(Numbers listed before each name represent their ancestor/ahnentafel Position)
Samuel Hughes (1827 - ?)
Samuel Thomas (Paul) was born on the 17th January 1827, Whitechapel, London and christened on the 12th October 1828 at All Soul's Church, Marylebone, London. Samuel married Diana Hughes on the 26th December 1859 at the Holy Trinity church in Sherness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Samuel's occupation was a Picture Frame Maker. Their address was simply given as Blue Town, Sherness, and their witnesses were Edward Colley (a carpenter) and Susan Regan.
Samuel and Diana had seven children Sarah Ann (1860), Samuel (1866), Phoebe (1868), Henry (1872), Harry (1876), Lydia (1877), and Samuel (1878).
The 1861 census has Samuel and Diana with their first daughter Sarah Ann living at 35 High Street, Rochester, Kent, with Samuel's occupation listed as a Hawker.
On the 1871 census the family are living at 24 South Street, Queensborough, Kent, with Samuel’s occupation listed as General Dealer.
In the 1881 census Samuel gives his name as Paul Thomas Samuel, he and the family are living in a Traveling Van, in Canal Field, Milton in Gravesend, Kent. Samuel’s occupation was stated as a Licensed Hawker.
The 1891 census shows Samuel and his wife Diana living at 22 Crooked Lane, Gravesend, Kent, with Samuel’s occupation as a Picture Framer and Dealer in Pictures, in Cripplegate, London. Diana is shown to be working as his assistant as well as their son Henry and daughter Lydia. There is also a grand-daughter Annie (b.1886) living with the family.
9 - Phoebe Hughes (1868 - ?)
Phoebe was born in 1868, Chatham, Kent. In 1871 Phoebe and her family were living at 24, South Street, Queensborough, Sheppy, Kent and in 1881 the family were living in a travelling van at Canal Field, Milton in Gravesend, Kent.
Phoebe arrived at Wandsworth Union workhouse, Swaffield Road, off Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, London, on the 7th April 1899, pregnant with her son John and had with her another young child (name unknown). It was recorded that she had been living in several boarding houses; McKies Lodging House, Surrey Lane, Battersea for about a month, White's Lodging House, Rope Yard Rails, Woolwich for a week or two, and then Burkes Lodging House off and on for about 6 months prior to her arrival at the workhouse. Phoebe stated that her parents were gypsies and had lived in caravans, never having a fixed home that she can remember.
Six years earlier Phoebe had given birth to a child (male) in an area which she described as Hastings Heath, the boy sadly died at the age of three weeks. Researching Hastings Heath it is thought that Phoebe must have been making her way to the Hastings workhouse which was located on Frederick Road in Ore. There is what could be described as heath land on the East Hill, usually referred to as Firehills, to the east of Hastings Old Town, going towards Fairlight. After this she ran away from home to be with her eldest sister Sarah Ann (b.1860). From the workhouse records it was understood that her sister had given birth to a child five years earlier but she had died a week after the child was born, this child (believed to be male, name currently unknown) had arrived with Phoebe at the workhouse. Although through further research Phoebe's eldest sister Sarah Ann went on to marry Aaron Goldsmith in Canterbury in 1879, so could not have possibly died after child birth in around 1893, therefore the mother of this unknown child still remains a mystery.
On the 6th May 1899 Phoebe gave birth to her son John Hughes Davis at the workhouse in Wandsworth and he was baptised on the 18th May 1899. On John's birth certificate Phoebe stated that she was a flower hawker and gave her address as 11, Point Pleasant, Wandsworth, London. Phoebe left the workhouse on the 20th May 1899, and I unable to confirm from the records whether she left with her new son and her sister's (?) young child.
In the 1901 census Phoebe is recorded as Phoebe Davis living with her son, John, and his father John Davis. I have been unable to find any evidence that Phoebe and John Davis ever married, and Phoebe used both the surnames Hughes and Davis throughout her life depending on what was being recorded.
On the 28th February 1908, Phoebe gave birth to her daughter Charlotte Hughes in the Dartford workhouse, at 37 West Hill, Dartford, Kent. On Charlotte’s birth certificate Phoebe gave her address as The Old Gaol, Lowfield Street, Dartford and her occupation was a Flower Hawker.
The 1911 census found Phoebe and her daughter Charlotte living as lodgers at 27 West Street, Gravesend, Kent. Phoebe's occupation was stated as a charwoman.
4 - John Hughes Davis (6th May 1899 - 13th December 1963)
Born in the Union Workhouse, Swaffield Road, off Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, London on the 6th May 1899. John was always known as John Hughes Davis, however on his birth certificate states that his name was simply recorded as John Davis. It was always not understood where the Hughes reference came from, but on discovering the Wandsworth workhouse records it was shown that his name had been recorded 'John Davis see Hughes' and 'John Hughes see Davis'. Later on school records it was confirmed that his parents were John Davis and Phoebe Hughes.
In the 1901 census John and his parents Phoebe and John Davis were living at number 4 Short Road, West Ham, Essex, and his father's occupation was listed as a hawker.
On the 17th October 1906 John was committed through Woolwich court on a charge of ‘wandering’ and admitted to St Vincent’s School for young boys, Whitstable, Kent. Records show that his character was recorded as ‘indifferent’ and circumstances as ‘wretched’. Once he had reached the age of ten he was transferred to Vincent’s Industrial School, Dartford, Kent, on the 29th August 1909, and was discharged on the 19th January 1915.
On the 1911 census John is recorded being at the St Vincent’s school in Kent as an 'inmate', and once again his name is registered as John Hughes or Davis.
John married Edith Ivy STOKES on the 9th February 1924 at the register office in Brentford, Middlesex, and their witnesses were F E Stokes (Edith's mother) and M A Wells. At the time John was a Private in the 2nd Battalion Border Regiment 3589728 based at the Army Vocational Training Centre, Hounslow, Middlesex.
John and Edith lived at 2 George Street, Hounslow, Middlesex and had seven children, Lilly, John, Doris, Lenny, Albert, Marie and Robert.
Later in his life John went looking for has father John Davis senior, who he found living in St Anne’s Road, Notting Hill, London. They apparently grew quite close, and his father went to see John play in a band every Sunday at Crescent Street, Notting Hill.
John sadly died on the 13th December 1963 in Harefield Hospital, Hill End Road, Harefield, Middlesex, of lung cancer, the informant was his son Lenny Davis.