Genealogy Chat

Hi
Can anyone tell me where I could find online street directories for Battersea, London, in 1915. My husband's great grandmother, Phyllis Collins, gave birth to her eleventh child at 149 Stewart's Road, Battersea in 1915. After this date she seems to disappear. Her husband, Timothy, was a sergeant in the Army Pay Corps ( a clerk in the GPO) at this time according to the baby's birth certificate.
By 1917/1918 the father was living in Cork in Ireland but I can't find out if the mother went with him or not. I have searched for a death on FreeBMD without success too.
I thought if I could track her through a post office directory it might shed some light when she left Stewart's Road.

Any advice gratefully received.

Electoral rolls are available , can't immediately spot her though

just for confirmation is this them in 1911?

1911 England Census about Phyllis Collins
Name: Phyllis Collins
Age in 1911: 36
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875
Relation to Head: Wife
Gender: Female
Civil Parish: Battersea
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street Address: 33 Landseer Street, Battersea Park Road
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 15
Estimated Marriage Year: 1896
Occupation: NIL
Registration District: Wandsworth
Registration District Number: 26
Sub-registration District: East Battersea
ED, institution, or vessel: 17
Piece: 2160
Household Members:
Name Age
Phyllis Collins 36
Timothy James Collins 13
Mary Collins 11
Phyllis Collins 9
Jeroam Patrick Collins 7
Michel John Collins 8
Margret Collins 5
John Collins 3
Annie Collins 2
Norah Collins 0

???
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp

for ref

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 about Timothy James Collins
Name: Timothy James Collins
Residence: 149 Stewarts Road, Battersea S W
Document Year: 1914
Regimental Number: 2545
Regiment Name: Lo DAC
Number of images: 18

I don't know if you have those military records Motherhen but it does specify on one of the images that the 'dependant' of Timothy has moved to Cork, but 'Wife' is crossed through.

There is this death? different area though

Name: Phyllis Collins
Record Type: Death
Estimated Death Date: 1922
Age: 46
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1876
Parish or Poor Law Union: Greenwich
Borough: Greenwich
Register Type: Parish Register

or possibly this one if she did go to Cork

Ireland, Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958 about Phyllis Collins
Name: Phyllis Collins
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1880
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1927
Death Age: 47
Registration District: Cork
Death Country: Ireland
Volume: 5
Page: 109
FHL Film Number: 101737

Looking at 1921 electoral roll for Stewarts road, 149 doesn't seem to be there.

Hi Rambling Rose

Thank you very much for replying to my post.

Yes this is the family on the 1911 Census. Timothy James Collins is their eldest son. I found his army records yesterday but I hadn't noticed that "wife" had been crossed out. Unfortunately I don't think the death in 1927 will fit. Phyllis was born in 1873 if I have the right one so maybe the 1922 one is right although there is no connection with Greenwich as far as I know.

Thelma - thank you for the suggestion of the historical directories. I shall look into that.

I have been trying to find this husband and wife for 8 years! I know that the husband was alive in Cork in 1919 according to his grand-daughter, my husband's granny but he had died by the time she married in 1935.

Many thanks

Just looking at this from a different angle - am I right in thinking that the service records are those of the son Timothy James?

If so, then the wife being crossed out on the records may be because he didn't have one and could the dependent be his mother?

Where was the father in 1911?

Thankyou MarieCeleste lol sometimes I wonder about me :-S doh that is the son's military record born 1896.

Hi MarieCeleste

Yes they are the service records of the son. I have searched for any army service records for the father but have never found any. If he worked for the GPO I presume he was sub contracted from the Army. Not sure if I have the right word there but you know what I mean. :-)

The father was in prison in 1911 for stealing a postal order.

ah this one then Motherhen? I see it has been corrected to Timothy

Name: Findllen Collins
[Timothy Collins]
Age in 1911: 36
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875
Relation to Head: Prisoner
Gender: Male
Birth Place: CORK, Cork, Ireland
Civil Parish: Lambeth
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street Address: HM Prison, Brixton Hill, Brixton S W
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: LETTER SORTER
Registration District: Lambeth
Registration District Number: 25
Sub-registration District: Norwood
ED, institution, or vessel: 44-47
Piece: 2143

Yes that's him! Is this from Ancestry? I found him on Findmypast a wee while ago after searching for a long time! :-)

yes it was from ancestry .

Intriguing - would the GPO have kept him on after he'd done time for stealing a postal order?

Coincidentally, my grandfather's brother was a GPO letter sorter in London in 1911. He was from County Cork, too. Worked there for a fair few years. They may well have known each other.

Wow! What a coincidence! I haven't been able to find his GPO pension records if he had any. I haven't quite worked out if they will be in Cork or London.

It is strange that he is down as a post office clerk on his daughter's birth certificate if he wasn't. It seemed a bit detailed to be a lie but it could be possible.

Timothy James Collins, his son, funnily enough also became a postman in 1937. I discovered a letter on his army records saying that he was applying for a job with the Civil Service and I found him in The London Gazette after his appointment.

How I wish I had asked my husband's granny more questions about her family when she was alive! Mind you she told us she was brought up in Cork but the records say she was brought up in London!

Yes, here he is:

British Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737-1969

Name: Timothy J. Collins
Date Appointed: Feb 1937
Place Appointed: London Postal Region

He was to be a postman in LPR, so that must be London.

Could this be Timothy snr?

British Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737-1969
Name: Timothy Collins
Date Appointed: 25 Oct 1894
Place Appointed: London

Appointed as a sorter in London.

Thank you MarieCeleste for this. That is him. We actually went to the British Postal Museum and Archive a few years ago and found this. I think we will have to do a trip back to see if we can find any pension records for him. I wonder if he worked when he went back to Ireland if he was a dependant on his son's Army papers.

Too many questions and not enough answers!

Thank you to all who have helped with this query.