Bromley by Bow is in the Eastend of London and was home to family ancestors over many years. It becomes the place where two arms of our family will unite – The Hardy and the Bushby lines. The Hardy ancestors will already be in East London when Thomas Hardy (b1813) will marry(1841) Sarah Looker (b1820) and live in Bethnall Green. They will move east however into the relative countryside of Bromley by Bow, appearing in the 1851 census living in Frederick Street and in 1861 census in Crown Row. Thomas is a shoemaker, a trade that will will be central to generations of Hardy families residing in Bromley by Bow.
Thomas and Sarah will have several children that will include John Piercy Hardy born1847. John is set to follow his father in shoe making.
In the meantime and far away from a busy London, Michael Davey(b1815) will marry(1847) Mary Dommett(b1819) in Honiton, Devon. Probably in search of work, they will move to London and by 1861 settle in Bromley by Bow – Priory Street. They will have children including a daughter Martha Davey(b1848) and by 1871 be residing in Franklin Street.. Michael will swap the agricultural labouring to be found in Devon, with work as a labourer in the many industries growing in Bromley by Bow.
John Piercy Hardy will meet Martha Davey in Bromley by Bow and on April 12th 1868 will marry her. By 1881 John and Martha will have taken a shop at 42 St Leonard’s Street selling John’s skills as a shoemaker. Bromley by Bow is set as the family home with a shoemaking business for the Hardy line. The couple will have children including a son; Arthur Hardy(b1889)
Meanwhile and once again far from London in Bedfordshire, Fanny Mary Ann Wooding(b1861) from the village of Ridgmont will meet and marry(1885) John Bushby(b1859) from Husborne Crawley – an adjacent village just a few miles away. By 1891 this ‘country’ couple too had come to reside in London’s Bromley by Bow – Quickett Street (marked incorrectly as a ‘Road’ on the map below). In 1901 they will have moved to 12 Jefferson Street. Their children will include a daughter Louisa Winifred Bushby(b1889).
Arthur Hardy will meet Winifred Bushby in Bromley by Bow and they will be married on the 9th of January 1909 at Poplar Registry Office. By 1911 Arthur and Winifred will be living in 11 Jefferson Street! By 1924 Arthur and Winifred will have moved into 42 St Leonard Street to run the Hardy show repair shop.
The photograph below is of two homes in Franklin Street in 1899 and is probably typical of the homes in Franklin, Washington and Jefferson Street at that time. (click to enlarge)
You can find out more about the shop at 42 St Leonard’s Street by clicking here
Bromley by Bow looked very different in 1851 when Thomas and Sarah Hardy moved east a few miles from Bethnal Green. The fields and farmland would soon be replaced by many more crowded homes and heavy industry.
(1851 wider map showing country nature of BBB)
(pic of church)
(post 1900 map) showing buildup of homes and work)
These streets in this part of Bromley by Bow are not the worst of places to live in London but also not the best. Charles Booth conducted a survey of parts of London during 1886 to 1903. He classified the ‘life and labour’ of many communities and represented his findings on coloured maps.
The map below shows the part of Bromley by Bow we are interested in and how Charles Booth classified them.
If you want to know more about Charles Booth, then click here to go to the website of Charles Booth Online Archive.
Here is an extract from his notes making reference to Jefferson Street and more.
His colour scheme is explained here:
BLACK: Lowest class. Vicious, semi-criminal.
DARK BLUE: Very poor, casual. Chronic want.
LIGHT BLUE: Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family
PURPLE: Mixed. Some comfortable others poor
PINK: Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings.
RED: Middle class. Well-to-do.
YELLOW: Upper-middle and Upper classes. Wealthy.
You can see from this 1875 map that the area where; Priory St, Franklins St, Washington St and Jefferson St, were to be found is still farm land.
and in 1882 the roads and housing have been developed.
and in 1952 still there.
