George William Cooksey

Male, b. 31 July 1889, d. 1961
Pedigree
     George William Cooksey, son of George Philip Cooksey, was born on 31 July 1889 with the family address given as 118 Lavender Road, Battersea, London,1,2 ; but within a year the electoral register shows that the family rented two unfurnished rooms on the second floor at 17 Totteridge Road, Battersea, London, at four shillings and sixpence per week from a Mr Salt who also lived on the premises.3

Soon the family moved to 118 Lavender Road, Battersea, London,4 where they were living when George was christened at the same time as his younger brother Frederick on 13 April 1891 at St Peter, Battersea, London.1 Very soon yet another move was afoot, for by 1894 they were just a few doors along the street at 128 Lavender Road, Battersea, London,5 and they were still there in 1901.6 By now they had settled and in 1911 George was 217 and working as a greengrocer, quite possibly from a stall at Battersea High Street, Battersea, London.8 A year later George was still living at 128 Lavender Road, Battersea, London, occupying a furnished room at the top of the house.9

On 4 June 1913 at St Peter, Battersea, London, George William Cooksey married Nellie Perry, daughter of William Perry.10

It seems likely that George served with the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) during the Great War where the regiment saw service on the Western Front11,12 and certainly in 1918 Nellie Cooksie was living at 143 Taybridge Road, Battersea, London, without George being present.13

No more of him is known until 1921 when he was living at 11 Rowena Crescent, Battersea, London.14 Both George and Nellie were still there in 1930 but that was the last known address for the couple.15

At King George V's jubilee celebrations in 1935 his older sister Julia saw him selling programmes on Ludgate Hill; she felt sorry for him as he looked down and out, so gave him half a crown.16

George William Cooksey died in 1961, still living in the Battersea area.17

Citations

  1. [S185] Ancestry.com. England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 London (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 26 March 2014). Original data: Register of baptisms at St Peter, Battersea, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London, reference p70/pet, Item 003/005. [B0019].
    1891, April 13, b. July 31 1889, George William, s. of George & Selina Cooksey, 118 Lavender Road, Painter.
  2. [S153] Ancestry.com. FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 England & Wales (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 26 March 2014). Original data: England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, London, England: General Register Office. GRO Index of births. [GROINDXB].
    1889, Sep Q, Cooksey, George William, Wandsworth, Volume 1d, Page 640.
  3. [S209] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 4 September 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published 1890, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/0001. [LONELR].
    Page 207. No. 11706. 2 rooms 2nd floor unfurnished. Cooksey, George, 17 Totteridge Road, 4/6 per week, Mr Salt, 17 Totteridge Road, Battersea.
    This address had previously been given as the family's home at the time of his older sister Julia's birth so perhaps the family were struggling to stay together at one location, especially as the eldest child was sent to live with relations in Portsmouth at this time.
  4. [S149] 1891 England Census (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 21 February 2007), household of George W Cooksey (b 1851). Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1891. Source Citation: Class: RG12; Piece: 433; Folio: 152; Page: 34; GSU Roll: 6095543. [C1891-0003].
    London, Battersea, 118 Lavender Rd; 3;
    George W Cooksey, Head, M, 40, Painter, Employed, Lambeth, London;
    Selina Cooksey, Wife, M, 30, Portsmouth, Hants;
    Julia Cooksey, Daur, 3, Battersea, London;
    George Cooksey, Son, 1, Battersea, London;
    Frederick Cooksey, Son, 1 mo; Battersea, London.
    George W was not, of course, born in Lambeth but in Clerkenwell. It was also the first time that he was referred to as George W Cooksey. The family occupied three rooms and two other familes, the Smiths and the Avery's each occupied two rooms. There was also a 118a occupied by the Ball family.
  5. [S173] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 3 March 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published 1894, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/0258. [LONELR].
    Page 276. No. 10354. Cooksey, George, 128 Lavender Road, House.
  6. [S150] 1901 England Census (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 November 2006), household of George W Cooksey (b 1851). Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1901. Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 453; Folio: 48; Page: 27. [C1901-0002].
    London, Battersea, 128 Lavender Road;
    George W Cooksey, Head, M, 46, Painter, Worker, London Clerkenwell;
    Selina Cooksey, W, M, 40, Hants, Gosport;
    Julia Cooksey, Daur, 13, London, Battersea;
    George, Son, 11 London, Battersea;
    Frederick, Son, 10, Battersea, London;
    Albert, Son, 9, Battersea, London;
    Thomas H, Son, 6, Battersea, London;
    Philip, Son, 4, Battersea, London;
    Ellen F, Daur, 1, Battersea, London;
    Lilian F, Daur, 3 mths, Battersea, London.
    Daughter Lilian is shown with a middle initial of 'F' but at birth she was recorded as Lilian Mary.
  7. [S151] Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 4 February 2014), household of George Cooksey (b 1851). Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1911. Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 2210. [C1911-0022].
    George Cooksey, Head, 60, Married, House Painter, Employer, Clerkenwell, London;
    Selina Cooksey, Wife, 50, Married, 25, 10, 9, 1, House Work, Gosport, Hampshire;
    Selina Cooksey, Daughter, 24, Married, House Work, Battersea, London;
    Julia Cooksey, Daughter, 23, Single, Domestic Servant, Battersea, London;
    George Cooksey, Son, 21, Single, Greengrocer, Employer, Battersea, London;
    Frederick Cooksey, Son, 20, Single, Soldier, Battersea, London;
    Albert Cooksey, Son, 18, Single, left home, Battersea, London,
    Thomas Cooksey, Son, 16, Single, Errand Boy, Employer, Battersea, London;
    Philip Cooksey, Son, 14, Single, Errand Boy, Employer, Battersea, London;
    Ellen Cooksey, Daughter, 11, Single, at School, Battersea London;
    Lillian Cooksey, Daughter, 10, Single, Dead, Battersea, London;
    Edith Cooksey, Daughter, 7, Single, at School, Battersea London;
    128 Lavender Road, Battersea.
    This is the first time that daughter Selina has been shown in the Cooksey family although she was not actually living with them as she is shown elsewhere in the census return as the wife of Augustus Knipe. Similarly, neither Frederick (serving as a soldier in the Far East) or Albert Edward (working in Salisbury) were living in the household. The line for Lillian has been crossed through.
  8. [S97] Interview with Joyce Wimble (Epsom, Surrey), by Alan Mead, 2009-2014. A.R. Mead's records (Epsom, Surrey). [PER006].
  9. [S211] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 28 February 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published 1912, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/1354. [LONELR].
    Page 388. No. 14282. Cooksey, George, jun, 128 Lavender Road, 1 room top floor furnished.
  10. [S210] Ancestry.com. England, Marriages & Banns 1754-1921 London (ancestry.co.uk : accessed 8 September 2014). Original data: St Peter, Battersea, Register of Marriages, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. Ref. P70/PET, Item 014. Record of marriage of George William Cooksey and Nellie Perry on 4 June 1917. [M0011].
    1913, Marriage solemnized at St Peter's Church, in the Parish of Battersea in the County of London, JUne 4th 1913, George William Cooksey, 23, Bachelor, Fruiterer, 128 Lavender Road, s. of George Philip Cooksey, Painter, Nellie Perry 20, Spinster, 21 Barmore Street, d. of William Perry, Brass Finisher, in the presence of William Perry, Elizabeth Snead.
  11. [S169] Ancestry.com. 1914-1920 British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 9 September 2014). Original data: Medal Rolls Index Cards, Army Medal Office. WWI Medal Index Cards: The Western Front Association. [MI0010].
    Cooksey, George W., Middx R, Pte, G/39287, Victory, Roll E/1/102B22 page 3690, Remarks NT 11/5/56.
    No address or date of birth ties this record precisely to George William Cooksey. However, it is the only George W that has been found on the medal rolls.
  12. [S212] The National Army Museum website (http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/… : accessed 9 September 2014). [MILITARY]
  13. [S156] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 8 September 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published 1918, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/1551. [LONELR].
    Page 341. No. 3089, Cooksey, Nellie, 143 Taybridge Road, O, O..
  14. [S192] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 8 September 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published Autumn 1921, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/1683. [LONELR].
    Page 693. No. 2516, R, O, Cooksey, George William, 11 Rowena Crescent.
    Nellie Cooksey is not shown.
  15. [S206] Ancestry.com. London England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed
    8 September 2014). Original data: Electoral Registers, Electoral Register for Battersea, published 15 October 1930, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. LCC/PER/B/1918. [LONELR].
    Polling District G. No 3 Latchmere Ward.
    Page 665. No. 3203, R, O, Cooksey, George William, 11 Rowena Crescent.
    Page 665. No. 3203, Rw, Dw, Cooksey, Nellie, 11 Rowena Crescent.
    There is a suspicion that from some time after this the couple were no longer together. George is not found in any other records until his death. A Nellie Cooksie was living in the same house as Edward Savage from 1931 - 31 Chelsham Road - and they were still there in 1939. Edward had been living with Hannah Savage until 1930.
  16. [S97] Interview, Joyce Wimble, 2009-2014.
    It seems that George was rarely seen by his brothers and sisters. This encounter was originally described as being at Queen Victoria's Jubilee but they were all children at home together at this time, in 1897. It is more likely to have been King George V's Jubilee in 1935. By this time it is highly likely that they had lost touch. Julia was by now a widow with three young children so 'half a crown' would have been a substantial sum.
  17. [S166] Ancestry.com. Death Index, 1916-2007 England & Wales (www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 7 September 2014). Original data: England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, London, England: General Register Office. GRO Index of deaths. [GROINDXD].
    1961, Mar Q, age 71, Battersea, Volume 5c, Page 13.