Robert Smith and Eliza Doe

This couple were the parents of Alfred Smith who married Harriet Hutchings Langbridge in 1858. From the marriage certificate it was known that Alfred Smith's father was named Robert and was a cooper by trade, and that Alfred was a cabinet maker. By doing an exhaustive search for Alfred Smiths of the right age in the 1851 census records Graham Clarkson (a descendant of Alfred) identified what must surely be the right household in Wantage, Berkshire.

Little Lane, Wantage, 1851:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Robert Smith	Head	M	53	Cooper	Oxon Dorchester
Eliza Smith	Wife	M	55	Cooper's wife	Berks Upton
Alfred Smith	Son	S	24	Cabinet maker	Berks Wantage
Thomas Smith	Son	S	17	Cooper	Berks Wantage

Searching records held by the Oxfordshire Family History Society for marriages of Robert Smiths to Elizas who might have come from Upton turned up one very good candidate.

Marriage at Wallingford, St Peter:
20 April 1820, by banns
Smith	Robert	bachelor (o.t.p.)
Doe	Eliza	spinster (o.t.p.)
Witnesses: Richard Brooker, Martha Doe, Maria Wereham, Thos. Child

I am told that Thos. Child was a witness at many marriages; he was probably parish clerk.

Upton did not keep parish registers at this time, and events were recorded in the register for Blewbury (of which Upton was a chapelry). A Martha Doe was a witness at many Upton marriages (recorded in the Blewbury register) up to 1824, at which time she married a John Butcher at Upton. This strongly suggests that Martha Doe was from Upton, making it also likely that Eliza Doe was from Upton.

Of course, a couple marrying in 1820 would probably start having children before 1827, and indeed the OFHS also found baptisms that fit.

Surname	Forename	Parents	Place	Year
Smith	John	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1821
Smith	Robert	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1823
Smith	Mary Ann	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1825
Smith	Alfred	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1827
Smith	William	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1829
Smith	Thomas	Robert & Eliza	Wantage	1833

There was also an Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Robert and Eliza, baptized in Watlington in 1834. Possibly she was part of a different family.

We have yet to search for Eliza Doe's baptism. However, the IGI lists a baptism record for Robert Smith, son of Thomas and Mary Smith, baptized at Dorchester on 29/4/1798, and a marriage record for Thomas Smith and Mary Walters, married at Dorchester on 21/7/1796. Moreover, the I.G.I. lists Dorchester baptisms for five children of Thomas and Mary Smith, as follows.

• Jemima (6/11/1796),
• Robert (29/4/1798),
• Mary (2/3/1800),
• Martha (29/8/1801),
• Sarah (30/12/1805).

The IGI includes Dorchester baptisms up to 1814 and Wantage baptisms up to 1812, but I could not find any further children of Thomas and Mary Smith in either place; so it looks as though Sarah was the last child. It is perhaps possible that Thomas and Mary Smith moved to Wantage (as their son Robert did) since the 1841 census shows a Thomas and Mary Smith, both aged in the range 60–64, living at Wantage. However, there is a 20-24 year-old Harriet Smith in the same household, which I suppose suggests that it is not the right Thomas and Mary.

At the 1841 census the household of Robert, Eliza and family was as follows.

Pumfrey's Lane, Wantage, 1841:
Name	Age	Occupation	Born in Berks?
Robert Smith	40	Cooper	Yes
Eliza Smith	40		Yes
Alfred Smith	13		Yes
William Smith	10		Yes

We also find three Smith children in the household of James and Mary Ann Allen at Chilton.

The Village, Chilton, 1841:
Name	Age	Occupation	Born in Berks?
James Allen	45	Wheelwright	Yes
Mary Ann Allen	45		Yes
Mary Ann Smith	15		Yes
Thomas Kingham	15		Yes
Robert Smith	15		Yes
Thomas Smith	6		Yes

I wonder if Mary Ann Allen may have been a sister of Eliza Smith.

Since the Elizabeth born in Watlington in 1834 does not appear in either of the 1841 households listed above, I am inclined to think that she belonged to a different family. Or maybe she died.

John Smith, eldest son of Robert and Eliza

The 1881 census for Lambeth, Surrey, includes a John Smith who must surely be the son of Robert and Eliza born at Wantage in 1821.

6 East St, Lambeth, Surrey, 1881:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
John Smith	Head	M	61	Cooper	Wantage, Berkshire
Mary Smith	Wife	M	56		Westminster Middlesex
Alfred S Smith	Son	U	19	Labourer At Mineral Water	Bermondsey Surrey
Andrew R Smith	Son	U	17	Porter (General)	Bermondsey Surrey
William Webb	Visitor	U	17	Porter (General)	Cambridge Cambridgeshire

So apparently John followed in his father's footsteps and became a cooper. Whether his younger brother Thomas also continued in this trade I do not know, because I cannot find any census record of Thomas after 1851.

There are birth registrations for Alfred Samuel Smith and Andrew Robert Smith at Bermondsey in the September quarter of 1861 and the March quarter of 1864 respectively.

I looked for John Smith in the 1891 census, and found what I thought was the same person living at Lewisham in the household of one Mary Haywood. But I am now convinced that this was a different person. The information I uncovered about him before I became convinced is recorded on another page.

It is possible that John actually died in 1882, since the death of a 62 year old John Smith was registered in Lambeth in the March quarter of that year.

I eventually found an 1871 census record for John Smith and family.

3 Little East Place, Lambeth, 1871:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
John Smith	Head	W	49	Cooper	Wantage Berks
Agness Smith	daughter	M	15	No occupation	Clerkewell
Alfred Smith	Son	U	9	Scholar	Bermondsey
Andrew Smith	Son	U	7	Scholar	Bermondsey
Harriet Smith	Daughter	U	4	Scholar	Bermondsey

At the 1871 census there was a 12 year old boy named John Smith living in Wantage with his grandmother Eliza Smith. It is conceivable that he was another child of this family, born halfway between Agnes and Alfred.

The birth of an Agnes Smith was registered in Clerkenwell in the December quarter of 1855. I believe that Agnes married James Busby in the December quarter of 1877. At the time of the 1881 census their address was 7 Hotspur Street Lambeth, and they had a 1 year old son named John.

I have not been able to locate Harriet in the 1881 census records or find any evidence that she died between 1871 and 1881.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find an 1861 census record for John Smith's family, or discover anything about his wife.

Robert Smith, second son of Robert and Eliza

Robert has proved easier to trace than John. He married Harriet Gay at Buscot, Berkshire, on 30/11/1848. She was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Gay, baptized at Buscot on 1/2/1824. At the 1851 census the address of Robert and Harriet is Mill Street, Wantage, their ages are both correctly recorded as 27, and they have a 1 year old son named James. Robert's occupation is Cooper. At the 1861 census their household is as follows.

Little Lane, Wantage, 1851:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Robert Smith	Head	Mar	37	Cooper	Berkshire Wantage
Hariet Smith	Wife	Mar	37		Berkshire Buscott
James Smith	Son		11	Scholar	Berkshire Wantage
Lucy Smith	Daughter		4	Scholar	Berkshire Wantage
Sarah Smith	Daughter		2		Berkshire Wantage
Mary A. Gay	Niece		10		Berkshire Wantage

So now Robert's name, occupation and address are the same as his father's were in 1851! His father died some time between the 1851 and 1861 censuses, since at the 1861 census Eliza Smith was a widow.

The 1871 household of Robert Smith was as follows.

Berks Wantage

Little Lane, Wantage, 1851:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Robert Smith	Head	Mar	47	Cooper	Berks Wantage
Harriet Smith	Wife	Mar	47		Berks Buscot
Lucy Smith	Daughter		14	Dressmaker Apprentice	Berks Wantage
Sarah Smith	Daughter		11	Scholar	Berks Wantage
Elizabeth Smith	Daughter		8	Scholar	Berks Wantage
Mary Smith	Daughter		6	Scholar	Berks Wantage
Alfred Smith	Son		3	Scholar	Berks Wantage
Robert Smith	Son		1

The 1881 household of Robert Smith was as follows.

Little Lane, Wantage, 1881:
Name	Rel	Status	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Robert Smith	Head	Mar	57	Cooper	Wantage Berkshire
Harriet Smith	Wife	Mar	57	Cooper's Wife	Buscott Berkshire
Susan Smith	Daughter	U	21	Dressmaker	Wantage Berkshire
Elizabeth Smith	Daughter	U	18	Dressmaker	Wantage Berkshire
Alfred Smith	Son		13	Scholar	Wantage Berkshire
Robert Smith	Son		11		Wantage Berkshire

There is a minor problem here, in that the daughter Susan has never appeared before and is about the same age as we would expect the daughter Sarah from the earlier censuses to be if she were present. Moreover, FreeBMD does not show any Susan Smiths born in Wantage at about the right time. So I conjecture that a transcription error has occurred.

The daughter Lucy married James Deacon at Wantage in the December quarter of 1878. At the 1881 census they are found at 4 Victoria Street, Reading St Giles, and have a 1 year old son named Francis J. Deacon. Presumably this is the Francis Deacon whose birth was registered in Reading in the June quarter of 1879, although there was also a Francis James Deacon whose birth was registered in Reading in the March quarter of 1881. The census record gives James Deacon's age in 1881 as 26 and his birthplace as Henley, Oxford. His occupation was "Turner at Bisct Facty".

At the 1891 census Robert is a widower, still living at Little Lane, and still a cooper, but with noone else in the household. His birthplace is listed as unknown. Harriet Smith died in the March quarter of 1888, aged 64, at Wantage. A 77 year old Robert Smith died at Wantage in the September quarter of 1899. Our Robert should have been more like 75 at this time, but I cannot find any other death record that is a better match.

The rest of the family

As mentioned above, the 1861 census shows Eliza Smith as a widow. Her address is Wallingford Street, Wantage, and the only other person in her household is a 19 year old lodger named George H. Porter, whose occupation is given as Solicitor's General Cl., Lambeth, and his birthplace as Newbury Berkshire.

There were Robert Smiths died in Wantage in the June quarter of 1851 and the March quarter of 1861, and no doubt one of them was Eliza's husband.

I have not been able to track down Robert and Eliza's children Mary Ann, William and Thomas.

Eliza Smith was still alive at the 1871 census, aged 75. Her address was Newbury Street Stile's Alms House, Wantage, and the only other person in her household was a 12 year old grandson named John Smith, who was born in Middlesex. I conjecture that this boy was a son of Eliza's son John, although he could have been a son of either William or Thomas.

Eliza Smith died in Wantage in the June quarter of 1880, aged 85.