Ernest Henry Armitage (1879-1942)

Ernest was the youngest child of Edward Armitage (1839-80), who was an elder brother of Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910), my great grandfather. There is an article about Edward’s life on this blog. Edward’s children were first cousins of my grandmother, Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970).

Ernest’s birth was registered in Q1 1879 in Hackney. There are no other Ernest Henry Armitage births in FreeBMD. His father Edward (then a police constable) died in 1880, when Ernest was aged 1. The 1881 census shows Edward’s widow Mary (aged 42, a laundress) with her children John (6) and Ernest (2) living at 5 Gainsboro Square, Hackney.

I can’t find Ernest in the 1891, 1901, 1911 or 1921 censuses. However, he is listed in Metropolitan Police records as a Constable (warrant number 91064) who joined on 5 Sep 1904 and left on 20 May 1919.

Freemasonry records show that Ernest, a Constable in the Metropolitan Police, was initiated into the Carnavon Lodge, Havant on 1 Oct 1912 age 33 and continued to pay his annual subscription there until 1921.

Ernest married Frances Carey on 1 Jun 1913 in Southsea.

The First World War began in August 1914. Ernest volunteered to join the army on 23 Apr 1915. He gave his address as 8 Peel Terrace, Stoke Road, Gosport and his occupation as motor lorry driver. He was assigned to the Army Service Corps, 268 Company and was sent to France arriving on 21 Jul 1915. Ernest was seriously injured in an accident on 8 Mar 1917 and invalidated to the UK on 12 Mar 1917. A Court of Enquiry into the accident decided that Ernest was in no way to blame. Ernest was sent back to France after he recovered and demobilised on 10 Feb 1919. He was assessed as 5% disabled and assigned a payment of 6s a week. He gave his address for this as 48 Cambridge St, Victoria, which is where Ernest’s sister Mary Emma Armitage lived.

Ernest married again in 1924. His second wife was Elizabeth Jones and they were married in Steyning (in Sussex). Electoral registers show them living at 58 Woodville Road, Hendon between 1929 and 1934. In 1938 and 1939 they were at 636A Finchley Road, Hendon. Birth records indicate that Ernest did not have children with either of his wives.

I can’t find Ernest in the 1939 register. He died in 1942 in Hendon aged 63. He doesn't seem to be listed in probate records.

Car crash involving George Henry Armitage

George Henry Armitage (1898-1936) was a passenger in a car that collided with a tram in May 1935. One of the other passengers (Florence E Beale, aged 36), died in the accident. The following item was published in the Reynold's Newspaper (5 May 1935) :

This incident must have been upsetting for all those involved in it. Perhaps it was one of the factors that resulted in George's suicide "while of unsound mind"  some 15 months later in August 1936.

Frances Elizabeth Weiste nee Paul (1874-1959)

Frances was a cousin of my grandmother Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970). The mother of Frances was Sarah Sophia Paul nee Pinnuck (1854 – 1916), who was an elder sister to Ellen Armitage nee Pinnuck (1855-1913), Emma’s mother. 

Sarah Sophia Pinnuck married Luke Paul on 8 June 1873 at St Andrew’s, Enfield. She was aged 19, he was 27, a labourer. Their only child, Frances Elizabeth Paul, was born on 3 February 1874 in Enfield. Luke joined the Metropolitan Police in 1875.

The 1881 census shows Luke (aged 34, born in Thetford, Norfolk, a police constable), Sarah (26, born in Enfield) and Frances (7, born in Enfield) living at 34 Catherine Street, St Paul Covent Garden, Strand in London. Also listed at the address were Luke’s brother William Paul (30) as well as Sarah’s brothers Alfred (18) and George (14) Pinnuck.

In 1891 Frances (aged 17, a milliner’s apprentice) was living at 3 Tenison Street, Lambeth, which was a lodging house run by her mother. Also listed at the address were Frances Pinnuck (67), mother of Sarah. There were 8 lodgers (including 3 actresses) staying there. Tenison Street no longer exists. Its site (near Waterloo Bridge) is now occupied by the Hayward Gallery. The census shows that Luke Paul (44) was a patient in Charing Cross Hospital. He left the Metropolitan Police in 1896 and moved to Hitchin, Hertfordshire with his wife Sarah, where he ran The Highlander pub, 45 Tilehouse Street.

Frances Paul married Diedrich Franz Felix Weiste on 9 January 1899 at St Mary’s Hitchin. She was aged 25, he was 28. He was born in 1871 in Tulse Hill, Lambeth. He is listed in the 1881 census, living in Beckenham with his father John Diedrich Weiste (aged 44, a warehouseman, born in Germany), mother Clara (38, born in Germany) and siblings aged 12, 11, 7 and 1, all born in London. Diedrich was initiated into the Freemasons in 1898, when his occupation was “manufacturer’s agent”.

Frances and Diedrich had a daughter Helene Clara Selma Pauline, born 22 November 1899. She was baptised at Holy Trinity, Penge on 3^rd February 1900. The record shows the family’s address as 29 Honley Road, Catford and Diedrich’s occupation as manufacturer’s agent. They had a second daughter, Dorothea Eileen W, born in January 1901. The 1901 census shows the family (with a domestic servant) living at 65 Byne Road, Sydenham, a pleasant suburb of South London.  The house still exists and looks to be quite spacious.

In 1911 the family, still living at 65 Byne Road, consisted of Diedrich Weiste (aged 40), Frances (37), Helena (11) and Dorothea (10). Diedrich’s occupation is hard to read, but it seems to be “Rope turner, yarn and mat agent”. He is shown as an employer. The house had 7 rooms. Also listed was Frances Pinnuck (18). She was a daughter of Alfred Pinnuck, Sarah Paul’s brother. Alfred died in 1897 and his wife Harriett died in 1901, so Frances Pinnuck was an orphan. She had gone to live with Sarah and Luke Paul in Hitchen in 1901 and married George Henry Kemp in 1914. An item about the life of Frances Elizabeth Kemp nee Pinnuck is on this blog.

The 1914 Kelly’s Directory for London lists Diedrich Weiste & Co, Twine and mat agents, 30 Little Trinity Lane, City of London. Electoral Registers indicate that Diedrich and Frances were living at Blair Gowrie, South Benfleet (a village in Essex between Basildon and Southend-on-Sea) between 1918 and 1922. The 1921 census shows the family living at this address, which had 7 rooms. Those listed in the household were Diedrich (aged 50), Frances (47), Helena (21) and Dorothea (20) Weiste, also Ethel Mott (27, a domestic servant) and Gladys Mott (4). Diedrich and Frances are both shown as manufacturer's agents, with their place of work being 30 Little Trinity Lane.

Electoral Registers show that Deidrich and Frances moved to Orchard House, Oak Road, Green Street Green, Farnborough, Kent in 1923. This is now in the Borough of Orpington, on the SE edge of London. Deidrich’s business address changed to 63 Queen Victoria Street in 1925.

A 1930 passenger list shows Dorothea Weiste, aged 29, on board a ship travelling from Liverpool to Rangoon in Burma. It gives her occupation as lecturer and says that she intends to reside in Burma. I can find no more British records relating to Dorothea, so it seems that she did not return to the UK. Burma was a British colony until 1948.

The 1938 Kelly’s Directory shows that Frances was running a shop (listed under Domestic Stores) at 1 The Parade, Poverest Road, St Mary Cray, Orpington.  

The 1939 Register shows Diedrich (born 17 March 1871, a twine and carpet manufacturing agent), Frances (born 3 February 1874, a shop manager) and Helena (born 22 November 1899, a shop assistant) living at Orchard House, Oak Road.

Diedrich died on 27 January 1955 aged 83. Probate records give his address as Orchard House, Oak Road. He left £933 and the executor was his daughter Helena, who was a spinster. Frances died on 9 January 1959 aged 84. She had the same address and executor, the estate was £319.

Helena died on 7 February 1985 aged 85. She was living at Isard House, Glebe House Drive, Hayes and left £53,415. I don’t have a record of Dorothea’s death.