Mary Jane, who was born at Heathfield on 12th Jan 1858 but baptised on 20th Oct 1861 at Saint Peter’s Church, Brighton, was the daughter of John Harmer’s older brother George Lovell and Sarah (née Payne) Harmer of Heathfield. This means that she was John Harmer’s niece.
You can read more about the family’s early life in Heathfield here.
Marriage
HFA chart 75 has a record of Mary Jane [ref 692] marrying a Henry King (born 1855 at Brighton) at Ham, St Andrew on 4th August 1884. This suggests that at some stage along the line someone has had sight of the marriage entry and validated that Mary’s parentage. The chart describes Henry as a ham dresser / general shop keeper. Ham (no connection to the meat industry!) is in the Kingston, Surrey registration district.
I do find a Henry King (36), hairdresser, living at 26 Lewes High Street in 1891 with his wife Mary J. King (33). This Mary is the same age as our Mary Jane, and was born at Brighton not Heathfield. As our Mary Jane only lived in Heathfield for the first few months of her life, we can dismiss this on a technicality. This would seem to be the same Henry King who grew up in George Street, Hove, with his butcher father and who was working as a barber in 1871. That Henry’s father was a butcher would explain his temporary break from hairdressing at the time of his marriage.
Assuming that this is the husband of our Mary Jane, the couple had had a daughter, Emily M. (Mary) King, who was born at Kingston on Thames, Surrey, on 10th July 1885. This would tally with their date and place of marriage. Living next door were Henry’s widowed mother, and his married sister and her husband.
By 1901 Henry (46) and Mary Jane (43) had moved to 8 Rifle Butt Road, near Black Rock, Brighton. Henry was working as a grocer and general shop keeper and ran his own shop. Emily, now 15, was working as a dressmaker. Henry (56) and Jane (43) were still there when the 1911 census was taken. From this we learn that their house was quite substantial, with five rooms excluding the shop and kitchen. We also learn that Emily Mary was their only child.
Death
Mary Jane passed away on 22nd November 1942, when she was 84. Her £4657 estate passed to her son in law Walter.
A likely candidate from the BMD for her husband Henry’s death is:
Henry King who died at Brighton in Dec Q 1938, when he was 84.
Child
Emily Mary King (1885 – 1951)
Emily Mary King married Walter George Hubbard (b. 28th Feb 1873) at Brighton in Dec Q 1909. Walter was a warehouseman for a wholesale grocer, which explains how he and Emily Mary met. The couple were living at 260 Eastern Road Kemp Town, Brighton by April 1911, and had a 9 month old son, Alexander. He seems to have been their only child.
In the 1939 Register we find the couple living at 39 Princes Crescent, Brighton. Walter had by then retired. Living with them was widowed Mary Jane, who is described as incapacitated.
Emily’s husband George preceded her, passing away (also at Hove) on 24th January 1946 aged 68. At the time of his death the couple were living at 12 Meadway Crescent, Hove. Emily died at Hove on 1st May 1951, when she was 65. Her £11876 estate passed to her son Alexander Hubbard, who was a civil servant. Curiously her probate record was resealed in 1952, at Hobart, Tasmania implying that Alexander may have emmigrated.
Grandchild
Alexander Hubbard (born 5th July 1910 at Brighton) married Florence Rixson (born 13th Nov 1912) at Brighton in Mar Q 1938. In the 1939 Register we find them living at The Bungalow, Green Lane Ripe, Hailsham. Alexander was running his own poultry farm, and Florence was expecting a baby. In Dec Q 1939 they had a child, Joan, whose birth was registered at Eastbourne.
Alexander did indeed emmigrate to Hobart, Tasmania, off the south coast of Australia. With his wife and daughter Joan, by then 13, he boarded the P&O liner ‘Strathnaver’ on 18th December 1952, initially disembarking at Melbourne. The family’s last address in England was 61 Broomleaf Road, Farnham, Surrey, and Alexander had been working as an electrical engineer. When the family arrived in Tasmania on 13th January, they initially stayed at the Ship Hotel, Collins Street, Robert.
On 29th July 1958, accompanied by Florence, Alexander was issued a Visa at London, giving his permanent address as 2 Athleen Avenue, Alenah Valley, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Then on October 9th of that year they travelled from Honolulu, Hawaii, to New York, with plans to stay at the Governor Clinton Hotel. By this time Alexander had retired.
After this I lose trace of Alexander, Florence and Joan. If you know what happened to them, please get in touch!
