THE EASTHOPE FAMILY

5: The Family at the Turn of the Century

In the 1891 census, the entry for 24 St John's Street was as follows:

Mary Easthope, Head, Widow, 74, living on her own means
Alfred Easthope, son, married, 31, Cycle Maker
Helen Easthope, wife, married, 20
Mabel Easthope, daughter, single, 7, scholar
Cyril Easthope, son, single, 3
Mary Robinson, visitor, single, 18, milliner, dress
Leo R Easthope, son, under 1 month
Sarah Blake, servant, widow, 67, nurse, sick
May A Bradley, servant, single, 25, general servant, domestic

The Leo mentioned was renamed Neville before his birth was registered.

Mary Easthope who died on 26/7/1898. At the time she was living at Finchfield, Wolverhampton.

In the early 1890s, presumably after 6th April 1891, (the 1891 census took place on 5 - 6th April 1891), Easthopes fell on hard times.

An American customer, to whom shipments of bicycles had been made, became insolvent and the orders were never paid for.

The company was forced to sell up, the wind-up sale taking place in August 1892.

Alfred Easthope and his family moved to various addresses in Wolverhampton.

Clearly it was a difficult time for this family, with Alfred apparently out of work and the first two children that he had with Helen May, dying young.

Alfred Easthope and his family moved to various addresses in Wolverhampton. In the 1901 census, Alfred is described as a House Painter.

In 1902, he was declared bankrupt (London Gazette). The Gazette notice reads: "Easthope, Alfred. 64 Merridale St West, Wolverhampton, lately residing and carrying on business at Snow Hill, Wolverhampton, Journeyman Painter and House Decorator, formerly a Tobacconist and Stationer…."

Clearly it was a difficult time for this family, with Alfred having no secure occupation and the first two children that he had with Helen May, dying young.

The following table lists addresses at which the family lived after moving out of the Old Grammar School complex at 24 St John's Street:

2½ Clifford Street	22/11/1893	Dorothy May Easthope died.
33 Temple Street	3/11/1894	Sylvia Helen Easthope born.
38 St John's Street	24/11/1896	Phyllis Easthope born.
64 Merridale Street West	1901 census
27 Owen Road	22/12/1902	Barbara Hebe Easthope born.
169 Lord Street	30/09/1904	Barbara Hebe Easthope died.
92 Owen Road	30/10/1906	Geoffrey Newman Easthope born.
Richmond Road	14/06/1911	Mabel Easthope lived here at time of marriage.
Tempest Street	10/12/1913	Lillian Easthope lived here at time of marriage.
147 Penn Road	26/08/1915	Application for GNE's birth certificate made from here.
173 Penn Road	23/11/1918	Phyllis Easthope lived here at time of marriage.

92 Owen Road, where Geoffrey Newman Easthope, my father, was born.

Photographed in 2001.

92 is the white fronted house behind the red car. It has obviously been altered and modernised a good deal; the house next door to the left gives a better impression of what the house would have been like when the Easthopes lived there.

In this photo, also taken in 2001, the house with the red car in front of it is 27 Owen Road, where Barbara Hebe Easthope was born.

The appearance of the front has not altered since the Easthopes lived there, except that the sash window on the upper floor has been replaced by a modern top-opening window.

Cyril Easthope enlisted in the British Army, and was posted to India with the Royal Engineers.

In World War I he fought in France.


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