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Short Genealogy
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13 August 2010 |
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Dr Geoffrey Mann |
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5 William SHORT 1797-1851 |
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m Elizabeth BARTLETT 1820 |
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WILLIAM was born in Bethnal Green in 1797, the son of a poor
weaver. He became a weaver like his father
and married Elizabeth BARTLETT at Stepney when he was 23. William and Elizabeth baptised 14 children
at St Matthew, Bethnal Green between 1823 and 1839 all of whom survived
childhood. They were living at various addresses in Bethnal Green during this
time, but it became almost impossible to earn a living at hand weaving
because of the competition from power looms, and around 1828, William gave up
weaving to become a dairyman. . As a dairyman, he kept his own cattle
where he lived and sold the milk walking around the streets. William died of cancer in 1851 aged 54. He left his dairy business and the rights
to his milk walks to his wife.
Elizabeth however, let their son Thomas run the business while she
opened a successful coffee rooms in Bethnal Green Rd. Elizabeth died in 1878 aged 77 leaving
£450 in all, the coffee shop going to her daughter Eliza (see the article
below reproduced from the East of London Family History Journal c1995). |
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age DATE WS EB |
EVENT |
|
4Aug1797 7Sep1820 23 20 17Mar1823
26 23 11Jul1824
27 24 17Oct1825
28 25 17Jan1827
30 27 13Feb1828
31 28 27Sep1829
32 29 2May1831 34 31 18Oct1832
35 32 19Apr1834
37 34 14Aug1835
38 35 20Oct1836
39 36 5Jan1838 41 38 30May1839
42 39 6Jun1841 44 41 4Jan1843 46 43 Apr1851 54 51 4Jun1851 54 51 15Jun1851
54 51 1856
56 7Apr1861
60 2Apr1871
70 16Sep1872 71 1Jan1878 77 |
William christened at St Matthew Bethnal Green; parents Francis, a poor
weaver, & Margaret mar Elizabeth BARTLETT at Stepney Spitalfields Christchurch son William born; Wm weaver at Carlisle St dau Margaret Ann born; Wm weaver at Carlisle St son Jacob born; Wm weaver at Carlisle St son Charles born; Wm weaver at Mead St dau Elizabeth born; Wm weaver at Mead St son James born; Wm milkman at Mape St dau Sarah born; Wm milkman at Mape St son John born; Wm milkman at Derbyshire St son George born; Wm milkman at Derbyshire St son Thomas born; Wm milkman at Derbyshire St dau Hannah born; Wm cowkeeper at Derbyshire St dau Eliza born; Wm milkman at Squirries St dau Mary Ann born; Wm cowkeeper at Squirrie St census: Wm a dairyman in Squires St with wife and ten children son Francis born; Wm milkman at Thomas St census: Wm a dairyman in Thomas St with wife and six children Wm of 9 Thomas St makes will leaving his milk walks and business to
wife Elizabeth Wm died at 9 Thomas St; Elizabeth present at death widow Elizabeth opens coffee rooms in Bethnal Green Rd (1st entry in PO
directory) census: Elizabeth, widow, a coffee house keeper at 149 Bethnal Green Rd census: at Wellington Rd Wanstead with granddaughter and servant Elizabeth made will leaving £450; coffeshop to d Eliza YOUNG; she had
apartment at 5 Driffield Rd Old Ford Elizabeth died at 364 Bethnal Green Rd [149 renumbered]; death
registered by gdau. Charlotte Elizabeth SHORT |
b=born m=married
d=died
C=Christened B=Buried
From
census and death certificate, William was born about 1797/8 in Bethnal
Green. There is only one suitable
baptism at St.
Matthew
Bethnal Green and in the IGI for all London:
C 4Aug1797
William s Francis & Margaret SHORT P
[P=pauper]
Francis was
a weaver like William, but confirmation that this is the correct baptism is
given by the close similarity of the
names of
William's children to those of Francis.
The names of seven of Francis eight children were used by William for
his own
children:
Jacob, John, Charles, Margaret Ann, Hannah, George, William.
Thomas-4
was baptised son of William and Elizabeth.
A series of baptisms to these parents is preceded by the following
marriage
at Stepney
Spitalfields Christchurch:
m 7Sep1820
William x SHORT bch otp & Elizabeth BARTLETT spr otp; wit: Thomas ACUSE[?] Samuel
ASHTON [frequent witness]
the birth
certificate of William and Elizabeth's daughter, Mary Ann, confirms BARTLETT as
the mother's maiden name
C 18Apr1824 b 17Mar1823 William; William
was a weaver in Carlisle St
C 22Aug1824 b 11Jul1824 Margaret Ann;
weaver, Carlisle St
C 29Jan1826 b 17Dec1825 Jacob; weaver,
Carlisle St
C 11Feb1827 b 17Jan1827 Charles; weaver,
Mead St
C
9Mar1828 b 13Feb1828 Elizabeth; weaver Mead St
C 25Oct1829 b 27Sep1829 James; milkman,
Mape St
C 22May1831 b 2May1831 Sarah; milkman, Mape St
C 11Nov1832 b 18Oct1832 John; milkman,
Derbyshire St
C 11May1834 b 19Apr1834 George; milkman,
Derbyshire St
C
6Sep1835 b 14Aug1835 Thomas; milkman, Derbyshire St
C 20Nov1836 b 20Oct1836 Hannah; cowkeeper,
Derbyshire St
C 28Jan1838 b 5Jan1838 Eliza; milkman, Squirries St
C 23Jun1839 b 30May1839 Mary Ann;
cowkeeper, Squirrie St
C 5Feb1843
b 4Jan1843 Francis; milkman, Thomas St
the
identity of the weaver with the milkman is confirmed by the 41/51 census: in
the former, all children are present from Charles to Mary in the correct order,
except that Sarah age 11 was recorded as Charlotte age 8, though she appears
between James 13 and John 10; probably an enumerator’s error;
b
30May1839 Mary Ann SHORT, girl, at 64 Squirres St; r 4Jul839 by mother of 64
Squirres St
father:
William SHORT cow-keeper; mother
Elizabeth SHORT formerly BARTLETT
m
30Aug1861 William Humphrey COLLIS full bch watchmaker of Bury St Edmunds SFK
& Mary Ann SHORT full spr of 149 Bethnal Green Rd;
fathers:
Robert COLLIS watchmaker; William SHORT, dairyman; wit Colin[?] PALMER,
W.J.PRIDJEON; by licence at St Matthew Bethnal Green
m 9Jun1867
Benjamin YOUNG bch 21 oilman of 151 Bethnal Green Rd & Eliza SHORT spr 24
of 149 Bethnal Green Rd
f: Henry
YOUNG plumber; William SHORT cowkeeper; wit: George SHORT, Hannah CLIFFORD;
after banns at St John, Bethnal Green
d 15Jun1851 William SHORT, milk dealer, at
9 Thomas St age 53 of cancer
r 21Jun1851 at BethnalGreen, Bethnal
Green, by Elizabeth SHORT of same address.
p.a.d
d 1Jan1878 Elizabeth SHORT at 364 Bethnal
Green Rd age 76; widow of William SHORT cowkeeper
r 5Jan1878 at Church, Bethnal Green, by
Charlotte Elizabeth SHORT, grand daughter
[Note: 149 Bethnal Green Rd, the coffeeshop,
was renumbered 364 about 1873]
William
SHORT of 9 Thomas Street Bethnal Green Rd, Dairyman
to my dear wife Elizabeth SHORT all and every my Milkwalks and the goodwill of and in the same; and all the trade and business of a Milkman and Dairyman now carried on by me and the goodwill of and in the same; and all my household furniture goods chattels property and effects etc. s 4Jun1851 p 13Oct1851 by Elizabeth SHORT widow (PROB11/2144 p70)
Elizabeth
SHORT formerly of 364 Bethnal Green Rd and of 5 Driffield Rd Old Ford but late
of 364 Bethnal Green Rd both in
MDX widow,
coffee house keeper; under £450;
to my da Eliza, wife of Benjamin YOUNG the goodwill of my business and the fixtures and utensils used therein together with the lease of the premises 364 Bethnal Green Rd; to my son George, the Family Bible marked with the letter A; To my daughter Eliza Young, my ring set in pearls with emerald; to my son George, the four rings usually worn by me; to my daughter Mary Ann Collis and Eliza Young, my wearing apparel to be equally divided between them; to my son Thomas Short, my silver watch marked C; the £50 due to me from my son-in-law William Humphrey Collis as follows: £10 each to my sons Charles, George, Thomas, Francis; balance with interest to my daughter Mary Ann Collis; to Eliza Young, all household furniture, books, china, pictures, my gold watch and chain etc in and about the premises at 364 Bethnal Green Rd and in the apartments at 5 Driffield Rd; exec George Short and Eliza Young. Signed 16 September 1872. Witnessed by Thos Jas Phipos, solr, 27 Farringdon St EC; Saml Williams 366 Bethnal Green Rd. d1Jan1878 p23Jan1878 by Eliza Young of 364 Bethnal Green Rd widow, and George Short of 46 Blythe St Bethnal Green Rd Coal and Coke Dealer
Eliza
YOUNG of 41 Frederica Rd Chingford Essex, widow. £3446.
to my nephew John CLIFFORD, 104 Broke Rd Dalston,
£100 and the deeds of the house at 104 Broke Rd. No further payments to be made; to my niece Mary Ann CLIFFORD of 41 Frederica Rd Chingford,
£200; to my niece Mrs Hannah UNWIN,
wife of Charles UNWIN, grocer of 27 Coleville Rd Layton (sic), £100; to my only surviving daughter Eliza
Elizabeth LIGGINS, the rest and residue of my estate. Wit: George SHORT, Harriet SHORT both of 4a Durlston Rd,
Northwold, Upper Clapton; Harriet
SHORT, same address s30May1904,
d7May1905, p21Jul1905 by Eliza Elizabeth LIGGINS (wife of Joseph LIGGINS).
William
SHORT 44 1797 dairyman y
Elizabeth
SHORT 41 1800 y
Charles
SHORT 15 1826 y
Elizabeth
SHORT 16 1825 y
James
SHORT 13 1828 y
Charlotte
SHORT 8 1833 y
John
SHORT 10 1831 y
George
SHORT 8 1833 y
Thomas
SHORT 6 1835
y
Hannah
SHORT 5 1836 y
Eliza
SHORT 4 1837 y
Mary
SHORT 2
1839 y
NOTE:several weavers and milkmen in
Squires St; St Matthew register has Sarah b1831 instead of Charlotte
William
SHORT he mar 54 1797
dairyman Bethnal Green
Elizabeth
SHORT wi mar 50 1801 Bethnal Green
Elizabeth
SHORT da unm 23 1828
dressmaker
Bethnal Green
Hannah
SHORT da unm 14 1837
servant
Bethnal Green
Eliza
SHORT da unm 13 1838
servant
Bethnal Green
Mary
SHORT da unm 11 1840
scholar Bethnal Green
Thomas
SHORT so unm 14 1837
dairy lad
Bethnal Green
Francis
SHORT so unm 8 1843
scholar Bethnal Green
Caroline SHORT unm 20 at Hague St f280,
sister to head
Elizabeth
SHORT he wid 60 1801
coffeehouse keeper
Essex
Eliza
SHORT da unm 23 1839
waitress Middlesex
Mary A
SHORT da 21
1840 school governess Middlesex
Elizabeth
SHORT da 4
1857 scholar Middlesex
Sophia
HARDEN[?]
se unm 19 1842 housemaid Chatham
NOTE:Elizabeth aged 4 is probably a
granddaughter
Elizabeth SHORT he –-- 70 independent
means Dagnam Essex
Eliza
YOUNG gd 3 Bethnal Green
Emma
BRITTON sv 15 Chatteris Cambs
next: WILLIAMSON 24 gardener, then comes
Wellesley Rd
from the 1871
census, Elizabeth BARTLETT was born about 1801 in Dagenham Essex. There is a suitable baptism there:
C 8Feb1801 Elizabeth d William & Sarah
BARTLETT otp
No other
Bartlett entries were found in an index of the Dagenham parish registers
covering the years 1800-1842. The
original registers have not yet been examined.
The marriage of William & Sarah has not been identified from the IGI
or Boyd’s marriage index, nor the baptism of any other children.
An
Elizabeth Short was a witness on Nov251865 at a criminal trial at the old
Bailey in which Wm Smith and others were prosecuted for assaulting police
officers in Shoreditch. (Old Bailey Session Papers 1st session 1865-66 p61). Her address was given as 47 Bethnal Green
Rd, whereas Elizabeth Short-5 was listed at 149 Bethnal Green Rd in the PO
directory throughout the years 1857-1878 so it is not certain that the witness
was Elizabeth Short-5. If they were one
and the same, then Elizabeth was not living over the coffee shop in 1865. This seems likely, since in 1871 she was
living in Wanstead, though still listed at 149 Bethnal Green Rd in the PO
directory.
Thomas Hall a cab proprietor of 25 Bethnal
Green Rd gave evidence that on Tuesday 31Oct at 20 min to 12 ”I had two passengers in my cab, Mrs Short
and her son who is an invalid – they were going to the hospital – I take the
gentleman once a week, on Tuesday: I believe he has got a diseased heart” Q. Had you an invalid in your cab? A. Yes, a lady and her son – the lady became
frightened, she screamed out and begged me to go on, but I could not.
Elizabeth Short. I live at 47 Bethnal Green Rd – on 31Oct I was in Hall’s cab,
going to the hospital with my son – the cab was stopped by a wagon at the
corner of Cross St – there was a cart on the other side – I saw two policemen
some distance down the street – they had a man between them that had a very
small parcel under his arm – they had a dreadful fight – the two policemen be
at him at once – I do not know the man – he was not fighting with the two constables
because a policeman who had him by the collar with his right hand, beat him on
the front of his head with his left and the other policeman…beat him on the
back of his head rapidly with his staff… in the five minutes the cab was
detained I should think they struck him ten or twelve times, but I begged the
driver to turn the cab round that I should not see it – they came towards the
cab – I could not say whether the prisoner fell or they pushed him down but he
was on the ground by the grocer’s … they dragged him into the middle of the
road and then he appeared to get foot-hold – he was close against the cab I
could have touched his head – he got up and the shortest policeman dragged him
towards the pavement again and the tall policeman put up his arm and staff with
great violence. I hid my face in my
handkerchief, and heard a blow – the people shrieked most violently and the man
halloaed [sic] as if in pain…. he had a wound on his head and inch and a half
or two inches long…. the prisoner
screamed out from the treatment he was receiving – I saw blood on him Q. On which side of the cab were you
sitting? A. On the right side … I did
not see the man wrench the staff out of the constables hand or strike the
constable at all – I do not know what provocation they had for taking him –
when they took him, he was twisting himself as anybody would to get away – I
saw no blood on the constable and I do not believe there was any; but there was
mud and blood on the prisoner’s head.
Despite her and similar evidence from others,
all three defendants were found guilty of resisting the police in the execution
of their duty and given 18, 9 and 4 months respectively.
Assuming
that the witness was Elizabeth Short-5, it is not known which of her sons was
the invalid in question, possibly he was her youngest, Francis, who would have
been 22 at the time. Despite the
statements that she was frightened by the violent scene, the records of
Elizabeth Short-5 show that she was a very determined lady, and I wrote the
following article about her
For 80 years, from 1856 to 1936, 364 Bethnal
Green Rd was kept by descendants of the SHORT family as a coffee house. Today
it is a leather shop, but, situated alongside the street market, it must have
been a lively place in its hey-day. It
was opened by Elizabeth SHORT (formerly BARTLETT) who was quite a woman. Born about 1800, she married William SHORT,
a weaver, when she was 20 and bore him 14 children in 20 years, all of whom
survived infancy; widowed in 1851, she started her new career at the age of 56.
That she made a success of it, is shown by her will proved in 1878, in which
she left over £400 - including an emerald and pearl ring, a silver watch, the
four rings which she usually wore, and the Family Bible left to her son George
SHORT, coal dealer of 46 Blythe St.
The story of the SHORT family of Bethnal
Green illustrates the ups and downs of several East End trades. From at least the 17C, the SHORT's had been
East End weavers, the struggles and poverty of whom have often been described
(see CA48). William's own baptismal entry at St Matthew in 1797 has the letter
P against it, indicating his father was poor enough to be excused the tax on
register entries. In 1828, when he
already had 5 children, William abandoned weaving to become a milkman.
This was another popular East End trade (see
CA Autumn 1980) and William remained a milkman until he died in 1851, the baptismal
entries at St Matthew describing him alternately as a milkman, dairyman or
cowkeeper. Cowkeepers kept their cows
either in the back yard or on the ground floor of the house, and the dairyman
took the fresh milk on his rounds twice a day by foot. William and Elizabeth's last address as
cowkeepers was 9 Thomas St; subsequently renamed Hague St, the property is
still there today. A typical terraced
house, it is difficult to imagine where the cows were kept.
Even though he was only a milkman, William
left a will (PRO ref: PROB11 2144, p70) leaving everything to his dear wife
Elizabeth including his business and his 'milk walks'. No doubt the rights to such walks were
valuable and jealously guarded.
Elizabeth however let one of her sons, Thomas, run the dairy business,
while she opened the coffee rooms in 1856 just round the corner. The Post Office directory shows that Samuel
WILLIAMS opened an oil and colour shop next door to the coffee shop in the same
year. Oil and colour shops were another
feature of East End life selling every conceivable item of household wares
(including paraffin and paint - oil and colour).
The two shops and the street market outside, conjure up an image bustling with life. In his "Life and Labour of the People in London", Charles Booth gives a description of a rough East-End coffee shop around 1898. The shop described by Booth sold tea, beer, pickled onions and sandwiches, but coffee was not mentioned! All the customers were crowded in the cellar, playing skittles for prizes, many half-drunk, and the proprietor had to be ready with his fists if need be. Whether SHORT's coffee rooms were ever like this is not known, though the number of servants reported in the 1891 census suggests a better class of establishment by this date.
Elizabeth SHORT no doubt used the milk from
her son's dairy in the shop. But in the
1860's the East End cow-keeping business was virtually wiped out by cattle
disease. Of necessity, the SHORT family
again changed trades. Thomas SHORT gave
up cowkeeping and became a manager of the Williams oilshop next door to his
mother's coffee shop. Probably, Elizabeth got him the job. Samuel WILLIAMS' shops were also successful
and he opened a chain of oil and colour shops in the East End. Thomas SHORT, his children and
grandchildren, managed several of these until the 1920's in Bethnal Green Rd,
Roman Rd, and Salmon Lane, when these shops in their turn, went out of
business.
Elizabeth SHORT retired to her apartment in
Driffield Rd, Old Ford, (though I have not found her in the 1871 census) but
returned to the coffee rooms in her last years to be looked after by her
daughter Eliza. She died on the
premises on New Year's day 1878 and willed the coffee rooms to Eliza, who
according to the 1861 census, had learned the business as a waitress in the
shop. Eliza married Benjamin YOUNG from
Kent in 1867 while he was working at Williams' oilshop next door. But Benjamin
died in the 1870's, so Eliza was also a widow when she inherited the coffee
rooms after her mother's death.
Eliza made an even greater success of the
shop than her mother. The 1891 census
shows that she employed 5 assistants in the coffee house (Mary A CLIFFORD 26,
Alice MAY 18, Emma TEBBETT 20, George FULLER 15, Alfred FRANKIN 16) besides a
domestic servant, Eliza WILLIAMS 21, and a nursemaid Rosalia AMBER 15 . She also opened a second coffee shop down
the road at no 452. Her nephew, George
Francis SHORT, took this over in 1888 and ran it until 1924, thus confirming a
family story that he had been adopted by a "rich aunt".
In her will, proved in 1905, Eliza YOUNG left
nearly £3500. She made bequests to her nieces Mary Ann CLIFFORD of Chingford,
and Hannah UNWIN, wife of Charles, a grocer at Leyton. But the coffee shop was again inherited on
the female side, by Eliza's only surviving daughter Eliza Elizabeth, married to
Joseph LIGGINS. As a consequence of the
female descent, the shop changed names, to YOUNG's coffee rooms between 1878
and 1902, to LIGGIN's coffee rooms between 1903 and 1925 and again from 1934
until it finally closed in 1936. In the
period from 1926 to 1933 the name reverted to SHORT's coffee rooms, but which
SHORT was running it then is not known.
My wife is the 3x gr.granddaughter of the
redoubtable Elizabeth who opened the coffee rooms; readers may be interested to
know that another 3x gr.granddaughter is Jane COX the well-known author of such
excellent books as "Never Been Here Before" - a first time guide to
PRO; "Hatred Pursued Beyond the Grave" - racy tales from London's courts;
and "London's East End" to be published in October. I discovered Jane when I saw the SHORT
family used to illustrate a census return in one of her earlier books - which
must be one of the less usual ways of finding a second cousin!
So far, I have not discovered the origin of
Elizabeth SHORT (born BARTLETT around 1800).
In census returns she gave her birthplace either as Bethnal Green or
Essex. The 1871 census or her Family
Bible mentioned above might help. Nor
have I found any photographs of her coffee rooms or of the Williams' oil and
colour shops, despite searching the collections at GLRO and the Bancroft Road
Library. If there is anyone who can
help with any of these items or who may even remember the coffee shop in its
later days, I would be delighted to hear from them.