Wednesday 14 January 2009

Frederick and Emma Cruwys in 1911

I have finally managed to find my elusive great-grandparents Frederick and Emma Cruwys in the 1911 census along with my grandfather Herbert. Their surname was mistranscribed as Crenny, which is a totally new mis-spelling to add to my ever-growing collection. They were eventually located by means of an address search. They were living, as expected, at 35 Byfield Gardens in Barnes. The address search was not as straightforward as might be expected as most of Byfield Gardens, apart from three houses, was transcribed as Byfeld Gardens. I'd like to thank fellow Guild member Ken Toll for pointing out the Byfeld spelling which eventually led me to find the entry for Frederick and Emma.

In 1911 Frederick, 50, was working as a tailor's cutter. His wife Emma (née Gough) gave her age as 52, though she was in fact 55. Their two youngest sons were living at home: Herbert (my grandfather), aged 24, who was also a tailor's cutter, and Tom, 21, a designer of house furniture. Their two eldest sons, Frank and Bob, were already married in 1911 and were living nearby in Hammersmith.

I have a lovely picture of Frederick, Emma and the four boys which I have reproduced below. I don't know the exact date of the photo but, judging by the age of the boys, I would guess it was probably taken within a few years of the 1911 census. It might possibly have been taken later that same year to commemorate Frederick's 50th birthday. In the photograph from left to right are: Tom (born 1890), Emma (born 1855), Frank (born 1882), Bob (born 1883) and Herbert (born 1886). Frederick (born 1861) is seated in the centre of the photograph.
Frank, Bob and Herbert were all tailors. Frank went to work in France, Herbert had a shop in Cork in Ireland, and Bob had a shop in Old Bond Street in London. Tom was a child singing star and went on to enjoy a varied career as an artist and designer. I have written about him separately in another post which can be found here.

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