Person:Hannah Meekins (4)

Hannah Mary Meekins was born on 6th June 1899 at Woolwich in the south-eastern suburbs of London, daughter of a laundry hand and field hand called Alice Meekins, formerly Keating, and her husband Henry Meekins, a coal porter, dock labourer and general dealer.

As a small child, Hannah was a frequent visitor to the Woolwich Union Workhouse at Plumstead, with her father Henry often deserting his wife and children, then reappearing. Sometimes the older children would be sent away from the workhouse to other institutions whilst their mother and the youngest children stayed behind. In October 1903, when Hannah was four years old, she was sent with her older sisters Mary Ann and Catherine to a Roman Catholic school at Hampstead, staying there for almost six months. They returned to the workhouse in April 1904 to be discharged with their mother.

Things came to a head in November 1904 when the authorities found Hannah and three of her sisters (Mary Ann, Catherine and Alice) wandering destitute in the streets of Woolwich. These four were taken from their parents and sent to live at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Industrial School for Girls in Croydon. Hannah and her sisters Kate and Alice were still living there at the time of the 1911 census.

Hannah’s father died in 1917 at Swanley in Kent. In 1921, Hannah was working as a kitchen maid at the Southern Hospital in Darenth.

In 1927, aged 27, Hannah married William Henry Fairhead. They went on to have one son the following year.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Hannah and William were living at 52 Hillside Road in Crayford, Kent, and William was working as a steam crane driver.

Hannah’s mother died in 1945 at Gildenhill Farm near Swanley, where she had been living with Hannah’s younger sister Margaret.

Hannah and William’s son married in 1948, and their first grandchild was born the following year.

Later in 1949, William died, aged 49. He was buried at Crayford on 13th October 1949. His last address was given as 52 Hillside Road.

Hannah survived William by 36 years. She had four grandchildren born in her lifetime. Towards the end of her life she lived at Stow Court, a sheltered housing scheme in Stone, near Dartford. She died on 14th June 1986, aged 87.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Baptisms register, in Woolwich, London: Roman Catholic Parish Registers of St Peter the Apostle (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, London).

   Meakings / Die 6 Junii 1899 nata et die 18 Junii 1899 baptizata est Anna Matilda Meakings filia Georgii et Alice Meakings (olim Smith) conjugum:
   a me Petro Gazeau
   Patrinus fuit Jacobus Higgins Matrina fuit Martha Ware
   Approximate translation:
   Meakins / Born 6th June 1899 and baptised 18th June 1899 Anna Matilda Meakings daughter of George and Alice Meakings (formerly Smith) his wife
   By me Peter Gazeau
   Godfather James Higgins Godmother Martha Ware

   This baptism is presumed to actually be the girl who was later known as Hannah Mary Meekins, who also gave her date of birth as 6th June 1899. There are several discrepancies between Hannah’s details and this baptism - her father being Henry not George, her mother’s maiden name being Keating not Smith, and the girl’s name being Hannah Mary not Anna Matilda (although the custom of putting names into Latin forms for the Catholic baptism registers may mean that Hannah would have been written as Anna anyway). No other baptism record for Hannah has been found, whilst no other sightings of this purported George Meakings and Alice Smith couple in Woolwich have been found. It is therefore presumed that somehow the baptism was recorded with inaccurate information.

2.   London: Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records (London Metropolitan Archives, London).
   Summary table of information drawn from Admission, Discharge and Creed registers.
   

   Admitted	Discharged	Workhouse	Notes
   19 Oct 1899	26 May 1900	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Name given as Ann Meekins. Admitted with mother and siblings Edward, George, Mary and Catherine. Discharged with mother and siblings.
   7 Nov 1901	6 Dec 1901	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with mother, "Husband Henry deserted", and siblings Edward, George, Mary Ann and Kate. Discharged to infirmary.
   3 Jan 1902	15 Mar 1902	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted from infirmary. Discharged to infirmary.
   4 Apr 1902	6 Jun 1902	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted from infirmary. Discharged with mother and baby sister Alice.
   2 Dec 1902	18 Dec 1902	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with parents and siblings George, Kate and Alice. Discharged with mother and siblings.
   24 Jan 1903	30 Jan 1903	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with mother, "Husband Henry, 42, left her 19th Jan 1903", and siblings George, Catherine and Alice. Discharged with mother and siblings.
   6 Feb 1903	13 Feb 1903	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with mother and siblings George, Catherine and Alice. Discharged with mother and siblings.
   23 Feb 1903	7 Mar 1903	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with mother and siblings George, Catherine and Alice, "father Henry in infirmary". Discharged with mother and siblings.
   9 Oct 1903	19 Oct 1903	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with mother, "Husband Henry left her 7th Oct", and siblings George, Mary Ann, Catherine and Alice. Discharged to Hampstead R.C. Schools.
   15 Apr 1904	16 Apr 1904	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted from Hampstead. Discharged with mother and siblings.
   4 May 1904	6 May 1904	Woolwich Union Workhouse	Admitted with parents and siblings George, Mary Ann, Catherine and Alice. Discharged with parents and siblings.

3. ↑ 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 3322, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: St. Mary's Roman Catholic Industrial School for Girls, Wellesley Road, Croydon
   Many girls, including:
   Kate Meekins, inmate, female, 14 [1896/7], School, b. London
   Hannah Meekins, inmate, female, 11 [1899/1900], School, b. London
   Alice Meekins, inmate, female, 8 [1902/3], School, b. London

4. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Crayford Urban District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 52 Hillside Road, Crayford, Kent
   FAIRHEAD, William / male / b. 10 Aug 1900 / married / Steam Crane Driver
   FAIRHEAD, Hannah / female / b. 6 Jun 1900 / married / Unpaid Domestic Duties
   [one record closed]
   ROBERTSON, George / male / b. 17 Oct 1912 / single / Centre Lathe Turner [other words obscured]
   ROBERTSON, James / male / b. 2 Aug 1920 / single / Drilling Machine Operator (Munition Factory)

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

   d. Hannah Mary FAIRHEAD, June 1986, Gravesend Registration District, Volume 16, page 993, born 6 Jun 1899

6. ↑ Eltham Crematorium Registers (London Borough of Greenwich, London).

   No. 103423
   Date of Cremation: 24 June 1986
   Name, Residence and Occupation of deceased: Fairhead, Hannah Mary, 30, [blank] Court, Nursery Close, Stone
   Age and Sex: 87 years / F
   Whether Married or Unmarried: Widow
   Date of Death: 14 June 1986
   Name and Address of person who applied for Cremation: Fairhead Edward William 16, Steephilldown Rd, Ventnor, Isle of Wight
   District where death has been registered: Gravesend Dartford

   Presumably the missing word in the Hannah’s address is “Stow”, Stow Court being a sheltered housing scheme for the elderly on Nursery Close.

7.   Woolwich Gazette, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 2, 12 Feb 1904.

   AN ABSCONDING PARENT.
   Henry Meekins, 42, labourer, was charged on Monday on a warrant with unlawfully running away and leaving his wife and 5 children chargeable to the Common Fund of the Woolwich Union. – Mr. A.J. Godfrey, relieving officer, prosecuted, and said prisoner’s family had been chargeable since Oct. 9, and were still in the Workhouse. – Warrant-officer Williams said prisoner had been travelling the country and he arrested him that morning at common lodging house. – Two months.

8.   Woolwich Gazette, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 2, 25 Nov 1904.

   In the Police Courts
   WOOLWICH
   A DESTITUTE FAMILY.
   Mary Meekins, 10, Kate, 8, Hannah, 4, and Alice, 2, were charged with wandering without visible means of subsistence, and Alice Meekins, the mother, was charged with being drunk and disorderly and neglecting the children. Henry Meekins, of 4, Warren Lane, was summoned for neglecting the children. All the cases were taken together. – P.C. 283R said at 12.45 on the 14th he saw the four children crying in Powis street. They were cold and said they had nowhere to go. He took the children to the station where they were charged with wandering. About 5 p.m. the same day he saw the mother and asked her if she knew where her children were, and she said she had heard they were at the police station. He asked her why she had left them outside a public house in High street, Woolwich, and she said she did not leave them there, but had sent them to a woman in Powis street, and she supposed they had been turned out. Prisoner said she was frightened to go to the police station after the children, for fear she would be charged. Prisoner also said her husband was out of work; that they had no money, and that the husband was in a lodging house and did not care about his family. Prisoner also said her husband had fetched her up from the country and had then left her as he had done before. Witness saw the father on the 15th, and asked him why his children were in the street. He said, “I can’t help it, I’ve got no money; and it’s a job to get lodgings here with children.” He alleged that his wife got drunk with the money he gave her. – P.C. 26RR said on the night of the 13th he locked the prisoners up for being drunk. – Mr. Bristow, an inspector of the N.S.P.C.C., said he examined the children on the 15th. They were well nourished, but their clothing and boots were dirty, ragged and worn. Defendant told him that he had not had a home for seven years, and that his wife sold up the other and spent the money in drink. Prisoner told him that he earned on the average 25s. a week, and that he had sent his wife £3 during the last two months. Defendant’s employer said he was a good worker and a sober man. – Mr. Mark Bristow, relieving officer, said he had known prisoner’s family for seven years. The woman had been constantly in and out of the workhouse. – Mrs. Meeking denied that she sold the home up or drank the money. – Mr. Baggallay sentenced the woman to a month’s hard labour and discharged the man. – The children were sent to St. Mary’s School, Croydon, the man to pay 4s. a week towards their maintenance.

9. ↑ 1921 Census of England and Wales.

   Southern Hospital, Darenth, Kent
   [Many staff, including:]
   Hannah Meekins / servant / 21 [1899/1900] / female / single / b. Woolwich, London / Kitchen Maid Class I / M[etropolitan] A[sylums] B[oard], Southern Hospital, Dartford