Reg Mayhew's Family History

MY (H)AINSBY FAMILY

My (H)Ainsby connection is through my paternal Great Grandmother, Louisa Jane (H)Ainsby , who married Arthur John Mayhew in 1898 at St. Luke's, Chelsea, London.


From Louisa, I've traced my (H)AINSBY ancestry back to my 4 x Great Grandparents, Thomas Hainsby (c1781-1853) and Rhoda Crow.

The birthplace of Thomas, a tailor by trade, is unknown, although we do know from the 1841 Census that he wasn't born in Middlesex. Rhoda was born in Ridlington, Norfolk to John and Mary (nee Mason). Thomas and Rhoda were married at St. John's, Hackney in 1808. They lived in Stoke Newington in the early years of the 19th century, when it would have been a small hamlet on the great North Road into the City of London. They had 7 children, 4 baptised at St. Mary's, Stoke Newington and 3 in the adjoining parish of St. John's, Hackney. Then in the summer of 1824, a dramatic event occurred, that changed this family's life forever. The Morning Chronicle of 21st July contained the following notice:-

"REWARD - Whereas THOMAS HAINSBY did, on the 15th? June last, desert his wife and children, leaving them chargeable to the Parish of Stoke Newington, he is 41 years of age, about 5ft 10 inches high, very pale and thin and works as a journeyman tailor. - Whosoever will apprehend the said Thomas Hainsby, and deliver him to the Overseers of the Poor of Stoke Newington, shall receive the sum of £2."

Whether or not Thomas was ever brought to book, he went on to marry, apparently bigamously, Mary Hooper in 1827 and have at least 3 more children by her, one in Wimbledon, Surrey and two in Chelsea, London. Meanwhile, Rhoda married William Bacon in Hoxton, London in 1837. On her marriage certificate she said she was a widow, although Thomas was alive and resident in the Union Workhouse, Hackney in the census of 1841.

Thomas died in 1853 at the Union Workhouse, Edmonton, Middlesex and Rhoda in 1867 in the parish of St. Luke, Middlesex.


Thomas (H)Ainsby junior, born 1814, the 2nd son of Thomas and Rhoda, was my 3 x Great Grandfather. He had 10 children with Eliza Higgins, all born in Chelsea, London between 1837 and 1860 (including William, my 2 x Great Grandfather), but I've not found a record of their marriage.


My 2 x Great Grandfather, William (H)Ainsby (1845-1902) married Renne Manning on 26th December 1865 at St. Luke's, Chelsea (There appeared to be a double wedding, with William's elder brother, George, marrying Margaret Loader at the same time). William and Renne sadly lost their son, James, in 1868, with his birth and death registered close together. By the time of the 1871 Census, William was living, as man and wife, with Jane Wheeler, my 2 x Great Grandmother, at Charlotte Street, Chelsea, together with their infant son, Albert, and 5 of Jane's children by her deceased husband, Aaron Cox. Renne Ainsby was living (as a lodger) in Caroline Place, Chelsea (She married Charles Wayman, bigamously ?, in Chelsea in 1876). I've yet to find a marriage of William and Jane but they went on to have 2 further children, William and Louisa Jane, my Great Grandmother.

Jane and William both died in Chelsea, in 1888 and 1902 respectively.


Louisa Jane (H)Ainsby (1877-1932), my Great Grandmother, married my Great Grandfather, Arthur John Mayhew at St. Lukes, Chelsea on 31st July 1898.


(My thanks are due to Kenneth Hainsby for providing me with much of this information.)

The Family Name of (H)Ainsby

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