Ancestral Stories #2

Annie Wheeler

My 3 x Great Grandmother

Part Two – Annie’s Teenage Years

In 1871, at the age of fourteen, my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler glimpsed the prospect of escaping from the Lambeth slums – she secured a job, as a servant, with a respectable family, the Micklefields – James and Jane, and their children Eliza, aged two, and John aged one. James was a lighterman, a highly skilled boatman who transported people and trade on the River Thames.

The Micklefields were not rich, but they did live in Mead Row, Lambeth, a street described by Charles Booth in his Map of London as “middle-class, well-to-do”.  Compared to her childhood home in the rat-infested dwellings on Lower Fore Street, Annie was in paradise.

In November 1872, at the age of fifteen, my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler discovered that she was pregnant. Consequently, she lost her job as a servant to the Micklefield family.

The baby’s father was twenty-four-year-old James Noulton. James’ mother, Sarah May, died when he was four and she was twenty-five. His father, Samuel, was the leader of a gang of thieves, the “Riverside Pirates”, who stole coal from barges and warehouses. Thus, both James and Annie’s fathers were criminals.

Earlier, in 1866, eighteen-year-old James fell foul of the authorities and spent three months in Wandsworth Prison. His crime: he stole fifteen feet of lead. James’ prison record reveals that he was 4’ 10” tall with scars on his left leg and forehead. Blue eyed and fair-haired with a fresh complexion, he worked in the local pottery. James entered Wandsworth Prison weighing 6st 12lbs and left weighing 6st 8lbs. A year later, he stole 200lbs of lead – more than twice his body weight – and spent six months in prison.

Annie’s choices were now grim – she faced life as a single mother, or the wife of an ex-convict.

On 1 June 1873, six months pregnant, my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler married the baby’s father, James Noulton, in the splendid surroundings of St Mary’s Church, Lambeth (pictured). Both Annie and James were illiterate, so they signed their names with crosses.

On her wedding certificate, Annie used her birth name, Nancy. Over the years that name changed to Nan, Ann, then Annie, a name that was handed down through the generations of the Noulton family.

On 10 August 1873, my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler gave birth to a son, James Henry Noulton (pictured in later life). She named him after her husband and father. James Henry was baptised on 31 August 1873 in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. 

A labourer, husband James accepted any job that was available. Meanwhile, at the age of sixteen, Annie looked after her son and ran the family home. Annie, James and James Henry needed somewhere, low rent, to live. They found that accommodation in Salamanca Street, opposite the bone, manure and soap works, a hotbed of disease. Once again, the struggle was on for Annie and her family to survive.

My 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler’s home in Salamanca Street, St Mary’s, Lambeth was situated opposite the bone, manure and soap works. Pollution was chronic while mites from the bone works bit the locals and spread disease.

Charles Booth’s Poverty Map of London described Salamanca Street as “poor with 18s income a week for a moderate family”. That income converts to £73 a week in today’s money. 

Surviving on 18s a week was bad enough. However, there were lower categories on Charles Booth’s map: “very poor, chronic want” and “vicious, semi-criminal”. Annie’s situation was not great. However, some people in her neighbourhood were living in even worse conditions.

In September 1874, the newspapers reported that the soap works adjacent to my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler’s house was for sale. The soap works offered employment. However, it also generated a lot of pollution and spread disease. 

Annie’s father-in-law Samuel Noulton worked as a bone chopper in the soap works. After the sale of the soap works he worked as a cement porter at the docks. Annie’s husband James also worked as a cement porter.

Despite the wretched living conditions, Annie’s son James Henry was prospering, but her father, Henry, was in poor health.

In October 1874, Henry, the father of my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler, died. He was seventy-seven. Henry and Annie were close. He lived around the corner from his daughter, in Salamanca Court, and was staying with her at 13 Salamanca Street when he died.

A labourer, Henry was involved in a number of petty crimes. As such, he was not the ideal role model. I get the impression that he stole to feed his family. A notable gap of nine years between the births of his first and second children suggests he spent seven years in prison. 

In total, Henry fathered twelve children, nine with his first wife Elizabeth Mitchell and three with his second wife Mary Ann Campin. Annie was his youngest child.

Henry was buried on 19 October 1874 in a common grave in Brompton Cemetery, at a depth of seven feet. A number of other coffins, strangers to Henry, were buried with him. Meanwhile, in harsh conditions, Annie struggled on. Many women in her position turned to drink. Would she follow that route?

Still a teenager, in April 1875 my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler gave birth to her second son, Henry Charles Noulton (pictured with a niece in later life) – or did she?

There is confusion over this birth record. Henry Charles Noulton, was baptised on 30 May 1875 in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. His father was recorded as James Noulton, Annie’s husband.

Two entries on this record raise queries. One, the address, 17 Vauxhall Walk. Vauxhall Walk was around the corner from Annie’s home in Salamanca Street so it’s possible that she was staying there during the early days of the birth, or that her family had moved there temporarily. The second query is more baffling – the mother’s name was recorded as Elizabeth.

Annie was born Nancy. It’s possible that she was also known as Elizabeth, certainly she used that name for one of her children. The two previous baptisms that day also featured Eliza as the mothers. Maybe the vicar, George Elliot, made a mistake because he had Eliza on his mind. Annie was illiterate, so wouldn’t have noticed the error.

Henry Charles Noulton was brought up as Annie’s son. He named his first daughter Annie. Furthermore, my 3 x great grandmother’s birthing pattern suggests that she was due to give birth around the time Henry Charles was born. And, the clincher for me, the child appears to have been named after Annie’s father.

A newspaper report from October 1875 stated that fighting occurred in a house in Salamanca Street and that a large crowd gathered outside. It’s highly probable that my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler was in that crowd.

The newspaper also reported that Salamanca Street was “notorious for violent assaults and riots, particularly on Saturday nights.” Two descriptions of Annie’s husband James Noulton mentioned scars, so maybe he was involved in a brawl at some point.

By the autumn of 1876, my 3 x great grandmother Annie Wheeler had two young children. These newspaper reports from that time offer descriptions of life in her street, Salamanca Street.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

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