John Coward, Boot and Shoemaker (c.1823-1897)

I began investigating the life of my great-great grandfather, John Coward and his family, over seven months ago. It has been the most difficult research I have undertaken, with 'brick walls' at every turn. But when I did finally glimpse details of their lives, I was completely shocked by what I discovered. So, below are the results of my findings in Victorian London. But be prepared for the account of their 'wretched' and 'disreputable' lives in St Luke's 'Rookery.'

 My great-great grandfather, my great-grandfather and my grandfather

The missing marriage of John and Hannah

Those of you that have read my post about my great-grandfather Walter Coward (1861-1936), The Iron Man of Islington, know that on his birth certificate (Shoreditch 1c 110) his parents are John Coward, a shoemaker and Hannah Coward née Taylor. But unfortunately,  after extensive searching, I cannot find their marriage certificate. 

A marriage certificate is vital evidence for a genealogist. An English or Welsh certificate provides the vital information of when the couple were married, their full names, ages, professions, residence at the time of their marriage, fathers' names, rank or profession of fathers' and names of witnesses. Not having these details is a huge set-back. So, what follows is my lengthy investigation into their lives without those facts.

Walter Coward's birth certificate, Shoreditch 1c 110

Luckily, Walter Coward (my great-grandfather) was living in the same household as both his parents during the 1871, 1881 and 1891 Census. This provides us with clues about the dates of their birth and the area in which they were born. We will look at Walter's father, John Coward, first.

The Search for John Coward's birth

Ages on census returns can vary considerably and be notoriously inaccurate. Using his death certificate and the census, the date of John Coward's birth ranges between the years 1823-1827. He also consistently says that he was born in Cheslea, Middlesex.

Hannah Taylor

Frustratingly, the search for Hannah's birth has been as difficult as finding her future 'husband'. She died in September 1921 (Islington 1b 143), and her age was given as 85. The census pages that we have looked at, show the range of her date of birth as between 1835-1839. Hannah also consistently gives her place of birth as Soho, Middlesex.

The 1851 census reveals a Hannah Taylor aged 14 and living in Millfield House, Edmonton in Middlesex. The enumerator has specifically written her birthplace as 'Soho, Middlesex'.

1851 Census HO107/1703/65/6 Hannah Taylor

Millfield House in Silver Street, Edmonton was sold in 1849 to the Strand Union Guardians so that they could create a school to house the children of London workhouses. This was about a quarter of a mile from the Edmonton workhouse. Over the next forty years, it was expanded and eventually housed over 400 children. 

Millified House in 1914

In the census, Hannah is described as a 'pauper', and aged 14, which fits the timeframe for her birth. More research is needed but she, so far, is our most likely candidate. 

So, without evidence of their baptisms or marriage, the paper trail for John and Hannah starts with the birth of their first child - a son, Henry Joseph Coward.

Birth of Henry Joseph Coward

Birth certificate of Henry Joseph Coward, Clerkenwell 1b 499

John and Hannah's first child, Henry Joseph Coward, was born on August 15th 1857, at 6 Suffolk Street, Clerkenwell. His mother's name was Hannah Coward, formerly Taylor and his father was John Coward, a master shoe maker.

Suffolk Street, Clerkenwell. (Near Charles Street).

Birth of Twin Daughters

In October 1859, Hannah Coward gave birth to twin daughters. Catherine Elizabeth Coward was born at 1.30 pm on the 1st October of that year.

Birth Certificate of Catherine Elizabeth Coward, Islington 1b 201

Her sister Hannah Louise Coward was born 25 minutes later (1.55 pm).

Birth certificate of Hannah Louisa Coward, Islington 1b 201

The certificates show that Catherine and Hannah were born at 22 Catherine Street, off the Caledonian Road, Islington. Details confirm they were the daughters of John Coward, a boot and shoemaker, and Hannah Coward née Taylor.

Catherine Street, Islington. Goad's Insurance Plan of London (1891)

Charles Booth's Map (1889) showing Muriel Street.

Catherine Street in West Islington was later renamed Muriel Street, and the Charles Booth map of 1889 (above) shows the area colour graded to show areas of poverty. According to the colour key, Muriel Street (Catherine Street) at this time was coloured brown which represented 'mixed, some comfortable, some poor.' A clearer map of the area from the O.S. Six Inch 1888-1893 can be seen below.

O.S Six Inch Map (1888-1913) showing Muriel Street 

The Life of a Shoe Maker

Because John Coward was described as a 'Master Shoe Maker,' I hoped to be able to find his apprenticeship records. I put out an appeal on RootsChat.com and received this reply from Bookbox:

Apprenticeship during the 19th century was usually a private arrangement between families. After 1811 formal records were not required for taxation purposes. So any documentation found would generally be a case of chance survival. But there are two main exceptions for London. 

One would be if the apprentice was working within (or very close) to the city of London boundary and his master was a member of one of the City livery companies. In that event the apprenticeship may be referred to in the relevant Company's archives. These are mostly at the Guildhall Library, although some companies have retained their own records. (The apprenticeship records fro London livery companies have been indexed online, e.g. at FindMyPast and Londonroll.org, are mostly pre-1800.)

Another exception would be if the family were very poor, when an apprenticeship might have been paid for by the poor law guardians or by a local charity. In that event there might be something at the record office (LMA), or at the local studies archive for the relevant London borough. But unless you have a positive lead to either of the above circumstances, I'm afraid it probably isn't a practical search.

I have searched the London Apprenticeship Records 1442-1850 on the web site Find My Past but, unfortunately, there were no records of John Coward as an apprentice during this period. So, I wanted to find out more about life as a shoemaker during this period. A very informative website mainly concerned with shoemaking in Northampton gave a very good background to the trade in Victorian times:

In the days before factories, shoes were made by hand. So to meet demand there had to be many individual shoemakers. To learn the trade of shoemaking, people had to do an apprenticeship lasting between five and seven years, which they would start at the age of seven years old. 

Some worked on their own from home, with help from their family. Some larger businesses had a workshop, a master shoemaker and up to seven apprentices. Not much space was needed to do the work, so most workshops were in the house or attached to the house and also acted as the place where the shoes were sold. Shoes were made to measure for customers who could afford it, otherwise they were made to standard sizes, as they are today. 

Sometimes, a manufacturer was involved in the process, and they would give the shoemaker work on a Monday and collect the finished shoes or boots on a Saturday afternoon. He would pay the shoemaker for the finished goods and sell them on for profit.

In his Labour and the Poor 1849-50 (The Morning Chronicle: Letter XXXII), Henry Mayhew placed boot and shoemakers at number six in his table of occupations in Great Britain, with approximately 214,780 workers. When he divided the number of boot and shoemakers into their individual counties, Middlesex had a staggering 23,775 persons. 

A 19th Century Shoemaker

J.R. McCulloch (1789-1864) in his Descriptive and Statistical Account of the British Empire claimed London was the 'principal seat of the boot and shoemaking business,' of whom 18,867 were males of more than twenty years of age, having been employed in Middlesex in 1841.

But the life of a shoemaker was hard and the trade consisted of many divisions, such as shoes for men, women, children and the purpose made shoes for workers. Also shoes for:

...chairmen, night-soil men and slaughterhouse men. It was divided according to the size of the market: at one end there was the bespoke market and at the other a large market for 'sale shoes' that supplied the plantations and the soldiers. It was divided according to operation; the clickers cut the leather, the closers sewed the uppers, the makers joined these to the heel and sole. And it was divided according to the site of production - between shop masters on the one hand, and cellar, garret and stall masters on the other.

The London Hanged : Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century by Peter Linebaugh 

Linebaugh also describes some of the hardship shoemakers faced:

...their trade depended on leather, the purchase of which required money or credit. Some shoemakers were known to stretch their goods by reducing the thickness of the leather used for heels and soles. Others, desperate to feed their families, would steal food or clothing and be jailed or, worse, hung after they were caught.

This could be an insight into the adversity that was looming for John and Hannah Coward and their family.

 The Workhouse

The lives of the Coward family were thrown into turmoil, when on Thursday, 13th December 1860, Henry Coward, aged 3, and twins Elizabeth and Hannah, aged 13 months, were taken by the police to the Liverpool Road workhouse in Islington.

Catherine Street (bottom left) and Islington Workhouse (top right).

An 1819 view of Islington Workhouse

The admissions page of the Islington Workhouse (Liverpool Road Workhouse Register 1659-1930) reveals that John Coward and his wife Hannah, residents of 22 Catherine Street (Muriel Street), had been charged with felony and remanded for one week. Their three children had been taken directly from the police court to the workhouse.

Islington Workhouse in 1871

Admission entry for Henry, Elizabeth and Hannah Coward. Islington Workhouse

Down the centuries 'felony' was classed as a serious crime and a person convicted in a court of law became known as a 'felon.' A whole gamut of offences, including murder, rape, arson, robbery, theft, assault, threatening behaviour, fraud and tax evasion were classed as felony. Until it was abolished in 1965, the accused could face the death penalty.

Detail of admission of Henry, Elizabeth and Hannah Coward

I obviously wanted to know more about the crime committed by John and Hannah Coward in December 1860, so I hired a genealogist to help me. She informed me that there are no separate police court records for 1860. The police court documents relating to the case may have been filed with the Middlesex Session Rolls, but they do not include police court records for every case.

So, financial restraints meant that that my best option was to hire her to search the local newspapers for the reporting of police court cases circa 1860. Unfortunately issues of the Islington Times that were published every Saturday are too fragile to inspect, but she examined The Islington Times (1861), Islington Gazette (1860-1861). The Clerkenwell News & Domestic Intelligencer (1859-1861) and North London News (1860). Certain issues reported on Clerkenwell police court cases, and also those of Thames police court but there was no mention of John and Hannah Coward.

A Policeman c.1860

But, I discovered a page in the records of Islington Workhouse that shows that on Thursday 20th December 1860, Henry, Elizabeth and Hannah were 'given up to their parents on discharge from prison.'

Discharge entry for Henry, Elizabeth and Hannah Coward. Islington Workhouse.

Detail of the discharge entry showing Henry, Elizabeth and Hannah Coward

Unfortunately the lives of those poor children would not improve.

Three Deaths

Six days after the children's discharge from Islington Workhouse, 14-month-old Hannah died in terrible circumstances. Her death certificate (St. Luke 1b 487) shows that she died on 26th December 1860, at 3 Sycamore Street, Saint Luke. She had been found dead of exhaustion from diarrhoea. 

The certificate also shows that an inquest had been held into Hannah's death by John Humphreys the Coroner for Middlesex on 31st December 1860. 

Death certificate of Hannah Coward St Luke 1b 487

Various newspapers of the time printed a report of the inquest about Hannah's tragic death. Below is a transcription of the harrowing account in The Wells Journal of January 5th 1861. Under the heading 'Deaths From The Severity Of The Weather' :

On Monday evening [31st December 1860] Mr Humphreys, the coroner, went into an inquiry concerning the death of Hannah Coward, an infant child, who was found in wretched condition at a low and disreputable house in Sycamore-street, St. Luke's. The police deposed that the mother had been taken into custody on a charge of felony, but was discharged by the magistrate, and when the police went to the house they found the children in a most deplorable condition. The constables kindly took them to the workhouse, and every assistance was rendered by the authorities, but the deceased died on Friday. The police said that another child was dying from the same cause, and when the deceased was found she had a "teat" made of a small bag of plums, which had been placed in her mouth. -Dr. Love said the deceased had died from neglect, starvation and cold; and the other child could not live.-The coroner, by the special request of the jury, severely reprimanded the conduct of the mother and father, when they returned a verdict of "Death from want of the necessaries of life and exposure to the weather, through the wilful neglect of the parents."

The Wells Journal, January 5th 1861

Detail of  The Wells Journal, January 5th 1861

The Morning Advertiser, dated Tuesday 1st January 1861, gives the location of the enquiry as The Green Gate public house on the City Road.

Morning Advertiser, Tuesday 1st January 1861

Green Gate Tavern at the junction of City Road and Bath Street

Hannah's death certificate shows that sometime after the children were retrieved from the workhouse, the Coward family had moved from Catherine Street in Islington, to 3 Sycamore Street, St Luke, Finsbury.

The Rookery

Sycamore Street, St Luke, EC1

So the Coward family's circumstances seem to have considerably declined. Sycamore Street fell within the historic parish of St Luke, Old Street and lay within the County of Middlesex prior to being absorbed into the administration of the Greater London Borough of Islington. Booth's map of 1898-99 shows the site as occupied by the 'lowest class, vicious, semi-criminal'. 

Street Trading by Gustave Dore. Note the shoes on sale.

The coroner's inquest describes the Coward family as living in a 'low and disreputable house' and the conditions as 'wretched.' This area, south of Old Street, was known as St Luke's rookery- a zone of criminality from where thieves targeted the better-off parts of the city. There were probably half a dozen rookeries in London. Before the slum clearances of the 1870's, St Luke's was a maze of courts, alleyways and narrow streets notorious for prostitution and 'flash houses' - drinking dens. 

Booth's map of 1898-99 showing Sycamore Street.

The inquest had described the condition of John and Hannah's children as 'deplorable' and that 'another child was dying.' So on the 2nd January 1861, John and Hannah Coward had their two surviving children baptised. 

Parish Record of St Thomas Charterhouse 1860 -1861

Detail showing 'Private Baptism' in the margin

Written in the margin of the parish record of St Thomas Charterhouse is 'Private Baptism'. Due to both John and Hannah's children being too ill to attend the church for a public baptism, it seems the ceremony was performed at their home in 3 Sycamore Street.

Sycamore Street

Two days after her baptism, on the 4th January, Catherine Elizabeth (registered as Elizabeth on the death certificate) died. Her death certificate (below) gives her age as 15 months and the cause of her death as 'diarrhoea 2 weeks, bronchitis 8 days certified.'

Death certificate of Elizabeth (Catherine) Coward, St Luke 1b 487

Four days after his sister, on the 10th January, Henry Joseph Coward died. He was three years old.

Death Certificate of Henry Joseph Coward, St Luke 1b 488

In the section 'cause of death' is written rachitis from birth, the scientific term for what is commonly known as rickets. In children this disease is primarily due to a deficiency in vitamin D, calcium and phosphate. This causes a softening of the bones leading to abnormalities like bowed legs, spinal and pelvic deformities and a 'pigeon chest.'

Henry had also suffered with dysentery for three days.

The G.R.O Register showing the deaths of Elizabeth, Hannah and Henry Coward

1861 Census

By the time of the census on Sunday night, April 7th 1861, John and Hannah Coward had lost three children at 3 Sycamore Street, St. Luke, Finsbury.

The 1861 Census RG9/207/11/27

John Coward gives his age as 34, he describes himself as a 'Master Shoe Maker' and his birth place was Chelsea. Hannah is 24 (ten years younger), and born in Soho. 

Living in the same run-down apartment at 3 Sycamore Street were Henry Bromley and his wife Emma with their four children. It is interesting to see that this family were also involved in boot and shoe making.

Sycamore Street today. Note the narrow street.

Birth of Walter Coward

When their son Walter (my great-grandfather), was born on December 13th 1861, John and Hannah Coward had moved a mile from Sycamore Street to 25 Luke Street, Shoreditch.

Luke Street, Shoreditch

1871 Census

1871 Census Islington RG10/273 /39 Coward family

The 1871 Census (above), shows the Coward family were now living at 49 Georges Road, St James, Islington. Their circumstances seem to have improved. 

John Coward, head of the household was aged 44, his occupation was shoemaker, and his birthplace was recorded as Chelsea, Middlesex. John's wife, Hannah, was recorded as ten years younger (32 years old) and her birthplace is given for the first time as Islington. 

John and Hannah now had two more sons, possibly three. Henry was four years old and James was aged two. But, mysteriously, there is also an 'Alfred Daniels' recorded as a 'son aged 1'. This could be an error by the enumerator. 

Sadly, there a death of a 2 year old Alfred Daniels recorded in Shoreditch in 1872.

1881 Census

1881 Census RG11/247/100/23 Coward Family

On 3rd April 1881, the Coward family were living at 49 Rupert Road, Islington, London. John Coward was 57 and a 'master shoemaker', and the census states that he was born in Chelsea. Hannah, his wife, was recorded as being 43. Her place of birth was given as Soho, Middlesex.

Their children were 19 year old Walter (my great-grandfather), born in Shoreditch, and also Henry 14, James 12, Hannah nine,  John six, and one year old Joseph. They were all born in Islington. 

Henry Coward's marriage

On Sunday 9th June 1889, John and Hannah's son Henry married Annie Chalmers at All Saints Tufnel Park, Islington.

Marriage of Henry Coward and Annie Chalmers

The marriage certificate shows Henry Coward was 22 years old, a bachelor and a coal-porter. He was living at 69 Rupert Road (on the 1881 Census the family were living at 49). His father was John Coward, a Shoemaker.

Annie Chalmers was 21, a spinster, and she worked as an ironer. Her father, James Chalmers, was a Pianoforte Maker. Witnesses were Walter and Hannah Coward.

All Saints, Tufnell Park had been constructed on the corner of Dalmeny Road and Tytherton Road between 1884-1885. So it was newly built when Henry and Annie were married.

1891 Census

The 1891 Census RG12/143/66/5

There were three households recorded for 69 Rupert Road in the 1891 census and they are spread over two pages. The first page (above) shows the household of 29-year-old Walter Coward (my great-great grandfather) and his wife Harriet (and also their son - my one-year-old grandfather John Coward). Walter's brother Henry Coward and his family were recorded as the second household. 

The third household at 69 Rupert Road was John Coward (my great-great grandfather), aged 66. He was recorded as a shoemaker, born in Chelsea, London. Listed next is his wife, Hannah, 56, born in Soho. Their daughter, Hannah, was 19 years old and worked as a general servant. She was born in Dalston. 

On the next page was John and Hannah's son, also called John, aged 16 - a grocer's cashier, and Joseph aged 11 - a scholar. A boarder, Lizzie Hunt aged 9, was also living at the property.

Hannah Coward's marriage

All Saints, Tufnell Park, Islington

John and Hannah Coward's only surviving daughter, also called Hannah (b.1872), was married on Thursday 24th June 1897. Like her brother Henry, the wedding was held at the newly built All Saints Church, Tufnell Park in Islington. Hannah was 25 years old and a spinster. She had been living at 69 Rupert Road. Mysteriously her father John Coward's occupation is given as a postman.

Hannah's husband was Joseph Freeman, aged 26. Joseph came from Chingford and was a gardener. His father, James Freeman was a stockman. Witnesses were J. J. Coward (probably Hannah's brother John (b.1880) and Catherine Taylor.

Death of John Coward

Five months after his daughter's wedding John Coward was found dead. 

John Coward's Death Certificate, Islington 1b 156

John's dead body was discovered at 69 Rupert Road on November 4th 1897. An inquest was held four days later and the Coroner for London decided the cause of death was 'syncope, cardiac failure, fatty disease of heart and aneurysm of aorta.'

Syncope is the medical term for fainting, and cardiac failure usually occurs because the heart has become too weak or stiff. An aortic aneurism is an enlargement (dilation) of the aorta (the main artery in the human body) to greater than 1.5 times normal size. 


John Coward was buried at Islington Cemetery on the 10th November 1897 and his grave reference is W/3/13428.

Finchley Burial Register showing John Coward's burial

1901 Census

1901 Census

When the census was taken between 31st March and 1st April 1901, Hannah had been a widow for nearly four years. She was still living at 69 Rupert Road in Islington and aged 63. Her birthplace was given as Soho. Her son John was single and living with her, aged 26. He was working as a tailor's salesman. His  younger brother Joseph, aged 21, was a billiard marker. Both Hannah's sons had been born in Islington.

Hannah's eldest son Walter and his family were also living at the property.

1911 Census

The census taken on the 2nd April 1911 shows Hannah Coward was still living at 69 Rupert Road, Holloway with two of her sons.

1911 Census RG 14 /790/ 10/15 

Hannah Coward was head of the household, a widow, and aged 73. Her birthplace was Soho, London. 

Intriguingly, in the section marked 'Children Born Alive to Present Marriage', it shows that Hannah had had 11 children, with only four in the 'still living' column. This had been crossed out, possibly by Joseph Coward, who filled out the schedule for his mother. So it is difficult to ascertain how accurate this is. Joseph also wrote the number of rooms as six with '4' alongside.

The census showed Hannah's son, John Coward, was aged 36 and single. He was a tailors's manager. Next, Joseph Coward also single and aged 31, was described as a 'billiard professional.'

A Victorian game of billiards

Joseph Coward (b.1880) was described as a 'billiard marker' in the 1901 census. This would have involved keeping score of the games taking place. But,  ten years later, Joseph was now a professional billiard player and working 'on his own account.'

Both of Hannah's sons on the census were born in St Mary, Islington.

The Death of Hannah Coward

Hannah Coward died aged 85 in August 1921. She was buried on 13th August of that year at Islington Cemetery, Finchley. The cemetery records show that the ceremony was performed by 'H. Barmell, Baptist Church, Upper Holloway.'

Hannah's son, Walter Coward was also buried by a vicar from Upper Holloway Baptist Church, in January 1936.


Hannah Coward's grave reference is Z/16616.

Finchley Burial Register showing Hannah Coward's burial

Descendants of John and Hannah Coward

69 Rupert Road

Rupert Road. O.S. 1892-1905

People often say, 'if only these walls could talk!' That is how I feel about 69 Rupert Road in Holloway, Islington. The three-storey property played a significant part in my family history. Therefore, I was very sad to recently discover that little of Rupert Road survives today. It is now just a short street stub that includes the Whittington community centre. Everything else was demolished in the 1970s to make way for Whittington Park.

69 Rupert Road became the home of my great-great-grandparents, John and Hannah Coward and their children in the late 1880s as well as that of Henry Coward and Annie and their family, and Walter Coward and Harriet, my great-grandparents. 

My grandfather John Coward (1902-1966) was born at 69 Rupert Road and my future grandmother, Ada Coward née Harris (1903-1999) would lodge there shortly after the end of World War One. 

During the 1920s and early 1930s, my grandparents, Ada and John Coward, went back to lodge at 69 Rupert Road with John's parents, Walter and Harriet Coward. It was here that Harriet helped to deliver all of Ada's children, including my uncle, Kenneth Coward, and my mother, Joyce Wait née Coward.

My research into the lives of John and Hannah Coward must finish - for now. But many questions remain unanswered and my investigations will continue. To read my account of the life of their son, my great- grandfather Walter Coward, click here. The rest of my historical investigations into my family can be accessed in the task bars around this web site.

If These Walls Could Talk

Secrets hidden in plain sight
But absorbed by an old house
Secrets hidden in plain sight
Silent, quiet like a mouse
Secrets hidden in plain sight
of a hero or a louse
Secrets hidden in plain sight
Behind the walls of an old house

Scars and cuts and verbal stones
If these walls could talk
Could break our hearts and break our bones
If these walls could talk
Sounds of laughter and of moans
If these walls could talk
Would you hear the ancient, haunted tones
If these walls could talk

(Roger Turner )