Family Biography:
George Edward Izzard (c1816-1893)
Despite dying almost 70 years before I was born, I seem to have found more information about my great great grandfather and his family than for anyone else.
Pre 1841
Both George Izzard and his wife-to-be Harriett Curtis were born circa 1816. George Izzard, the son of James and Sarah Izzard, was christened at St Sepulchre Church, London, Middlesex on 29 September 1816, whilst Harriet Curtis, the daughter of James and Harriett Curtis, was christened on 5 May 1816 at St James Church, Westminster, London. (Note this can only be regarded as speculative for now as the information was obtained from the IGI.)
George married Harriett Curtis on 19 February 1838 at the parish church of St Georges, Bloomsbury, Middlesex. It is suggestive that the residences of 9 Duke Street and 3 St Martins Lane as given on the marriage certificate were the family homes of the Izzards and the Curtis's respectively, as the addresses were close to the churches where George and Harriett were christened.
The marriage certificate reveals that George, his father and his father-in-law were all employed as fringe weavers in 1838. It is possible that all three men worked for the same employer and through this association George met Harriett.
Two sons were born to George and Harriet between the date of their marriage and the first major census in 1841; the eldest, George Edward, was born on 2 December 1838 with James arriving circa 1841.
The birth certificate for their son George shows that in 1838 the family was living at 13 Princes Row, St Anne, Westminster.
Sources
IGI: Batch: C025651; Date: 1813-1820; Source Call: 0375002; Type: Film
IGI: Batch: C723017; Date: 1812-1816; Source Call: 1042309; Type: Film
Marriage Certificate: George Izzard; Q1 1838; St Giles & St George; 1/62
Birth Certificate: George Izzard; Q4 1838; Strand; 1c/173
1841
By 1841 George, Harriet and their two sons George and James were living at 79 Long Lane in the parish of Bartholomew the Great, London, together with Harriet's mother, Harriet Curtis. From the census George's occupation is noted as weaver.
All the family except James were noted as having been born in the county they were living in at this time (Middlesex), however, census returns in later years reveal James' place of birth as being Bath, Somerset. The family presumably upheld the tradition of returning to the mother's parish for the birth of the first child.
Sources
1841 Census: Class: HO107; Piece: 724; Book: 5; Folio: 7; Page: 6
1851
In the intervening years George and his family had moved to 1 George Yard, in the parish of St Sepulchre, London. The family had also increased in numbers with the addition of four children, William, Harriet, Edward and Esther.
The census also records a Harriet Izzard, aged 66, as a daughter, but this is possibly George's mother-in-law Harriet Curtis. There is also an entry for a Daniel Izzard, aged 14, recorded as a son. Without a birth certificate for Daniel it is impossible to know if he was a son of George and Harriet.
There is also a discrepancy between this census and that for 1841 for the second eldest child. In 1841 James was noted as the second eldest, however, in the census for 1851 the second eldest is given as Jeremiah. Comparing the date and place of birth of Jeremiah (circa 1841 in Bath, Somerset) with James suggests they are one and the same person.
By this time George was employed as a spinner, whilst Harriet was recorded as being a button [bolcher]. Jeremiah (James) was employed as a farm boy, as was Daniel.
Sources
1851 Census: Class: HO107; Piece: 1526; Folio: 199; Page: 11
1861
Since the previous census the family had moved yet again, this time to 1a Holly Street in the parish of Hackney, London (which came under the parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets and the ecclesiastical district of Dalston).
Again the family had increased in size with the addition of two further sons, Edwin and Henry. George and Harriet's eldest son George is not listed as residing with the family on census night; as yet I have still to find him in the 1861 census.
According to the census the family was now firmly linked with the textile industry. George senior was employed as a silk worsted weaver, son Edward as a silk worsted twister and James and William were recorded as both spinners and weavers. In contrast, daughter Harriet was a housemaid.
George and Harriet had also taken in a boarder, a Richard H Abbott, aged 20, who was a warehouse clerk.
Sources
1861 Census: Class: RG9; Piece: 160; Folio: 63; Page: 23
1871
George and Harriet had moved again in the intervening years to 14 New Ivy Street in the parish of Dalston (within the parliamentary borough of Hackney).
By 1871 it appears only the two youngest children, Edwin and Henry, still lived with George and Harriet. Again George was employed in the textile industry, now as a weaver, with both sons employed as twisters.
Sources
1871 Census: Class: RG10; Piece: 455; Folio: 6; Page: 6
1881
In 1881 George and Harriet were living at 40 Dean Street in the parish of St Anne Soho, located in the parliamentary borough of Westminster. George was now employed as a fringe weaver with Harriet working as an upholsterer's trimmer.
Sources
1881 Census: Class: RG11; Piece: 130; Folio: 87; Page: 19
1891
George is listed as a widower in the 1891 census, Harriet having died in Bethnal Green workhouse in 1888.
George was now living at 9 High Street in the parish of St Giles, within the parliamentary borough of Holborn, and still employed as a fringe weaver.
Sources
1891 Census: Class: RG12; Piece: 212; Folio: 98; Page: 56
Death Index 1837-1983: Q4 1888; Bethnal Green; 1c/178
Post 1891
George Izzard died in 1893.
Sources
Death Index 1837-1983: Q2 1893; Bethnal Green; 1c/185
