William Thomas Lane

G-grandfather of Norma Margaret Oliver

Born:

5 Mar 1825 Walworth, Surrey, England

Baptised:

22 May 1825 St Mary's Church, Newington, Surrey, England

Married:

26 Mar 1855 Holy Trinity Church, St Marylebone, Middlesex to Emma Francesca Collyer

Died:

14 Jun 1891 Kennington, Surrey, England. Age 66

Cause of death:

Malignant disease of caecum and obstruction of the bowels

Buried:

18 Jun 1891 Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, Surrey, England

Timeline

Mar 1825

May 1825

1832

1836

1838

1841

1845

1851

Mar 1855

1858-1861

1861

c1862

1863

1865

1868-1873

1876-1886

1889-1891

Jun 1891

Born at parents' home on Brandon Street, Lock's Fields, Walworth, Surrey [1]

Baptised at St Mary's Church in Newington, Surrey [1]

Lived with his mother and her partner at Oakley Street, Lambeth, Surrey [2]

Lived with his mother and her partner at Burdett Street, Lambeth, Surrey [3]

Lived with his mother and her partner at 45 Brandon Street, Lock's Fields, Walworth, Surrey [4]

Lived with his mother and her partner at Mannings Place, East Street, Lambeth, Surrey [5]

Lived with his mother and her partner at 7 Mill Street, Lambeth, Surrey [6]

Lived with his mother and her partner at Mead Row, Lambeth, Surrey. Worked as a boiler maker [7]

Married Emma Francesca Collyer at Holy Trinity Church, St Marylebone, Middlesex. Lived in the Trinity District, St Marylebone and worked as a boiler maker [8]

Lived with family at 67 Brook Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker [9] [10]

Lived with family at 3 Hayles Terrace, Southwark, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker [11a and 11b]

Lived with family at Northam, Southampton, Hampshire [57]

Lived with family at Pratt Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker [12]

Lived with family at 24 Pratt Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker [13]

Lived with family at 15 Pratt Street, Lambeth, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker/smith [14] [15] [16] [17]

Lived with family at 12 Regency Square, Kennington, Surrey. Worked as a boilermaker [18] [19] 20] [21]. No. 12 Regency Square was renumbered to No. 7 Regency Square in 1881 [22]

Lived with family at 17 Mostyn Terrace, Kennington, Surrey [23] [24]

Died at home on Mostyn Terrace, Kennington from malignant disease of the caecum and obstruction of the bowels. Buried at Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, Surrey [25] [26]

Biography

Growing up in Walworth and Lambeth

William was born on the 5th March 1825 on Brandon Street, an area of Walworth known as Lock's Fields. His father, Thomas, was a carpenter and his parents had moved to the Lock's Fields area from Woolwich two years earlier [1] [27] [28].

Lock's Fields was at the north part of Walworth - a map of south London from 1824-1826 shows its location at the time William was born [29]. The map shows that, in the mid-1820s, Brandon Street was bordered by a field to the west, with another field to the east. In fact, the western field off Brandon Street was where the skeleton of a woman was discovered in 1829 [30].

Map of Walworth 1824-1826 showing William Street and Brandon Street

Prior to the 1750s, the area around Newington/Walworth was an open field known as St. Giles' Fields [31]. As late as 1799, the area was still mostly open land, however, development occurred rapidly in the next 20 years, with Lock's Fields being one of the last remnants of the old fields; fields which would be entirely gone by the mid-1800s [32] [33].

The choice of residence for the Lane family was seemingly determined by Thomas's work: Brandon Street and Lock's Fields were host to timber yards and sheds suitable for carpenters, and there were other carpenters in the area [34] [35] [36]. William's earliest memories might have included the fields of his childhood home, surrounded by carpenter's sheds and yards, and all the associated sounds of industry.

In the years following William's birth, his parents' marriage began to fall apart. During this time, divorce was not easily obtainable - it was only available to men and required an Act of Parliament to be granted [37]. Despite this, relationships often ended, and couples frequently separated informally without a formal divorce.

By 1831, his mother Sarah was involved with Thomas Halifax, a steam boiler maker from Devonshire. Like Sarah, Thomas was married but seemingly separated from his wife [38].

Sarah and Thomas had two children - Thomas Halifax Lane, baptised in 1832 and John James Halifax Lane, baptised in 1836 [2] [3]. Both boys were given their mother's surname, with their father's surname being incorporated as a middle name - this was a typical occurrence in cases where the parents were unwed.

Although separated, Sarah clearly maintained some kind of relationship with William's father, Thomas, as she was with him when he died of pneumonia in 1841 [39]. However, it seems that William and his older brothers, Joseph and Benjamin, stayed with their mother Sarah and her new partner as they were enumerated with Sarah and Thomas Halifax in the 1841 census, and William was still with them as a young man in 1851 [5] [7].

Thomas Halifax had an impact on the direction that William's life would take as, by 1851, William, his older brother Joseph and younger half-brother Thomas Halifax Lane, had all followed him into the boiler making trade [7] [40].

Life as a boilermaker

Boilermaker was skilled engineering occupation of the day. The invention of boilers - steam generators - was one of the major innovations that contributed to the Industrial Revolution. Boiler making had evolved from the industrial blacksmithing trade and boiler makers constructed the steel or iron boilers or boiler systems where the steam was generated for power. Boilers fuelled the steam-powered engines of Victorian England - from steam ships to steam trains [41. In some later documents, William’s children described him as a ‘marine engineer’ and ‘engineer’, so it is probable that William worked on steam engines used for steam ships [42] [43].

At the time, London was host to a number of major dockyards. Not only the Royal Dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich but also private dockyards such as those operated by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, at Leamouth Wharf (located in modern-day Poplar/Canning Town). The Thames Ironworks, which had its beginnings in 1837, built over 1,800 warships and was the largest shipbuilder on the Thames. The family’s location in Southwark was in easy proximity to these areas and it is possible William worked for Thames Ironworks or a similar yard in his capacity as a boilermaker [44].

Thames Ironworks shipbuilding yard, showing war ships under construction

Marriage to Emma Francesca Collyer

In 1855, at the age of 30 and well-established in his trade, William married 19-year-old Emma Francesca Collyer. She was the daughter of Henry Collyer, a solicitor's clerk, and his wife Elizabeth. It's probable that William and Emma met locally - in the 1840s, Emma and her family were living on Mill Street in Lambeth [45]. At around the same time, William lived in a house on Mill Street, Lambeth that was owned by Emma's aunt [6].

The couple were married on the 26th of March 1855 at the Holy Trinity Church in St Marylebone [8].

Holy Trinity Church, St Marylebone

Three years later, William and Emma welcomed their first child - a daughter named Ellen Julia, who was born on the 13th of August 1858. She was followed two years later by another daughter, Elizabeth Sarah Mary, born on the 4th of January 1860 [9] [10].

At the time the girls were born, William and Emma lived at 67 Brook Street, Lambeth, near their previous homes on Mead Row and Pratt Street. They were surrounded by family: William's older brother, Joseph, lived up the road at 108 Brook Street [46]. Emma's parents, Henry and Elizabeth, lived nearby on Mill Street [47] and William's mother, Sarah, a widow again after her partner Thomas Hallifax died in 1858, moved around the corner to 13 Pratt Street [48] [49]. William's younger half-brother, Thomas Halifax Lane, also lived on Pratt Street, across the road from Sarah [50].

Since William and his three brothers were boiler makers and lived close to each other, it's likely they worked together as well.

Early tragedy

The proximity of their family and the support they provided was soon to become absolutely necessary when, in May 1861, William and Emma lost their two daughters within days of each other. Their eldest, Ellen, after suffering from bronchitis for three weeks, died on the 20th May, at the age of 2. On the day of her death, baby Elizabeth, developed croup (an infection in the upper airways) and died four days later, aged only 16 months [51] [47].

This would have been a devastating event for the young couple, to have lost both their children in such quick succession. We know that the family rallied around William and Emma - the girls' death certificates show that they both died at 108 Brook Street, the home of William's brother, Joseph. William's mother, Sarah, was present when Ellen passed away and Emma's father, Henry, was present at Elizabeth's death. No doubt both families were with William and Emma, and the girls, helping to care for them in the days leading up to their death.

The family grieved and buried both girls together on the 28th May, at Lambeth Cemetery [52] [53].

Fresh start

At the time of the girls' deaths, Emma was four months pregnant and, on the 2nd of October 1861, their third - but now eldest - child was born. It was a boy, who they named Joseph Henry Lane [54].

He was born at William and Emma's new home on Hayles Terrace, Southwark, around the corner from Brook Street. The terrace was a row of seven houses on Hayles Street, near Elephant and Castle. They were new homes, built only 8 years prior in 1853, and went for approximately £22 rent per year, or £160 to buy [55] [56].

That wasn't the only change for the family. Not long after Joseph was born, the family moved to Northam, a district of Southampton, in Hampshire. The family had no links to the area, so it is very likely the move was William's work. Northam was was strongly linked to shipbuilding and was the site of the Northam Ironworks, a famous ship building and marine engineering firm founded in 1840. This further supports the idea that William's work as a boilermaker was focussed around steam engines for ships [57] [58].

Northam Iron Works, Southampton

The family were not in Northam very long - by 1863, they had returned to London and were living in a house on Pratt Street, owned by Emma's aunt [57] [59].

The family remained on Pratt Street for the next decade and it was here that William and Emma had the remainder of their children: Frederick William (born 1865), Ada Catherine (born 1868) and Beatrice Annie (born 1872) [13] [14] [16].

William and Emma remained close with their family as well. When Sarah, the wife William's half-brother Thomas Halifax Lane, died from typhus meningitis, it was Emma who was with her when she died, and likely the one who was nursing her [60]. When Emma's brother, George, died of tuberculosis in nearby Newington, Emma was also there [61].

By 1876, the family moved south to the Kennington area, where they settled at 12 Regency Square (later renumbered to 7), off White Hart Street in Kennington [18] [22].

Cnr of Regency Square showing large gabled house nr White Hart Street c1900.jpg

Corner of Regency Square, Kennington - the Lanes would have lived in a similar house

Latter years and death

Around 1889, William and Emma moved further south to Mostyn Terrace, Kennington. It was here, on the 29th of July 1889, that they sadly suffered the loss of another child: their son Frederick William, at the age of 24 [23]. Prior to his death, he had taken up work as a newspaper and commercial clerk [62].

He died of pulmonary tuberculosis, also known at the time as consumption or phthisis. At the time of Frederick's death, tuberculosis was epidemic in the UK, with other 4 million people died between 1851-1910. The disease disproportionately affected the young - of those that died, half were aged 20-24, like Frederick. Prior to his death, he would have been at home with William and Emma, slowly wasting away over several weeks and months. The disease caused the body to waste away and develop a hacking cough that would lead to coughing up blood and experience nightly fevers [63].

We can expect that Frederick was nursed at home, as that is where he passed away. We also know that, in their hour of need, William and Emma called upon their family, namely Emma's sister Ellen and husband William Flowers Harman. This is evidenced by Frederick's death certificate, which lists his uncle William Harman being present at Frederick's death and being the informant on his death certificate [23].

Two years later, William himself passed away on the 14th of June, 1891, at their family home on Mostyn Terrace. He was aged 66 at the time of his death, which was caused by a bowel obstruction, leading to "malignant disease" of the caecum, a pouch that forms part of the large intestine [25]. He was buried four days later in a public grave at Lambeth Cemetery [26].

Source information

William Thomas Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Newington Parish Register [Church of England], 22 May 1825, Record no: 550, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. Baptismal record gives mother's name as Mary, however this appears to be an error. Although the marriage between Thomas and Sarah did break down, it appears that William was Sarah's son. As evidenced by the following:
- William lives with Sarah and her new partner, Thomas Hallifax, in the 1841 and 1851 census. William staying with Sarah and her family supports that she was his mother (as opposed to taking in the son of her husband with another woman).
- The will of Ellen Lane (nee Toope), wife of William's brother Joseph William Lane, makes provisions to Emma Francesca Collyer, who she describes as "Emma Lane widow of my late husbands brother William Lane". She also makes provisions for Thomas Lane, the son of William's half-brother Thomas Halifax Lane, who she describes as "Thomas Lane, the son of my late husbands brother Thomas Alifax Lane". She doesn't distinguish between them but it does show that all three men - Joseph William Lane, William Thomas Lane and Thomas Halifax Lane - all considered themselves to be brothers and helps further support that they were all related.
Thomas Halifax Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 22 Apr 1832, Record no: 958, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This is the baptismal record of William’s half-brother, the son of his mother, Sarah and her partner Thomas Halifax. William was living with Sarah and Thomas Halifax in 1841 and 1851, which supports that he went with his mother when his parents’ relationship broke down.
John James Halifax Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 7 Feb 1836, Record no: 1862, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This is the baptismal record of William’s half-brother – as for source no. 2.
John Halifax Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1838 in St Mary Newington, Record no: 221, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]. This is the death certificate of William’s half-brother – as for source no. 2.
William Lane [1841], Census return for Mannings Place, East St, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Thomas Halifax, Local and Personal Laws, Part 155, page 540-51, Mill Street Lambeth, Google Books [books.google.com]. This is the record of lessees and occupiers for Mill Street, Lambeth. Thomas Halifax is the occupier of 7 Mill Street. See source no. 13 for more information on the relationship between William and Thomas Halifax
William Halifax [1851], Census return for Meads Row, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
William Thomas Lane and Emma Francesca Collyer, Trinity Church St Marylebone Parish Register [Church of England], 26 Mar 1855, Record no: 195, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Ellen Julia Lane, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1858 in Lambeth, Record no: 445, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Elizabeth Sarah May Lane, Burial record, Lambeth Cemetery Tooting Burial Register, 28 May 1861, Record no: 1501, Deceased Online [deceasedonline.com]
William Lane [1861] (page 1 and page 2), Census return for Hayles Tce, Southwark, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Joseph Henry Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 25 Oct 1863, Record no: 1526, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Frederick William Lane, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1865 in Lambeth, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Ada Catherine Lane, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1868 in Lambeth, Record no: 63, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
William Lane [1871], Census return for Pratt St, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Beatrice Annie Lane, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter in Lambeth, Record no: 231, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
William Lane, Borough of Lambeth Voters List, First Division, South Marsh Ward, 1873, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
William Lane, Borough of Lambeth Voters List, Mr Simpson's Collecting District, 1876, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
William T Lane [1881], Census return for Pratt St, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Ada Catherine Lane, Baptismal record, St James Kennington Park Road Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 23 Apr 1882, Record no: 358, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
William Thomas Lane, Borough Of Lambeth Voters List, Kennington Division, Polling District No 2, 1885-1886, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
Regency Square, Kennington renumbering plan, Street Renumbering Files, Identifier: LBL/DCEPS/SL/1/358, Ref: 11812, 1881, Lambeth Archives Image Collection [boroughphotos.org]
Frederick William Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 3rd Quarter 1889 in Lambeth, Record no: 475, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
William Lane [1891], Census return for 17 Mostyn Ter, Lambeth, London, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
William Thomas Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1891 in Lambeth, Record no: 154, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
William Thomas Lane, Burial record, Lambeth Cemetery Tooting Burial Register, 18 Jun 1891, Record no: 969, Deceased Online [deceasedonline.com]
John Howard Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Magdalene Woolwich Parish Register [Church of England], 16 Sep 1821, Record no: 1350, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This baptismal record shows the Lane family's last known address in Woolwich, King St.
Benjamin William Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Newington Parish Register [Church of England], 2 Mar 1823, Record no: 122, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. This baptismal record shows the Lane family's first known last known address in London. William Street was one street east of Brandon St, and was similarly located in the Lock's Fields area of Walworth.
Map of London made from an actual survey in years 1824 1825 & 1826 by C. & J. Greenwood, Harvard Map Collection, G5754_L7_1830_G7_Stitched, Harvard University
Supposed murder at Walworth, Morning Advertiser, 20 Oct 1809, page 4, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
John Rocque's 1746 map, Locating London's Past [www.locatinglondon.org]
R. Horwood (1799) map, Layers of London [www.layersoflondon.org]
Middlesex XXII - OS Six-Inch Map (1868), Old Maps Online [www.oldmapsonline.org]
Desirable Estates, Walworth and Kent Road, Morning Herald (London), 20 Feb 1832, page 1, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]. Advertisement for timber yards and sheds at Lock's Fields, Walworth.
To Carpenters, Builders, and Others, Morning Advertiser, 8 Sep 1831, page 4, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]. Advertisement for stock in trade and utensils for carpenters on premises at Lock's Field, Walworth.
To Timber-merchants, Carpenters, Builders, and Others, Morning Advertiser, 27 Jan 1837, page 4, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]. Advertisement for stock in trade for carpenters at Lock's Field, Walworth.
A brief history of divorce, The Guardian, 19 Sep 2009 [www.theguardian.com]
Thomas Hallifax and Maria Grinsted, Marriage record, St Mary Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 26 May 1828, Record no: 698, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Thomas Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1841 in St Mary Newington, Record no: 117, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Joseph Lane [1851], Census return for Pratt St, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Boilermaker, Wikipedia, Last edited 20 Mar 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
Joseph Henry Lane and Emmeline Ida Sophie Brasier, England & Wales Marriage Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1928 in Camberwell, Record no: 84, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Ada Catherine Lane and Edward Entwisle, Marriage record, St Mary Newington Parish Register [Church of England], 5 Mar 1893, Record no: 212, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Wikipedia, Last edited 26 May 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
Henry Collyer [1841], Census return for Cottages, Lambeth, Surrey ,The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]. The cottages were on Mill Street. This is the record for Emma's father, Henry, although on the night of the census, Emma is with her grandmother next door.
Joseph Lane [1861], Census return for Brook St, Lambeth, Surrey ,The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Elizabeth Sarah Mary Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1861 in Lambeth, Record no: 29, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]. Henry Collyer, Emma's father, was the informant on the death certificate and it provides his address as Rose Cottage, Mill St, Lambeth.
Thomas Halifax, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1858 in St Olave Southwark, Record no: 450, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Sarah Halifax [1861], Census return for Pratt St, Lambeth, Surrey ,The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Thomas Lane [1861], Census return for Pratt St, Lambeth, Surrey ,The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Ellen Julia Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 2nd Quarter 1861 in Lambeth, Record no: 27, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Ellen Julia Lane, Burial record, Lambeth Cemetery Tooting Burial Register, 28 May 1861, Record no: 1507, Deceased Online [deceasedonline.com]
Elizabeth Sarah Mary Lane, Burial record, Lambeth Cemetery Tooting Burial Register, 28 May 1861, Record no: 1501, Deceased Online [deceasedonline.com]
Joseph Henry Lane, England & Wales Birth Certificate, Registered 4th Quarter 1861 in St George Southwark, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]. Mother's surname is given as "Tollyer", however the birth certificates of Joseph's siblings and his parents' marriage certificate all confirm her surname as "Collyer".
Usborne, Simon, The Story of No 20: how does a London family home end up empty in 2018?, The Guardian, 20 Feb 2018 [www.theguardian.com]
West Square, Southwark Council, Mar 2013 [www.southwark.gov.uk]
Joe Lane is dead, South London Observer Camberwell & Peckham Times, 11 Feb 1936, page 1, FindMyPast [www.findmypast.co.uk]
Pollock and Brown Shipbreakers, Sotonopedia: The A-Z of Southampton's History, Accessed 21 Jun 2024 [sotonopedia.wikidot.com]
Joseph Henry Lane, Baptismal record, St Mary Lambeth Parish Register [Church of England], 25 Oct 1863, Record no: 1526, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Sarah Lane, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1871 in Lambeth, Record no: 427, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
George Henry Collyer, England & Wales Death Certificate, Registered 1st Quarter 1877 in St Saviour Surrey, Record no: 444, General Register Office [www.gro.gov.uk]
Frederick W Lane [1881], Census return for Regency Sq, Lambeth, Surrey, The National Archives of the UK, Ancestry [www.ancestry.co.uk]
Information on tuberculosis in the 19th century:
- Glaziou P, Floyd K, Raviglione M, Trends in tuberculosis in the UK, Thorax, Published Online First: 19 April 2018
- Frith, J, History of tuberculosis. Part 1 - phthisis, consumption and the White Plague, History, Volume 22, No 2
- History of tuberculosis, Wikipedia, Last edited 20 Jun 2024 [en.wikipedia.org]
- Tuberculosis: A Short History, Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders, Centre for Global Health Histories, Orient Blackswan Private Ltd, 2013