Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Forum

[Robbie J N]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you might be able to help me locate the death record of William Richard Canham. He was born in Cambridge in 1854 and the last record I have for him is in the 1901 census, living in London/Middlesex. He is the only child, of 12, in his family whose death year cannot be found.

Born Q3 1854 Cambridge (St Andrew-The-Less), 2nd of 12 children to William Canham and Ann/Anne Shearman.

1861 – Living with parents and siblings in Union Road, Cambridge (St-Andrew-The-Less).

1871 – Living with parents and siblings in Peas Hill, Cambridge (St Edward).

Family moved to London between Q1 1875 (death of 11th child in Cambridge) and Q3 1876 (birth of 12th child in Westminster, London).

8th July 1877 – Married Susan Hawkins in Westminster.

1878-1895 – Total of 8 children born to William and Susan (6 girls and 2 boys).

1881 – Living with wife and children in Upper Rupert Street, Westminster (St James) – Profession tailor.

1891 – Living with wife and children in Tunbridge Street (?), St Pancras (Holy Cross) – Profession tailor.

1901 – Living with wife and children in Compton Place, St Pancras – Profession tailor.

1902 – Possible death of wife Susan Canham.

1911 – No William Canhams born in Cambridge and living in London with approximate age of 56, give or take, so far found through Ancestry. (Unless you can find one!)

The various William Canhams who have death records from 1901 onwards, seem to be found on census records, and are therefore not the one I am looking for. One of his sons was called William Richard Augustine Canham, born 1888, and the electoral records for the 1920s refer to him, not his father, as it lists a spouse as Elizabeth, and he married Elizabeth Mitchell in 1915 and he eventually died in 1946, I think.

If anyone can find the right William Richard Canham, born 1854, and dying some time after the 1901 census, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.



Some of the wrong candidates, I think:

William Canham died Q3 1915 West Ham aged 61, close match to resident of 110 Adamson Road, West Ham in 1911 census, profession house painter.

William Canham died Q4 1936 Rochford aged 82, close match to resident of 36 Milton Street, Rochford in 1911 census, profession railway servant ticket collector.

[sdup26]

In 1911, at 163 Vaughn Road, Harrow, Middlesex, there's a Brett family. Henry Charles Brett, wife Jane (b Cambridge), daughter Mary Elizabeth, son Henry Joseph and William Canham, boarder, widower, tailor, born Cambridge.
I would have dismissed this William Canham because of his quoted age - 81 (born c1830), but I checked Henry's children, and their mother's maiden name is Canham. So presumably there must be some sort of family connection, and it's possible that when Henry filled in the census form, he just guessed at William's age. Unless of course, this is a huge coincidence and not your William at all!

[Robbie J N]

This family is exactly the right family, but this is William Richard Canham’s father, who was born in 1830, and his sister Jane, born 1872. The mother, Ann/Anne Canham, nee Shearman, died in 1887, hence why William is listed as a widower in 1911. William, 1830, was also a tailor and he died the following year in 1912, but I do not know when his son William Richard died.

The various children of William Richard that got married, post-1901, have no information about the father as to whether he was alive or not. The Catholic marriage records, if that is what ceremony they had, do not seem to be available for that time period in London, as they only seem to go up to the 1890s.

[ianbee]

Where are the younger children in 1911, do you know?
Winifred may have married Frank Alexander Terry, 26.12.1913, at St Mary Magdalene, Paddington.
Father William Canham, Tailor.

Which answers my own question in part, Winifred was probably with the Terry family in 1911
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWLQ-13X

[Robbie J N]

As best I have been able to work out over the last few years, here is what happened to William and Susan’s children:

1 – Mary Emily (or Emily Mary), born 1878, married George John Turnbull in Q3 1898 in St Pancras. Had 9 children 1898-1915.

2 – Ethelreda Theresa, born 1879, died 1882.

3 – Annie Josephine, born 1881 (after the census), died 1885.

4 – Sarah Ellen, born 1883, married James William Pearce in Q2 1905 in St Pancras. (Not to be mixed up with her aunty who married N B Delany in Q1 1890 in Wandsworth.) Had 5 children 1905-1916.

5 – Susan Jane, born 1885, married Frederick Jackson in Q2 1907 in St Pancras. Had 5 children 1909-1920.

6 – William Richard Augustine, born 1888, married Elizabeth Mitchell in Q4 1915 in St Pancras. Had 4 children 1916-1926.

7 – Jane Winifred (or Winifred Jane), born 1892, married Frank Alexander Terry in Q4 1913 in Paddington. (CofE marriage record does not say father William, a tailor, is deceased, neither that he is definitely alive.) Had 4 children 1912-1927. (Eldest child W F Terry born Q4 1912.)

8 – George Martin, born 1895.


I cannot find William or George on the 1911 census living with their father.
Mary/Emily is with her husband and no 'father-in-law to the head' listed.
You are quite right in that Winifred/Jane was living with the Terry family in Kensington. (I had not found that record before, so thank you.)
I am trying to locate Sarah and Susan.

[MoVidger]

Hi Robbie, on Ancestry there are these records with an image. Both children on same page. The record indicates they were "deserted". Sister: Mrs Turnbull of 42 Barclay Street.

London, England, Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records, 1738-1930
Name: George Canham
Admission Age: 9
Record Type: Admission
Birth Date: 1895
Admission Date: 1904-1906
Admission Place: Camden, London, London, England
Admission Poor Law Union: St Pancras

Name: Winifred Canham
Admission Age: 12
Record Type: Admission
Birth Date: 1892
Admission Date: 1904-1906
Admission Place: Camden, London, London, England
Admission Poor Law Union: St Pancras

[Robbie J N]

The record is a bit unclear, but I think it says they only spent 1 day there before they were released into the custody of their sister, Mrs Turnbull, big sister Emily/Mary. George went back, again for a single day, 2 months later.
Would this suggest that they had just been orphaned, or that their father simply disappeared?

[MoVidger]

Looks like son William was there, as well. Calling: Baker's Hand.

Name: William Canham
Admission Age: 16
Record Type: Admission
Birth Date: 1888
Admission Date: 1904-1906
Admission Place: Camden, London, London, England
Admission Poor Law Union: St Pancras

[Robbie J N]

Thanks for all the help everyone.

The only other remote possibility is that he left the country, if he did not die.

His oldest brother John Shearman Canham, born 1852, went to the USA in the 1870s and ended up in Rhode Island, where he got married, had 3 children, was widowed, and died in a carriage accident (run over) in 1907. However, as far as I know, none of John’s siblings heard from him again after he left England.

The youngest brother Alfred Edmund Canham, born 1866, went to South Africa in the late 1880s or early 1890s. He came back for a visit in the mid-1890s. He died in 1939. His wife was the sister of the wife of another brother, James Thomas Canham, born 1856, so this branch kept in contact.

One last family member who lived abroad was his uncle John Canham, born 1832, who moved to Sydney, Australia in the 1850s, but died long before 1901, though he had several children, out of the 9 he had, still living at that time.

William maybe went to visit one of these relatives and ended up staying.
There is no evidence to support any of these theories but I thought they should be considered.

I still cannot find William’s sons, William R A or George Martin, in the 1911 census.
They are not living with their big sister Emily/Mary Turnbull, nor any of their aunts or uncles on their father’s side. I do not know about their mother’s side of the family.

The only other possible evidence of William Richard being alive at some point after 1901 is on the marriage record for his sister Jane Canham in 1907, where one of the 2 witnesses was listed as W Canham. But, I am reasonably sure that this was Jane’s father, and not her brother. The other witness was J T Brett, so obviously there was room for a middle initial.

[MoVidger]

Just two things come to mind: if wife Susan did pass away in 1902, getting the death certificate should confirm who the informant was, whether it was William or someone else.
Also, I note that daughter Winifred's surname on the 1911 census is "Cannon". It might be worth searching for William and his two sons (George Martin and William R A) using "Cannon" as well, particularly if their pronounciation of Canham sounded more like "Cannon" to census takers.

Update: I had a closer look at the addresses for both Winifred and George in the Poor Law and Guardian Records, 1738-1930 image.

Winnifred's given address of 36 Little Clarendon Street was described as thus by Charles Booth in his Survey of London in 1898: "a narrow thoroughfare of bad repute – the worst spot in the immediate neighbourhood and a good many prostitutes and amateurish thieves are living here. The local name for the street is ‘Little Hell’". Note: It is now Walcot Street.

George's given address of "North Hyde Schools" may be related to St Mary's Orphanage at North Hyde, apparently a Roman Catholic certified school, circa 1902.

As for William R A's given address of 26 Compton Place, I have no details to pass on yet.

Update: St. Pancras Medical Mission was located on Compton Place from 1888 to 1908.