Florence (born 1888) was the daughter of Henry George Underwood who was the son of John Harmer’s sister Zilpah Lovell Underwood née Harmer.
Early life
Florence’s father worked as a tobacconist’s representative, and she and her brother Henry Albert and sister Alice Zilpah were raised at 52 Bentham Road off Elm Grove, the same street where their uncle Frank and his family lived at that time. Sadly Henry George died in October 1903, when he was just 44 years old. This plunged his wife Naomi into financial difficulties, and we know that Florence if not all the children spent time at the Warren Farm Industrial School.
The family left their home the same year that Henry George died, and at some time between then and 1911 Naomi took up the position of live-in housekeeper for James Doughty (18?? – 1913) of 19 Middle Street, Brighton. This is the year when 16 year old Florence is to be found at the industrial school, with her age given as 13. My suspicion is that Naomi encouraged this deception in order to gain admission for Florence as she could not afford to support her. It is also the year that Alice Zilpah married her mother’s employer, James, effectively putting her out of a job and home.
We do not know where Naomi went after this; she most likely found work in service elsewhere and Florence would have had no choice but to do the same. It would be interesting to know more about this decade of Florence’s life.
Marriage
Florence married Harry Pate at Brighton in 1922. Harry was born on the 4th of December 1900.
In the 1939 Register the couple were living in a flat at 28 Warren Road in Brighton, with their four children. Warren Road runs straight past the old industrial school where Florence spent time in her teens. Harry is described as a heavy goods lorry driver. Interestingly Florence gave her date of birth as 22nd or 27th June 1896, which was one year after her birth was registered. We can probably put this down to earlier confusion engendered by her mother.
Death
Florence died at Brighton in 1951. She was 54 years old.
Harry survived Florence by 18 years, passing away at Brighton in 1969, in his 68th year.
Children
If you are descended from – or are one of the children listed below I would love to hear from you! Even if only to remove your details from the list of Underwood descendants I am trying to locate. If you stumbled upon this website and found it a bit of a shock I do apologise. It can be difficult to know when to stop when tracing family histories, and it is not my intention to offend or to undermine the privacy of living descendants.
Betty F (1922 – ???)
Henry C (16th Jan 1928 – ????)
Roy M (1933 – ????)
Roy may have married Betty E. Boaks at Brighton in Mar Q 1962, and had three children; Mark (1961 or 1962), Amanda J (1963) and Martin A (1964).
Brian Harry (17th April 1937 – ????)
Brian may have married Christina P. Eason at Brighton in Mar Q 1960, and had a daughter, Vanessa A. Pate in 1963. Vanessa A Pate married Andrew P. Meredith at Hove in 1982.
