of James Cooke Taylor with whom RW3's mother Susannah was then living as partner. He was occupied as a "porter oilman". His birthplace is cited, curiously, as Walworth in Surrey, a claim also made in two subsequent census records. Most probably this was a fiction cultivated in his mind by his mother for some obfuscating motive arising from her broken marriage to his father.
On June 25th 1873 he began employment with the North London Railway Company to work as a porter [Nat. Archives: RAIL 529/133/53].
He married in 1877 to Mary Ann Ames. The marriage certificate [Marriage Index: Shoreditch 1c 177, 1877 (March)] states that they were married by Banns at the District Church of St. Paul's, Haggerston on February 18th 1877. He is described as of full age, a bachelor and a grocer's assistant, whilst she is described as a 19-year-old spinster. The occupation of his father RWW is given as hat maker. Mary Ann's father is named as Samuel Robert Ames, a pattern maker. Both gave their place of residence as 17, Blanchard Road. The witnesses were James Cooke Taylor and Mary Ann's older sister Alice Margaret Ames.
Mary Ann was born in 1858 [Birth Index: Shoreditch 1c 118, 1858 (March)]. She was born on January 2nd 1858 and christened at the church of St. John the Baptist in Shoreditch on January 31st 1858 [IGI: Batch C040372]. The 1861 Census finds her at age "2" living in Shoreditch with her parents and siblings. She was not in her parents' household at the time of the 1871 Census, so may have been in service or visiting some relative.
The first child born to RW3 and Mary Ann was Charles Richard. This boy died aged 12 months near the end of 1878. At that time the family was living at 15, Blanchard Road and RW3 was occupied as a carman.
The 1881 Census finds RW3 with Mary Ann and their first two daughters at 16, Blanchard Road (next door to his mother). The original census record is somewhat muddled. First, the occupation of carman is assigned to Mary Ann but no occupation is cited for her husband. Clearly, it was he who was the carman, and so the census officer must have transposed some of the details being related to him. Correcting this muddle results in citing Walworth as RW3's birthplace. No. 16 accommodated two other households, one containing a widowed lodger Sarah (nee Miller) Angold who was the sister of RW3's mother Susannah.
RW3 was still living with Mary Ann at 16, Blanchard Road and occupied as a carman when their next two daughters Mabel Frances and Gertrude Mary were born, in 1881 and 1883 respectively.
On August 4th 1884 RW3 remarried at St. Jude Parish Church in Bethnal Green to a widow Jane Ann (nee Stanford) Wright [Marriage Index: Bethnal Green 1c 472, 1884 (Sept)]. No GRO reference has yet been found - despite an exhaustive search for all surname variants - to indicate that Mary Ann had died in the intervening period, or that she had remarried. The certificate of this second marriage names the parties simply as Richard Woodhurst and Jane Wright. He is described as a carman aged 32 residing at 115, Green Street, and his father as a hatter Richard Woodhurst. Jane is described as aged 28 and residing at 16, Canrobert Street, and her father as a deceased carman Henry James "Stamford". The witnesses were William Gore, whose connection is unknown, and Jane's unmarried sister Rachel Stanford. The certificate falsely describes RW3 as a bachelor. The Divorce Index [PRO Ref: Class J78 Pieces 1-3, 1858-85] contains no record of his having previously divorced Mary Ann. The implication is that if she had not died in the interim period then RW3 - like his father - must have re-married bigamously and concealed his true marital status on the certificate.
The 1861 Census finds Jane at age "6" living with her parents at 27, Maidstone Place in Shoreditch. Her father Henry was occupied as a water works labourer and her mother Rachael as a laundress. The 1871 Census finds her at age "16" living with her parents at 1, Nelson Place in Shoreditch. Her father was now occupied as a scavenger and her mother again as a laundress. Also present were her brother James [Birth Index: Shoreditch 1c 224, 1861 (March)] and sister "Rachel". In 1875 Henry James died aged "48" [Death Index: Shoreditch 1c 131, 1875 (June)].
Jane's previous marriage was to James Wright [Marriage Index: Bethnal Green 1c 416, 1876 (June)]. This GRO reference names her fully as Jane Ann Stanford. They produced a son James born in Bethnal Green around 1877 and a daughter Jane born in Shoreditch around 1879. James was probably one of the two James Henry Wrights whose GRO birth references are [Birth Index: Bethnal Green 1c 253, 1876 (June)] and [Birth Index: Bethnal Green 1c 217, 1877 (March)], although these are not the only candidates. Jane had become widowed by the time of the 1881 Census, which finds her and these two children living at 61, Maidstone Street in Shoreditch. She was then occupied as a box maker. Her widowed mother Rachael was still at 1, Nelson Place with her son James and daughter Rachel. In 1890 the latter married Edward John Abbott [Marriage Index: Bethnal Green 1c 473, 1890 (Dec)].
In 1885 RW3 and Jane produced a daughter Emily, born at Walthamstow, Essex.
In 1888 they produced a son William Richard. This child died in late 1890, by which time the family had moved to 8, Clark's Terrace off Glyn Road in Lower Clapton (lying west of Hackney Marshes). Richard William (3) was still occupied as a carman. It is curious that Glyn Road was also the birthplace some years later of Thomas Richard Bone. He was the first child born to Annie (1), one of RWW's daughters by his second wife Matilda. It raises the possibility that after (or perhaps even before) RWW's death in 1887 there was some degree of association between the offspring of RWW's two marriages.
A few months after William Richard's death they produced, at the same address, a daughter Susannah May.The 1891 Census finds them still living at 8, Clark's Terrace. The census record misspells the family's surname as "Woodhouse". Richard William (3) is described there as aged "39" and had now changed his occupation to laundryman (but as neither an employee nor an employer, so perhaps he was self-employed), and Jane as a laundress aged 33 who was born in Haggerston, London. His birthplace is again given as Walworth. Living with him in 1891 were the surviving children of both his marriages other than Mabel Frances and Gertrude Mary. The household also included Jane's son James by her previous husband. He was now aged 14 and occupied as a van guard. Her daughter Jane by her previous husband is not shown with her in this census record, so may no longer have been alive.
At the time of this census Jane's mother was living at 1, Nelson Cottages in Shoreditch with just her still unmarried son James. Jane's sister Rachel was living with her husband Edward and first child at 2, Gloucester Street in Shoreditch, as also were Edward's parents and grandmother.
In 1892 Jane's mother Rachael died aged "65" [Death Index: Shoreditch 1c 76. 1982 (June)].
In 1893 RW3 and Jane produced another daughter Jane Maud.
In 1896 they produced another daughter Rachel Sarah. This child died in March 1897, by which time the family address was 56, Chatham Place in Hackney. This address stood at the corner where Chatham Place intersects with Morning Lane and it was here that RW3 operated his business, the Retreat Sanitary Laundry. Descendants of his daughter Emily have kindly supplied to the site author copies of family photographs depicting many of his descendants. These include a particularly striking photograph taken in 1898 which presents a full and exquisitely detailed view of the laundry with RW3 standing in its entrance with his wife Jane and several of their children. Standing together but further away, and dressed identically in their white working dresses, are three young ladies of whom at least two are his daughters by his first wife Mary Ann.
In 1898 he and Jane produced another son George Albert (2).
In 1899 he was described as a carman, rather than a laundryman, on the marriage certificate of his daughter Edith.
The 1901 Census finds the family, including six of the children, at 56, Chatham Place and still running their laundry business. Jane's son James was there, occupied as a carman. His birthplace is here given as Camberwell. Also with them was a boarder and warehouseman William Webb who had been with them in the previous census.
At the time of this census Jane's sister Rachel and her husband were living at 29, Whiston Street in Shoreditch, now with four children. Edward John was occupied as a wood turner.
The 1911 Census finds the family, including five of the children, at 157, Glyn Road in Clapton and RW3 still occupied as a laundryman and three of the daughters - Ruth (1), Emily and Jane Maud - working for him as laundresses. His birthplace is again given as Camberwell.
Richard William (3) died aged 63 in 1915 [Death Index: Hackney 1b 822, 1915 (March)], and his wife Jane died aged "77" in 1931 [Death Index: Hackney 1b 490, 1931 (Dec)]. A relative reports that Jane died in Hackney Hospital after breaking her leg through a fall in her garden.
It had been suspected that in 1886 Mary Ann remarried bigamously to John Henry Curtis [Marriage Index: Hackney 1b 803, 1886 (June)], but subsequent analysis of this Curtis family has shown definitively that the bride was a different "Mary Ann Ames".