More eyes please

[KiwiChris]

Harry Percy Berkeley was born June q 1883 Cheltenham
1891 he is with his parents Henry R b1830 London professor of chemistry and Clara b 1859 Lambeth
1901 he is with his mother, visitors in Margate, and I have all the information I need on him after that date.

I have not found a marriage for Henry R and Clara, and I suspect that is because Henry is already married.

1901 Rowland Berkeley analytical chemist b c1882 is a boarder in Islington, and Henry Rowland Berkeley died Islington June q 1901

Harry Rowland Berkeley married Maria Tasker March q 1849 Horncastle
They are together in London 1861 and 1871 with his occupations commission agent and what looks like art metal worker. Harry is b 1829 St Pancras in both 1861 and 1871.
I cannot find them in 1881 but in 1891 Maria is in Spalding, married with no husband, and living on own means.

1897 there are some newspaper reports of Henry Rowland Berkeley doctor/chemist being charged with fraud for non payment of school fees, he must be the father of Harry Percy.

Are Harry Rowland, Henry Rowland and Rowland Berkeley the same person?
Can anyone see him and/or Maria in 1881?
Can anyone find a marriage to Clara or who she may have been?

There is a Rev John Comyns Berkeley who had a son called Henry Rowland Berkeley who died in Bruges in 1852. My gut feeling is that they are related somehow but I have not managed to find parents for my Henry Rowland.

[KiwiChris]

In the newspaper report of the fraud there was an indication that Henry may have gone by Barclay, so I have just searched 1881 for Henry/Harry/Rowland and Maria Barclay with no luck

[KiwiChris]

if I search in 1881 for Maria b c1829 Horncastle there is Maria Berkley as a married visitor with widowed Elizabeth Barton in Spalding, it says that Maria is a retired architects wife. She is the most likely looking candidate, if Harry/Henry is the same person, he does change occupation on a regular basis!

[KiwiChris]

Hmm, 1851 there is Maria Berkley b 1827 Lincolnshire with a husband Henry b1828 London, I think it says he is an artist in something, but I cannot read it

[Merry]

So is this Clara with her son's place of birth in 1911?


Clara N Berkeley abt 1857 b Cheltenham Lady In Charge Crookham, Hampshire

and this her death?


Deaths Jun 1934

Berkeley Clara N 77 Birkenhead 8a 691

The N is for Nellie (Cheshire BMD) but that's got me nowhere with her birth reg which I had hoped would be in Lambeth district if she was born in Brixton.

[Merry]

I think it says he is an artist in something, but I cannot read it


Hmmm me neither!

[KiwiChris]

I was wondering if she was Clara Nellie in later census.

I think I am correct with the Berkley name in 1881 and 1851, as in 1851 Hy and Maria Berkley have a son called Henry b c1850
In 1871 the Berkeley's have a son called Harry J b c1850. Harry John Berkeley is baptised 1852 Pancras, son of Harry and Maria, but on this occasion Harry snr says he is a surgeon!

[KiwiChris]

1920 Clara Nellie is at the same address as Harry Percy, so she must be his mother, she is not his wife as he married after that and her name was Christine

[kiterunner]

Hmm, 1851 there is Maria Berkley b 1827 Lincolnshire with a husband Henry b1828 London, I think it says he is an artist in something, but I cannot read it

I think it is Artist in Crests &c.

[Merry]

There's a few extra bits of info here:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=441996.0

[Merry]

According to this:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=444053.9

Clara's maiden name was Read

[kiterunner]

Gloucestershire BMD shows MMN for Harry P Berkeley born 1883 Cheltenham as Read.

Edit - snap, Merry!

[KiwiChris]

That is helpful but they don't seem to have got much further than me!

1851 I thought said Artist, do you think it says Dentist?

[kiterunner]

It is definitely Artist. There aren't enough vertical strokes for it to say Dentist, and what would "Dentist in Crests &c" mean anyway? Crest is a toothpaste nowadays but not then! Also, compare the first letter with the A of Alfred two lines above Hy.

[KiwiChris]

Good, thanks I read it as Artist and Artist in Crests makes sense.

[Merry]

do you think it says Dentist?

No, I don't. (Oh, I forgot to click Submit for a while! lol)

[KiwiChris]

I think Con Artist is probably closer to reality!

I am wondering if he really is related to the Berkeleys or if he took the name at some stage to look important. Aside from claiming to be a surgeon at his first son's baptism in 1852, he had very different roles on the census of 1851, 1861 and 1871, and it is not until he is probably past active working age that he suddenly becomes a professor of chemistry and an analytical chemist.

The Berkeleys certainly are a clergy family from way back, and the only thing that seems to me to tie this lot to the clergy Berkeleys is that someone paid for Harry Percy to go to King's College London, and it does not look as though either parent had the money for that. So maybe grandparents??

[Merry]

There's a tree on Ancestry which has Clara as Clara Reed b 1862 in Brixton on the 1881 census. That ties up with a birth reg for Clara Emily Reed in 1862/3 in Lambeth district and parents James F and Mary Reed in 1871 (they were in Lambeth but her place of birth was mis-transcribed).

However this isn't the right Clara as this one married William Sharpey Wade in 1904 (LMA records). At first I wondered if she had a failed marriage after Henry died, but she and William are together in 1911. I have also seen a likely death for her in the same area as she was living in 1911.

[KiwiChris]

I think Clara's death is probably June 1934 Birkenhead Cheshire

[Merry]

I think Clara's death is probably June 1934 Birkenhead Cheshire

Yes, that's the one that gives her middle name on Cheshire BMD.

This is the death of the Clara someone's Ancestry tree had for Henry's 'wife':


Deaths Sep 1942
Wade Clara E 80 Bromley 2a 799


In 1939 this Clara says her dob is 31 Jul 1862 which matched the birth reg for Clara E Reed (Q3 1862 Lambeth)

Of course Read may have been a made up name for Clara when she registered the birth of her son. Or she wasn't born in Brixton! Or 101 other possibilities.

[KiwiChris]

Thanks for the help, I think I will leave it there. It is for the Anglo-Catholic congress directory. At least I have parents for Harry Percy and my assumptions about his father's past have been confirmed. I will look again when we do the update in a couple of years or so, there will be more available on line.