Ada Worcester
Grandmother of Colin Victor Batten
Born:
26 Nov 1882 Trelonk Farm, Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall, England
Baptised:
26 Jun 1884 St Filius Church, Philleigh, Cornwall, England
Married:
26 Mar 1901 Register Office, Islington, Middlesex, England to Walter George Flower
Died:
10 Apr 1969 Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England. Age 86
Cremated:
18 Apr 1969 Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium, Hendon, Middlesex, England
Cause of death:
Broncho-pneumonia and cerebral arteriosclerosis
Timeline
Nov 1882
1882-1884
Jun 1884
Dec 1884
1887-1890
1891
Apr 1891
1899
Mar 1901
1903
1904
1905
1907
1908
1909
1911
1912
1913-1914
1914-1917
May 1917
1918-1927
1928-1932
1933-1944
Jun 1944
Apr 1969
Born at Trelonk Farm, Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall [1]
Lived with parents at Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall [1] [2]
Baptised at St Filius Church, Philleigh, Cornwall [2]
Lived with parents at 7 Offord Road, Islington, Middlesex [3]
Lived with parents at 5 Edward Street, Islington, Middlesex. Death of 9-year old brother William from tuberculosis [4] [5]
Lived with parents at 24 Osmond Road, Stamford Hill, Middlesex [6]
Death of mother, Charlotte, from tuberculosis [7]
Lived at St George's Wharf, Cambridge Street, St Pancras, Middlesex after desertion by father. Ada's three younger siblings put into industrial schools [8] [9]
Lived at 4 Luard Street, Islington, Middlesex. Marriage to Walter George Flower at the Register Office, Islington, Middlesex [10]
Lived at 44 Irongate Wharf Road, Paddington, Middlesex with husband Walter. Birth of their first child, Ada Matilda [11]
Lived with family at 38 Irongate Wharf Rd, Paddington, Middlesex. Birth of second daughter, Elsie [12]
Lived with family at 44 Irongate Wharf Rd, Paddington, Middlesex [13]
Lived with family at 26 Hampden Street, Paddington, Middlesex [14]
Lived with family at 96 Hall Place, Paddington, Middlesex [15]
Lived with family at 11 Hethpool Place, Paddington, Middlesex [16]
Lived with family at 24 Hethpool Place, Paddington, Middlesex [17]. Birth of third daughter, Alice [18]
Lived with family at 44 Hethpool Place, Paddington, Middlesex [19]
Lived with family at 47 Hall Place, Paddington, Middlesex and birth of fourth child, George. In May 1913, Husband Walter enlisted for 4-years service in the Territorial Force [20] [21]
Lived with children at 44 Amberley Road, Paddington, Middlesex and birth of fifth child, Charles in 1914. With breakout of Great War, husband Walter is sent abroad to Malta and France [20] [22]
Husband Walter returns to England before discharge from the army later that year [20]
Lived with family at 5 Brindley Street, Paddington, Middlesex. Birth of six child, Rose. Brother Frederick, also returned from War, lived with them [23] [24] [25] [26]
Death of husband Walter from broncho-pneumonia and emphysema [30]
Biography
Early years
Map of the parish of Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall, 1900s. Trelonk Farm marked with red dot
In the year 1882, Ada was born at Trelonk, an estate farm run by Mr. John Paul, in the parish of Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall. Ada's parents, William Gorringe Worcester and his wife Charlotte, and their 1-year old son William Charles, had recently moved to the farm from east London [1] [33].
Mr Paul was a cattle farmer who bred Hereford cattle. The estate was about 200 acres in size and was located about 1 mile south of Ruan Lanihorn. Its position was high and exposed, with the farmhouse sitting on a treeless hill overlooking the River Fal to the west. In addition to running a herd of about 80-90 Herefords, Mr Paul also maintained a herd of 200 sheep and farmed corn and rape (canola) [34].
A little over a year before the Worcesters arrived, Mr Paul had advertised for farm labourers to work on the farm, either to work with the cattle and sheep or to do general farm work [35]. Presumably, William moved his family to Trelonk to take up one of these positions - at the time of Ada's birth, he was recorded as working as a farm labourer at Trelonk [1].
Although William had arrived from London, he had grown up in rural West Sussex and had experience working as a farm labourer [36] [37].
Copy of the 'Help Wanted' ad placed by Mr Paul in the Royal Cornwall Gazette, 3 September 1880
Ada, her older brother William and her parents lived on one of the cottages on the farm estate and the living would have been quite isolated, with the local village of Ruan Lanihorne being considered a quiet rural village, even by the standards of the mid-1800s [35] [38].
In March of 1883, Trelonk farm was hit by a major fire, caused by a spark from the threshing machine being used in the farmyard. Despite the best efforts of the farm works, which must have included William, two stacks of corn and their straw, about 150 feet long, were ablaze in less than ten minutes. Although there was little water was available to fight the blaze, the workers were able to contain the fire by wetting sacks and smothering the flames. Luckily, the fire did not spread to the farmhouse and the damage - which ran up to £400 - was covered by Mr. Paul's insurance [39].
The following year, on the 22nd of June, 1884, when Ada was about 1½ years old, she was baptised at the parish church in Philleigh, about three miles away to the south-west [2].
It's unknown why Ada and her family left Cornwall but we do know that they had returned to London by the beginning of December 1884 and were living on Offord Rd in Islington. It is here that Ada's younger brother Bertie was born on the 6th December [3].
St Filius (now St Philleigh) Church, Philleigh, Cornwall
Once back in London, William worked as a carman. This was the equivalent to a modern-day delivery driver - he would have driven a horse-drawn cart to transport goods. Unfortunately, the living this afforded William and his family does not appear to have been enough. While the family's home on Offord Rd was in an area that was relatively comfortable, by the start of 1887, they were living on Edward Street, Islington, an area recorded as "poor" on the Charles Booth map [4] [40].
19th century carman
An orphan in all but name
Ada's family grew and she was joined by a sister, Minnie, in 1887 and a brother, Frederick, in 1889, making five children in total [4] [41].
Sadly, in 1890, when Ada was 8, her older brother William - just shy of his 9th birthday - died from tuberculosis [5]. In the 19th century, tuberculosis was endemic across the US and Europe and it was particularly thrived amongst the urban poor who, like the Worcesters, lived in cramped conditions and were more likely to have weakened immune systems from poor nutrition and ill health.
Even more sadly, the following year, in April 1891, Ada also lost her mother Charlotte to tuberculosis [42].
After the death of her mother, Ada's home life began to unravel. By 1898 - and possibly earlier - her father William had deserted her and her siblings. As a result, Ada's younger siblings - Bertie, Minnie and Frederick - were all put into industrial schools. These schools were for homeless, destitute or abandoned children under the age of 14 and were intended to give them an education and to learn a trade. Ada, being over the age of 14, was not offered any support. We know that Ada was helping to raise her siblings before they were put into care, because the admission records for her sister, Minnie, gave her address as St George's Wharf, Cambridge Street and included Ada as a family contact living at the same address. The admission notes state that they had been deserted by their father [8] [43]. St George's Wharf was a very hazardous area, located between the St Pancras Workhouse and the wharves and coal depots along Regent's Canal.
Regent's Canal
Frederick and Minnie were both sent to the St Pancras Industrial School in Leavesden, Hertfordshire and Bertie to Field Lane Industrial School for Boys in Hampstead, Middlesex [8] [44] [45] [46].
Industrial schools aimed to instil in the children the habit of working and to develop the latent potential of the destitute child. As such, days were very regimented. The children would typically wake up at 6am, following a strict timetable of schooling, learning a trade, housework, religion and meal times before going to bed at 7pm. There was also a short time for play three times a day.
The trades that the children learned depended on their gender - boys were taught trades such as gardening, tailoring and shoemaking, while girls learned knitting, sewing, housework and washing [47]. In the case of the Worcester children, Bertie learnt gardening, Fred shoemaking and Minnie domestic service [45] [48] [49].
St Pancras Industrial School, Leavesden, Hertfordshire
Marriage to Walter George Flower and life during the Great War
While her siblings were in the industrial schools, Ada remained on her own at St George's Wharf before moving slightly east to 4 Luard Street, in Islington.
In 1901, she married Walter George Flower at the Islington Register Office, with Ada claiming her age to be 20, when she was only 18. Walter worked as a horse keeper / groom and also lived 4 Luard Street. It appears to have been a multi-tenancy flat, as it housed four families at the time. Their marriage was witnessed by Alfred and Annie Wensley, a couple who lived with Ada and Walter at 4 Luard Street. Alfred also worked as a horse keeper, so it's possible that he and Walter also worked together [10] [50].
1-11 Luard Street, Islington. In 1901, each flat housed multiple families, which gives you an idea on how small and cramped living conditions would have been
Two years (almost to the day) after their marriage, Ada and Walter welcomed their first child in 1903 - a daughter named Ada Matilda. She was followed in 1905 by another daughter, Elsie Emily. By this time, Ada and Walter were living on Irongate Wharf Road, on the north side of Paddington Basin [11] [12].
The street they lived on and the area surrounding the Basin was very industrial and mostly filled with families categorised as poor to very poor. A layout of the wharves on Paddington Basin from 1891 (Irongate Wharf Road marked with a red dot) shows that it was filled with brick and cement makers, an iron works (engineers) and warehouses for timber, hay and straw, building materials and refused [51] [52]. Further depressing the environment was rubbish tipping and burning, as well as the fetid water of the canal basin itself. Paddington Basin was a branch of the Grand Junction canal, which ran from the Thames River all the way north to Northamptonshire. At the time, it acted as a superhighway, allowing commodities such as coal and timber to be easily transported to London. The pollution this caused was significant, made worse by the sewage that was discharged from the barges [51].
Paddington Basin in the 1930s
Walter worked on the wharves, initially as a wharf labourer but then working as a chaff cutter, using a chaff-cutting machine to chop straw and hay into chaff for horse feed. Given one of the Paddington Basin wharves was for hay and straw, it's probable he worked there [12].
It was also around this time that Ada's siblings Bertie, Minnie and Frederick were discharged from the industrial schools that they had been sent to. Minnie was discharged as a domestic servant to Mrs Webb in Enfield, Middlesex while Frederick was discharged into the service of Mr Waghorn, a bootmaker in Chatham, Kent [48] [49]. It is currently unknown where Bertie went directly after Field Lane Industrial School.
Sadly, when he left the school in 1905, Frederick, then aged 16, was suffering from tuberculosis and he was sent back by Mr Waghorn to be admitted into the North Infirmary (later Highgate Hospital). Frederick remained in hospital for three years until he was finally released as "cured" from tuberculosis in 1908 and discharged to south Wales where he worked as a carter at a corn mill [53] [54] [55].
Despite being spread across the country, Ada and her siblings remained together. While we don't know specifically what happened to Minnie immediately after her discharge to Mrs Webb (although, latterly, she would settle in Great Barrington, Oxfordshire and work as a nurse and midwife), we do know that Bertie and Frederick eventually found their way back to Ada, as will be seen.
Ada, Walter and their two girls moved frequently - in 1907, they moved from Irongate Wharf Road to Hampden Street, also off the Grand Junction Canal [14]. In 1908, they moved to Hall Place, in 1909 to 11 Hethpool Street, 1911 to 24 Hethpool Street and 1912 to 44 Hethpool Street [15] [16] [17] [19].
All of these locations were in a short distance of each other and were in working-class neighbourhoods. This and the frequency of the moves, which speaks to short-term rented accommodation, suggests the family were low-income and perhaps struggling financially, particularly with the birth of their third child, a daughter named Alice Mary [18].
From the 1911 census, we know that their home on 24 Hethpool Street was only a 2-roomed dwelling, probably similar to Ada and Walter's old flat on Luard Street. The only difference being that, instead of a family of four, the Flowers were now a family of five. Despite Walter being employed as a chaff cutter, this time by Paddington Borough Council, it doesn't appear to have been enough to continue supporting their growing family. It is possibly this that prompted him to re-enlist into the Territorial Force in 1913, at the age of 37. Walter had previously served almost three years in the Territorial Force when he was 20. The Territorial Force was a part-time, volunteer auxiliary force intended to augment Britain's army. Members completed regular drill period and attended annual camps and, for the four year commitment, it would have afforded Walter some additional income [20] [56].
However, with the declaration of War in 1914, the situation changed dramatically. Although Territorial Force members like Walter were not compelled to serve in the War overseas, they were encouraged to enlist in the regular Army to serve. Walter chose to do so and departed for the war front with the British Expeditionary Force on 5 Sep 1914. This left Ada behind at their home - at this time, it was 44 Amberley Road, Paddington - with five children: Ada 11, Elsie 10, Alice 3, George 18 months and Charles only 2 months [20] [56].
Amberley Road was not a salubrious area. Like most of their previous homes, Amberley Road was located in an industrial canal-side area along the Grand Junction Canal. The road backed onto Amberley Wharf, which hosted merchants for lime and cement and timber, a saw mill and also where the Metropolitan Electric Supply Co had its works. On the street there was also a school - the Amberley Road school for Boys, Girls and Infants - which is where Ada's elder children probably went to school [51] [57].
Amberley Wharf, 1969
While Ada and the family lived at Amberley Road, Ada's youngest brother Frederick - now in his early 20s - came back to London from South Wales and lived with them. Their brother Bertie had also returned to Paddington, working as a tailor's porter and living with his wife and children on Hethpool Street and then nearby on Dartington Terrace [58] [59].
From at least Frederick's perspective, Ada was the only parent he had known, although between the industrial school, the years in hospital with tuberculosis and then working out in Wales, he had spent the majority of his childhood and young life alone. From a letter he would later write, Frederick stated that his mother had died when he was an infant and he knew very little about his father and what little he did, he knew from his sister Ada [60]. As it happened, during the War period their father William was still alive but was in and out of the Hendon Union Workhouse in Edgware, Middlesex - to what degree the children knew of that, however, we don't know [61].
While Walter was fighting during the War, we don't know what Ada did for money or work. Certainly, Frederick would have earned some money, as he was working as a grocer porter and then a motor part packer [62]. Despite this, life in London would have been hard and Ada, her children and Frederick and Bertie would all have had to contend with both food shortages and bombing raids.
In the early months of the War, there was some panic buying and hoarding of food. When the German policy of 'unrestricted submarine warfare' (meaning they would fire on civilian ships as well) began to be implemented, the volume of supplies reaching England dramatically reduced. Those who lived through this time remembered sacks of flour being hoarded, with at least one person boasting of storing all their many flour sacks in the bath tub [63].
It wasn't only flour - other daily supplies, such as meat, were also difficult to obtain. Word would get around that a particular butcher shop would have some meat and women like Ada would queue early in the morning for hours, on the off chance of perhaps getting a bone with a bit of meat on. Others lined up for potatoes. It wasn't until 1918 and the end of the war that rationing was finally implemented, with key foodstuffs such as sugar, meat, butter, cheese and margarine being rationed. Hunger was still an issue though, as any unrationed foods quickly disappeared [63].
In addition to food shortages, London residents also had to endure bombing raids by the Germans. During 1914-1918, the Germans made 51 bombing raids of Britain, first with Zeppelins and then with German Gotha aircraft [64] [65].
In June 1917, a squadron of German Gothas bombed east London and the city of London during the morning, dropping 72 high explosive bombs within a 1 mile radius of Liverpool Street and causing the death of 162 people. In March 1918, a German heavy bomber dropped a 1-ton (1,000kg) bomb over Maida Vale. Although the intended target was likely Paddington Railway Station, close to where Ada and her family lived, the bomb drop was off-target and instead hit the relatively leafy suburbs of west London [65] [66].
In February 1917, Ada's brother Frederick - who had signed up for overseas service the year before - was called up to go to France with the Labour Corps [62]. In November 1917, Ada's husband returned from the war, discharged early due to suffering lumbargo (lower back pain). He had seen three years of hard fighting in Malta and France, however, receiving a shell wound in field. He returned to Ada and the family on Amberley Road and, shortly after, they moved to 5 Brindley Street, Paddington [20].
Their financial situation remained tight. Brindley Street was just on the other side of the canal from Amberley Road and was similarly impoverished. The street was a densely-packed terrace row and had long been a 'slum' district [57 [67]. Walter resumed work as a chaff cutter and the family grew by one more, with the birth of their sixth child, Rose Eileen, in June 1918 [23].
Brindley Street (re-named Brindley Road), Paddington, 1957
Ada's brother Frederick returned from the war in 1919 and moved back in with Ada and her family at Brindley Street [62].
Together, they remained at Brindley Street for a further ten years.
During that period, the 1921 Census gives us a snapshot of how the family were living. Walter worked as a carman for Paddington Borough Council and Ada was full-time at home. Eldest daughters Ada Matilda and Elsie (then aged 18 and 16) both worked at London's first department store, Whiteley's in Bayswater, with Ada Matilda working as a waitress and Elsie in the bakery. The younger children Alice, George and Charles, aged 10, 8 and 6, were all in school full-time while baby Rose was at home with Ada. Meanwhile, Frederick worked as a boot repairer at a parade of shops at The Quadrant in Kilburn Lane [24]. At the same time, Ada and Frederick's brother Bertie, living with his wife and children a couple of streets over on Dartington Terrace (close to modern-day Senior Street), was working as a builder's labourer [68].
Advertisement for the Whiteley's department store, Bayswater
Move to the Watling Estate and latter years
In 1927, Ada and Walter's seventh and final child, a boy named Frederick, was born [75]. The following year, Ada, Walter and their children, along with Frederick and Bertie and his family all moved to the Watling Estate at Burnt Oak, Middlesex. Ada and Walter lived at 309 Watling Avenue, while Frederick moved in with Bertie and his family at 93 Watling Avenue [27] [69].
The Watling Estate was a new-build council estate, which had opened its doors the year before. The design of the Estate had been influenced by the garden city movement and over 46 of the 387 acres of the Estate had been given over to garden allotments and parks. In fact, on Watling Avenue was the entrance to Watling Park [70].
Corner of Watling Avenue and Orange Hill Road, showing the entrance to Watling Park on the right
In the early days of the Estate, there were few facilities - no shops, no pubs and no schools. And although rents were more expensive than anything the Flowers or Worcesters would have paid in inner-London, the Estate was still considered "working-class" by the more well-to-do inhabitants of nearby Edgware and Mill Hill. Despite this, Watling Estate would have been greener, more spacious and altogether a lot nicer than anywhere the Flowers and Worcesters had previously lived [70] [71].
Ada continued to live on Watling Avenue with Walter and her children for the next 15 years, with her brothers Bertie and Frederick continuing to live close, although Frederick sadly died in 1936 at the age of 46 from a heart attack caused by chronic pulmonary tuberculosis [72]. Ada arranged and paid for Frederick's burial at Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium [73].
In 1944, Ada's husband Walter passed away following a bout of bronchopneumonia, complicated by emphysema. Ada also arranged and paid for him to be buried at Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium [30] [74].
After this date, there is currently no information on where Ada lived but on 10 Apr 1969 she passed away at the age of 86 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. Like her husband, she died of bronchopneumonia. On 18 Apr 1969, Ada was cremated at Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium [31] [32].
Source information
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Ada Worcester, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1882 in Truro, Record no: 95, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ada Worcester, Baptismal record transcription, St Filius Philleigh Parish Register [Church of England], Record no: 714, FreeREG [www.freereg.org.uk]
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Bertie Worcester, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1885 in Islington, Record no: 382, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Minnie Worcester, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1887 in Islington, Record no: 162, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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William Charles Worcester, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1890 in London City, Record no: 368, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ada Worcester [1891], Census return for Osman Road, Tottenham, Middlesex, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Charlotte Worcester, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1891 in Edmonton, Record no: 355, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Minnie Worchester, Admission record, Leavesden School: Admission and Discharge Register 1898-1901, 16th Week Michaelmas 1899, London Metropolitan Archives, London England Poor Law School District Registers 1852-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Fred Worcester, Admission record, Leavesden School: Admission and Discharge Register 1898-1901, 1st Week Michaelmas 1898, London Metropolitan Archives, London England Poor Law School District Registers 1852-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower and Ada Worcester, England & Wales Marriage Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1901 in Islington, Record no: 121, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ada Matilda Flower, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1903 in Paddington, Record no: 203, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Elsie Emily Flower, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1904 in Paddington, Record no: 326, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Walter George Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Ward of Paddington North, 1905, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flowers, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Ward of Paddington South, 1907, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Ward of Paddington North, 1908, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Division of Paddington North, 1909, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ada Flower [1911], Census return for Hethpool St, Paddington, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Alice Mary Flower, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1911 in Paddington, Record no: 472, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Albert Worcester, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1912 in Paddington, Record no: 375, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]. Ada is the informant on the certificate (A. Flower) and it provides her address as 44 Hethpool Street.
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Walter George Flower, British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Ward of Paddington North, 1914, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Location of father is used as a proxy for location of Ada. Note that Walter was abroad in the army in 1914
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Charles Flower, Baptismal record, St Mary Paddington Parish Register, 29 Jul 1914, Record no: 285, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Rose Eileen Flower, Baptismal record, St Peter Paddington Parish Register, 19 Jun 1918, Record no: 506, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ada Flower [1921], Census return for Brindley St, Paddington, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Letter from Frederick Worcester, Undated but c1920s, Letter courtesy of Carole Light [carole.light@virgin.net]. Return address for Frederick is 5 Brindley Street.
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Ada Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Division of Paddington, Westbourne Ward, 1927, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ada Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon, Ward of Burnt Oak, 1928, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ada Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon, Ward of Burnt Oak, 1932, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Alice Flower, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Parish of Hendon, Ward of Burnt Oak, 1933, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1944 in Hendon, Record no: 128, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ada Flower, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1969 in Watford, Record no: 14, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ada Flower, Cremation record, Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium Burial Records, London Borough of Barnet, 16 Jun 1944, Register no: 55945, England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers 1800-2022, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Ada's cremation is recorded as a later addition on Walter's burial record.
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William Gorringe Worcester [1881], Census return for Clarendon Square, Somers Town, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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The Studs, Herds, and Flocks, of the British Islands - By Special Commissioners - The Trelonk Herd of Herefords, page 534, Live Stock Journal, Vinton, 1889, Google Books [books.google.co.uk]
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Wanted, Royal Cornwall Gazette, 3 Sep 1880, page 1, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
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William G Worcester [1871], Census return for Sheepwash Farm, Nuthurst, Sussex, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. William is recorded as working as a farm servant on Sheepwash Farm.
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William Gorringe Worcester, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1852 in Horsham, Record no: 114, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Ruan Lanihorne, Extract from Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall by J Polsue (Truro, 1867-1873), Genuki [www.genuki.org.uk]
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Untitled article, Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser, 24 Mar 1883, page 1, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
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Frederick Worcester, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1889 in Islington, Record no: 137, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Charlotte Worcester, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1891 in Edmonton, Record no: 355, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Minnie Worchester or Worcester, Creed Register, 1899, London Metropolitan Archives, London England Poor Law and Board of Guardian Records 1738-1926, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Fred Worcester, Admission record, Leavesden School: Admission and Discharge Register 1898-1901, 1st Week of Michaelmas 1898, London Metropolitan Archives, London England Poor Law School District Registers 1852-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Albert Worcester [1901], Census return for Field Lane Certified Industrial School for Boys, Hampstead, Middlesex, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Minnie and Fred Worcester [1901], Census return for St Pancras Schools, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ragged Schools, Industrial Schools and Reformatories, Hidden Lives Revealed, The Childrens Society [www.hiddenlives.org.uk]
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Minnie Worcester, Discharge record, Leavesden School: Admission and Discharge Register 1901-1904, London Metropolitan Archives, 8 Nov 1902, London England Poor Law School District Registers 1852-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Frederick Worcester, Discharge record, Leavesden School: Admission and Discharge Register 1904-1907, London Metropolitan Archives, 27 Jun 1905, London England Poor Law School District Registers 1852-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Ada Flower [1901], Census return for Luard St, Islington, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Paddington: Economic History, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington, 1989, British History Online [www.british-history.ac.uk]
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The Grand Junction Canal - A Highway Laid with Water: Uxbridge to Brentford, and the Paddington Arm, Tring Local History Museum [tringlocalhistorymuseum.org.uk]
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Frederick Worcester, Register of Apprentices and Servants 1902-1913, 1905, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This record states Frederick was taken on trial apprenticeship on 26 Jun 1905, however, "in consequence of this boy suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis he was returned by Master and submitted to North Infirmary on 23 Aug 1905."
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Fredk Worcester, Discharge register for North Infirmary (later Highgate Hospital), 4 Nov 1908, London Metropolitan Archive, London England Poor Law Hospital Admissions and Discharges 1842-1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Fred Worcester [1911], Census return for Heolfawr Mill, Llanarthney, Carmathenshire, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Territorial Force, Wikipedia, Last edited 27 Jan 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
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Paddington: Westbourne Green, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, 1989, British History Online [www.british-history.ac.uk]
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Albert Worcester [1911], Census return for Hethpool Street, Paddington, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Albert Worcester, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Westminster, Division of Paddington and St Marylebone, 1918, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Letter from Frederick Worcester, Undated but c1920s, Letter courtesy of Carole Light [carole.light@virgin.net]
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William Worcester, Admission and Discharge Book, Edgware Workhouse, 5th Week of the Quarter ending Midsummer 1917, London England Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records 1764-1921, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This is an example of one of William's discharges from the Edgware Workhouse, in May 1917. However, he was in and out of the workhouse throughout the 1900s and 1910s.
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Frederick Worcester, Record of Service Paper, The National Archives, 15 Sep 1917, UK British Army World War I Service Records 1914-1920, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. On his enlistment paper (completed in 1917), Frederick gives his occupation as Motor Part Packer. Further down in the record, on his medical history (completed in 1916), he gives his occupation as Grocery Porter.
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Voices of the First World War: Life on the Home Front, Imperial War Museum [www.iwm.org.uk]
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German bombing of Britain, 1914-1918, Last edited 16 Jun 2024, Wikipedia [en.wikipedia.org]
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Stewart, Jill, The Gotha Air Raid on London - 13 June 1917, The Western Front Association [www.westernfrontassociation.com]
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Robjohns, Holly, Warrington Crescent 1918 Bomb Incident, World War One: Playing the Game [www.ww1playingthegame.org.uk]
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Brindley Street, W2, The Underground Map [www.theundergroundmap.com]
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Albert Worcester [1921], Census return for Dartington Tce, Paddington, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Albert and Frederick Worcester, London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965, Borough of Barnet, Division of Hendon 1928, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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The Watling Estate: Burnt Oak, Municipal Dreams, 30 Sep 2014 [municipaldreams.wordpress.com]
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History, Watling Estate, Wikipedia, Last edited 26 May 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
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Frederick Worcester, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1936 in Hendon, Record no: 126, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
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Frederick Worcester, Burial record, Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium Burial Records, London Borough of Barnet, 28 Feb 1936, Register no: 42456, England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers 1800-2022, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
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Walter George Flower, Cremation record, Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium Burial Records, London Borough of Barnet, 16 Jun 1944, Register no: 55945, England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers 1800-2022, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk].
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Frederick Flower, England & Wales BDM Index, Birth registered 3rd Quarter 1927 in Paddington, Vol: 1a, Page no: 71, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Personal map
Map of places from Ada's life
Family members
Parents
William Gorringe Worcester
1852-1918
Charlotte Baxter
1852-1891
Siblings
William Charles Worcester
1880-1881
William Charles Worcester
1881-1890
Albert Worcester
1884-1964
Minnie Worcester
1887-1959
Frederick Worcester
1889-1936
Spouse
Walter George Flower
1876-1944
Children
Ada Matilda Flower
1903-1974
Elsie Emily Flower
1904-1981
1911-1977
George Walter Flower
1913-2005
Charles Flower
1914-1997
Rose Eileen Flower
1918-2015
Frederick Flower
1927-1999
