AUGUST 2006 

EDITOR’S NOTES

I apologise to our regular readers for the late presentation of “This Month”.  I must admit that the wonderful summer we have been enjoying has meant I have spent much more time working in the garden and far less in the study than usual.  I also had problems in researching the planned family history article and resorted to preparing a completely new article from scratch.

As usual, there are lot of loose ends to be tied up in this month’s article. I feel that if every detail is fully researched, then there is nothing for the newcomer to the hobby to do. In this month’s article I include a reference to an Ebbern Road. This came from a reader some time ago. Unfortunately, I have not been able to trace her original e-mail. My thanks to you for a very interesting piece of information, which I have now been able to put in context.

I hear that there are plans to digitalise the GRO [London] Birth, Marriage and Death indexes.
The new index will not be a digital form of the existing indexes, which are known to have errors and omissions, but will be taken from reproductions of the original copies of registers from Registrars and Clergy. After the problems with the 1901 census transcripts, I am a little worried that this work may be farmed out overseas. On the positive side, the extra information not given in earlier indexes will be included. This means that mother’s maiden name [Births], spouse’s surname [Marriages] and age [Deaths] will be shown from 1837. No doubt there will be a fee to view the digitalised index on-line service. Is this another backdoor way of privatising a public service?  Will it mean that those heavy volumes that I first handled at Somerset House in the 1950’s will disappear from the shelves? I hope not, I have always found them easier to use than anything I have seen on-line.

John Hebborn.

EBBERN OF HERTFORDSHIRE

For some time I have been researching a family of Ebberns who lived in Hertfordshire in the 19th Century. As Ebbern is one of the less common Eb[b]orn variants, and Herts did not occur too often in my studies, I thought this would be a straightforward case. It was not so. The family were continually on the move, used several variants of the name, and there were lots of gaps in important information.

When I found a reference to the birth of a Mary Ann Ebbern in March Quarter 1858 at Watford and another in September Quarter 1859 at Hemel Hempstead, I realised that there could be a second Ebbern family in the county. The 1861 census proved the existence of a second Ebbern family. I found the other Mary Ann Ebbern age 1 born at Abbots Langley, Herts. She was in the household of her grandmother Elizabeth Kinder age 60. Included in the return were her mother Emma age 29, and sisters, Emma 14, Elizabeth 10, and Rosetta 6. This was one of those gifts that occasionally happen in family history research. I had discovered both the name and maiden name of Mary Ann’s mother in one document. Her father did not appear on the return.

The marriage of Thomas Ebbern and Emma Matilda Kinder took place at Abbots Langley on 9th July 1848. The next step was to look for the couple in the 1851 census. I found them at Leverstock Green, Hemel Hempstead. Thomas, aged 23, is described as a Coal Merchant and Farmer of 24 acres employing 4 men and 1 boy. Also shown are wife Emma M age 21, daughter Elizabeth age 1, and a 12 year old house servant. This all fitted together perfectly. 

Also in the 1851 Census I found Thomas Ebbern age 50 a coal merchant of New Wharf, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead. He was living with his wife Sarah aged 42, born at Bushey, Herts. Of particular interest was the birthplace of Thomas, given as Sowe, Warwicks. I remembered taking a number of references to baptisms and marriages at Walsgrave on Sowe. Among them I found the baptism of Thomas Eburn son of Thomas and Sarah [Masser] on the 22 Dec 1789. I feel this is our man despite the difference in the spelling of the surname. His eleven brothers and sisters are variously recorded as Eburn, Eburne and Ebbern.

It appeared that the two coal merchants were father and son. This could be confirmed by the baptism entry of Thomas junior, but this has not come to light. From the 1851 census return it would appear he was born about 1827.  I hoped to locate the family in the 1841 census, but I could not trace Thomas senior or Sarah. I did find a Thomas Ebbern age 14, a resident pupil at school in Basing House in Rickmansworth. This is most likely Thomas Junior.

I recall that one of our readers sent me an extract from the Hemel Hempstead Gazette that stated that Ebberns Road, Apsley was named after coal merchant Thomas Ebbern who owned the Albion pub on the corner of Ebberns Road and Durrants Hill and nearby cottages. In the 19th century coal was transported to Hemel on the canal. I wonder which of our Thomas’ had the road named after him?

The transcript of the 1861 census I had seen did not include the marital status of those listed. As Thomas junior did not appear on Emma Matilda’s return, I assumed that she had been widowed. [Making assumptions is a cardinal sin in genealogy]  The GRO index shows that a Thomas Ebbern died in Hemel Hempstead district during March Quarter 1853.  At this time the age of the deceased was not entered in the index, and it is often difficult to be sure that you have the right person. In this case 1853 was before the birth of Rosetta and Mary Ann Ebbern. The answer lay in the 1861 census. Thomas junior appears with his mother Sarah age 60, at Clay Hill, Bushey, Herts. Their occupations are entered as “formerly coal merchant”.  Thomas senior’s name does not appear. The 1853 death was obviously Sarah’s husband.

In 1871 Thomas again appears on his mother’s census schedule at Clay Hill, Bushey. Meanwhile, his wife Emma Matilda is still living with her mother in Watford. By this time Emma Matilda junior had left home. She had married John Kinder, a master butcher of Watford High Street. He was over 20 years her senior and I believe her second cousin. Her death was registered in the December quarter of 1873 at Watford. She was only 25 years old.

The 1871 census return of Emma Matilda Ebbern now aged 38, presents a problem. Although she appears to have lived apart from her husband for ten years, two sons were born during that period. Thomas W.H. aged 9 and Francis J. aged 3. I have found no further reference to William, but Francis Joseph died in 1873 aged 6.

Thomas Ebbern junior died in 1877 at the age of 53. His mother died three years later aged 73.

The GRO marriage index for September quarter 1885 shows an Emma M Ebbern in London City District. This probably refers to the widow of Thomas Ebbern junior.

I had started out looking for a possible relative of the William Ebbern of Watford, and discovered a completely separate family who lived very different lives. William had come from Buckinghamshire and had a very hard life. The trail of Thomas Ebberns led me back to Warwickshire and a family with a very different background to William.
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John Hebborn.