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Henry Ripley
b.Abt 1831 Stepney, Middlesex, England
d.15 May 1893 Mile End Old Town, Middlesex, England
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 3 Sep 1829
(edit)
m. Bet 1862 and 1864
Facts and Events
Henry Ripley was born about 1831 in Stepney, London, to Henry Ripley and Martha Foster (daughter of smith William Foster). They had been married in 1829 and as far as we know Henry was their first child. Henry Sr. was a blacksmith and whitesmith. The term whitesmith indicated someone who worked with light-coloured metals such as tin and pewter, making items such as cups, water pitchers, forks, spoons, and candle holders. Henry Jr. was christened 2 Oct 1831 at St. Dunstan and All Saints Church in Stepney. Several siblings to Henry Jr. were born before 1841 and christened at St. Dunstan: Samuel Edward and George John were christened 7 Aug 1836, Maria christened 28 Jun 1837, and William (no baptism record has been found for William yet). Samuel later worked as a scenic painter and moved to Keighley in Yorkshire, Maria worked as a needlewoman and married cab driver George Webber, William worked as a cabman in Islington, and Robert worked as a butler in Islington. George John Ripley probably died young as he was not living with the family in the 1841 census, at which point they were living at 4 Lamb Row in Bethnal Green, which was somewhere off Three Colt Lane. Their neighbours on the street included shoemakers, carpenters, silk weavers and other smiths, and around the corner at 29 Three Colt Lane was the Duke of Wellington pub, where it's reasonable to assume Henry Sr. spent some of his time. Henry and Martha had at least three more children, James and Maria, born in 1842 and 1844 who both died as babies, and Robert Ripley, born 11 Jan 1847 at 4 Lamb Row. By 1851 20 year-old Henry Jr. was living at 29 Harrow Bridge in West Ham in the household of drover James Godfrey and his wife Maryann. Henry was also working as a drover (someone who moved livestock to market). West Ham grew rapidly after the 1844 Metropolitan Building Act restricted noxious industries such as chemical processing and canning from the area east of the River Lea. It became a major manufacturing centre with many workers living in overcrowded slum conditions with the usual accompanying disease and poverty. Maryann Godfrey/Godefroy's maiden name was Mary Ann Rosina Folder Sale, and she had a sister Amelia Eliza Folder Sale, with whom Henry would later have eleven children. By 1861 Henry was living with Amelia and her widowed mother Sarah Sale. The family lived at 3 St. Thomas' Rd in Stepney, now the site of the Mile End Stadium. Henry was still working as a drover. Amelia's sister Maryann had died in 1857 and her last remaining child Henry Godefroy was also living with Amelia, Henry, and Sarah in 1861 (Henry Godefroy emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1874). Also living with the family was another nephew of Amelia's, James Arthur - it's not known yet what happened to his parents Elizabeth Maryann Foulder Sale and James Arthur Sr., or what happened to James after the 1861 census. Amelia apparently gave birth to a daughter, Minnie, in about 1857. Minnie only appears on the 1911 census as the widow Minnie Hill, living with Amelia and her son George. Where she was in the intervening years, including what her maiden name had been, are still a mystery. Minnie may have been the daughter of Amelia and Edward Benningfield, Amelia's first husband. Amelia married lathe render Edward York Benningfield on 11 Sep 1854 at St. Philip's Church, Bethnal Green. It seems that he died or abandoned Amelia as by 1861 she was living with her mother under her maiden name, however in 1862 Amelia signed as a witness at her sister Alice's wedding as Amelia Eliza York Benningfield. No marriage record has yet been found for Henry Ripley and Amelia so perhaps she was abandoned and unable to legally remarry. By 1864 Henry and Amelia were a couple and their first child Henry William Ripley was born on 13 Apr 1864, followed by Samuel Edward in November 1865, both in Mile End. All of Henry and Amelia's children were christened at Holy Trinity Church in Mile End, with the first two christened on 20 Dec 1865. The couple's first daughter, Amelia Maria, was born 5 Oct 1867 and christened on 6 Nov 1867. She was followed by William George, born 21 May 1869 and christened 16 Jun 1869; and George born 5 Aug 1870 and christened 28 Sep 1870. In 1871 Henry, Amelia, Samuel, William and George were living at 13 Alma Road. Their eldest son Henry had died in 1868 at the age of four, and their daughter Amelia was staying with Henry's childless sister and brother-in-law Maria and George Webber. Alma Road was just around the corner from St. Thomas' Rd, and 5 generations of the Ripley family lived within a 300-metre radius of Alma Rd for more than 100 years, from at least 1861-1960. On Booth's 1898-99 poverty map, Alma and St. Thomas' Rd were listed as "Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family". In 1871 the Ripley family shared 13 Alma Road with 3 other families, making 18 people sharing one house. The adults of the house worked as cab drivers, cabinet makers, riggers and a needlewoman - painting a picture of industrial-era working-class overcrowding and poverty. And soon there were more hungry mouths to feed. Henry and Amelia's second daughter Maria was born 4 Aug 1872 and christened 25 Aug 1872, followed by twins Harry and Thomas James (born 21 Dec 1874 at 13 Alma Rd, christened 19 Jul 1882), and Robert Edward James (born 13 Dec 1880 and christened 19 Jul 1882). At least their housing situation must have been stable, as the family of 10 were still living at 13 Alma Rd during the 1881 census, now sharing the house with just one other couple. Henry was still working as a drover, and eldest son Samuel was working as a guard boy, with the younger children listed as "scholar", indicating they spent at least some time in school. In the 1880s several of Henry and Amelia's children attended South Grove school.
Two more sons were born to Henry and Amelia; Joseph Walter born 22 Jun 1882 and christened 12 Jul 1882, and John born about 1883 (christening record not yet found). In total they had eleven children, with the last three children born when Amelia was aged 49, 51 and 52. It is highly unusual to give birth that late in life, but Joseph Walter's baptism record clearly lists Amelia Eliza Ripley as the mother, and Amelia's baptism record lists her birth date as 2 Apr 1831. There is a possibility that the baptism record is not the correct one for our Amelia - it's the only one of Joseph and Sarah Sale's children christened in Shoreditch, the only time Amelia's birth was listed as being before 1834, and the only time Joseph is mentioned as working as a weaver. It's possible there were two couples named Joseph and Sarah Sale who named a daughter Amelia in the 1830s, or that the correct Joseph and Sarah had two daughters named Amelia, one baptised in 1831 who died as a baby and then our Amelia Eliza Folder Sale born about 1835. By 1891 the family had moved around the corner to 54 St. Dunstan Road. Henry was now working as a general labourer, perhaps because now aged 60 he was too old for work as a drover. Eldest son Samuel had now taken up the occupation, and the other sons were earning their keep with William working as a labourer and twins Harry and (Thomas) James working as van guards. Eldest daughter Amelia was working as a tailoress and visiting at the home of general dealer Richard Chamberlain in Hammersmith at the time of the census. The younger daughter Maria has not been found in the 1891 census yet but given that she would have been aged 18 she may have already left home, or perhaps she died young. Her brother Joseph Walter Ripley died aged just 10 in Stepney in 1892. Henry Ripley died before any of his children married and started families of their own - they waited until they were in their late twenties or early thirties to marry. He died on 15 May 1893, aged 62, of pneumonia at home at 54 St. Dunstan Rd with his wife Amelia at his side. He was buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery. [edit] DNA GenealogyIf you are a descendant of Henry Ripley and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers Image Gallery
 References
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