Amy Johnson Crow, on her blog No Story Too Small, has challenged her fellow bloggers to post 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This is week thirty-seven in my attempt to catch up!
My great-great-great grandmother, Ellen Jeffries, was born in about 1834 in England. Her parents were William and, possibly, Ann Jeffries.
I have not been able to conclusively find the family on the 1841 or 1851 censuses. But on November 22, 1857, Ellen married Charles Lusty in St Nicholas Church, Plumstead, following the publication of banns. Twenty-one year old Charles is shown as a bachelor and both he and father John are listed as labourers. Twenty-three year old Ellen is a spinster and her father, William, is a metal refiner.
By the 1861 census, the family is living in Greenwich East, Kent, at 14 Bowater Terrace. Charles (24) and Ellen (26) along with daughter Mary (2) and three-week old son Charles are living with Charles’ parents John (54) and Mary (49). Also still at home are John and Mary’s children, Sarah Ann (15), Louisa (13), Harriet (11), and George (8).
On the 1871 census, the family is found in Croydon, Surrey. Charles (34) and Ellen (35) are living with Mary Elizabeth (12), Charles (7), Ellen Louisa (9), Rebecca (5) and Arthur (1). Charles is shown as an excavator and Ellen is a laundress.
By the 1881 census, the family has moved to 3 Maybank Cottages in Lewisham. Charles (44) and Ellen (45) along with children Charles (18), Rebecca (16) and Arthur (14) are living there. Charles was a brick maker, Ellen was a dress maker, Charles Jr. was a general labourer, Rebecca was a domestic servant and Arthur was an errand boy.
In January 1888, Charles and Ellen sailed from Liverpool to Boston on the SS Lake Ontario. They were heading for Toronto, Ontario, where several of their children had already settled. They are found on the 1891 Canadian census living in St. Paul’s Ward in York East. Charles (60) and Ellen (62) are there, and Charles is listed as a stone cutter.
Ellen died on February 11, 1899. She had been living at 38 Davenport Road in Toronto. The cause of death was ‘probably heart failure following la grippe”. Dr. Richardson was in attendance and the informant was EK Richardson.
Charles died less than a decade later on April 29, 1907.
