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1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Household Information
Street Barnet Street, West Side
Parish Bethnal Green
Town London
City Hackney
County London, Middlesex
Country England
Ecclesiastical District
Enumeration District 12
Municipal Ward North
Parliamentary Borough Hackney
Registration District Bethnal Green
Category Census, Land & Surveys
Record set 1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census

Person 1
First Name Mary
Last Name Taylor
Birth Year 1847
Age 24
Birth Place England
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Lancashire
Gender Female
Relationship To Head of Household Wife

Person 2
First Name William
Last Name Taylor
Birth Year 1846
Age 25
Birth Place England
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Middlesex
Gender Male
Occupation *****Marine Store Dealer******
Relationship To Head of Household Head
Person 3
First Name William
Last Name Taylor
Birth Year 1868
Age 3
Birth Place England
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Middlesex
Gender Male
Relationship To Head of Household Son

Person 4
First Name Mary
Last Name Taylor
Birth Year 1871
Age 0
Birth Place England
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Middlesex
Gender Female
Relationship To Head of Household Daughter

Possible marriage of William Taylor to a Mary Duffy (who could become Mary Peake in 1884)
Free BMD
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Jun 1867
DUFFY Mary Bethnal Green 1c 680
DUNLOP Elizabeth Mary Bethnal Green 1c 680
RAMSAY Samuel Bethnal Green 1c 680
RAMSEY Samuel Bethnal Green 1c 680
TAYLOR William Robert Bethnal Green 1c 680

Karin

@Jacqueline
JHS date of death was 9 January 1954
Margaret was 1 November 1961
These were my grandparents.

@Karin
I think I see what you're saying: Mary Duffy became Mary Taylor,who then married Thomas Peake who had been widowed. Have I got that right?
But then that leaves me still without clear evidence for Margaret's mother. Or am I missing something obvious?
Keith

So the deaths I posted ARE correct.

Which means Margaret DID lie about her age when she married

Once you accept that, everything else falls into place

I know they were your grandparents.........you said as much at the start

1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Virginia Road, Bethnal Green, London, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Thos Peake Head Married Male 40 1851 Joiner Marine Dealer Hackney, Middlesex, England Transcription
Mary Peake Wife Married Female 42 1849 Joiner Marine Dealer Manchester Transcription
Margaret Peake Daughter Single Female 6 1885 Scholar Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Transcription
Thos Peake Son Single Male 2 1889 - Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Transcription
William Taylor Stepson Single Male 23 1868 Carpenter Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Transcription
Mary Taylor Stepdaughter Single Female 20 1871 Domestic Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England Transcription
Richard Taylor Stepson Single Male 16 1875 Chair Maker Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England

You can now look yourself for the Taylors in 1881.................FREE on familysearch

@Jacqueline
I'm not clear how you can say Margaret lied about her age when she married. It's quite possible of course, and to back up your thoughts (?) an informal family tree from another family member shows her birth year as 1885, however I don't understand how we have evidence to choose 1881 or 1885, either have equal probability of being in error as I see it.
I have also looked for, and failed to find, a birth for Margaret Peake in 1885.
What am I missing?
Keith

You are MISIING the fact that at death her birth year was recorded as 1885

And the birth you can't find is on freebmd and was posted on page one of this thread

That's not quite right, Jacqueline, I've had 1885 as an option for several months based on the FreeBMD record and the informal family tree However I saw no reason to prefer the evidence of a death report stating 1885 written some 75 years after the fact, over a marriage certificate written 30 years after the fact. Birth years on death certificates are often based on the stated / assumed / estimated age of the deceased rather than firm evidence. Either date could be in error.

FreeBMD only gives a record of the name and a quarter, there are rather a lot of Margaret Peakes (indeed there is another one adjacent on this same FreeBMD page!). As far as I know, only by ordering a copy of the birth certificate can I confirm the 1885 date. And maybe that's what I have to do.

Here's a census record from 1861:

C1861 probable based on location
Name: Thos Peake
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: 1851
Relation: Son (Child)
Father's name: Thomas Peake
Mother's name: Margaret Peake
Gender: Male
Where born: Hackney, Middlesex, England
Civil Parish: Hackney St John
Ecclesiastical parish: Hackney
County/Island: Middlesex
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

View image
Registration district: Hackney
Sub-registration district: Hackney
ED, institution, or vessel: 4
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 191
Piece: 157
Folio: 96
Page Number: 40
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas Peake 39
Margaret Peake 33
Margaret Peake 11
Thos Peake 10
Maria Peake 9
John Peake 6
Emily Peake 5
William Peake 11/12
Ann Newman 76
Mary Newman 30

Here we have a Margaret Peake aged about 11 in 1861 giving a birth year of around 1850. At this point there would have been no reason to lie about her age. I would therefore expect to be able to find a birth record to match, but this has so far eluded me.

That said, the C1891 you quote provides equal justification for the 1885 date, thank you for that, it's one I have not yet seen - and for this one there is a matching birth record!

Based on the C1891 record it seems that Thomas remarried after his first (?) wife and mother of Margaret died (?). The C1911 record, if it's the same Thomas, has him widowed again.

So now I need a marriage record for Thomas and his first wife, a death record for a female Peake prior to 1911, and a marriage for Thomas and Mary (who had also been married before).

Again, many thanks, this is most helpful.

Keith

Hi Keith

My suggestion is that Thomas Peake married Mary Duffy/Taylor
in 1884 and that Margaret and Thomas Peake Jnr are the children of Thomas and Mary. I don't believe Thomas had any other wife.

Margaret Peake was born in Bethnal Green in 1885 and Thomas Jnr born in Bethnal Green 1889.

Your grandmother Margaret may have "fudged" her age as has been suggested to appear older so as not to have such a huge age gap between her and John. It may also be a simple error on the part of whoever whoever took the information down for the marriage and census'.

Karin

From FreeBMD
A possible death for Mary with the age fitting as she was born approx. 1847 according to census records
Deaths Dec 1898
Peake Mary 51 Bethnal G. 1c 106

and Thomas is listed as widower in 1901

Karin

Thank you for that summary, Karin, that all fits together.

The conclusion seems to be that there are two families containing similar names: there's the one I found in the C1861 which has a Margaret born 1881 and suggests Thomas married Margaret Newman, and another C1891 found by brummiejan with a Margaret born 1885 which has Thomas marrying Mary Duffy / Taylor.

Both seem possible and consistent. One has "my" Margaret stating her age correctly on the marriage certificate, the other has her fudging it, either also possible. My challenge now is to decide which explanation applies to "my" Margaret.

@Karin @Jacqueline you seem to be convinced that the Mary Duffy / Taylor one is the right one. On what do you base that choice / preference please?

I'm going to keep digging around this in an attempt to make a well-founded choice, if anyone has ideas how best to go about this or comes up with additional evidence I'll be very grateful.

Thank you all for helping think this through.

Keith

Simply getting the birth cert would resolve it

Yes, Jacqueline, and I will order the birth certificate for the one birth we have been able to find, 1885.

That still leaves me with a puzzle with eg this C1901 entry in which both father's and daughter's birth years are slightly out of step:

1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Household Information
Street Virginia Road
Parish Bethnal Green
Town
City
County London
Country England
Ecclesiastical District St Pauls
Enumeration District 19
Municipal Ward West Bethnal Green
Parliamentary Borough South West Bethnal Green
Registration District Bethnal Green
Category Census, Land & Surveys
Record set 1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Collections from Great Britain
Person 1
First Name Margaret
Last Name Peake
Birth Year 1884
Age 17
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Middlesex
Birth Place England
Relationship To Head of Household Daughter
Gender Female
Occupation Marine Store Assistant
Condition Single
Archive Reference RG13
Folio 12
Page 16
Piece Number 286
Person 2
First Name Thomas
Last Name Peake
Birth Year 1849
Age 52
Birth Town Homerton
Birth County Middlesex
Birth Place England
Relationship To Head of Household Head
Gender Male
Occupation Marine Store Dealer
Condition Widower
Archive Reference RG13
Folio 12
Page 16
Piece Number 286
Person 3
First Name Thomas
Last Name Peake
Birth Year 1889
Age 12
Birth Town Bethnal Green
Birth County Middlesex
Birth Place England
Relationship To Head of Household Son
Gender Male
Occupation
Condition Single
Archive Reference RG13
Folio 12
Page 16
Piece Number 286

Keith

Hi Keith, I'm sure the 1901 and 1891 censuses, with Margaret b.1884 and 1885 are the correct ones. They're really the only ones that tie in with Thomas Edward George Peake marrying in 1884.

You've hit a blind spot with the 1861 census. :-) If Margaret was 10 in 1861, she would have been born in 1851- not 1881.

You mention that your grandmother was a nurse.

Taken from "England's First State Hospitals" In 1892 the minimum age for a nurse was fixed at 22 years old.

I wonder if this is why Margaret added a few years to her age?

Thanks for a adding a fresh aspect to this, Christina. I don't know when she became a nurse, I'd always imagined it was war related, but you're right this was pre-war.

And you're right about the 1861 census, a silly error on my part, I spotted it after I'd pressed the button ... .

Keith

England Marriages 1538-1973 Transcription (Find My Past)

First name(s) Thomas Edward George
Last name Peake
Age 24
Marriage year 1913
Marriage date 22 Mar 1913
Marriage place Canning-Town, Essex, England
Father's first name(s) Thomas Edward George
Father's last name Peake
Spouse's first name(s) Florence Sarah
Spouse's last name Naylor
Spouse's birth year 1893
Spouse's birth date 1893
Spouse's father's first name(s) Joshua
Spouse's father's last name Naylor
Residence Canning-Town, Essex, England
Place Canning-Town
County Essex

(if relating, apologies if already added!)

Chris :)

Thanks Chris!
I found that too, although your version has more details. I have ordered Thomas the younger's birth certificate too. That way I should have two shots at getting information on Thomas senior.
Keith

Marriage details:

Place: St Jude's Islington
Date: 14th April 1884
Groom: Thomas Edward George Peake, Bachelor, of full age occ: Joiner
Bride: Mary Taylor, Widow, of full age
(Both living at 32 Lewington Green Road)
Groom's father: Deceased
Bride's father: Thomas Duffy occ: Umbrella Maker
Both bride and groom signed their names
Witnesses: John Duffy and Sarah Smith