Maude Alice Parker in the 1881 census

One of the earliest searches I did online was on the website findmypast.co.uk. Utilising their free 14-day trial, I looked for Maude Alice Parker, mother of my grandfather David Scott Ritchie. The search produced a long list of search results in table form, showing date of birth and location at the time of the census. I didn't know Maude's exact date of birth but I could make a pretty educated guess. As for location, I confined myself to the areas of London close to Paddington where Maude had said David was born.

When the right record popped up it was chock-full of valuable information. For a start, it provided the exact address where the family was living. More about that in another post. It also provided the names of Maude's parents, James and Jane Parker, plus eight other siblings and a resident called Anne Watson, who was listed as the sister of Jane. From this I was able to ascertain that Watson was probably Jane's maiden name, which gave me a useful clue for tracing her line back another generation.

The 1881 census also gave me the age of each person, their estimated year of birth, birth location and occupation. The latter is especially interesting because it gives insight into the possible income level of each individual. For example, James Parker is described as a boot maker, not a very illustrious profession but certainly a means to earn steady wages. The two eldest daughters, Louisa and Ellen, are dressmakers, while the eldest sons, Harry and Frederick, are errand boys. The four middle daughters, Emily, Gertrude, Florence and Mabel, are all listed as scholars. Maude is listed as an infant.

Neither Anne Watson nor Jane Parker thought to record an occupation on the census but, with so many children in the house, one can only assume that their hands were full with cooking, cleaning, washing laundry, mending clothes and visiting the market. Life was very different in those days from what it is today.

At this point, I confess that my present level of knowledge is sadly lacking. But no worries, I love going down rabbit holes and learning new things, especially when the facts have value for other people too. And that's the beauty of writing a blog. What a great reason to do research this blogging project is going to be!