Person:Amy Lewis (9)

Amy Lewis was born in 1855 at Little Brickhill in Buckinghamshire, daughter of Sarah Lewis, formerly Cook, and her husband Thomas Lewis, a publican. Amy was the fourteenth of fifteen children, although several of her older siblings had died before she was born. The family ran the King's Arms public house in Little Brickhill. Amy was baptised on 1st July 1855 at the nearby village of Husborne Crawley, where her parents had lived a few years earlier. The 1861 census finds Amy living with her parents and siblings at the King's Arms in Little Brickhill.

Some time between 1863 and 1866 the family moved to the town of Luton, initially to run the Shepherd and Flock public house. By 1871 they were living at 4 Burr Street in Luton and Amy was working as a sewer. Later that year, on 9th October 1871, Amy married Frederick Wiles in Luton. She was sixteen when they married and he was eighteen. They went on to have a remarkable nineteen children together between 1872 and 1895, although nine of them died as infants. They had two pairs of twins: Joseph Cain and Thomas Abel in 1881, and Mary Ann and Samuel in 1884. Of these four twins only Thomas survived infancy.

Some time between 1875 and 1877 the family left Luton, where their first four children had been born, and moved to London, living for a time at Hoxton in the inner eastern suburbs, where they had children in 1877 and 1879. By 1880 they had moved to nearby Islington, having another child there, and appearing there in the 1881 census, when Frederick was described as a straw hat blocker and Amy as a straw hat maker.

Later in 1881 they moved north from Islington to Wood Green, having five children there between 1881 and 1884, including both pairs of twins. By 1886 they had moved to the Kilburn area to the north-west of London, and their remaining seven children were born in that area between 1886 and 1895.

Back in Luton, Amy's mother died in 1890 and her father died in 1891.

The 1891 census finds Amy and Frederick and their family living in two rooms at 3 Boyer Road in the part of Kilburn which fell within the parish of Willesden. Frederick was working as a carman. Electoral rolls show that the family was at 3 Boyer Road from at least 1891 to 1895 and that they lived in the basement of that house. Around 1898 they briefly lived on the top floor of 11 Boyer Road.

By 1899 the family had moved to Epsom in Surrey, where they briefly lived at 18 Hook Road before settling at 52 Miles Road. They appear there in the 1901 census, when Frederick was working as a builder's labourer.

Amy died in 1904, aged 49. Frederick appears to have survived Amy by nearly 22 years.

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

   b. Amy LEWIS, June Quarter 1855, Newport Pagnell Registration District, Volume 3a, page 419, mother's maiden name Cooke

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Husborne Crawley Parish Registers, 1558-1983. (Bedford: Bedfordshire Record Office).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Husborne Crawley in the County of Bedford in the Year 1855
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   708	July 1st	Amy	Thomas & Sarah	Lewis	Brickhill	Publican	V.S.C. Smith

3. ↑ England. 1861 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 RG9; Piece 871; Folio 61; Page 10, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Kings Arms, Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Thomas Lewis, head, married, male, 50 [1810/11], Victualler, b. Husband Crawly, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Lewis, wife, married, female, 42 [1818/19], b. Bow Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Samuel Lewis, son, unmarried, male, 24 [1836/7], Baker, b. Husband Crawly, Bedfordshire
   Mary A. Lewis, daughter, female, 15 [1845/6], Plaitter of Straw, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Lewis, daughter, female, 12 [1848/9], Scholar, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, son, male, 11 [1849/50], Scholar, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Ellen Lewis, daughter, female, 8 [1852/3], Scholar, b. L. Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Annie [sic] Lewis, daughter, female, 6 [1854/5], Scholar, b. L. Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Ann Lewis, daughter, female, 3 [1857/8], b. L. Brickhill, Buckinghamshire

4. ↑ 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 1573; Folio 58; Page 1, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 4 Burr Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, head, married, male, 65 [1805/6], Dealer, b. Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Lewis, wife, married, female, 52 [1818/19], Sewer, b. Bow Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Ammey Lewis, daughter, female, 16 [1854/5], Sewer, b. Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Ann Lewis, daughter, female, 13 [1857/8], Sewer, b. Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Sarah Lewis, granddaughter, female, 5 [1865/6], Scholar, b. Islington, Middlesex

5. ↑ 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 260; Folio 13; Page 21, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 29 Campbell Road, Islington, London
   Frederick Wiles, head, married, male, 30 [1850/1], Straw Hat Blocker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Amy Wiles, wife, married, female, 28 [1852/3], Straw Hat Maker, b. Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Frederick Wiles, son, male, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Helen Wiles, daughter, female, 7 [1873/4], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Wiles, daughter, female, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Alfred Wiles, son, male, 4 [1876/7], b. London, Middlesex
   John Wiles, son, male, 2 [1878/9], b. London, Middlesex

6. ↑ 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 1046; Folio 103; Page 24, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 3 Boyer Road, Willesden, Middlesex
   2 rooms occupied
   Frederick Wiles, head, married, male, 38 [1852/3], Carman, employed, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Amy Wiles, wife, married, female, 36 [1854/5], b. Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Frederick Wiles, son, single, male, 19 [1871/2], Carman, employed, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Alfred Wiles, son, male, 14 [1876/7], b. Hoxton, Middlesex
   John Wiles, son, male, 12 [1878/9], Scholar, b. Hoxton, Middlesex
   Thomas Wiles, son, male, 9 [1881/2], b. Wood Green, Middlesex
   Frank Wiles, son, male, 8 [1882/3], Scholar, b. Wood Green, Middlesex
   Ernest Wiles, son, male, 3 [1887/8], b. Kilburn, Middlesex
   Bertie Wiles, son, male, 3mo [1890/1], b. Kilburn, Middlesex

7. ↑ 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 584; Folio 50; Page 24, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: No. 52 Quantock, Miles Road, Epsom, Surrey
   Frederick Wiles, head, married, male, 48 [1852/3], Labourer Builders, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Amy Wiles, wife, married, female, 45 [1855/6], b. Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Alfred Wiles, son, single, male, 24 [1876/7], Labourer Builders, worker, b. Hoxton, London
   Thomas Wiles, son, single, male, 19 [1881/2], Carman, worker, b. Wood Green, Middlesex
   Frank Wiles, son, single, male, 18 [1882/3], Butchers Assistant, worker, b. Wood Green, Middlesex
   Ernest Wiles, son, single, male, 14 [1886/7], Grocer's Assistant, worker, b. Kilburn, London
   Bertie Wiles, son, single, male, 10 [1890/1], School, b. Kilburn, London
   Annie Wiles, daughter, single, female, 8 [1892/3], School, b. Kilburn, London

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

   d. Amy WILES, December Quarter 1904, Epsom Registration District, Volume 2a, page 30, aged 49 [1854/5]