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Eliza Mary Kirkham
b.29 Feb 1856 Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England
d.12 Oct 1923 Plaistow, Kent, England
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 21 Jan 1838
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m. 27 Sep 1873
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m. Est 1879
Facts and Events
Eliza Mary Kirkham was born 29 Feb 1856 at 9 Alfred Row, Bethnal Green (off Derbyshire St), the fourth daughter and sixth child of Thomas William Kirkham and Sarah Bower Cooper. Her mother Sarah marked the birth certificate with a cross, indicating that she was unable to write. A baptism record has not yet been found for Eliza. A report on sanitary conditions in 1848 said of Alfred Row "the street is very filthy and dirty... the privies still drain into the gutters... Fever and erysipelas are common in this street... the houses being composed of two rooms, one above the other, each occupied by different families. The size of the lower rooms of these houses is 10-feet 1-inch, by 11-feet, (allowing for a recess,) and 6-feet 9-inches in height. In the last house the atmosphere was scarcely to be breathed, even for a moment, with impunity. Four persons sleep in it. Two children had had small-pox, of whom one died; the other was at the height of the eruption." This gives an idea of the conditions that Eliza was born into. In the 1861 census the family were living at 9 Turville Street, Bethnal Green, with Eliza's father and mother working as a general dealer and charwoman respectively, while her 14 year-old sister Sarah was working as a nursemaid. They shared the building with 7 other families, totaling 40 people. Bethnal Green was a very impoverished area of London, and British History Online describes Turville Street in 1874 as being "in the heart of the slums". It seems that Eliza's mother Sarah died on 26 Oct 1864 at the London Fever Hospital, 1 day after being admitted to hospital, of typhus bronchitis. Typhus was a bacterial infection spread by fleas and lice, and it was particularly prevalent among the poor of Victorian London who lived in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Eliza was only 8 years old when her mother died. Thomas Sr. and Jr., Mary Ann, Annie and Eliza haven't been found yet in the 1871 census. There is a possible match of an Eliza Kirkham aged 15 who was born in London, who was working as a servant for a farmer in Nether Alderley, Cheshire, about 200 miles away from London, but it's not known if this is the same person. It is not yet known when Thomas Sr. died although in 1868 and 1869 his children Sarah and William's wedding records don't list him as deceased (which can sometimes be a clue for date of death). He held a variety of jobs during his life, including comb maker, porter, greengrocer, and general dealer. Thomas Sr. was listed as a "traveller" on William's 1869 wedding record so it's possible he was still living at that point. It is reasonable to assume that the family were very poor and that Eliza grew up in the harshest living conditions of Victorian England. This may well have influenced her decision in 1872 to seek a better life in Australia.
The Light Brigade departed Gravesend on Christmas day 1872 and after "some very heavy weather, with frightful sea running"S25 in the English Channel, "with the exception of two or three sharp squalls, lasting a few hours, moderate weather was experienced"S25. After "a fair voyage of 95 days"S23 on 30 March 1873 the ship arrived at Keppel Bay near Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia. The ship's Surgeon Superintendent Dr. Rouch was kept busy treating measles, colds, dysentery, and pulmonary consumption, as well as attending five births during the voyage. He was unable to prevent an "unusual number" of deaths, with seventeen infants and two adults perishing on board. Dr. Rouch himself suffered from consumption and died within a week of arriving in Rockhampton. It must have been a relief for Eliza and Annie to leave the confines of the ship and reach Rockhampton. Once in town, the immigrants quickly found employment, with "the whole of the single women... swept off within four and twenty hours after their arrival, at wages averaging from 12s to 20s per week"S26. The local newspaper could have been describing Eliza with the remarks that "with regard to the women, they are most of them young and cannot have had very much experience, but they appeared to be exceeding healthy, cheerful and sonsie lasses, with the makings of capital present servants and future wives. They one and all expressed themselves willing to work; for, as they stated, matters had been very bad with them at home ; places being scarce, wages low, and competition enormous."S24
While on board the Light Brigade, Eliza met a young sail maker from Maidstone, Kent, named Henry Edward Swain. And so six months after arriving in Rockhampton she gave up the life of a single domestic servant and became his wife. Eliza's age and place of birth are incorrect on the marriage record (she was recorded as being aged 21 when she was in fact only 17, and her place of birth was recorded as Chester in Cheshire). Eliza and Henry were married at the house of the Methodist Minister in Rockhampton. Just under nine months after they wed, Eliza gave birth to their first child, also named Eliza, who sadly only survived a few weeks. A year later, their son Henry Victor Swain was born in Rockhampton. Through the mists of time it's impossible to tell exactly what happened to Eliza and Henry's marriage, but by 1878 Eliza (and probably Henry Jr.) had made the long journey back to smoky, crowded London. She gave birth to a son, Charles Swain, on 5 May 1878 at the infirmary at the Newington Workhouse. Henry Swain was named as Charles' father on the birth certificate, and again on the death certificate when Charles died aged just 13 weeks, after 2 weeks of diaarhoea. Henry died at Eliza's place of residence, 29 Bronti Place. If Henry was indeed Charles' father this means Eliza must have returned to London some time in late 1877 or early 1878. By mid-1879 Eliza was in a relationship with mat maker Edward Delowery. Edward's parents John and Johanna Delowery had left Ireland around the time of the Great Famine and settled in Fulham, London, where Edward was born (although his birth record has not yet been found). Edward had married Emily Lloyd in 1872 and they lost a baby born prematurely. It is not yet known what happened to Emily when Edward and Eliza got together (one possibility is she went back to using her maiden name and appeared on the census records as a general servant in Battersea in 1881 and cook in Portsmouth in 1901). Although Eliza is recorded as Edward's wife on census records, no marriage record has yet been found for the couple, presumably because Eliza was still married to Henry Swain, and possibly because Edward was also still married. As for Henry Edward Swain, by 1883 he was in a relationship with Frances Douglas, with whom he would have eight children, with their first, also named Henry, born on 12 June 1883. Henry Sr. and Frances never married, as Henry was still officially married to Eliza. By the time Eliza returned to London her siblings had started families of their own. Thomas married Mary Dewdney but they don't appear to have had any children. He worked as a hawker, handyman, and house decorators labourer. William also worked as a hawker, and later a fish salesman and general dealer. He married Maria Reader and had eight children, the eldest of whom he named Eliza. Sarah married printer compositor William Foulkes and had six children. Mary Ann hasn't yet been found after the 1861 census (aged 11). Annie remained in Australia, having moved to Sydney by 1877 when she married shipwright Henry Piper and later had seven children. Eliza and Edward Delowery's first child together, Annie Eliza, was born 30 March 1880 in Walworth. In the 1881 census Edward, Eliza, and Annie were living at 40 Trafalgar Street in Walworth. Eliza's son Henry Victor Swain was living with her brother Thomas Kirkham and his wife Mary Emma. Henry Victor Swain was enrolled at St. Paul's School in Southwark (but just for four days!). Henry Victor's parent was recorded as Henry, living at 40 Trafalgar Street, but given that this was Edward Delowery's address it seems unlikely that Henry Sr. actually lived there. Henry Victor appears to have been informally adopted by Edward, as on the 1891 census he is listed as Edward's son "Henry V. S. Delowery". On all other records Henry Victor appears under his birth surname Swain. Meanwhile three more children were born to Edward and Eliza: Elizabeth Jane born 17 May 1882, John James born 1885, and Ada Beatrice born 26 Apr 1888. The family was living at 2 Caroline Place, Walworth when Ada was baptised at St. Peter's Church, Walworth on 11 May 1888. Sadly Ada died from convulsions from acute meningitis due to dentition (i.e. an infection caused by teething) on 9 April 1889 aged just 11 months. Edward was still working as a mat maker in 1881 but he was listed as a poulterer on Elizabeth's birth certificate in 1882, a check clerk on Ada's baptism record in 1888, and musician on Ada's death certificate. Perhaps the variety of occupations indicates he struggled to get regular work. On 19 March 1888, daughter Elizabeth was admitted to Leipsic (now Comber Grove) school. According to her admission she had already spent a year at East Lane school. On 17 June 1889 their son John was admitted to Sleaford Street school, with the family's address listed as nearby 9 Thessaly Terrace. It is interesting to note that Edward claimed exemption from religious instruction for John - it's likely the Delowery family were still of the Catholic faith. By 1891 Edward, Eliza, and their children including Henry V. Swain had moved to 5 Acre Street in Battersea, and Edward was working as a handyman. The 1893 voter lists show Edward as occupying 3 rooms on the 1st floor of 3 Acre House, Nine Elms S.W., with the landlord Robert Gare living at the same address. Edward Delowery died at 10 John Street, Battersea on 1 Jan 1900 with Eliza at his side. Edward's occupation on his death certificate was "theatre bill poster". There is a family legend about him being a "one armed bill poster". It seems probable that this is a joke that has been retold and passed down as fact but you can never be sure without further evidence! He died aged only 53 years from gout and cirrhotic kidneys. Eliza was just 43 when Edward died, and a few months later she married recently widowed boiler maker Alfred Ernest Hannington on 3 Jun 1900 at St. Andrew's Church, Battersea. This was almost certainly a bigamous marriage as her first husband Henry Swain didn't die until 1908 and no divorce proceedings have yet been found for the couple. Perhaps after more than twenty years living on the other side of the world to her legal spouse, Eliza felt secure that her previous life wouldn't be discovered. By 1901 Alfred and his daughter from his previous marriage, Amy, moved in to 10 John Street with Eliza, and by 1911 Alfred and Eliza had moved to 52 Quainton St, Neasden, in a 5-room dwelling with a boarder named George Gorringe. George was working as a boiler maker's assistant (most likely as an assistant to Alfred) and he went on to marry Eliza's daughter Eliza Jane Delowery in 1913, with Alfred and Amy Hannington as witnesses to the marriage. Eliza died on 12 October 1923 at home at 76 London Rd, Plaistow with her husband Alfred at her side. During her sixty-seven years she lead an eventful and unconventional life that took her from the slums of London to frontier life on the other side of the world and back again. She lived to see at least three children grow to adulthood, and nineteen grandchildren born. Her descendants are currently known to live in England, New Zealand, and Australia. [edit] DNA GenealogyIf you are a descendant of Eliza Kirkham and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers Image Gallery
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