NOTE: ** denotes a direct relative of mine in the following text
**Catherine Frances Dawes married **Joseph John Watkins, on the 2nd December 1900 at St Andrew, Peckham, in the parish of Camberwell, Surrey, England. According to their marriage certificate Catherine was 29 and a spinster and Joseph 30 years old and a bachelor working as a confectioner. Their respective residence at the time of their marriage were as 56 and 44 Colegrove Road, and thus they lived in the same street. Joseph’s father, **Joseph Watkins was listed as a leather dresser and Catherine’s father, **Alfred Dawes as a whitesmith. Their witnesses were Alfred Dawes and Sarah Ann Dawes (Catherine’s sister). My mother, Denise Clur nee Barker and sister, Belinda Clur, have visited the church where Catherine married Joseph Watkins.
Catherine Frances was born at 6 Nictor Terrace, Green Hundred Road, Peckham, County Surrey according to her birth certificate, on the 14th November 1971. Her father, Alfred Dawes was listed as a safe maker. Charline Nicolles registered her birth on the 11th December 1871.
Joseph John was born on the 28th June 1870 at 22 Prince Street, Bermondsey, London. His parents were **Ann (Annie) Watkins Nee Trunley and **Joseph Watkins. His birth was registered on the 8th August 1870 by R. Hellier. His father was listed as a tanner on the birth certificate. According to my mother Denise Clur nee Barker, he was a Quaker.
Joseph John lived at 44 Langdale Road, Peckham, London according to the 1891 Census. He lived with his parents and sister Emma, then 17 and listed as an “eng sewer”. This is interesting as the street number is the same as that noted in his marriage certificate, i.e. 44. This was also the number of the house in Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town, Staffordshire where Catherine’s parents lived in 1911. Joseph John was listed in the 1891 census as being 21 yeas old and employed as a medicating lozenge manufacturer. His father is listed as a leather dresser and as having also been born in Bermondsey. His mother is noted as born in Rotherhithe, London. The family had a lodger in house then, James C. Connelly, who was a leather finisher.
According to the anecdotes recorded by my mother, Catherine Frances said her mother in law was “a sow”. Apparently Annie Trunley was already pregnant with Joseph when she got married in Southwark. Coming from the Tower Bridge area, the Watkins family were true Cockneys.
Somewhere around 1900 (December 9th ?), Joseph and Catherine emigrated to South Africa and settled in Uitenhage. They had a sweet factory and a horse called Popcorn.
Joseph John and Catherine Frances had the following children:
- Elizabeth “Bess” (1903 – ) married Dawling/Dorling
- Catherine Frances “Kate” ( – ) – never married
- Irene Patience “Rene” (31st July 1907 – ) – married Johnson
- **Doris Anne (9th March 1909 – 1999) – married Barker
- Joseph John (1912 – )
**Doris Annie, my grandmother, was born on the 9th March 1909 in Uitenhage, South Africa, and christened at the St. Catherine’s church in Uitenhage, on the 1th of May 1909 according to her baptism and birth certificates. Her godparents were Frederick Schofield Murgatroyd and Irene Sullivan.
Joseph John died on the 10th January 1954, aged 83, in Uitenhage, Cape Province, South Africa.
Catherine Frances died on the 14th August 1954 at 26 Winsor Drive, Durban North, Natal, South Africa at the age of 82. She was listed as a widow and housewife, and at time of her death, an old age pensioner. Her intended place of burial is recorded as “Cemetery Uitenhage, Cape Province”. She died of carcinoma of the stomach with secondary anemia. She had been ill for 6 moths and very ill for 3, and had been treated by Dr. Smiath Thomas.
- Records
- In 1891 England & Wales Census: Joseph Watkins, Birth: Circa 1870, Bermondsey, London, Residence: 1891 44 Langdale RD, Peckham, London, England, Age: 21, Marital status: single, Occupation Medicating Lozenge Manufacturer, Employed: yes, Father Joseph Watkins, Mother: Annie Watkins, Sister: Emma Watkins (17). Census: Parish: Camberwell, Township: Peckham, Ecclesiastical district: St. Andrews, Parliamentary borough: Peckham, Registration district: Camberwell, Peckham, County: London, Country: England, Date: 1891, Series: RG12, Piece: 480, Enumerated by: William Eldridge, Enum, District: 35, Page 94, Family: 145, Line: 5, Image 22.
- In England Marriages 1538-1973: Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00158-5. System Origin: England-EASy, GS Film number: 384904, P158 cn 315.
- In 1891 England & Wales Census: Catherine Dawes Birth: Circa 1872, Peckham London, Residence: 1891 72 Gelgall RD, Peckham, London, England, Age: 19, Marital status: single, Occupation Machinist, Employed: yes, Father Alfred Dawes, Mother: Maria P. Dawes, Siblings: Emily Dawes (15), Edward Dawes (12), Sarah A. Dawes (11). Census: Parish: Camberwell, Township: Peckham, Ecclesiastical district: St. Andrews, Parliamentary borough: Peckham, Registration district: Camberwell, Peckham, County: London, Country: England, Date: 1891, Series: RG12, Piece: 480, Enumerated by: WIlliam Eldridge, Enum, District: 35, Page 94, Family: 145, Line: 5, Image 22.
- In England & Wales, Birth Index, 1837–2005: Name: Catherine Frances Dawes, Birth date: Oct-Nov-Dec 1871, Birth Place: Camberwell, London, England. Volume: 1d, Page: 670.
- Name: Catherine Frances Dawes & Joseph John Watkins, Marriage: Dec 2 1900 St. Andrew, Peckham, Surrey, England, Wife: Catherine Frances Dawes, Birth: 1871, Age: 29, Marital status: single, Father: Alfred Dawes, Husband: Joseph John Watkins, Birth: 1870, Age: 30, Marital status: single, Father: Joseph Watkins.