Person:Walter Savage (3)

Childhood

Walter William Savage was born on 28th June 1842 in Southampton, son of Caroline Savage, formerly Mason, and her husband Walter Savage, a harness maker and last maker - lasts being the wooden blocks around which shoes are made. The family lived on Winchester Street, in the Kingsland Place area of Southampton to the north-east of the town centre.

Young Walter was the couple’s eldest son. They had another two sons after him: Charles in 1844 and Edmund in 1846, both born in Southampton. At the time of young Walter’s birth his paternal grandfather Robert Savage was still alive in Winchester, a few miles north of Southampton. Robert died in 1847, when young Walter was five years old.

Sometime between 1846 and 1848 Walter’s family left Southampton and moved about twenty miles along the coast to Portsmouth, where they lived on Hampton Street. Walter’s only sister, Sarah Elizabeth, was born there in 1848. Sadly, she died when only ten months old in March 1849.

Three months later, on 15th June 1849, Walter’s mother also died, aged about 27. She had apparently been suffering with phthisis (tuberculosis) for about two years. Walter’s father was left with three small boys to look after, who were aged between six and three when their mother died.

After Caroline’s death the family moved to Winchester, where Walter’s father had been born, and took lodgings at 24 Colebrook Street in the city, appearing there in the 1851 census.

Walter’s father continued to look after the boys alone for nearly eight years after their mother died. He remarried in 1857 back in Southampton, with his second wife being a widow named Ann Hall, formerly Jones, who thus became the boys’ stepmother. By the time of the 1861 census, Walter’s father, stepmother and youngest brother had moved back to Portsmouth. Walter and his brother Charles appear in the 1861 census lodging together at 7 John Street in Southampton. By this time Walter was working as a carpenter.

Adulthood

On 28th July 1862, aged twenty, Walter married Mary Ann Snelling. She was a couple of years older than him, being 22 when they married. She was originally from Crawley in Sussex, but had moved to Southampton with her family as a child. Before her marriage she had been working as a domestic nurse servant. Unusually for the time, Walter and Mary married in the register office in Southampton rather than in a church.

The following year Walter and Mary’s first child was born, a daughter named Caroline Mary - apparently named after both Walter and Mary’s deceased mothers. She appears to have been born in Southampton, although in the 1871 census her birthplace was given as Titchfield, a few miles east of Southampton. She was followed in 1865 by a daughter named Clara then a son named Walter Edmund in 1868, both born in Southampton. At the time of Walter Edmund’s birth the family was living at 5 North Front in Southampton, a neighbouring street to Walter William’s first home in Winchester Street. Later in 1868 their daughter Clara sadly died aged just three years old.

Sometime between 1868 and 1870, Walter and Mary left Southampton for good, and embarked on a lengthy period of travelling considerable distances. Initially they left England altogether, moving to the island of Jersey, where they lived in the island’s capital of Saint Helier. They had a daughter, Clara Margaret, born there on 29th January 1870.

The family did not stay long on Jersey, and by 1871 they had moved back to England, living for a couple of years in Norwich, where they appear in the 1871 census. They were still there in January 1873 when they had three children baptised there - Walter Edmund and Clara Margaret, who had not been baptised as babies, and baby Lily Louisa, who was born in Norwich in 1872.

Just after this triple baptism the family left Norwich and moved to Colchester in Essex, where their eldest daughter Caroline died aged nine in February 1873.

The family’s next sighting is in 1875 in London, when their son Alfred James was born in the Marylebone area in London’s inner western suburbs. By the time Alfred was baptised in 1877 they were living on Carnaby Street in Westminster, in the West End of London. They would stay living on Carnaby Street for the next few years. In 1878 they had a son named Charles Richard (who would be known as Dick).

In 1880 they had a son named Robert Henry, but sadly he died as a baby the following year, when only five months old.

The 1881 census finds Walter, Mary and their children living at 10 Carnaby Street. Walter was described as a last maker, as his father and grandfather had been. The following year, back in Southampton, Walter’s father died aged 63. How much contact they had had with him since leaving Southampton in about 1869 is not known.

Sometime between 1881 and 1883 the family moved a couple of streets away from Carnaby Street to Portland Street (which was renamed D’Arblay Street in 1909).

Walter William survived his father by less than six months. He died on 9th June 1883 at 20 Portland Street, aged 40. He had been suffering with phthisis for two months – the same disease which had killed his mother. Mary was only 43 when Walter died, and she was also about six months pregnant; she went on to have a son named George William on 14th September 1883. Mary survived Walter by nearly 33 years.

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

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT of Southampton, in the County of Hants.
   1842 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Southampton in the County of Hants.
   No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden name of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   427	Twenty eighth of June 1842 in the Parish of Saint Mary	Walter William	Boy	Walter Savage	Caroline Savage formerly Mason	Harness Maker	Caroline Savage Mother Winchester Street, Saint Mary	Fifth of August 1842	George B. Corfe Registrar

   
2. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Southampton. (Winchester: Hampshire Record Office).

   No.470, 7 Aug 1842 / Walter William / Walter & Caroline / SAVAGE / Winchester Street / Saddler

   The Winchester Street named on Walter’s birth and baptism records will be the Winchester Street which ran parallel to South Front in the Kingsland Place area of Southampton, as that was in the parish of St Mary, as is noted on the birth certificate. That Winchester Street was renamed Winton Street sometime before 1910, and completely redeveloped in the 1930s. There is another Winchester Street to the north of Southampton, off Carlton Place, which remains in existence today (2021), but that was in the parish of All Saints. http://sotonopedia.wikidot.com/page-browse:winchester-street

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1674; Folio 272; Page 6, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 24 Colebrook Street, Winchester (St Peter Colebrook), Hampshire
   Sarah Triggs, head, widow, female, 77 [1773/4], Relief from Parish, b. Winchester, Hampshire
   Philip Triggs, son, unmarried, male, 40 [1810/1], Shoe Maker, b. Winchester, Hampshire
   Walter Savage, lodger, widower, male, 31 [1819/20], Harness Maker, b. Winchester, Hampshire
   Walter Savage, son, male, 8 [1842/3], b. Southampton, Hampshire
   Charles Savage, son, male, 7 [1843/4], b. Southampton, Hampshire
   Edmund Savage, son, male, 5 [1845/6], b. Southampton, Hampshire

4. ↑ 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 674; Folio 102; Page 16, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: John St No 7, Southampton (St Mary), Hampshire
   George Cox, head, married, male, 35 [1825/6], Labouring Bricklayer, b. Beaulie, Hampshire
   Sarah Cox, wife, married, female, 46 [1814/5], Labourers Wife, b. Beaulie, Hampshire
   Sarah Cox, daughter, female, 11 [1849/50], Scholar, b. Hamble, Hampshire
   Mary A. Cox, daughter, female, 9 [1851/2], Scholar, b. Southampton
   George H. Cox, son, male, 7 [1853/4], Scholar, b. Southampton
   William Cox, son, male, 5 [1855/6], Scholar, b. Southampton
   Maria Cox, daughter, female, 21 [1839/40], b. Southampton
   Walter Savage, lodger, unmarried, male, 18 [1842/3], Carpenter, b. Southampton
   Charles Savage, lodger, unmarried, male, 16 [1844/5], Hammersmith, b. Southampton
   [the two lodgers are bracketed together with the word "Brothers"]

5. ↑ 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 1814; Folio 118; Page 48, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Ber Street, Norwich (St John de Sepulchre), Norfolk
   Walter W[illia]m Savage, head, married, male, 29 [1841/2], b. Southampton
   Mary Ann Savage, wife, married, female, 29 [1841/2], b. Crawley, Sussex
   Caroline M. Savage, daughter, female, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Titchfield, Hampshire
   Walter E. Savage, son, male, 3 [1867/8], b. Southampton
   Clara Savage, daughter, 14mo [1870], b. Jersey

6. ↑ 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 123; Folio 88; Page 7, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 10 Carnaby Street, Westminster (St James), Middlesex
   Walter W. Savage, head, married, male, 39 [1841/2], Last maker, b. Southampton
   Mary A. Savage, wife, married, female, 40 [1840/1], b. Crawley, Sussex
   Walter Edm[und] Savage, son, unmarried, male, 13 [1867/8], Scholar, b. Southampton
   Clara M. Savage, daughter, unmarried, female, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Jersey
   Lily L. Savage, daughter, unmarried, female, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Norwich
   Alfred J. Savage, son, unmarried, male, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. London
   Charles R. Savage, son, unmarried, male, 3 [1877/8], Scholar, b. London

7. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Westminster
   1883 DEATH in the Sub-district of Berwick Street in the County of Middlesex
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   340	Ninth June 1883 20 Portland Street	Walter William Savage	Male	40 years	Last Maker	Phthisis 2 months Certified by G.E.C. Jackson, L.R.C.P.	X The mark of Mary Ann Savage Widow of deceased Present at the death 20 Portland Street	Twelfth June 1883	Thomas M. Crowe Registrar

   Portland Street was renamed D'Arblay Street in 1909: British History Online, accessed 7 Mar 2014.