Great-Great-Grandma Baker - The Story So Far

My Great-Great Grandmother Louisa Baker was born in Wilncote, Kettlebrook Staffordshire on 13th September 1852 and baptised the following December at St. Editha in Tamworth. Her parents were Joseph, a collier and his wife, also Louisa (nee Simnett).

So far, I have found four siblings; Henry b.1849, Rebecca b.1858, William b.1861 and Sarah Ann b.1865. I believe Henry married Ellen Peach and worked as an engine driver in and around Burton-On-Trent. Sarah Ann married Adam Tait and also stayed around the Burton-On-Trent area.

The 1861 census was the first following Louisa's birth and finds her living in her maternal grandparent's (Samuel and Ann) home of 29 Guild Street, Burton-On-Trent. She was with her mother and her siblings Henry and William but there was no mention of Rebecca.

According to this census entry Louisa's father, Joseph, had absconded. I haven't as yet been able to find him elsewhere in census searches on both Find My Past and Ancestry.

I have also been unable to find Louisa in the 1871 census, but I have located her parents, Louisa and Joseph, back together and living at 2 Albert Place, Station Street, Burton-On-Trent. Henry, Rebecca, William and Sarah Ann were all living with them; Joseph and Henry were employed as labourers.

Station St. Burton-On-Trent c1880

The next record of Louisa I have found is her marriage to Charles Bateman on the 17th October 1874 at St. Nicholas in Nottingham. I have no idea how she ended up in Nottingham; she was living at 24 Castle Terrace at the time and gave no information as to employment.

St. Nicholas. Nottingham

The 1881 census shows Louisa and Charles living at 1 Crown Street, Nottingham with their first two children, Louisa Rose b.1876 and Charles Nelson b.1879. Charles was employed as a telegraphist at the Post Office and Louisa was working as a mantle maker.

The family moved to 138 Noel Street North sometime between 1881-5 and then on to 86 Burford Road, Hyson Green in 1887. 

Louisa and Charles had five more children; Bertie Fawcett b.1882, Margaret Elizabeth (Marguerite) b.1884, Winifred J b.1886, Florence Mary (my g-grandmother) b.1887 and Dorothy Maud b.1892.

By 1891, they were living at 29 Claypole Road, also in Hyson Green and had a visitor, 7 year old Nellie Lamb from Middlesex, staying with them. Louisa Rose, Margaret, Winifred and Florence were living with their parents at this address in 1901.

Claypole Road 2009. John Sutton

Louisa died on the 22nd January 1905 at home in Claypole Road; her death was attributed to cirrhosis of the liver and exhaustion. She was buried in Nottingham's General Cemetery on the 26th January.

So, I still have some missing information to track down for Louisa; her father's missing census in 1861 and her own missing census in 1871. I'd like to see who else lived at 24 Castle Terrace in 1871 and what the property was being used for, that may give a clue was to how Louisa ended up in Nottingham. And it may also be useful to find out who Nellie Lamb was and if she is connected to the family.

Station St. Picture Credit: http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=4861

St Nicholas Picture Credit: http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/whatnall1928/stnicholas_church.htm

Claypole Rd. Picture Credit:John Sutton [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons