By Christine Swan
When I conduct research into my family history, I begin to
form a notion of the character of the subject. Unfortunately, this has led me
to the conclusion that I probably wouldn’t have liked William English a great
deal. It may just be a hunch, and perhaps I am being deliberately uncharitable,
as well as oblivious to some potentially unseen factors. After my great great grandmother, Mary Ann Deighton died, my great grandfather, David Dighton, was sent to the workhouse. Mary Ann’s husband, William English then married his servant and adopted her new family into the household, replacing his deceased wife’s children who had been born prior to their marriage.
Without anyone to offer him a home, David Dighton remained in the
workhouse until he went to live with his grandfather, Daniel Crudgington, at
the end of his life. Marriage brought David the stability that he had lacked in
his childhood, although even that was cut short by his own early death due to Tuberculosis.
Denston Hall – By Lake below Denston Hall by Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125539882
So who was William English and how did he enter upon the
stage of my family story? William was born in 1840 in the small village of Denston, Suffolk, about ten miles south west of Bury St Edmunds. His parents, John and Elizabeth, were servants at Denston Hall but, having a family while in service most probably was not an ideal situation so, at some point, the family moved six miles south, to nearby Clare. John English became the landlord of the Swan Inn. Denston Hall was also put up for rent which would have also led to a reduction in staffing while the property was unoccupied.
The Swan Inn, Clare, Suffolk – By Oxyman, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13675085
The inn still bears a very old carving of a swan with a gold crown around its
neck attached to a golden chain, along with other heraldic symbols. This seems
far too ornate and grand for a humble pub sign, and indeed it is. It is
believed that it once formed part of the old castle. It commemorates a marriage
in 1405 between a descendent of the de Clares and of Edward III. The panel was
displayed as part of a local archeological society’s exhibition in 1849 so it
was definitely deployed as the pub sign at that point. In March 1847, tragedy
struck the English family when John died, aged just 37. Young William was only
seven years of age and attending school in what is now called Callis Street,
but in the nineteenth century, was referred to Calais Street. According to the Old School’s website, the school building was constructed in 1862 but an older one may have stood on the same site. Bizarrely, William’s birthplace was given as London in the 1851 census. This was not the case because his official record
shows that he was indeed born in Denston.
Clare Castle, Suffolk – By Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15680263
The Swan Inn changed hands after John English died and was
run by Edward Storr until his death in 1851. Then George Linton became innkeeper and in 1856, he was charged with staying open too late on Christmas night. George died in 1859 and his wife Elizabeth in March 1861. William, now aged twenty, took over the role of innkeeper at the Swan Inn after this and is recorded in the 1861 census. The census was taken on the night of the 7th April and just over a week later, an auction was held of the late Mrs Linton’s possessions, including all of her furniture.
William English, innkeeper at the Swan Inn in 1861
In the census, William English was also listed as a butcher. It wasn’t
unusual for people in a small village to take on multiple roles where the
population was probably small. Another notable change was, that now he was an adult, William, who was baptised as Thomas William, dropped his first name and was known only by his second. He may have only acted as a caretaker in the role of innkeeper, as not long after he left Clare permanently, for London.
At some point, he met Mary Ann Deighton, and they married in
September 1868. When they married, Mary Ann already had three children that I
was aware of – William, Elizabeth and David. William and Elizabeth were from
her first marriage to William Brown, born in 1861 and 1863 respectively.
William later stated his birth as 1857 – when Mary Ann would have been just
fifteen. David is the mystery. He was born a year before Mary Ann married
William English. William gave his occupation as traveller so maybe he did not
envisage staying in London. 1871 found the English family living in Henrietta
Street, now a stump of a road called Allgood Street, a turning off of Hackney
Road. William gave his occupation as a butcher. The family consisted of William,
Mary Ann, William, David and new son John and they were joined by two female
visitors.
Marriage record for William English and Mary Ann Deighton in 1868
Mary Ann died in 1878 when William junior was about twenty one and
David was eleven. I have not been able to trace Elizabeth at this time but I
suspect that she was in service as she would have been about sixteen . William senior’s son, John, would have been only eight years old at the time when his mother died. William senior would have needed some help with the younger children.
William English and his household in 1881
By 1881, William senior had employed a general servant, Emily Drukker, a widow, ten years his junior. David had slipped down the census order, below John, despite being two years older. David was also listed by his late mother’s surname of Deighton. What did this mean? Firstly, being listed lower can indicate that this child is not his stepfather’s. John was William’s first legitimate child. Later that same year, David was listed as an orphan in the Hackney workhouse, with William as his stepfather. William had moved to Osborn Road, Hackney Wick, and David had clearly been provided with his new address as this is given in the workhouse record. Soon after this, David changed his surname to Taylor, casting off both the Deighton and English names to assume a new identity. To this day, I have no idea why he did this. Some have suggested that it was to avoid debtors, to avoid being remembered for criminal activity, but I have no record of either. I therefore assume that it was a conscious decision, rather as my other great grandfather, George Betts did when he stopped using his birth name of Mead.
William English marries Emily Drukker in 1886 with William and Charlotte Betts as witnesses
William English continued working as a butcher, and married
his servant, Emily Drukker, in 1886. In a strange twist of familial fate, William
gave his address as 17 Orchard Street when he married which immediately chimed with me. This was in fact, the same address as William and Charlotte Betts, who were the tripe dressers and adoptive parents of George Betts, my other paternal great grandfather. This couple were witnesses to the marriage between William and Emily. I doubt very much that my two paternal great grandfathers ever met although George Betts was still living with his adoptive parents, but David Deighton Taylor was primarily residing in Hackney workhouse.
William English living in The Parade, Lambeth in 1911
After their marriage, William and Emily were joined by her three daughters from her first marriage: Rebecca, Rachel and Leah Drukker, aged sixteen, fifteen and fourteen. The family moved south of the river to Lambeth Parade, near Lambeth Walk and William was working as an ostler. It isn’t clear where he was employed but there were plenty of coaching inns where horses would need to be cared for. Having been raised in a rural environment, perhaps this was part of his occupation whilst at the Swan Inn in Clare. Emily’s three daughters were all employed as domestic servants, presumably, nearby. The family remained living in Lambeth Parade, later known as The Parade, Lambeth, for the next thirty years. In 1901, of the children, only Leah was still living at home and William was recorded as working as a butcher’s salesman. Interestingly, in 1911, William records his name as T W English once again and lists his occupation as a butcher, still working aged seventy years. William died in October 1920 but Emily was still living at the same address in 1921.
William was only married to Mary Ann for ten years but was married to Emily for thirty four. I suppose that the source of my reservations about him stem from how he treated my great grandfather David. I view him as a vulnerable young person at the time when his mother died. Instead of providing him with a home, he was sent away to the workhouse and away from his siblings. Without a friend in that place, David showed generosity towards his half brother before he died and Tuberculosis ripped through the family. Elizabeth, David’s sister, did not succumb, but multiple tragedies visited her lifetime too as I shall write in the next chapter.
Awful Rigours and Wretched Pay 