The Illusive Dumbarton...
George is my great grandfather and father to my paternal grandmother, Maggie Dumbarton. George could have stepped out of the pages of a Dicken's novel but unfortunately his story is only too real. He would end up being one of the countless folks of the 19th century who no doubt inspired Dickens to write some of his darkest Victorian tales. Workhouse and asylum admissions, his mother's prison admission, the early death of his father, the separation from siblings and parents, all before the age of 12. These things were all too common in 19th century Britain and George had the lot.
George initially proved to be rather illusive when I was trying to find him. He certainly taught me that one of the first things to realise when tracing ancestors is not to assume the name you have is the name you are looking for. You could be spending weeks trying to find a needle in the wrong haystack. Just because a chap was registered at marriage and death in one surname, doesn't necessarily mean his birth was registered with the same name. Oh the fun I had finding him! After many weeks I eventually asked for help on a forum. It worked, one very kind person managed to trace him, following which a cousin then produced the birth certificate! She knew all along but understandably didn't want to spoil my fun....
George is my great grandfather and father to my paternal grandmother, Maggie Dumbarton. George could have stepped out of the pages of a Dicken's novel but unfortunately his story is only too real. He would end up being one of the countless folks of the 19th century who no doubt inspired Dickens to write some of his darkest Victorian tales. Workhouse and asylum admissions, his mother's prison admission, the early death of his father, the separation from siblings and parents, all before the age of 12. These things were all too common in 19th century Britain and George had the lot.
George initially proved to be rather illusive when I was trying to find him. He certainly taught me that one of the first things to realise when tracing ancestors is not to assume the name you have is the name you are looking for. You could be spending weeks trying to find a needle in the wrong haystack. Just because a chap was registered at marriage and death in one surname, doesn't necessarily mean his birth was registered with the same name. Oh the fun I had finding him! After many weeks I eventually asked for help on a forum. It worked, one very kind person managed to trace him, following which a cousin then produced the birth certificate! She knew all along but understandably didn't want to spoil my fun....
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| George Henry DUNBAVAND birth certificate |
George was born George Henry Dunbavand and somewhere from birth to marriage his name changed to Dumbarton. It didn't help that he was born outside of Lancashire unlike the rest of his family. He had to be different! My own assumption (apologies for my generalisations) was that George may have been unable to read or write and thus unable to spell. The chap would have been at the mercy of any note takers and so 'Dunbavand' could possibly sound like 'Dumbarton' to anyone else, especially if a chap had a very strong accent or had had a few ales!
The story gets more complicated further back down the family line when the name changes backwards and forwards from Dunbavand to Dunbavin, Dunbobin, Dunbobbin, Duncavand, Donbavin, the list goes on. Oh the fun I have had with the Dunbavands!
And so to great grandad George...
The story gets more complicated further back down the family line when the name changes backwards and forwards from Dunbavand to Dunbavin, Dunbobin, Dunbobbin, Duncavand, Donbavin, the list goes on. Oh the fun I have had with the Dunbavands!
And so to great grandad George...
Context for 1867.... The birth of George and...
- Johann Strauss' Blue Danube premiered in Vienna.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky was still bobbing around and married his stenographer Anna Snitkina in St. Petersburg.
- The UK saw the introduction of the Second Reform Act which saught to extend voting rights.
- Lord of all Chocolate, William Cadbury, was born.
- In the US Jesse James and his gang were definitely up to no good.
- Russia formally transferred Alaska to the US. The U.S. had bought Alaska for $7.2 million in gold.
- Mount Vesuvius erupted.
- People waited in mile-long lines to hear Charles Dickens give his first reading in New York City.
- In UK, the Second Reform Act was passed (seeking to extend voting rights but stopping short of all women and 'unskilled' working class men).
- George Henry Dumbarton was born 12 April 1867 in Dudley, Worcestershire, UK.
Childhood...
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| George was born in Caddicks End. |
George was born of George Dunbavand and Hannah Miller in Dudley, Worcestershire on 12th April 1867. It is unclear why George would be the only sibling born outside the North West of England. At the time of his birth his father was a glass cutter, glass making peaked in the nineteenth century and the Midlands was one of the major centres for glass production in the UK and the world and so it's quite possible the family moved to Dudley for work. When George was born they lived in Caddick's End which was very close to Castlefoot Glassworks in Dudley (see map of Dudley 1885). At least 2 years prior to this, the family were settled in Warrington where his older sister Betsy was born and, 2 years after his birth, they had settled back to Warrington where his younger brother Matthais was born (1869).
George was the second
eldest of 4 surviving children. He had two younger brothers who died
within their first year, Mathias (1869) and Samuel (1878). Betsy was the eldest, his second
sister, Hannah, 5 years younger and the youngest child, Robert, was 8 years
younger than George. George spent most of his life in the Warrington and Bolton areas.
Education...
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| National Schools Admission Register (9th row from the bottom). |
1870 Education Act
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| National Schools Admission Register (4th row from top). |
Today in Britain, free, state education is seen as essential to a child's development and a legal requirement. When George would have been going to school, parents would have to pay a fee to ensure that their children received education. There was some provision for poor families made via the New Poor Law which meant that families deemed to be in extreme financial hardship would have places funded by the parish. In addition to this, many children would work outside school hours and so truancy also became a problem as children would go out to work to help the family live. A few years later, George and his family would be in trouble for breaching the 'School Board' act something which would no doubt have a big impact upon the family unit
Father's death, Strangeways Prison and Bolton Union Workhouse...
On 25th January 1878, when George was 11, his father died at their home in Bolton. He was 34 years old. According to the death certificate his father died from 'internal strangulation of the intestines'. Hannah became a widow at the age of 32 and was left to support her 4 children, Besty, George, Hannah and Robert alone.
Just over a year later, on 20 Feb 1879, George's mother Hannah received a prison sentence. She was sent to HM Prison Manchester (Strangeways) for 7 days. The prison register records that Hannah was charged with 'breaching the school act' which could possibly be translated into the children not attending school. She was presented with the opportunity to pay a fine or go to prison. It was likely that Hannah had no other means of support and no money. She was sent to prison and her children George, Hannah and Robert were admitted to the Bolton Union Workhouse.
Georges' older sister Betsy, who by that time was 14 years old, was attending Kirkdale Industrial School in Liverpool, where she was a boarder and was also working as a reeler in a cotton mill. Below is the admission record for George, Hannah and Robert and on the second page we see the reason for their admission being that their 'Mothers in gaol'. Sadly, this wouldn't be the last admission to the workhouse for George or indeed for his mother.
Just over a year later, on 20 Feb 1879, George's mother Hannah received a prison sentence. She was sent to HM Prison Manchester (Strangeways) for 7 days. The prison register records that Hannah was charged with 'breaching the school act' which could possibly be translated into the children not attending school. She was presented with the opportunity to pay a fine or go to prison. It was likely that Hannah had no other means of support and no money. She was sent to prison and her children George, Hannah and Robert were admitted to the Bolton Union Workhouse.
Georges' older sister Betsy, who by that time was 14 years old, was attending Kirkdale Industrial School in Liverpool, where she was a boarder and was also working as a reeler in a cotton mill. Below is the admission record for George, Hannah and Robert and on the second page we see the reason for their admission being that their 'Mothers in gaol'. Sadly, this wouldn't be the last admission to the workhouse for George or indeed for his mother.
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| Bolton Union Workhouse Admission Register: 5th Row down (source: Bolton Archives History Centre) |
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| Bolton Union Workhouse Register: 5th row down (source: Bolton Archives History Centre) |
Growing up, working in the cotton mill...
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| Sunnyside Cotton Mill, Daubhill, Bolton - one of the many in Bolton at the time. |
Two years later, when he was 13 years old, George, his mother and his younger brother and sister were all boarding with a George Hiles in Crown Street, Bolton. George was now employed as a cotton piecer in one of the local cotton mills. This
was a difficult job but not an unusual one for a child from a
poor background in the 19th century. Children were usually employed
as 'piecers' due to the necessity for small,
deft hands.
Cotton piecers would work
on the spinning mule whilst it spun cotton, getting it ready for
weaving. The piecer had to ensure broken pieces of cotton were stuck
back together. They would run between machines checking for threads
and have to piece cotton together whilst the machine was still
moving. It was a dangerous job and many young piecers had hands or fingers torn off by
the moving parts of the machine.
Here an extract is taken
from an interview with a chap working in a cotton factory in the
early 1900s. Whilst this was 20 years later, it gives us a little insight into the kind of work and circumstances George
would be subject to at the age of 13.
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| Bolton mill boys(undated and unamed photo) |
"Where did you
first start work?”
When I was twelve I
went to this school across the road here and when I was twelve year
old I got my half time paper, which was a blue paper and I went and
got on at the spinning mill at Atherton and I worked half time,
that’s from morning at six o’clock and I think it was ‘til
twelve an then I’d come running home, had my dinner and went to
school at the afternoon.
What was your job in
the spinning mill? What did you do?
Well my job in the
spinning mill was a little piecer and eventually when I got to full
time at thirteen I must have got on a bit because the made me into a
side piecer. So that was a promotion over little piecer.
These are mules we are talking about?
They were the mules,
the spinning mules, yes. I stuck there until I was 15.
What did you wear
when you were doing that job?
Well you wore a pair of white pants and nothing on your feet.
Well you wore a pair of white pants and nothing on your feet.
Nothing?
Nothing at all on your
feet. You walked about between the mules with nothing on your feet
making the ends up as they broke. Backwards and forwards as the come
out and went in.
Did you ever get
splinters in your feet?
Yes you did get
splinters in your feet and then you’d go to the first-aid room and
have it took out. All the time you were getting splinters in your
feet. With the continued walking, you know the continued walking, and
the oil, it got slippy with oil you know, it was like a dance floor,
but that’s the way it was in the spinning mill. (Source: www.manchester.gov.uk)
Married life and children..
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| George and Sarah - Marriage 28 June 1890 |
On June 28, 1890 at the age of 23, George married Sarah Ellen Davies at St Thomas & St John's Church,
Radcliffe, Lancashire. Sarah was 20 years old and lived in Radcliffe but, like George, she was born in the Midlands (Hanley, Staffordshire). At the
time of their marriage, George was working as a collier and the couple started out married life in Little Lever, Bolton. Whilst they moved around, they did remain in the Bolton area and had 8 children. Sadly, George (1892), Hannah (1894) and
Robert (1896) all died within their first years. Thomas (1890), Stephen (1898), George
William (1901), Violet (1904) and Maggie (1906 - my grandmother) were the surviving children.
Down t'Pit....
During this time George was employed as a coal miner and would have worked in one of the many pits in the area. In 1880 the Mines Inspector reported 534 coal pits in the Lancashire Coalfield. Of these 19 were in Bolton, 18 in Farnworth and Kearsley, 28 in Darcy, Great and Little Lever and 16 in Westhoughton. (Source http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11314922.Bolton_s_mining_history/ ).
Down t'Pit....
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| 1890's Cornwall Miners; Photo JC Burrows |
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| 1890's Cornwall Miners: Photo JC Burrows |
George would be working under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions where the risks of flooding, explosive gas leaks and pit collapses were all too real. Miners would work very long hours in very cramped conditions and illness was also a risk with common conditions including; stunted growth, crippled legs, curvature of the spine, skin irritations, heart disease, ruptures, asthma, bronchitis and rheumatism (source; http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/factmine/mines.htm).
By the 1901 Census George was still working as a coal miner in the Leigh area.
The workhouse, asylum and death....
It is difficult to know what circumstances lead up to George's illness and death or indeed how long he had been ill for. That's the frustrating thing about family history, the 'trying to fill in the blanks'. What we do know from records is that on 2nd
November 1908, George was admitted to the Bolton Union Workhouse
having been assessed by medical practitioner, Lewis Buck, who determined George was a
'person of unsound mind' and presented an 'Order for the Reception of a Pauper Lunatic'. He was 41 years old.
Before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, Britain's workhouses provided much of the medical care needed for the poor. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries they were the key providers of this medical care and as the19th century progressed they became the refuge for the elderly, sick and infirm poor. Initially, George was admitted to Bolton Union Workhouse but this was only for a short period of time until a bed in the local asylum was found and after a few days stay at the workhouse he was transferred to Whittingham Asylum, Preston on 11th November 1908.
Lancashire Archives still retain the records of patients admitted to Whittingham. They have the 'Reception Order' for many patients and I was able to obtain the one for George which provides valuable insight into the circumstances surrounding his admission. The medical practitioner at the time, Lewis Buck, examined George and stated George was "...nervous, suspicious, depressed and that he says he has been dead once and is in fact full of delusions about his body”. Other evidence was presented by Charles Evans who was the attendant at the Bolton Union Workhouse at the time and, having observed George directly, stated that 'George Dumbarton has no memory, is very depressed does not know when he came here, thinks he is wasting away, sits up in bed crying saying his speech is leaving him and that he will not live more than a day'. In fact George died over two months later on 29th January 1909 at Whittingham Asylum. The cause of death was recorded as 'Exhaustion from General paralysis'.
Timeline and known addresses:
Before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, Britain's workhouses provided much of the medical care needed for the poor. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries they were the key providers of this medical care and as the19th century progressed they became the refuge for the elderly, sick and infirm poor. Initially, George was admitted to Bolton Union Workhouse but this was only for a short period of time until a bed in the local asylum was found and after a few days stay at the workhouse he was transferred to Whittingham Asylum, Preston on 11th November 1908.
 |
Lancashire Archives still retain the records of patients admitted to Whittingham. They have the 'Reception Order' for many patients and I was able to obtain the one for George which provides valuable insight into the circumstances surrounding his admission. The medical practitioner at the time, Lewis Buck, examined George and stated George was "...nervous, suspicious, depressed and that he says he has been dead once and is in fact full of delusions about his body”. Other evidence was presented by Charles Evans who was the attendant at the Bolton Union Workhouse at the time and, having observed George directly, stated that 'George Dumbarton has no memory, is very depressed does not know when he came here, thinks he is wasting away, sits up in bed crying saying his speech is leaving him and that he will not live more than a day'. In fact George died over two months later on 29th January 1909 at Whittingham Asylum. The cause of death was recorded as 'Exhaustion from General paralysis'.
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| George Dumbarton death certificate. |
Timeline and known addresses:
1867 –
BORN - Caddick's End, Dudley Worcester (Source; Birth certificate).
1869
– 2 yrs - Turners Street, Warrington (Source: Mathias (brother) baptism
;http://www.lan-opc.org.uk )
1871
– 4 yrs - 27 Church Street,
Warrington (Source: 1871 Census)
1875
– 8 yrs - 9
Joseph Lee Street, Bolton (Source: Robert
baptism;http://www.lan-opc.org.uk
)
1878
– 11 yrs - 43 Willows Lane, Bolton
(Source: George Dumbavand death certificate)
1879
– 11 yrs - Bolton Union Workhouse,
Fishpool, Farnworth, Bolton (rootsweb)
1881
– 14 yrs - 26 Crown Street, Bolton
(boarder with George Hiles, 1881 census).
1891
– 24 yrs - 8 High Street, Little Lever, Bolton (1891 Census)
1901
- 34 yrs - 59 Lower Green, Astley,
Leigh (1901 Census)
1906
– 39 yrs - 7 Haynes Street, Bolton
(Maggie Dumbarton: Birth Certificate)
1908
– 41 yrs - 27 Georgina Street, Bolton ( Statement of Particulars: Reception
Order for Asylum).
1908
– 41 yrs - Bolton Union Workhouse
– 2 November to 11 November 1908 (then transferred)
1909
– 41 yrs -Whittingham Asylum, Preston
Lancs – DIED 29 January 1909
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