Part of the Ingram-Green family tree (Great-great-grandfather)
Family background and early life
Matthew Henry Fisher was born at Bethnal Green in east London on 22 June 1823, the third child of Richard Fisher (1785–1862) and his first wife, Sarah née Winnall (1795–1831). He was baptised at St Matthew’s Church, Bethnal Green on 12 March 1826, when he was nearly three-years old.
Richard Fisher and Sarah Winnall had been married at St Matthew’s Church on 19 February 1816, when he was 31 and she was 20. Their first child, Sarah was born in January 1819, followed by a son, Benjamin, in November 1820 and Matthew in June 1823.
Sarah died in December 1831, when she was just 36-years old, leaving Richard as a widower with three children under 13, including 8-year old Matthew.
Richard re-married, on 17 September 1832 at St Dunstan’s Church, Stepney to Hannah Townrow née Barnett, a widow, then aged 41, with whom he had two further children, Richard Meredith, born March 1833 and Eliza, born May 1835.
At the first national census in June 1841, Richard and Hannah were living at Weaver Street, Bethnal Green with Matthew (recorded as Henry), aged 18, and his two half-siblings. Ten years later, Richard and Hannah, together with 18-year old Richard Meredith, were living at Bacon Street, Bethnal Green, with Matthew living next door. All three men were recorded as weavers, while Hannah was a needlewoman.
Marriage and children
On 8 August 1860, 37-year old Matthew Henry Fisher married 29-year old Lydia Cooper at St Matthew’s Church, Bethnal Green. On the marriage register his occupation is given as fishmonger and his address as 16 Love Lane (close to the former site of Billingsgate Fish Market). Lydia was the daughter of George Augustus Cooper (1805–1834).
The couple’s first child, Lydia was born on 12 November 1863, and baptised at St John’s Church, Stratford on 20 January 1864, followed by two further daughters: Sarah, born 23 October 1865, and Alice Hannah, born 27 May 1868. Sarah and Hannah were both baptised at St Mary the Virgin’s Church, Plaistow on 14 June 1868.
The couple’s fourth and final child, Henry Richard was born on 15 October 1870 and baptised at St Nicholas’s Church, Plumstead on 12 May 1872.
At the 1871 census, the family (Matthew, Lydia and their four children) were living at 7 Derby Terrace in Plumstead in south-east London. Matthew’s occupation was still listed as fishmonger.
Matthew died on 25 July 1880, aged 57, and was buried at St Mary Magdalene’s Church, East Ham on 28 July. The causes of death were recorded as “Mitral regurgitation (4 years), Dropsy (1.5 years), Erysipelas (4 days)”.
Subsequent family history
Matthew’s widow, Lydia was living at Crescent Road, East Ham in 1881 with her three youngest children. Aged 50, she was now a fish hawker.
On 15 March 1890, Lydia was admitted into the Essex County Lunatic Asylum in Brentwood, where she died on 18 August, aged 59. She was buried alongside her husband on 22 August 1890.
The eldest daughter, Lydia left home in her teens, and in 1881 aged 17, she was employed as a domestic servant in the home of Thomas (a commercial traveller) and Emma Billings at Parnell Road, Bow. She married Michael Hope Milner at St John the Baptist’s Church, East Ham on 28 May 1887. He was originally from Storrington in Sussex, and was a commercial traveller for a miller. They had eight children including Charles William Montgomery who died, aged 20, on 30 October 1914 in the sinking of HM Hospital Ship Rohilla off Grimsby.
Lydia died in Reading, Berkshire in April 1931. Her husband died in Petersfield in May 1952.
Sarah married Joseph Green at St John the Baptist’s Church, East Ham on 20 December 1883. Joseph was a railway engine driver in a gas works. The couple had eight children. Sarah died in West Ham in May 1922.
Alice married John Kitto Meers at St Mark’s Church, Forest Gate on 1 April 1889 and had one son. She died in London in April 1928. Her husband became a clerk for West Ham Borough Council and died in July 1949.
Henry migrated to New Zealand in 1894, where he married Martha Grainger in 1902. They had four daughters. He died in Christchurch, New Zealand in May 1942.
Sources
Ancestry.co.uk:
1841 England Census
1851 England Census
1861 England Census
1871 England Census
Bexley, Kent, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1925
Essex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1918
Essex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1994
Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935
London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
Freereg.org.uk:
Plumstead St Nicholas parish register:
12 May 1872. Baptism of Henry Richard Fisher
Stratford St John parish register:
12 November 1863. Baptism of Lydia Fisher