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Samuel Robert Ames (SRA) was born on August 19th 1824 to parents Samuel John Ames and his wife Maria and was christened at St. Leonard Shoreditch on September 12th 1824 [IGI: Batch C040804].
He has not yet been found in the 1841 Census.
His future first wife was Helen Ann Pinkerton. She was born to parents James Pinkerton and Harriet (nee Potts) on November 27th 1817 and was christened at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney on July 1st 1818 [IGI: Batch C006298]. Her parents had married at St. Luke in Old Street, Finsbury on November 16th 1816 [IGI: Batch M020692]. The 1841 Census finds her at age "22" living with her parents in Pimlico Walk, St. Leonard Shoreditch where her father James, born in Scotland, was occupied as a painter.
SRA married Helen Ann in 1848 [Marriage Index: Shoreditch 2 285, 1848 (March)] on January 2nd 1848 at St. John the Baptist in Shoreditch [IGI: Batch M040371].
The 1851 Census finds SRA and Helen Ann living at 4, Church Terrace in the Homerton district of Hackney with their child Margaret Amelia, aged "2". SRA, aged "25", was occupied as a carpenter. Helen Ann's parents were meanwhile living at 2, College Lane near the High Street in Hackney where James was again occupied as a painter.
Helen Ann's mother Harriet died in 1853 [Death Index: Hackney 1b 181, 1853 (Sept)] and her father James died in 1854 [Death Index: Hackney 1b 226, 1854 (Sept)].
By this time SRA had separated from Helen Ann and taken a new partner Margaret Watson. In the 1850s he and Margaret produced at least three daughters - Jane Elizabeth, Alice Margaret and Mary Ann. It is not known what had become of Helen Ann.
The 1861 Census finds the family living at 77, Pearson Street in St. Leonard, Shoreditch. SRA, aged "36", was occupied as a carpenter and joiner. Margaret, born in London, was aged "24". SRA's first child Margaret Amelia was not present and, if alive, was probably with her mother.
In 1863 SRA and Margaret married [Marriage Index: Shoreditch 1c 269, 1863 (June)]. They may have delayed getting married until Helen Ann had died.
The 1871 Census finds SRA at age "46" with Margaret and Alice Margaret living at 51, Broke Street - probably today's Broke Walk - in Shoreditch, where he was occupied as a carpenter. Jane Elizabeth and Mary Ann, however, were not with them.
In 1877 Mary Ann married Richard William (3) Woodhurst and described SRA on her marriage certificate as a pattern maker.
The 1881 Census finds SRA, aged "56" and allegedly widowed, living at 131, Usher Road in Old Ford, Bow and occupied as a carpenter. With him was a son Matthew Edmund aged "4". It is not certain who this boy's mother was, or what had become of Margaret.
SRA subsequently partnered, but did not marry (as established by extensive analysis of "Samuel Ames" marriages), a woman named Eliza whose maiden name is currently unknown. She was evidently born at St. George-in-the-East (next to Stepney and Whitechapel) around 1852.
The 1891 Census finds SRA at age "65" with Eliza aged "38" and four children, including Matthew Edmund, living at 71, Spey Street in Bow, where he was still occupied as a carpenter and joiner.
SRA appears to have died aged "68" in 1893 [Death Index: Lambeth 1d 207, 1893 (June)].
Eliza may have lived her last years with or near Matthew Edmund's family in West Ham, in which case she may have died there aged "51" in 1903 [Death Index: W. Ham 4a 32, 1903 (June)]. This reference may, however, pertain to an unrelated "Eliza Ames" of the same age who in 1901 was certainly living in West Ham. The fate of SRA's partner is therefore currently undetermined.
The 1871 Census possibly finds Jane Elizabeth living at St. George's Villa in Amhurst Road, Hackney in the household of a widow Susan Drew. She is described as a general servant aged "18" and born in Shoreditch.
Alice Margaret was born on May 4th 1856 and christened at St. John the Baptist in Shoreditch on May 25th 1856 [IGI: Batch C040372]. In 1882 she married [Marriage Index: Shoreditch 1c 177, 1882 (March)]. Her husband's name was either James Hickmott or George Alexander Dawson. An "Alice Margaret Dawson" died in 1884 [Death Index: W. Ham 4a 31, 1884 (Dec)], but her cited age of "24" (instead of 28) makes it uncertain that she was SRA's daughter.
Mary Ann was born on January 2nd 1858 and christened at St. John the Baptist in Shoreditch on January 31st 1858 [IGI: Batch C040372].
It seems likely that some of these children were born to SRA's partner Eliza, but perhaps not Matthew Edmund.
In 1900 Matthew Edmund married Minnie Louisa Fitch [Marriage Index: Poplar 1c 1139, 1900 (Sept)]. She was born in 1873 [Birth Index: Poplar 1c 674, 1873 (Sept)]. The 1901 Census finds them living at 689, Barking Road in West Ham, Essex. He was occupied as a solicitor's clerk.
The 1901 Census finds John Alonso with his brother Albert Edward boarding at 126, Kerbey Street in Bromley-by-Bow and occupied as a sawyer. He married as "John Alonzo" in 1904 [Marriage Index: Poplar 1c 1033, 1904 (Sept)].
The 1901 Census finds Albert Edward with his brother John Alonso boarding at 126, Kerbey Street in Bromley-by-Bow and occupied as a sawyer. He married Kate H. Middleton in 1916 [Marriage Index: Stepney 1c 482, 1916 (Sept)]. He served in the Great War as a rifleman in the Rifle Brigade 2nd Battalion with Service Number S/24593 and was killed in action aged "33" on June 30th 1917. His widow was then living at 61, Three Colt Street in Limehouse. He is commemorated at the Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery near Ieper in Belgium with grave/memorial reference III. D 13. [Commonwealth War Graves Commission database].
The 1901 Census finds Beatrice Mary as an inmate in an orphanage in Bristol called Millers Orphan Houses. Her age is given as "11" and her birthplace as Bromley in "Kent", apparently a mistaken reference to Bromley-by-Bow in Middlesex.