52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 8: Power

 POWER

This is a thought-provoking title, with so many possibilities and so many ancestors that may fit one or other definitions of ‘Power.’

My initial thoughts were related to Power as in Officialdom including political, judicial, or religious.

So, I have not discovered any links to Royalty, the majority of us cannot verify any claim to Royal descendance other than with DNA evidence. Having said that I do have an ancestor who in his time was thought of as ‘The King of the Hundreds’ but his story fits to another of the themes in the future.

I have not discovered any Members of Parliament either, but I have found several JP’s. There are several clergymen who would fit the bill, having the power to change people’s lives with their acts and ministry around socially deprived areas in London.  Equally there are others that have used their religious ‘power’ to be sponsored by many a wealthy lady of their parish. Again, I hope to one day write up their stories but not necessarily within the ‘52 ancestors in 52 weeks’ theme.

I could write about Randolph Thomas Hammond Rust, a businessman and pioneer of the oil industry in Trinidad and Tobago, but much is available online, in relation to this part of his story, but I intend to write about him on a more personal level in the future.

Randolph Rust, Picture taken from An Introduction to the History of Trinidad and Tobago by Bridget Brereton

Continuing with the theme of the verb to power, Dudley Froy, a motor racing driver from the 1930’s-50’s, features in the Jay family but again much is available online about his career.

Daily Herald 16 Jul 1931

Finally I thought about the ‘power of suggestion’ and remembered the husband of the D’Oyly Carte actress and opera singer, Isabel Jay, Henry Sheppard Hart Cavendish, 6^th Baron Waterpark and 7^th Baronet of Doveridge, involved in a court case headlined as ‘Spooks and Alleged Fraud.’ This was a protracted court case over many years in the early 1900’s. Within the case Henry Cavendish was seeking to induce a settlement of £25,000 from a bankrupted couple Major Strutt and his wife, where he asserted money was transferred to them under undue influence, partly in the form of spiritual influence exercised by means of equipment called a ‘planchette’, an instrument that supposedly communicated messages from the spirit world. Finally, in 1910, the case bought by Henry Cavendish was dismissed.

 The Tatler 28 Feb 1902

 Planchettes were found in the UK from around the 1850’s. By the 1900’s the games company Jacques and Son were manufacturing them. In the 1920’s Chad Valley (toy company) were also producing them.

‘What Does Planchette Say?- Jaques and Sons is famous for it’s high-quality, hand-crafted products, and the planchettes they produced over the years maintains the same masterful quality of their other offerings. With high-quality brass castors and bone wheels, as well as that classic round-nose British shape, these planchettes are justifiably prized by collectors. The myriad boxes produced by Jaques and Son for their products hold a similarly outstanding quality, with gilded lettering and intriguing contents that made aspiring mediums feel they were getting their money’s worth. One of the classic planchettes of all time.’

www.mysteriousplanchette.com

But somewhat like Henry S.H Cavendish’s belief in receiving messages from the spirits, my claim to be related to this Gentleman is so far removed that it would be pushing the power of suggestion to it's limits.

So, whose story have I decided to share with you in the guise of ‘Power’?

Well I’m sorry to disappoint but being an advocate of the underdog this story relates to a man whose life was taken where 2 sides of ‘Power’ or lack of such, with both the lack of physical power and the power of the 'Company'. With his line dying out he could easily be forgotten and why I want to tell his story.

FREDERICK WILLIAM THEOBALD 1870-1904

Frederick was the brother-in-law of Valentine Muller, who I have previously written about within the 52 weeks 52 ancestors categories.

He was the son of Frederick and Mary nee Levett, a gardener at Riverhead in Kent, born in the Apr-Jun qtr of 1870 registered at Sevenoaks Kent.

In the 1871 census, he is living under the name William, his parents and his Levett grandparents in Linden Square, Riverhead Kent.

In 1872, a sister, Mary was born in the first quarter, however sadly both mother and child died in the same quarter, their mother, Mary, was buried at St Mary’s, Riverhead on the 3^rd March 1872, aged 20.

Frederick senior remarried in 1873 to Rhoda Reynolds, they then had 2 further children, Rhoda Alice (the wife of Valentine Muller) born in 1875 and Elizabeth in 1879.

On the 1881 census the family are living at Reynolds Cottages, Dunton Green, Otford, Kent, Frederick senior continues to work as a Gardener.

By 1891 Frederick William and Rhoda Alice, have moved to 4 Sutton Rd Lambeth, living with their ‘Reynolds’ relatives. Frederick is now working on the railways, whilst Rhoda is working as a confectionary assistant.

On 3^rd December 1893 Frederick married Eliza Maria Youell, my Great Grandaunt, at Chevening Kent. On the 24 Oct 1894 they celebrated the birth of their daughter, Rhoda Annie Louisa.

By the 1901 census, the family unit have moved to 43 Ellerdale Street, Lewisham, Frederick has been promoted to Foreman Shunter Point for SS&CR. There is another railway worker boarding with them.

Sadly Frederick William’s life is cut short when he dies aged 35, in 1905.

So where is the link to the theme ‘POWER’

Well this is easily explained when you view newspaper reports that explain the circumstances surrounding his death.

https://www.ukphotoarchive.org.uk/

The Nottingham Evening Post Thurs Jan 5 1905.

SHUNTING IN THE DARK

At an inquest in London, held by Mr Troutbeck yesterday on the death of a forman shunter named Frederick William Theobald, aged 34, who was killed at Charing Cross Station on Saturday week, the jury expressed the opinion that there had been negligence on behalf of the company in not providing better lighting during the shunting operations.

Theobald was knocked down and terribly injured by an engine just as shunting was about to begin. He died in Charing Cross Hospital. An electric light was provided near the points, but it was not turned on until 5 am unless the shunter especially required, in which case he would have to walk the length of the station to get it turned on.

The incident occurred on the morning of New Years Eve 1904 as identified in 

The Morning Post Monday 2^nd Jan 1905.

Frederick Theobald, a yard foreman, was run over on Saturday morning, while he was directing shunting operations at Charing Cross Railway Station. He died in hospital.

 

St James Gazette  5^th Jan 1905

THE SHUNTERS DEATH AT CHARING CROSS STATION

The circumstances attending the death of Frederick William Theobald, a foreman shunter at Charing Cross Station who was knocked down by an engine on Saturday were investigated by Mr John Troutbeck. From the evidence it appeared that at about 5 o’clock in the morning Theobald gave some instructions as to shunting a train to the signalman in the signal box just outside the station. He then walked under the box, and subsequently was found injured. The driver of the engine which knocked him down said the electric light was not on at the time of the accident.

The Coroner: When was it turned on? – Whilst Theobald was lying on the track after the accident.

The Coroner: Does that happen often that shunters have to work in the dark? – Witness thought not and added that it was very dark at the time.

An inspector at Charing Cross said there was a gasman whose duty is to turn on the lights at 5am.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and added a rider to the effect that there was negligence on the part of the company in not putting on the light.

 

 So what became of Frederick's wife and 10 year old daughter?

Whether Eliza received any recompense from the Railway Company is unknown. There is a document related to the incident at The National Archives, unfortunately it is not digitalised and due to the current Pandemic, I am unable to access this at the moment.

However in 1911, widowed, Eliza and Rhoda are found at 21, Holmesdale Rd, Teddington. Eliza is a Housekeeper at the property and Rhoda is an apprentice dressmaker.

What happened in the intervening years is unknown, but by the collection of the 1939 census, Eliza and Rhoda are living at 68A Bradbourne Vale Rd, Sevenoaks, Eliza's sister, Gertrude Youell is living with them.

On 6th April 1941, Eliza died at the above address, aged 73 of heart failure.

Rhoda remained a spinster until her death in 1972. 

Trade Unions

Researching a little into workers rights at the time of Frederick Theobald’s death. There were several railway unions at that time

The Amalgamated Union of Railway Servants  (1872)

United Pointsmen and Signalmen’s Society (1880)

General Railway Workers Union (1889)

Amalgamated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) in 1880.

However there was a deep seated hostility by Railway Companies in the UK to the trade unions in the 19^th and early 20^th century. The Railway Companies objected to outside influences on it’s workforce worrying it adversely affected discipline. Directors were worried  that collective bargaining procedures were an attempt to divide responsibility for the running of the railways and hence as a threat to public safety, for which the directors were responsible. The large railway companies expected loyalty from their workers in their employ, many of whom benefited from the provision of housing, educational, recreational  and medical facilities, prior to the welfare state.

This perhaps accounts for the fact that in the 1890 only approx. 1 in 8 rail workers belonged to a trade union.