Hercules Buildings, Lambeth, where Henry and Elizabeth lived around 1836, when their first child Emma was born. The address was well-known as the poet William Blake lived at No. 13 Hercules Buildings in the 1790s

Continued financial struggles and family trouble

Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Henry worked primarily as a solicitor's clerk but he also worked variously as a book keeper, debt collector and accountant [5]. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was full-time at home raising their children.

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This was a period of great change in London. Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, train lines were expanding into London's suburbs, causing their rapid urbanisation, and the electric telegraph was introduced [32]. ​

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In 1848, Elizabeth's mother - who was living in Islington at the time - died unexpectedly from typhus [33]. 

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Although typhus, and the fever that was associated with it, had been known since medieval times, its presence in England was associated with Irish immigrants, giving it the name of "Irish fever". An epidemic of typhus occurred between 1846 and 1849, fuelled by the large influx of Irish fleeing the Great Potato Famine. This outbreak of typhus was particularly virulent and, along with the similar typhoid fever, caused over 400,000 deaths, of which Elizabeth's mother was one [34]. 

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We can surmise that Elizabeth was with her mother at her death and likely helped care for her in her final days, as her husband Henry was the informant on her mother's death certificate and it confirms he was present at the death [33] [34]. 

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Elizabeth's mother would have shown a sudden onset of fever at the beginning, along with flu-like symptoms. Approximately a week later, a rash would have started, eventually spreading over most of her body. As her body fought off infection, the brain would have become infected and inflamed, causing her mother to have delirium or a coma, before eventually her death [34]. 

The Oval at Kennington, c1860. The Collyer family lived just off the Oval on Bowling Green Street in 1854

The 1850s continued to present Elizabeth with issues. By 1854, Elizabeth was a mother of seven children ranging in age from 18 to newborn. It seems her oldest daughter Emma had left home, as she is recorded as working as a button maker and living in central London, however the other six children were still at home [35] [2] [36]. The family moved very frequently around south London, living in Lambeth, Vauxhall, Kennington, Camberwell, and Brixton. It is possible that the frequency of the moves were related to Henry's work or perhaps debts, which he continued to accumulate. ​

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In 1855, Elizabeth's father Richard, who was admitted to the workhouse in Islington two years prior, died in the workhouse from diarrhoea and exhaustion [37]. The workhouse was an institution to provide work and shelter for poverty-stricken people. With no old-age pension in existence during this period, the elderly often found themselves having to go to the workhouse if they could not work to support themselves and did not have any family support [38]. 

Workhouses had a very poor reputation and there was a lot of fear and shame associated with having to be admitted to one: it was the place of last resort. Richard's admittance to the workhouse indicates his financial situation had become absolutely perilous and his children were seemingly not in a position to take him in or financially help. The records hint at why: Elizabeth had a large family, an unsettled living situation and a husband fighting debts. Her brother, Charles, was living in Essex and had a growing family of his own, while battling alcoholism [39] [40]. Meanwhile, her sister Maria had lost three of her four children and was living off the kindness of her husband's uncle, while her husband moved to Worcestershire for work [41] [42]. 

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Financial worries continued to plague Elizabeth's husband Henry and in early 1859 Henry was once again imprisoned in Surrey County Gaol. Elizabeth was then 43 and still with six of her seven children at home. As before, they had to wait until Henry had served three months in jail before being eligible to apply for release under the provisions of the Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors. He was discharged on the 20th of July and, again, Elizabeth and her family had to suffer the indignity of having their family belongings and assets sold to pay Henry's debts [5] [43].

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Following Henry's release, it appears the family settled at Rose Cottage on Mill Street, Lambeth, where Henry's mother lived and which was owned by his older sister Francesca [18] [44a and 44b]. It seems reasonable to suppose that the move was to help Henry and Elizabeth get back on their feet.  

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This was potentially a difficult time for Elizabeth personally, as her sister Maria's life became increasingly scandalous. Her husband had moved to Birmingham and Maria and their son had moved there to join him. However, it was not long before Maria began having an affair with a married watch maker, Edwin Barnes. Eventually they ran away together to London. The affair in London only lasted a fortnight before Edwin abandoned Maria for his wife, and pawned Maria's clothes to pay for the ticket fare back to Birmingham [42].

Maria moved back to Lambeth, specifically Hercules Buildings, which was close to where Elizabeth and her family were living at the time on Mill Street. Whilst there, she began an affair with another married man [42]. 

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In 1861, tragedy struck Elizabeth with the death of her two grandchildren, Ellen Julia and her namesake, Elizabeth Sarah May, the children of her eldest daughter Emma. The girls died within days of each other in May 1861 and Elizabeth was very likely with Emma to help care for the girls as Henry was the informant on one of the death certificate and present at the death [18].

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Elizabeth and Henry kept moving around south London until 1866 when Henry had accumulated enough new debt that he became insolvent and, for the fourth time, he was imprisoned at the Surrey County Gaol [19]. 

 
By this time, the Bankruptcy Act of 1861 had passed through the Houses of Parliament, which meant that non-traders such as Henry, could now declare themselves bankrupt. In practice, though, little changed for Henry as imprisonment for debt still continued as a practice until 1869. In July 1866, he was adjudged bankrupt and dates were scheduled for the first meeting of his creditors. He remained in prison until he was finally released at the end of January 1867 [19].

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This was the longest period of time that Henry was imprisoned - approximately 7 months - and, once again, Elizabeth was left to manage things on her own on the outside. Her eldest son, Frederick, had recently married, leaving five of her seven children - George, Mary, Harriett and Rebecca - at home [45]. Thankfully, this would be the last time Henry would be declared bankrupt or be imprisoned.

Latter years and death

In 1869, Elizabeth's family was dragged through the newspapers as a result of her sister Maria's divorce. At the time, divorce was rare and was considered scandalous for all parties involved. It was only in 1857, with the passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act, that ordinary people were able to apply for divorce and then only for the reasons of adultery, cruelty or desertion [46] [47]. 

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In Maria's case, her husband George Inwood was divorcing her for adultery in Birmingham and London [48]. Divorce cases were covered in local papers and often no detail was spared - the full name of the parties and the salacious details of the breakdown of the marriage were all published for the world to read. Given her husband lived in Birmingham, the local Birmingham Journal covered the divorce and Maria's activities in explicit detail, whereas the London papers did not identify Maria specifically [42] [49]. However, it is probable that her situation was well-known locally, causing Elizabeth and Henry considerable embarrassment. 

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By 1871, Henry, Elizabeth and their five youngest children moved to 123 Penton Place in Newington, Surrey, where they would remain for the next several years, their longest stay in a home [3] [20].

At home, with Henry and Elizabeth getting on in years, their children contributed to the family income: George worked as a solicitor's clerk while the three youngest girls, Mary, Harriett and Rebecca worked as dressmakers [3].  

In 1873, Elizabeth and Henry's daughter Ellen married William Harman, a clerk, at St Mary's Church in Lambeth [50]. 

In March 1877, Henry's son George, then 31 years of age, died of tuberculosis [51]. Tuberculosis, known as "consumption," was a rampant disease in Victorian England. The disease caused the body to waste away and develop a hacking cough that would led to the coughing up if blood and experience nightly fevers [52]. George's slow, painful decline would have been a painful experience for the family and, Henry and Elizabeth, then aged 69 and 61, might have struggled with the physical demands of George's care. Their youngest daughters, Harriett and Rebecca were still at home and we know that their eldest daughter Emma also came to help as she was with George when he died [51]. 

By 1880, Elizabeth and Henry, now with only their daughter Mary with them at home, moved to Newington Causeway. It was here that, on the 27th of March 1880, Henry died of heart disease [21]. Elizabeth buried him a week later at Nunhead Cemetery in Southwark with their son George [53]. 

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Three years later, on the 28th of October 1883, Elizabeth joined him, dying from 'decay of nature' and exhaustion at the age of 67. Her family were with her at the end, with her daughter Mary still at home and her other daughter Rebecca (and very likely more of her children) with her when she died [23]. A week later, the family buried her with her husband Henry and son George at Nunhead Cemetery [24].​​