Person:Hannah Meekins (2)

Hannah Meakins was born on 1st December 1866 at Southwark, in the southern suburbs of London. She was the daughter of a hawker called Ann Meakins, formerly Walter, and her husband John Meakins, a costermonger. The family lived at Fox’s Buildings, a short street off Kent Street which formed part of the Old Kent Road. To get into Fox’s Buildings you had to go through an archway beside one of the shops on Kent Street. The 1871 census finds Hannah living with her parents, siblings and an aunt at 5 Fox’s Buildings.

Hannah’s father died in February 1880, when Hannah was thirteen years old. The census the following year finds Hannah living with her mother and siblings at 14 Fox’s Buildings.

On 14th August 1887, aged twenty, Hannah married Peter Ralph at the church of St George the Martyr in Southwark. They went on to have a number of children, but saw many of them die young; Hannah reported in 1911 that she had had fourteen children but only seven were then still living.

Hannah’s mother died in December 1890.

The 1891 census finds Hannah, Peter, and their baby son living at 7 Beckway Street in Newington, where they just had one room. Peter was working as a carman in a jam factory. By 1901 they were living with their children at 7 North Row in Newington (which had recently been absorbed into the new Metropolitan Borough of Southwark). They later moved to nearby Camberwell, where the 1911 census finds them living at 10 Hollington Street.

Peter died in June 1924, aged 59. Hannah survived him by nearly nineteen years.

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Hannah was living at 16 Guildford Place in Camberwell, described as ‘formerly domestic’, indicating that she had previously worked as a domestic servant.

Hannah died in 1943, aged 76. She was buried at Camberwell New Cemetery on 19th March 1943.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Hannah MEAKINS, March Quarter 1867, St George Southwark Registration District, Volume 1d, page 131, mother’s maiden name Walter

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Southwark, Surrey: Parish Registers of St George the Martyr, Southwark (London Metropolitan Archives, London).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of St George the Martyr Southwark in the County of Surrey in the Year 1867
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   157	1867 Jan[uar]y 4	Hannah Daughter of	John and Ann	Meakins Born Dec[embe]r 1 1866	2 Foxes Buildings, Kent Street	Costermonger	W.J. Rundell

3. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 598; Folio 117; Page 37, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 5 Foxes Buildings, Southwark (St George), Surrey
   John Meakins, head, married, male, 33 [1837/8], General Dealer, b. Mint St[reet] Boro[ugh]
   Ann Meakins, wife, married, female, 29 [1841/2], Hawker, b. Boro[ugh]
   Henry Meakins, son, male, 10 [1860/1], Scholar, b. Kent St[reet]
   Mary A. Meakins, daughter, female, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Kent St[reet]
   Hanah Meakins, daughter, female, 4 [1866/7], b. Kent St[reet]
   Ellen Meakins, daughter, female, 1 [1869/70], b. Kent St[reet]
   Matilda Walters, sister, female, 17 [1853/4], Hawker, b. Kent St[reet]

4. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 521; Folio 130; Page 33, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 14 Foxes Buildings, Southwark (St George the Martyr), Surrey
   Ann Meekings, mother, widow, female, 39 [1841/2], Hawker, b. London
   Mary Ann Meekings, daughter, female, 18 [1862/3], Rabbit Skinner, b. London
   John Meekings, son, male, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. London
   Hannah Meekings, daughter, female, 14 [1866/7], Scholar, b. London

5. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 362; Folio 9; Page 10, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 7 Beckway Street, Newington, London
   1 room occupied
   Peter Ralph, head, married, male, 25 [1865/6], Carman Jam Factory, employed, b. Bermondsey, Surrey
   Anna Raph, wife, married, female, 23 [1867/8], b. Maidstone, Kent
   Peter Ralph, son, male, 9mo [1890], b. Newington, Surrey

6. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 381; Folio 12; Page 15, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 7 North Row, Newington, Southwark, London
   3 rooms occupied
   Peter Ralph, head, married, male, 33 [1867/8], Good’s Carman, worker, b. Newington, London
   Hannah Ralph, wife, married, female, 31 [1869/70], b. Newington, London
   Peter Ralph, son, male, 10 [1890/1], b. Newington, London
   Ted Ralph, son, male, 8 [1892/3], b. Newington, London
   Ellen Ralph, daughter, female, 6 [1894/5], b. Newington, London
   William Ralph, son, male, 4 [1896/7], b. [blank]

7. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 2501; Schedule 265, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 10 Hollington Street, Camberwell, London
   3 rooms occupied
   Peter Ralph, head, married, male, 45 [1865/6], Carman - jobmaster, b. Southwark, London
   Annie Ralph, wife, married 26 years, 14 children, 7 still living, female, 42 [1868/9], b. Southwark, London
   William Ralph, son, male, 14 [1896/7], Van Boy – general owners, b. Southwark, London
   Anna Ralph, daughter, female, 9 [1901/2], b. Southwark, London
   Henry Ralph, son, male, 7 [1903/4], b. Southwark, London
   Florence Ralph, daughter, female, 5 [1905/6], b. Southwark, London
   Daniel Ralph, son, male, 3 [1907/8], b. Southwark, London
   Louie Ralph, daughter, female, 1 [1909/10], b. Camberwell, London

8. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Camberwell Metropolitan Borough, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 16 Guildford Place, Camberwell, London
   Ralph, Hannah / female / b. 1 Dec 1866 / widow / Formerly domestic

9.   Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Hannah RALPH, March Quarter 1943, Camberwell Registration District, Volume 1d, page 708, aged 76 [1866/7]

10. ↑ Deceased Online.

    bur. 19 Mar 1943, Camberwell New Cemetery: Hannah Ralph