Person:Arabella Redknap (1)

Arabella Amelia Redknap was born in Poplar, London on 3 Apr 1821, the only known child of Enos Redknap, a waterman/lighterman, and Hannah Argent. She was baptised 2 May 1821 at All Saints Church, Poplar. Her mother was 36 when Arabella was born, and perhaps this is why we haven't found that they had other children. In any case, Enos died and was buried 8 Aug 1828 at All Saints Church, Poplar aged 33 years. Hannah was now twice a widow, with five children, and Arabella was fatherless at the age of 7. Hannah married for a third time, to a Thomas Melvin of Greenwich, on 20 Jan 1834 at St. Alfege Church, Greenwich. Thomas Melvin was not living with Hannah in the 1841 or 1851 censuses though she still claimed to be married in 1851. (Perhaps he was a mariner and was away at the time?)

On 8 Jan 1841 Arabella married shipwright Thomas Owen Ingram at St. George in the East Church. Her mother Hannah was a witness along with a William Alderton. In the 1841 census Thomas and Amelia were living at Newby Place, Poplar. They had the following children, all born in Poplar and baptised at All Saints Church, Poplar, except the first and last:

1. Hannah Amelia b. 1841, bap. 27 Mar 1842 at St. Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney
2. Mary Ann b. abt 1843, bap. 23 Mar 1843 and buried at All Saints on 2 Apr 1843
3. Sarah Ann b. 16 Jun 1844, bap. 7 Jul 1844
4. Nancy b. 5 Apr 1846, bap. 26 Apr 1846 and buried at All Saints on 1 Apr 1847.
5. Thomas Owen Skinner (named after his father and grandfather) b. 13 Sep 1847 bap. 3 Oct 1847
6. Edward b. abt Mar 1851 in Northfleet, buried 21 Mar 1852 at St. Botolph's Church, Northfleet, Kent, England

So sometime between October 1847 and about May 1851 the family moved from Poplar down the Thames to Northfleet, Kent, where Thomas's father had lived and his eldest siblings were born. The family of Thomas, Arabella and four children were living at 4 Providence Place, Northfleet during the 1851 census and Thomas was working as a shipwright. Thomas and Arabella had another child while living in Northfleet:

7. Georgina b. abt 1853 in Northfleet. (I've searched the St. Botolph Northfleet baptism records from 1851-end of 1855 for Edward and Georgina but there were no Ingrams - perhaps they went to a different church?)

Northfleet was home to numerous shipyards but the docks were in decline by the 1840s, and by 1857 the family had moved back to Poplar, where they had another child who died in her infancy:

8. Kate b. 1857, bur. 27 Jun 1857 at All Saints, Poplar

In the 1861 census Thomas, Amelia, and their two youngest children Thomas and Georgina lived at 65 Regent Street, Poplar, (Regent St was later renamed Gaselee) with Thomas Sr. still working as a shipwright. Thomas and Arabella had one more child, about 4 years after the previous was born, and with Arabella aged 41:

9. George William b. 1861 in Poplar

On 14 May 1864 Thomas and Arabella's eldest daughter Hannah was married to coffee house keeper Robert William Bryett at St. Dunstan's Church. Sarah Ann was the next child to marry, to shipwright John Alfred Whitfield at St. Thomas' Church, Stepney on 2 November 1868.

In the 1871 census Thomas, Arabella and their youngest child George were living at 15 Blackwall (Road or Street?), Poplar - their other living children had already married (Hannah and Sarah Ann) or moved out - Georgina was working as a servant in Stratford le Bow and Thomas Owen Skinner Ingram had probably already moved to Victoria, Australia, where he married Mary Ann Hobson in 1873.

In the 1881 census Thomas and George were living at Walkers Dry Dock in Deptford (but I haven't managed to find Arabella yet), with a watchman, gentleman who was an "imbecile" and his nurse and servant sharing the accommodation.

Arabella died of "apoplexy" i.e. a stroke at the age of 62, on 21 May 1883 in an infirmary on Bakers Row, Mile End New Town, with her daughter Sarah Ann in attendance. On the death certificate 70 year-old Thomas is recorded as living at 55 Flower and Dean Street in Whitechapel, described the same year as "perhaps the foulest and most dangerous street in the whole metropolis". Just a few years later, in 1888, one of Jack the Ripper's victims, Catherine Eddowes, stayed at the same common-lodging house, Cooney's Lodging House, when she was murdered. Another of the Rippers victims lived on the same street and recent geoprofiling suggests the Ripper lived on Flower and Dean at the time of the murders. All of which gives us some clues as to Thomas and Arabella's situation in life at the time - it was an extremely poor, dangerous area.

Descendants of Thomas and Arabella currently live in England, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

DNA Genealogy

If you are a descendant of Arabella Redknap and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 General Register Office. Marriage Certificate
   marriage certificate for Thomas Ingram and Arabella Amelia Redknap, married 8 Jan 1841; citing 2/15/118, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter 1841, Saint George in the East registration district.
   Thomas Ingram m. Arabella Redknap marriage certificate
2. ↑ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Marriage Index. (London, England: General Register Office, 1837-Present)
   entry for Arabella Amelia Redknap, volume 2, page 15, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter 1841, St George in The East district; accessed 22 Aug 2009.
3. ↑ Registrar General. Birth Certificate
   birth certificate for Sarah Ann Ingram, born 16 June 1844; citing 02/313/210, Jul-Aug-Sep quarter 1844, Poplar Union registration district, Poplar sub-district.
   Sarah Ann Ingram birth certificate
4. ↑ Stepney, London, England. St. George-in-the-East Church, Parish Records, 1754-1921
   "London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," Thomas Ingram m. Arabella Amelia Redknap, 8 Jan 1841; accessed 8 Nov 2009.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
   "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Arabella Amelia Redknap, bap. 2 May 1821; accessed 8 Nov 2009.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Middlesex, England. 1841 Census
   Poplar, folio 51, page 15; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Aug 2009); citing PRO HO 107/702/8.

   1841 Census information:
   Name: Amelia Ingram
   Age: 21
   Estimated birth year: abt 1820
   Household: Thomas Ingram
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Middlesex, England
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Hundred: Ossulstone (Tower Division)
   County/Island: Middlesex
   Country: England
   Street address: Newby Place
   Occupation: n/a
   Source information: HO107/702/8
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 25
   Folio: 51
   Page: 15
   Line number: 8
   GSU Number: 438815

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Middlesex, England. 1861 Census
   Poplar, folio 91, page 36; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Aug 2009); citing PRO RG 9/309.

   1861 Census information:
   Name: Amelia Ingram
   Age: 40
   Estimated birth year: abt 1821
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Thomas
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Poplar, Middlesex, England
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints
   County/Island: Middlesex
   Country: England
   Street address: 65 Regent St
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 27
   Household schedule number: 171
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   Amelia Ingram 40
   Georgina Ingram 7
   Thomas Ingram 47
   Thomas A Ingram 13

8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Kent, England. 1851 Census
   Northfleet, folio 48, page 13; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2009); citing PRO HO 107/1609.

   1851 census information:
   Name: Arabella Ingram
   Age: 30
   Estimated birth year: abt 1821
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Thomas
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Blackwall
   Civil parish: Northfleet
   County/Island: Kent
   Country: England
   Street address: 4 Provedence Place
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: North Aylesford
   Sub-registration district: Northfleet
   ED, institution, or vessel: 1b
   Household schedule number: 264
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   Anna Ingram 10
   Arabella Ingram 30
   Edward Ingram 1 Mo
   Sarah Ingram 6
   Thomas Ingram 38
   Thomas Ingram 3

9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} London, England. 1871 Census
   Poplar, folio 88, page 9; digital images, \i Ancestry.com\i0  (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Aug 2009); citing PRO RG 10/585.

   1871 Census information:
   Name: Arabella Ingram
   Age: 50
   Estimated birth year: abt 1821
   Relation: Wife
   Spouse's name: Thomas
   Gender: Female
   Where born: Poplar
   Civil parish: Poplar
   Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints
   County/Island: London
   Country: England
   Street address: 15 Blackwall Rd
   Occupation: n/a
   Condition as to marriage: Married
   Registration district: Poplar
   Sub-registration district: Poplar
   ED, institution, or vessel: 27
   Household schedule number: 41
   Household Members:
   Name Age
   Arabella Ingram 50
   Geo Wm Ingram 9
   Thomas Ingram 57

10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index. (London, United Kingdom: General Register Office, 1837-Present)
    entry for Arabella Amelia Ingram, volume 1c, page 216, Apr-May-Jun quarter 1883, Whitechapel district; accessed 22 Aug 2009.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3} General Register Office. England & Wales. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death
    death certificate for Arabella Amelia Ingram, died 21 May 1883; citing 1c/216/346, Apr-Jun quarter 1883, Whitechapel registration district, Mile End New Town sub-district.
    Arabella Amelia (Redknap) Ingram death certificate
12. ↑ Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
    "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Sarah Ann Ingram, bap. 7 Jul 1844; accessed 11 Oct 2009.
13. ↑ Poplar, London, England. All Saints Church Parish Records
    "London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906," Mary Ann Ingram, bap. 23 Mar 1843; accessed 9 Nov 2009.