Further information
We are very grateful for information about Frederick Aiked received from his great-granddaughter, Joan Worker, March-May 2012:
Further details of my great grandfather
Born around 1833/34 in Southwark before official birth registration. I intend to try the registers of St George the Martyr in Southwark to see if I can find details of his birth.
1841 census — I think I have found him and his brother in the St George the Martyr, Southwark, infant poor house in Lewisham, part of the workhouse, under the name of Aked.
He has a daughter in 1858, birth reg as Jessy Akin, Death reg as Jessy Aken and buried as Jessie Aiked. In 1859 he has a daughter, Ann, but is registered under the name Akin. Can't find details of his marriage to Jane Tarling, the mother. Living in Finsbury. He is a shoe maker.
1861 census he is a labourer living in Finsbury as Aiked.
1865 living in the City of London, he is a shoemaker Aiked.
1871 he is a labourer living in Finsbury as Aiked.
He died on 9 January 1874 aged 41 of consumption, he is living in Holborn as Aiked.
He was buried at Victoria Park Cemetery, which no longer exists, as Aiked.
There was a further son, William, who was born in 1873/4 just before birth registration became compulsory. William is my grandfather. I cannot find details of his birth and, of course, his father died in 1874.
The first sign of William is his marriage in 1892 under the name of Akins to my grandmother, Jane Marden. He then marries Jane again in 1899 under the name Aiked. Who knows why? The first 5 children are registered Akins and the last two, including my Mum, are Aiked. "
In short, exploring records using these and related alternative spellings has opened new avenues for research.
Although this extra information must be considered provisional until clear connections can be made, it does seem plausible. One possible objection might be that it is hard to see how a boy born and brought up in London would enlist in Ireland. In fact, men were often enlisted far away from the place they "attested" (i.e. where they first "took the Queen's shilling" offered by a recruiter or "bringer" and swore an oath of allegiance before a Magistrate). If this is so, after attesting in London he would have been sent to the regimental depot in Dublin to complete the enlistment process.
St George's Infant Poor House, Lewisham.
About 150 children are recorded in 1841, aged between 1 and 13 years. Of these roughly 100 are boys (including a "Boy unknown, aged 4") and 50 girls.
The Matron was Elizabeth O'Brien, 30. Several other staff are shown, among them schoolteachers and nurses.
Why were Frederick and William "Aked" in an Infant Poor House in Lewisham at this time? Were their parents still alive, and if so where were they?
Peter Higginbotham, the leading authority on workhouses, assumes the "Infant Poor House" shown on contemporary maps housed pauper children from the Lewisham area (their parents, if they had any, being housed in the Lewisham Union Work House across the road). I have not been able to find any adults by the name of "Aked" or similar there, and the "Akeds" are not known to have had any connection with the Lewisham area.
Map showing St George's Infant Poor House in 1862, amidst parks and open countryside.
The Lewisham Work House (unmarked as such), erected 1817, is on the other side of the main road, between the Board of Works Office and the grounds of Lewisham Priory. University Hospital Lewisham now occupies the site.
However, it is possible that the two institutions may not not have been administratively connected as the Lewisham Work House in 1841 contained a number of young children in its own right. In short, the Infant Poor House may have been a rural annexe taking pauper children from the parish of St George the Martyr, Southwark, some miles away — which is where (in later Censuses) the "Akeds" say they were born. Conditions for adults at the St George the Martyr Southwark Work House, Mint Street (later called the St Saviour's Union Work House) were notorious, but Lewisham was still relatively countrified and therefore believed to be healthier for children.
Map showing St George's Work House, Mint Street, and St George the Martyr Church, in 1862.
The area, just south of Southwark and London Bridges, was very densely populated, with little open space. Notice the nearby Queen's Bench Debtors' Prison. The Surrey Prison and the Bethlehem Lunatic Asylum ("Bedlam") are within a few minutes' walk. The Marshalsea Debtors' Prison, central to Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit (where his own father had spent time in the 1820s), was adjacent to St George's Church. The Marshalsea was demolished in 1842, and there is now a park on the site of the workhouse.
A search of the St George the Martyr Southwark Work House has not revealed any adult "Akeds" living there in 1841. But Frederick's brother William was there in 1851 (though not Frederick himself, who would have been about 15 at this time):
1851 Census
St George the Martyr Southwark Work House
William Aiked [brother], 19, Pauper, Seaman, born St George, Southwark, Surrey.
[PB]