My gx2 grandfather : Thomas Usher 1866

THOMAS USHER was born circa 1866 in Wormshill, Kent (source : 1881 census). On the 1881 census, he was a farmer’s boy, living with his parents at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent. On the 1901 census, he was listed as a gardener (worker not domestic) and on his daughter EDITH JANE USHER’s wedding certificate in 1905, he gives his occupation as carman.

He married ELLEN KATE WICKHAM in September quarter 1889 in Malling, Kent (source : Free BMD – district Malling (covers Wrotham), volume 2a page 1010). She was born circa 1868 in Marden, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1881 census, she was living with her parents GEORGE (a farm bailiff) and FRANCES (a domestic) WICKHAM and their other children at New House Cottage, Wrotham, Kent.

On the 1901 census, they were living at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.

The Children of THOMAS USHER and ELLEN KATE WICKHAM:

1. EDITH JANE USHER was born circa 1887 in Wrotham, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, she was living with her parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent. (Click through to see her page.)


2. FLORENCE USHER was born circa 1890 in Wrotham, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, she was living with her parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.


3. THOMAS USHER was born circa 1892 in Wrotham, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, he was living with his parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.


4. ERNEST GEORGE USHER was born in December quarter 1893 in Wrotham, Kent (Free BMD – district Malling (covers Wrotham, which is the place of birth given on the 1901 census) volume 2a page 611). On the 1901 census, he was living with his parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.


5. WILLIAM CHARLES USHER was born circa 1895 in Wrotham, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, he was living with his parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent. He died on 12th September 1948 source :death announcement card).


6. MABEL USHER was born in December quarter 1897 in Wrotham (? source : 1901 census), Kent (Free BMD – district Dartford volume 2a page 524). On the 1901 census, she was living with her parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.


7. FREDERICK USHER was born circa 1899 in Wrotham, Kent (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, he was living with his parents at 44 St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent.

Census returns for THOMAS USHER and ELLEN KATE WICKHAM:

1901 census

Address : St Mary’s Lane, Wrotham, Kent (number of rooms : 4)

Thomas USHER head M 34 Gardener (not domestic), worker, born Kent Wormshill
Ellen K USHER wife M 33 born Kent Marden
Edith USHER daur S 13 born Kent Wrotham
Florence USHER daur S 11 born Kent Wrotham
Thomas USHER son S 9 born Kent Wrotham
Ernest USHER son S 7 born Kent Wrotham
William USHER son S 6 born Kent Wrotham
Mabel USHER daur S 4 born Kent Wrotham
Frederick USHER son S 2 born Kent Wrotham

Census returns for ELLEN KATE WICKHAM:

1881 census (FHL film 1341215 PRO Ref RG11 piece 0903 folio 74 page 15)

Dwelling : New House Cottage
Census Place : Wrotham, Kent

George WICKHAM head M 45 farm bailiff, born Wadhurst Sussex
Frances WICKHAM, wife, M, 48, domestic, born Goudhurst Kent
Deborah WICKHAM, daur, U, 18, labourer’s daughter, born Marden Kent
MargaretWICKHAM, daur, U, 16, domestic servant, born Marden Kent
George W WICKHAM, son, U, 14, house boy (dom), born Marden Kent
Ellen K WICKHAM, daur, U, 12, scholar, born Marden Kent
Sarah WICKHAM, daur, U, 11, scholar, born Marden Kent
Samuel WICKHAM, son, U, 6, scholar, born Wrotham Kent

My gx3 grandfather : John Usher 1831

JOHN USHER was born in Wychling (transcribed as Witchland on the census), Kent in circa 1831 (source : 1881 census). He was a farm labourer on the 1881 census, living at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent, with his wife and children.

He married SARAH ? before 1861, judging by the ages of their children. She was born circa 1834 in Wormshill, Kent (source : 1881 census).

Maidstone Telegraph Kent, England

1 Oct 1870

John was robbed by one of his employees in 1870 - three week's hard labour seems like a tough sentence for a 2 shilling handbill though !

The Children of JOHN USHER and SARAH ?:

1. JOHN USHER was born circa 1861 in Wormshill, Kent (source : 1881 census) (There is a birth listed on Free BMD which COULD be him, but may not be – JOHN USHER, March quarter 1860, district Hollingbourne (covers Wormshill), volume 2a page 493). On the 1881 census, he was a farm labourer, living with his parents at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent.

2. THOMAS USHER was born circa 1866 in Wormshill, Kent (source : 1881 census). On the 1881 census, he was a farmer’s boy, living with his parents at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent. (Click through to see his page.)

3. EDWIN H USHER was born circa 1868 in Wormshill, Kent (source : 1881 census). On the 1881 census, he was living with his parents at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent.

4. EMILY F USHER was born circa 1876 in Hollingbourne, Kent (source : 1881 census). On the 1881 census, she was living with her parents at Nepicar A Cottage, Wrotham, Kent.

Census returns for JOHN USHER and SARAH ?:

1881 census (FHL film 1341215 PRO ref RG11 Piece 0903 Folio 47 Page 2)

Dwelling : Nepicar A Cottage
Census place : Wrotham, Kent, England

John USHER, head, M, 50, farm labourer, born Witchland Kent
Sarah USHER, wife, M, 47, born Wormshill Kent
John USHER, son, U, 20, farm labourer, born Wormshill Kent
Thomas USHER, son, U, 16, farmer’s boy, born Wormshill Kent
Edwin H USHER, son, U, 13, scholar, born Wormshill Kent
Emily F USHER, dau, U, 5, born Hollingbourne Kent
Mary A BENNETT, visitor, U, 32, housemaid (unemployed), born Horsemonden, Kent

My grandmother's brother : WILLIAM STEPHEN OFFEN (1909)

WILLIAM STEPHEN OFFEN was born on 28th April 1909 in Ramsgate to parents George Isaac Offen and Edith Jane Usher. (Click through to see their page.) He was baptised on 9th May 1909 at Holy Trinity, Ramsgate, son of George and Edith Jane, 66 Hereson Rd, lab (source : baptisms register, courtesy of Janet Todd).

On the 1911 census, aged 2, he was with his family at  10 Belle Vue Cottages Ramsgate.

He married  FRANCES ETHEL RAY in 1931 in Hastings, Sussex.

The children of WILLIAM STEPHEN OFFEN and FRANCES ETHEL RAY : 

GEORGE W  OFFEN (1932 ) - country & western singer

 PETER J OFFEN (1934)

KATHLEEN J OFFEN (1935)

FREDERICK S OFFEN (1943)

ALAN J OFFEN (1943)

WILLIAM R OFFEN (1947)

Census returns :

1911 census :
Dwelling : 10 Belle Vue Cottages Ramsgate

George Offen, head, 29, married, house painter/decorator, born Kent Ramsgate
Edith Jane Offen, wife, 22, married (for 5 years), 4 children born, 4 still living, born London Hammersmith
George Offen, son, 4 , born London Hammersmith
John Offen, son, 3, born Kent Ramsgate
William Offen, son, 2, born Kent Ramsgate
Edith Offen, daughter, 7 months, born Kent Ramsgate

My grandmother's brother : JOHN RICHARD (Jack) OFFEN (1908)

JOHN RICHARD OFFEN (known as JACK) was born on 9th May 1908 in Ramsgate to parents George Isaac Offen and Edith Jane Usher. (Click through to see their page.)He was baptised on 31st May 1908 at Holy Trinity, Ramsgate, son of George and Edith Jane, 13 Turner St, carman (source : baptisms register, courtesy of Janet Todd).

On the 1911 census, aged 3, he was with his family at  10 Belle Vue Cottages Ramsgate.

He was always out for a laugh as a youth and seemed to spend half of his life (and his money) being fined for his boyish pranks !

Hastings and St Leonards Observer East Sussex, England 4 Oct 1924

Hastings and St Leonards Observer East Sussex, England 1 Jan 1927

Hastings and St Leonards Observer East Sussex, England 12 Jan 1929

 On a more serious note, he is possibly the John Richard Offen who stumbled across a young man who had just accidentally shot himself at the miniature rifle range in Ramsgate - he was only 21 and later died of his injuries. Jack had ben in Hastings a few months earlier, but it's possible that he was back in Ramsgate as he still had family there.

Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser Kent, England

6 Sep 1929

He married MAY (MOLLY) WINCH in 1932 in Hastings. There are no more mentions of boyish pranks in the papers after this date so maybe she straightened him out !

Jack died on 22nd October 1987 in Hastings.

The children of JOHN RICHARD OFFEN and MAY WINCH : 

JOAN G E OFFEN (1932 - 1933)

 DOROTHY J OFFEN (1934)

PATRICIA E OFFEN (1935)

BRIAN J R OFFEN (1939)

JOHN R L OFFEN (1941)

SYLVIA M OFFEN (1943)

PAMELA C OFFEN (1945)

MICHAEL R OFFEN (1950)

Census returns :

1911 census :

Dwelling : 10 Belle Vue Cottages Ramsgate

George Offen, head, 29, married, house painter/decorator, born Kent Ramsgate

Edith Jane Offen, wife, 22, married (for 5 years), 4 children born, 4 still living, born London Hammersmith

George Offen, son, 4 , born London Hammersmith

John Offen, son, 3, born Kent Ramsgate

William Offen, son, 2, born Kent Ramsgate

Edith Offen, daughter, 7 months, born Kent Ramsgate

My great aunt : Alice Lilian Offen (1912)

ALICE LILIAN OFFEN (my grandmother's sister) was born in 1912 in Ramsgate, Kent.

Hastings Observer, 17 Feb 1945

She married CHARLES H A CUMMINGS (born 1906), a Canadian soldier, in February 1945. They both served overseas during World War II. Alice was in the ATS and served in Belgium. (The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into theWomen's Royal Army Corps : source wikipedia)

Charles was injured on service in Italy and received a military medal. Unfortunately he was a bigamist and had a wife back home.

They had a daughter JACQUELINE A CUMMINGS, known as Jackie, in 1947. She married CHRISTOPHER J HAZARD in December quarter 1966. She was killed, pregnant with her first child, in the Hither Green train crash in 1967.

Wikipedia : "On 5 November 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service from Hastings to London Charing Cross derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in London, between Hither Green and Grove Park railway stations. Of the twelve coaches, many full of standing passengers, eleven were derailed and four turned onto their sides, resulting in 49 fatalities and 78 people injured.

The derailment was found to be due to a broken rail. The Ministry of Transport report criticised the maintenance of the line, especially following a recent increase of the maximum speed of trains over the route. Following the accident the maintenance of the line was improved and plans accelerated for replacing jointed track by continuous welded rail."

She married JOHN SOCRATES ASPROGENIS in 1960. He was a Greek Cypriot and they met at the restaurant where Alice worked as a waitress. He was born in 1908. There was a previous marriage listed for a John Asprogenis to Ruth Plowright in 1932 in Paddington, London. Ruth died in 1947, aged 62, in Wandsworth, London.

John died in 1993. Alice and John lived at Cornwallis Gardens, Hastings.

My grandfather's sister : Mabel Edith Bourne Sands (1906-1972)

Mabel and Fred with their mother, Edith Grace Bourne nee Sands - this must be just before her death in 1918, when Mabel was 12 and Fred 4. Edith is possibly dressed in black in mourning for her husband, who died 3 months before she did.

MABEL EDITH BOURNE SANDS was born on 13th July 1906 in Hastings (All Saints), Sussex (source : short birth certificate. Her birth was registered a month and a half later on 20th August 1906 (source : short birth certificate). She was therefore born several years before her parents' (Edith Grace Sands and Walter John Bourne) marriage, on 3rd March 1912 in Christchurch, Ore, Hastings, Sussex.

On the 1911 census, she is listed as Mabel Sands, aged 4, at her grandparents' home at 104C High Street, along with her unmarried domestic servant mother and uncle.

For much of Mabel's childhood, her father was ill - he died after three and a half years' illness in 1918. Tragedy struck again just a few months later when her mother also passed away, leaving Mabel, aged 12, and her brother Fred, aged 4, orphans. Fred was adopted by his aunt Kate (his mother's sister).

 In 1921, aged 15, she was living at 22 Hardwicke Road, Hastings, Sussex (source : family letters).

Mabel and Bert

She married HERBERT VICTOR PRIVETT .at St Clement's Church in Hastings on 3rd January 1932. He was 32, a linesman for the GPO (General Post Office), living at 7 West Street, father (deceased) Benjamin John Privett, a goldsmith. Mabel, 25, no profession, address 17 Hardwicke Road, father (deceased) Walter John Bourne, a baker. (She gives her name as Mabel Edith Sands Bourne, not Bourne Sands.) The witnesses were A A Eldridge and KAE Burgess.

 Herbert was born on 25th July 1899 at 6 Clarence Road in Leytonstone, Leyton UD. His father was Benjamin Alfred Privett, a walking stick mounter, and his mother was Isabel Privett formerly McNay. The registration district was West Ham.

On the 1901 census, Herbert, aged 1, was at 6 Clarence Road, Leyton, with his father Benjamin (36, umbrella & walking stick mounter, born Shoreditch Middlesex), mother Isabel (35, born Islington), four sisters and three brothers. Herbert's father died some time between 1901 and 1911, so he lost his father at about the same early age as Mabel. On the 1911 census, the family were at 54 Cecil Road, Leytonstone - Isabel is head of the household (44, widow), and only the three youngest children remain at home.

In 1935, she was/they were living at 1 Manor Road Steps, under Burton’s, Hastings; in 1937, she was/they were living at 3 Ratcliff Road, Forest Gate, London E7 ; between 1947 – 1969 (at least) they were living at 90 Southend Road, East Ham, London E6 (as per family letters). They had no children.

Herbert died on 30th June 1951, aged 51, of coronary thrombosis and his death certificate gives his job as general labourer. The informant was Mabel, who was present at the death and their address was 90 Southend Road, East Ham.

Mabel was present at Marion Linda Joan Bourne & Michael Thomas Delonnette's wedding in  1970 in Hastings.

Mabel died in 1972 in Newham, Essex, aged 66. Her death is registered in 4th quarter 1972 in Newham.

My great-grandfather's sister : Georgina Delonnette 1897 - 1954

GEORGINA DELONNETTE  was born circa 1897 in Brighton. (1901 census). Her birth was registered as Georgina Victoria Brown. Her mother, Emily Brown, aged about 30, was working as a servant for her father, Frenchman Alphonse Joseph Delonette, aged about 57, who she later married, but he was still married to wife Phoebe, aged 77, at this point. Big age differences obviously weren't an issue ! Georgina's birth almost coincided with Phoebe's death in August 1897. By the time of Phoebe's death, Emily had had four children (all with Alphonse?) : Joseph Brown, Victor Alphonse Delonnette, Josephine Delonnette and Georgina.

On 1901 census, age 4, Georgina is living with her parents at 13 Queens Road, Hastings. Her father died in 1908 when she was 10. On the 1911 census, a 14-year-old unmarried domestic nursemaid, she is with her widowed mother  at 45 Victoria Avenue, Ore.

On 9th August 1919, she had a son, AUGUSTUS JACK KNOWLES in Hastings. (He died in 1972)

She married JOHN WILLIAM KNOWLES (known as JACK) (1899-1965) in 1923 in Hastings.

On 30th October 1924, they had a daughter, BETTY JOAN  KNOWLES. She died in 2002.

She had a daughter DOREEN M KNOWLES in June 1927, but she sadly passed away a year later, in June 1928.

In October the same year, on October 15th 1928 she had a son, JOHN ARTHUR KNOWLES (1928-2005).

In 1931, she was at her sister WILHEMINA DELONNETTE's marriage to CHARLES MANSER - she is sitting to the right of the bride.

In December 1944, Georgina and Jack are listed amongst the mourners at her mother Emily's funeral.

Hastings Observer, 4th December 1948

Daughter Betty married Idris Harding in December 1948 and her parents' address was listed as 29 Middle Street.

Georgina died in 1954, aged 57. Her address is given as 29 Middle Street

Hastings and St Leonards Observer East Sussex, England

14 Aug 1954