The Children of Thomas Alabaster and Cordelia Victoria, nee Jolly

by Laraine Hake

On various occasions I have written about my grandmother, Adeline Bertha Alabaster (1881-1960) (pictured left). She is, after all, my Alabaster link so I crave your indulgence in taking this opportunity to add to the story even further. Adeline was one of fifteen children born to her parents, Thomas and Cordelia Victoria Alabaster, nee Jolly, only seven of whom lived to reach their 21st birthday. In 1997, Chronicle 8, I reported on my investigations into these eight early deaths (An Alabaster family in Bethnal Green). But what of the seven who survived?
 

Emily Augusta (1874) George (1876) Adeline Bertha (1881) Florence Gertrude (1884) Sidney Herbert (1886) Horace Edmund (1887) Gilbert Stephen (1891)

My father, the youngest of the eight children born to Adeline and Ernest Oram, remembered details of only two of these: Aunt Em(ily), who remained a spinster. She lived with her mother, had ginger hair and was somewhat frightening, and Uncle Sid (pictured immediately below right), who was almost a mythical figure. He would visit their small home in Walthamstow once a year in his large car. (Uncle Sid Alabaster - Chronicle 8).

Early in the years of my Alabaster research, I established contact with Tricia (Patricia) and Colin, grandchildren of Uncle Sid, and then I found Bea (Beryl), granddaughter of George (pictured below left) (A Family Bible - Chronicle 8 and Chronicle 26), contacted by Moe (Maureen), granddaughter of Gilbert (Chronicle 27) (pictured at bottom right) and in August 2008, Genny (Genevieve) granddaughter of Florence Gertrude (Chronicle 30.) Truly amazing! Having had little or no contact between the twigs of this one family for more than 50 years, six of the seven were now accounted for.

The one remaining sibling, who probably attained the age of 21 years, was Horace Edmund, born 1887. The only information I had about Horace was that "went to Canada before the first world war" : information I had been given by an elderly relative in the early 1980s when I was first seriously trying to trace my family tree. As data became available on-line in recent years, I had searched anything Canadian for Horace Alabaster, just in case, but with no success. Until I received an email from a Chris (Christine) Drake (23 June 2009): My maiden name is Alabaster and I was born in Canada in 1951 to Clifford Alabaster and Ena Alabaster. I have 3 older siblings all born in England during and after the war. My father was stationed in England in Yorkshire during the war where he met my mother and they emigrated to Canada in 1947. My father's father was Horace Edmund Alabaster, born in 1887, and he came to Canada around 1914.

A full-house! Yet more second cousins had been found, Chris and her sister Barbara, accounting for all six of the offspring of Thomas and Cordelia Alabaster who themselves had children.

Myrna Pacquette, (IIC) who lives in Quebec and is well versed in family history research, investigated further for me. She not only found Horace's marriage certificate of 1915 but also his name on the passenger list of "Lake Eerie" which arrived in St John, New Brunswick, Canada en route to Toronto in April 1906.

Spurred on by this news, we decided to hold a mini-gathering at Tricia's house in Bexleyheath, Kent, on 28 August when Moe, who lives in The Netherlands, would be visiting England. As it turned out, Bea was unable to attend because she was on holiday in France, Colin was unwell and Bexleyheath was a bit far from Canada at short notice, so Chris and Barb were unable to be with us. However, I(Laraine), Tricia, Moe, Genny, my brother Michael, and my mother Evelyn were very keen to be there. Genny was travelling up from Salisbury and she had not met any of the rest of us previously so that was particularly exciting. When she did arrive we were all amazed by the uncanny resemblance between Genny and Moe; they were the same height, had the same hairstyles and even the same habit of pushing their spectacles up on to the top of their heads. Moe and Tricia, who share a common love of opera, were quick to ask whether this was an interest of Genny's and she replied that music was her life! We had a really tremendous day together. We shared memories of our families, photographs and family trees. One question we really did debate related to a photograph from Moe's collection which I had seen before.

This was a tiny photograph which had been blown up and we could definitely identify Gilbert on the right. He was born in 1891. On the left must be Ada, she was born in 1893 but died in 1911, aged 17. The person in the middle is the mystery. Previously, I had hypothesized that this could be Thomas Alabaster, father of the family, but as he was born in 1853 so was 40 years older than Ada and Gilbert, it was pointed out that this was highly unlikely.

Could this be Horace Edmund Alabaster, born December 1887? Is it possible that his emigrating to Canada could have been the very reason for the photograph being taken? Photo snaps in the garden were hardly features of everyday life at the beginning of the 20th century! If this photograph was taken at the beginning of 1906, say, then Ada would have been 12, Gilbert 14 and Horace 18. It is an interesting possibility at least. Although we may never know for certain, Chris Drake, granddaughter of Horace, did say that the person in the middle bore a distinct resemblance to her father, Clifford, son of Horace.

L to R: Genny (Florence Gertrude), Laraine (Adeline Bertha), Tricia (Sidney Herbert), Moe (Gilbert Stephen)

Sadly, Colin, brother of Tricia, and grandson of Sidney Herbert, who was not well enough to be with us on this day, died the following week on 3 September.

It was a great shock to us all.  

To Contents

---

The Tower of London

by Michael Alabaster

I recently went to the Tower of London to see the Henry the VIII exhibition and whilst there I saw these sculptures of crossbowmen on the battlements around the walls. I also had this photograph taken of me holding a crossbow.

One of these guys is our Mick Alabaster. He needs feeding up.

To Contents

Admirable Admiral Alabaster

Ray Williamson writes, "I am pleased to report that Martin Alabaster (IIIB) is a Rear Admiral, and has also been appointed Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland (FOSNNI for short)."

Based at HM Naval Base Clyde, FOSNNI is the Royal Navy`s senior officer in Scotland and has representational duties everywhere north of the M4. He is also responsible for all Royal Navy and Royal Marines recruiting, cadet forces and the service`s engagement with society across the UK. As Flag Officer Reserves he commands the Royal Naval and Royal Marines Reserves.

Web references, pictures, etc:
National Archives   Google Listing   Royal Navy site  

And Shirley writes:

There was an article in the August addition of the Navy News about the 50th anniversary of the HMS Vivid at Plymouth. This is a shore station. The guest of honour was Rear Admiral Martin Alabaster.  

He is pictured here (left) with Commander Hancock applauding a performance by the Band of the Royal Marines.

To Contents

---

Book review by Sheelagh Alabaster

Life in the Workhouse - Michelle Higgs

published by The History Press  ISBN 978 0 7524 4214 3

Ancestors were not always able to fend for themselves. Accident, disease, misfortune, war, desertion by or death of breadwinner: these could strike a family at any time. It does not take a Recession to make us think about the welfare provided now by the state or the help and charity provided by individuals. What happened to destitute families before the Welfare State? What did our families fear most? Poverty could mean Dickensian penury: starvation, illness, shame, begging for handouts. It could mean the Workhouse.

Michelle Higgs has presented an illustrated study of the institutions, the Poor Law legislation, the physical housing provided and the conditions imposed on the poor of the Victorian era and she shows how the system of welfare slowly evolved, and which groups campaigned for improvements.

Traditionally, communities had provided "outdoor relief". If people in distress came in any numbers from other areas, this placed a burden on the parish. It is easy, uncomfortably easy, to see how this could lead to resentment of outsiders, disapproval and rejection of vagrants, and general mistrust of travellers and migrant workers. As the population grew, numbers seeking relief soared, particularly in harsh weather, or when the employment market was affected by political change or by war, and under new laws, accommodation was to be provided in new workhouses, smaller parishes joining together as Unions for reasons of economy of scale.

Andover Union Workhouse

The workhouse system

The workhouse inmates were...a mixture of the elderly, the sick and the destitute, abandoned mothers and children, lunatics and those without employment, either seasonally or in times of economic depression.

The number of inmates typically decreased during the summer, particularly in rural areas, because seasonal, labour-intensive agricultural work could easily be obtained by men, women and childrene. Numbers increased dramatically in winter, particularly if the weather was harsh, and in time of severely depressed trade and high unemployment.

Crowds of dock labourers and their families outside Whitechapel Workhouse.
The freezing of the Thames had prevented their working and outdoor relief had to be issued.
From the Illustrated London News, 3rd March 1855.

A pauper being admitted to the workhouse would be given a uniform to wear and then would be separated from other members of the family. Children were separated from their parents and often from each other.

An able-bodied man could not be admitted on his own; the entire family had to apply for relief and enter the workhouse together.

Inmates were categorised as follows:

• Class 1 Men infirm through age or any other cause
• Class 2 Able-bodied men and youths over the age of fifteen years.
• Class 3 Boys above the age of seven years, and under fifteen
• Class 4 Women infirm through age or any other cause.
• Class 5 Able-bodied women and girls over the age of fifteen.
• Class 6 Girls above the age of ten and under that of fifteen.
• Class 7 Children under seven years of age.

After bathing the children’s hair was cropped short for hygiene purposes. Lice were an ever-present problem. This closely cropped hair marked the children out wherever they went. In some Unions girls were allowed to grow back their hair before they were sent into service.

In this book the author describes the working conditions, the diet, the daily routines, the kind of work tasks imposed, and assesses the emotional impact of the fear of entering the workhouse instituions. There are illustrations from photographs, engravings, contemporary posters, and even cartoons from Punch showing the man himself addressing Mistress Charity (1901)on the topic of a Dream of Green Fields, drawing attention to the work of the Children’s Country Holidays Fund.

Even if we know of no-one struggling in the past in this way, the book makes for sobering reading. If our forefathers worked hard to feed and clothe their families and to keep a roof over their heads, it will have been the thought of the shame and horror of the workhouse that drove them through the extra hours of grinding effort when work was hard to get.  

To Contents

---

Alabaster Sonnets set to Music

From Ray Williamson (IIIB)

I am grateful to Peter Alabaster for kindly sending me details of the two sonnets which have been set to music.

I signed up to the www.emusic.com website and, as a new customer with "free credits", was able to download them (in MP3) free of charge. Each sonnet takes around 25 minutes on dial-up. I had to provide credit card details, but no money has yet been taken. I have 25 free "credits" which last a week. The site is very easy to use.

The link to find them is here: Alabaster music album

There is a link on the left of each track`s listing, so you can listen before downloading.

Alternatively, just go to the site and search for "William Alabaster".  

To Contents

---

Booth Poverty Map Link

from Sheelagh Alabaster

Booth map link http://booth.lse.ac.uk/

I know you know all this, but this is a splendidly usable Booth Poverty Map site from the British Library (cf reference in Justin More's article about Robert George Alabaster in this issue) - shows the present area in a separate screen as you search.

Example here

To Contents

The next Alabaster Family Gathering is on The 23rd of April 2011 in Hadleigh. However....

By shear fluke I was sent another woolly item :

 Alabaster Wool Gathering

in New Zealand

 Saturday, 17 October, 2009 - 22:06

 Country school principal Sheree Alabaster has made a confident start in her bid to defend her World woolhandling title by winning the open title at her first competition of the season in Gisborne. The Taihape sportswoman went into the show with almost no practice in the new season but did still did enough to sneak victory in a top-class final at the Poverty Bay Show today (Saturday).

Wellington newspaper report 06.04.2009
Sent in by Molly Duffy, Dunedin, New Zealand

Molly writes that Sheree is a descendant of Capt Daniel Alabaster (sailmaker) after whom New Zealand’s Lake Alabaster and Alabaster Pass were named. She is a grand-daughter of Pat and Ian Alabaster and daughter of Libby and Ray – who was a very well known competitor in the Golden Shears competitions held in Masterton. Molly also writes that she hopes to be sending us details of a 150 year celebration of the arrival of the “Strathallan” on which the Rev Charles Alabaster and his wife sailed to New Zealand, to arrive in Christchurch.  

To Contents

---

Look out your old Photos

Michael William Alabaster provided some wonderful educational display boards

Displays on show at the 2008 Alabaster Gathering

Laraine tells me now, “He has already prepared three or four excellent posters , but he said he would still like contributions on anything military and anything to do with Alabaster companies.”  

To Contents

Return to the first part and Contents list of Chronicle 31
Return to the second part of Chronicle 31