Florence Julia Russell

Florence was born on 14 March 1887 at 75 Biscay Road, Fulham, the Hammersmith end of Fulham Palace Road. She was the eldest daughter of Edward Russell a Gardener and Ellen Thornton. As far as I can work out she had four brothers Edward H b.1886, Arthur b.1889, Sidney E b.1893, William T b.1898 and three sisters Kate M b.1895, Amy G b.1896 and Hilda L b.1900. They were all born in the Hammersmith district, so I guess this is where they grew up and went to school, by 1901 Florence was 14 years old and the large family lived at No 7 Brook Green Road, Hammersmith, her father was a Jobbing Gardener and worked for himself and her elder brother Edward, who was 15 worked as a Tobbaconist’s Assistant.

Florence was married at the age of 20 to Robert Philip Stevenson Swanton, an Exchange Inspector aged 26. Both of their addresses on their marriage certificate were 26 Seaford Road, Ealing, which was a bit of a puzzle, so initially I thought that as Robert’s family were all in Ireland perhaps the Russells had moved to Ealing and he was lodging with them, which is still possible and I haven’t proved otherwise yet. But I did notice that they married at Brentford Register Office which was a bit of a surprise and six months after their marriage their first daughter Eileen Florence was born!

So how this affected family relations I don’t know, but I think Florence remained close to her younger sisters. I don’t have much information on the Russells at the moment except that Edward was from Long Itchington in Warwickshire, which is quite close to Leamington Spa, he was born around 1860 and his father Thomas was also a Gardener, but why Edward ended up London, or whether he came with his family or alone I don’t know yet.

Florence’s mother, Ellen Thornton came from a long line of Jewellers. Her Grandfather was Thomas Thornton, a jeweller and on Ellen’s birth certificate it shows her father Henry to be a Master Jeweller. Thomas was married to Sarah and at the time of his death in 1846 was living at 35 Dean Street, Soho and doing very well for himself. He and Sarah had six children that I know of, all born around the Soho area Sarah b.1809, Mary Ann b.1811, Thomas William b. 1813, William James b.1815, Henry Samuel b.1818 (Ellen’s father) and Emma b.1821 who only survived a couple of months. It is also possible that Thomas William died young as there is no mention of him in Thomas’s will.

So far I have not found a marriage for Sarah and Thomas, but in Thomas’s will, which I have attached, one of the executors was a man called Samuel Waters, an Excise Officer from Brentford. I think he may have been Sarah’s brother, because I found on the 1881 census, 35 years later, a Samuel Waters aged 89 living in Brentford with his niece Sarah Thornton aged 72, which would be Sarah the daughter b.1809, not Sarah the wife. This also stated that Samuel was born in Chelmsford Essex, so it’s possible that Sarah Waters, if that’s who she was, was also born in Essex.

So back to the will, apart from leaving each of his four children a sum of money each to be taken from the “fund of two hundred pounds now standing in my name in the three and quarter per cents in the books of the Bank of England” whatever that means, he also left his workshop tools to his sons. The interest, proceeds and produce of £1000 standing in the Bank of England (in the three and quarter per cents), and the house 35 Dean Street to his wife, including all the furniture and upon her decease to be divided between the children. His stock in business to be inventoried, sold and invested in Bank of England. He also stated that the legacies left to his daughters were to be for their sole use and not subject to the control of any husband they may have, which I thought was rather nice because at the time when a woman married, anything she owned automatically became the property of her husband.

There were also mortgages on two properties at 1 and 3 Cromar Place, Somers Town, in the district of St Pancras, which were originally mortaged by George Cromar to Hart of Duke Street Square, but transferred to Thomas and something about George Cromar’s life being insured, so this was all a bit of a mystery. Initially I just assumed that Thomas had bought a couple of properties from George Cromar and rented them out. Then I received the birth certificate for Ellen Thornton (Florence’s mother)….

…..I knew that Ellen’s father was Henry Samuel Thornton and her mother’s name was Julia, but certificate showed her mother’s maiden name was Julia Cromar, I did a quick search on the internet and found a birth entry for Julia Cromar on 9 June 1820 at St Pancras, her parents being Susannah and George Cromar, so I guessed it was pretty likely that this was the same George Cromar in Thomas Thornton’s will. I could’nt quite work out why George Cromar would transfer two properties to his daughter’s father in law, especially as at the time I don’t think Henry and Julia were even married, although I’m not sure about that yet. So some further investigation was warranted.

I decided to look at the 1881 census for George Cromar, but found nothing, not suprising as he would have been about 80, no Susannah either, but I did find a Henry Cromar, born in Somers Town, a Jeweller and living in Southampton, possibly a brother to Julia. There was no record of a marriage or birth for George Cromar on the internet sources, so I decided to have a look for wills and sure enough found a William Cromar, Gentleman of Somers Town.

William turned out to be George Cromar’s father, and here was the property man, I have attached a copy of his will, but not yet transcribed it. So basically William Cromar of Ossulton Street, Somers Town had leasehold mortgages on the following 6 tenement properties Nos 1,2 and 3 Cromar’s Place, No 9 Marsdon Street, adjoining Cromar’s Place, No 24 Ossulton Street and No 11 Middlesex Street. Presumably him and his wife Mary lived at Ossulton Street and I assume the rest were rented out, the mortgages were all left to Mary except No1Cromar’s Place, which was left to his son George and No2 which was left to his son George and his nephew John Hadman (at least I think that’s what his name is), but the rents collected on No2 were to go to his daughter Elizabeth Maria Kemp (wife of Isaac Kemp).

William Cromar died in 1816 and the two properties mentioned in Thomas Thornton’s will were Nos 1 and 3 Cromar Place, Thomas’s will wasn’t written until 1846 so there may not have been much time left on the leases, No1 belonged to George Cromar and No 3 had been left to his mother Mary, so she must have died by now, in which case the property would have passed onto George, so perhaps Thomas bought them from George as an investment. I don’t yet know what George did for a living, so it is also possible he was a jeweller and he could have been in partnership with Thomas, although I think Thomas would have been a good deal older, at least ten years than George, but I do think there is some link here I just have to work out what.

So Thomas Thornton died in 1848 and by 1852 Henry Samuel Thornton (his youngest son) was set up in business and working out of 35 Dean Street, he had married Julia Cromar and so far had Frank b1851, who became a Watchmaker Jeweller, Emily was born in 1852, Julia was born 1855 also in Soho, then the family seemed to start moving around, in 1855 Walter was born, apparently in Essex, although I don’t know where, Agnes Emma was born in 1859 in Pentonville, Ellen was born in 1861 at 146 Euston Road, Somers Town and Hugh Cecil was born in 1862 at St Pancras, so could also have been at Euston Road.

In 1881 the family were living at No 7 Winders Road, Battersea, Julia (daughter) was a Hosier and Scarf maker, employing 5 people, Agnes was a Glove maker, Henry and Walter were both Working Jewellers and Hugh was an Apprentice. There was no sign at all of Frank, but Emily and Ellen were both working as Domestic Servants for Mr John Wright, a Watchmaker of 4 Somerset Terrace, London. Now interestingly enough one of Elizabeth Maria Kemp’s (George Cromar’s sister) daughters, Louisa Maria married a John Wright, if this is the same one his wife would have been Julia’s cousin. Somerset Terrace was just off Earl’s Court Road, so not far from Biscay Road in Fulham where Ellen would be living in a few years time when she married Edward Russell.

I think it’s more than possible that Edward Russell was working as a Gardener at one of the many large houses in the area, maybe even for John Wright, and this is where he and Ellen met. On their marriage certificate he was stated as living in the Parish of St Barnabas, Kensington, which is where Somerset Terrace was. They were married on 22 November 1884 at Christ Church, Battersea and Ellen left from what I assume was the family home at 51 Kamballa Road, Battersea.

Henry Samuel Thornton died in 1899 aged 81 and in 1901 his wife was living with her umarried son Frank aged 50 and her unmarried daughter Agnes at 238 Bridge Road Battersea. Walter her second son a Gold Jeweller was living at 90 Bridge Road Battersea with his wife Annie Maria and three of their children. Hugh the youngest a Watchmaker was living at 8 Effra Parade, Brixton with his wife Emily and John Nesbitt, Emily’s widowed Father. Emily was a witness at Ellen and Edwards wedding before she was married, so I guess she was a good friend of Ellens, maybe even a neighbour. Emily the eldest daughter was unmarried and working as a Domestic Servant in Granville Road Wandsworth and finally Ellen, she of course was in Hammersmith with her growing family.

The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Thornton

I Thomas Thornton of 35 Dean Street Soho London being of sound mind memory and understanding do make this my last will and testament as follows that is to say I desire all my just debts to be paid and my body to be buried in a plain manner I give and bequeath to my wife Sarah Thornton the interest proceeds and produce of one thousand pounds now standing in my name in the three and quarter per cents in the books of the Bank of England together with the mortgage of two houses No1 and 3 Cromar Place Somers Town originally mortgaged by George Cromar to Hart of Duke Street Square since transferred to me the said George Cromar’s life being insured in the standard office for one hundred and ten pounds which now I direct my executes to invest in a similar manner for the term of her natural life she maintaining the account My daughter Mary Ann Thornton but should she marry to release my wife of her maintenance The aforesaid property at the decease of my wife Sarah Thornton to be divided between my four children as follows to my son William James Thornton I give the sum of two hundred pounds To my son Henry Samuel Thornton the sum of three hundred and ten pounds To my daughter Sarah Thornton the sum of three hundred pounds To my daughter Mary Ann Thornton the sum of three hundred pounds I also give and bequeath to my oldest son William James Thornton the sum of thirty five pounds Also to my son Henry Samuel Thornton the sum of fifty five pounds and my silver watch Also to my daughter Sarah Thornton the sum of fifty five pounds Also to my daughter Mary Ann Thornton the sum of fifty five pounds to be paid to them six months after my decease from the fund of two hundred pounds now standing in my name in the three and quarter per cents in the books of the Bank of England I also give and bequeath to my wife Sarah Thornton if she outlives me the said house No 35 Dean Street Soho the use of the whole of the furniture therein but if not to select what is suitable for her use and the remainder to be equally divided between my four children I give my working apparel to be divided between my two sons likewise the tools in the workshop I request an inventory to be taken of my stock in trade and to be sold and invested in the Bank of England funds and at the end of three years from my decease to be divided between my four children in proportion as follows that is in the same proportion as part of my property has been apportioned as in page two of this will The legacies left to my daughters I leave for their own sole use and not to be subject to the control of any husband they may have All the residue I give and bequeath to my wife Sarah Thornton with the family bible And I hereby appoint Mr Samuel Waters Excise Officer of a Brentford as my executor and my wife Sarah Thornton Executrix to this my last will and testament As witness my hand this Second day of April One Thousand eighteen hundred and forty six ------

Thomas Thornton

Witness Henry L Jones Witness R Smart St Annes School Master

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

In the goods of Thomas Thornton deceased

Appeared personally Robert Smart of Rose Street Soho in the county of Middlesex Schoolmaster and made oath that he is one of the witnesses to the last will and testament of Thomas Thornton late of Dean Street Soho in the county of Middlesex jeweller date the second day of April one thousand eight hundred and forty six and ----------------------------

He further made oath that on the second day of April aforesaid the said testator duly executed the said will by signing his name at the foot or and thereof in the presence of this ------ and ----------- -------------- Mr Jones the other subscribed witness there to both of who were present at the same time and this deponent and the said ---------- ------ ----------- thereupon attested and subscribed the said will in the presence of the said testator ---------- Robert Smart on the eighteenth day of May 1846 -------- only sworn to the truth of this affidavit before me G B Barnaby -- priest --- Abbot