Person:Walter Savage (4)

Childhood

Walter Edmund Savage was born on 28th January 1868 at 5 North Front in Southampton. He was the son of Mary Ann Savage, formerly Snelling, and her husband Walter William Savage, a last maker; lasts being the wooden blocks around which shoes are made. Young Walter was the couple's third child, and at the time of his birth his two elder sisters were still alive. However, his sister Clara died aged three when Walter was a few months old. Both Walter's grandfathers were still alive when he was born, and both appear to have been living in Southampton. His maternal grandfather, James Snelling, died in Southampton a few days before Walter's second birthday.

By this time Walter's parents had left Southampton and moved to the island of Jersey, where they had a daughter named Clara Margaret in the island's capital, St Helier. Clara was born on 29th January 1870, the day after Walter's second birthday. The family did not stay long on Jersey. By the time of the 1871 census they were living in Norwich. Clearly the family was prepared to move considerable distances. In Norwich they lived on Ber Street, in the parish of St John de Sepulchre. They lived in Norwich for a couple of years, having another daughter, Lily Louisa, born there in 1872. Having not baptised Walter or his younger sister Clara as babies, they were baptised at St John de Sepulchre in Norwich on 5th January 1873, alongside baby Lily.

Shortly after this triple baptism the family left Norwich and moved to the Colchester area of Essex, where Walter's elder sister Caroline Mary died aged nine. This meant that from about the age of five Walter was the eldest surviving child.

Some time between 1873 and 1875 the family moved yet again, this time to London. They had a son named Alfred James born in 1875 in the Marylebone area, but baptised in 1877 at Westminster Abbey. He was followed by a son named Charles Richard born in 1878 in the Westminster area, then a son named Robert Henry in 1880, who sadly died as a baby.

The 1881 census finds the family living at 10 Carnaby Street in the parish of Westminster St James, in the commercial heart of London.

Back in Southampton Walter's paternal grandfather, Walter Savage, died in 1882. How much contact young Walter had with his grandfather is open to question given how far away from Southampton the family had lived for most of Walter's childhood.

On 9th June 1883 Walter's father, Walter William Savage, died aged 40 of phthisis (tuberculosis). Young Walter was fifteen at the time of his father's death. His mother was also pregnant when her husband died, giving birth to a son named George William four months later. Walter will have had to support his mother and younger siblings. The family left central London, moving out to Islington in the northern suburbs, where Walter found work as a packer, whilst his mother took up work as a laundress. Walter's sister Clara died aged 19 in Islington in 1889. The 1891 census finds the family living at 31 Rupert Road in Islington, where they had five or more rooms, suggesting they managed to support themselves reasonably well.

Adulthood

Walter married Rosa Godsmark on 1st August 1892 at All Saints Church in the Tufnell Park area of Islington. At the time of their marriage Walter was 24 years old and Rosa was 22 years old. Rosa was from Crawley in Sussex, the same small town that Walter's mother was originally from, so it is possible that their families knew each other before Walter and Rosa's marriage. Indeed, Walter’s aunt had lived next door to Rosa’s family in the 1871 census. Rosa had been working as a cook at a house in Islington before their marriage.

Rosa and Walter, probably early 1920s.

By early 1905 the family had moved to the town of Dartford in Kent. Quite likely the move was associated with Walter's work - he worked as a chemical export packer and one of Dartford's big employers was Burroughs Wellcome, the pharmaceutical manufacturers. One of their children's marriage certificates gives Walter's occupation as 'Foreman Packer at Chemical Factory'. In Dartford the family lived initially at 118 Fulwich Road, a street of modest Victorian two storey terraced houses to the east of the town centre, adjoining the railway. They had another two children born at Dartford in 1905 and 1907. Walter's sister Lily also moved to Dartford with her husband (who worked in similar jobs to Walter) some time between 1901 and 1911. Walter's mother lived with Lily, so she moved to Dartford too.

Walter's signature from the 1911 census.

Walter died in 1923, aged 55. He died in the Southwark area of London, but his funeral was held at St Alban's Church in Dartford. Quite likely he died in one of the London hospitals. Rosa outlived him by nearly thirty years.

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

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Southampton
   1868 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Southampton in the County of the same Town
   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
   186	Twenty eighth January 1868 5 North Front	Walter Edmund	Boy	William Savage	Mary Ann Savage formerly Snelling	A Last Maker	X The mark of Mary Ann Savage Mother North Front, Southampton	Twenty eighth February 1868	William Cox Registrar

   
2. ↑ 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

3. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Parish registers of St John de Sepulchre, 1632-1924.

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of St John de Sepulchre in the County of the City of Norwich in the Year 1873
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parent's Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   1251	1873 January 5th Born Jan[uary] 28th 1868	Walter Edmund son of	Walter William & Mary Ann	Savage	George IV Yard, Ber Street	Last Maker	W.V. Moore, Vicar

   Walter's two sisters Clara Margaret and Lily Louisa were baptised at the same time.

   
4. ↑ 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

5. ↑ 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 143; Folio 62; Page 47, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 31 Rupert R[oa]d, Islington, London
   5 or more rooms occupied
   Mary Savage, head, widow, female, 51 [1839/40], Laundress, neither employer nor employed, b. Crawley, Sussex
   Walter Savage, son, single, male, 23 [1867/8], Packer, employed, b. Southampton, Hampshire
   Lily Savage, daughter, single, female, 19 [1871/2], Laundress, employed, b. Norwich, Norfolk
   Alfred Savage, son, male, 15 [1875/6], Piano finisher, employed, b. Marylebone, London
   Charles Savage, son, male, 13 [1877/8], Errand Boy, employed, b. St James, London
   George Savage, son, male, 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. St James, London
   John Ormond, boarder, male, 5 [1885/6], Scholar, b. Woolwich, Kent
   Benjamin Ormond, boarder, male, 3 [1887/8], b. Greenwich, Kent
   Annie Ormond, boarder, female, 1 [1889/90], b. Peckham, Middlesex [sic]

6. ↑ 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 1246; Folio 165; Page 33, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 24 Hartham Road, Tottenham, Middlesex
   3 rooms occupied
   Walter Savage, head, married, male, 33 [1867/8], Packer (Chemists), worker, b. Southampton, Hampshire
   Rosa Savage, wife, married, female, 31 [1869/70], b. Crawley, Sussex
   Walter Savage, son, single, male, 7 [1893/4], b. Tottenham, Middlesex
   Rosa Savage, daughter, single, female, 6 [1894/5], b. Tottenham, Middlesex
   Louisa Savage, daughter, single, female, 4 [1896/7], b. Tottenham, Middlesex
   William Savage, son, single, male, 7mth [1900], b. Tottenham, Middlesex

7. ↑ 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 3771; Schedule 265, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 195 Fulwich Road, Dartford, Kent
   5 rooms occupied
   Walter E. Savage, head, male, 43 [1867/8], married, Packer - Chemical Work, worker, b. Southampton, Hampshire
   Rosa Savage, wife, female, 41 [1869/70], married 18 years, 7 children born, 6 children still living, b. Crawley, Sussex
   Rosa L. Savage, daughter, female, 16 [1894/5], single, Student, b. London, Middlesex
   Louisa M. Savage, daughter, female, 14 [1896/7], Student, b. London, Middlesex
   William R. Savage, son, male, 10 [1900/1], School, b. London, Middlesex
   Alfred E. Savage, son, male, 8 [1902/3], b. London, Middlesex
   Susan P. Savage, daughter, female, 6 [1904/5], b. Dartford, Kent
   Walter Savage, son, male, 4 [1906/7], b. Dartford, Kent

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

   d. Walter E. SAVAGE, December Quarter 1923, Southwark Registration District, Vol. 1d, page 17, aged 55 [1867/8]

9. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of St Alban, Dartford. (Rochester, Kent: Medway Archives).

   1923 November 20, Savage, Walter Edmund, 195 Fulwich, 55 yrs
   [Funeral service - not necessarily buried there.]

   The funerals register is available to view at CityArk