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I'd be grateful for any information relating to George Otway who died in 1941 in Kensington, London.
George was my great grandfather but I'm not sure if he ever married my great grandmother Rose Emberton., although they did have a child (my grandmother) Doris Otway, born 1933 and they all lived together in Westbourne Park Road,W11 from 1933-1941. There is also a prior link to Yorkshire. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks,
Chevaun.

Name: George Otway
Death Registration Month/Year: 1941
Age at death (estimated): 57
Registration district: Kensington
Inferred County: London
Volume: 1a
Page: 226

Have you tried looking on freebmd for a possible marriage?

Or a birth.....based on his age at death?

Hi Flick,
Thanks for the info, it ties in with what I have been told by my grandmother.
No, I havn't tried freebmd as I'm not sure which site it is, is it www.freebmd.org.uk or freebmd.rootsweb.com?
Thanks,
Chevaun.

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

It's http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

If you try looking on the site for your grandmother's birth, you'll find that she is registered under Doris R Otway, but also under Doris R Emberton.

This would suggest her parents were not married to each other at the time of her birth.

1891 England Census
Name: Geo Otway
Age: 7
Estimated birth year: abt 1884
Relation: Son
Father's name: Geo Otway
Mother's name: Annie Otway
Gender: Male
Where born: Bradford, Yorkshire, England <<<<<
Civil Parish: Bradford
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address: 39 Acre St

Occupation:

Registration district: Bradford
Sub-registration district: Bradford East End
Household Members: Name Age
Geo Otway 27 - Drayman; London
Annie Otway 25 - Bradford
Geo Otway 7
Sarah Otway 6
Ann E Otway 4
Fred Otway 11/12

1901 England Census
Name: George Otway
Age: 18
Estimated birth year: abt 1883
Relation: Lodger
Gender: Male
Where born: Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Civil Parish: Bradford
Ecclesiastical parish: Bradford St Luke
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address: 40 George St

Occupation: Driver [I think. It is a bit difficult to read, but the collator has written Carm which I assume is an abbreviation for carman. It looks very similar to the occupation of the head of the household. Does this fit in with your family knowledge?]

Registration district: Bradford
Sub-registration district: Bradford East
Household Members: Name Age
William Lawrence 31
Alice Lawrence 32
John Gargan 31
James Carrol 18
John Long 28
General Mc Duna 21
Michael Hanna 30
John Toughey 28
William Ellis 29
Martha Ellis 28
James Mann 29
Grace Lee 35
George Otway 18
Albert E Coulding 17
Peter Collins 11
Michael Collins 13

Can't find George in 1911, but think this could be his father, also George :


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OTWAY, Sarah Head Widow F 75 1836 Surrey London .
OTWAY, George Son Widower M 47 1864 Labourer Surrey London .
OTWAY, Robert Grandson Single M 17 1894 Machine Minder Bradford Yorks .
OTWAY, Herbert Grandson Single M 14 1897 Errand Boy Bradford Yorks .
OTWAY, Percy Grandson Single M 13 1898 Jobber Bradford Yorks .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:
RG14 Piece:
26732 Reference:
RG14PN26732 RG78PN1540 RD498 SD2 ED13 SN68

Registration District:
Bradford Sub District:
Bradford Central Enumeration District:
13 Parish:
Bradford

Address:
72 Chandos St Bradford

This looks sad:
Deaths Sep 1899
Otway Annie 34 Bradford, Y. 9b 87


They're in a Children's Home but the name isn't given. There is a long list of other inmates but I didn't bother with those.
1901 England Census
Name: Percy Otway
Age: 5
Estimated birth year: abt 1896
Relation: Inmate
Gender: Male
Where born: Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Civil Parish: Bradford
Ecclesiastical parish: Horton All Saints
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address: 85-93 Park Road

Occupation:

Registration district: Bradford
Sub-registration district: Horton
Household Members: Name Age
Sarah Otway 15
Fred Otway 9
Robert Otway 8
Albert Otway 7
Percy Otway 5


1901: District Bradford Union
George Otway abt 1866 London, England Inmate of House (Inmate) Bradford, Yorkshire


1901 England Census
Name: Sarah Otway
Age: 63
Estimated birth year: abt 1838
Relation: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: London, England
Civil Parish: Bradford
Ecclesiastical parish: Bradford St Luke
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Registration district: Bradford
Sub-registration district: Bradford East
Household Members: Name Age
Sarah Otway 63
Annie L Otway 14
Mary Robinson 39

Thank you to Flick, Kucinta and Ozibird who took the time to respond to my request for information regarding George Otway.
Ozibird, the information that you have provided me with is comprehensive and not previously known by myself.
With regards to your last post, can you advise what your feeling is relating to the mother being dead, children in care and husband in jail?

The father was in a Workhouse, not a jail. He's a wagon driver carman born London, Middlesex.

Maybe they're on the 1911 - I'll take a look.

The children are in a children's home, not a workhouse, maybe things were better in such a place. A young man (age 29) was the Master, and there were only about 30 children, so not the norm for a large workhouse.

Oh good, I got a bit worried there... I thought I was going to unearth something awful!

There were about 1,000 inmates in the District Bradford Workhouse. You might find some information about it on the Workhouses website. Google Workhouses cos I can't remember the address. That was a large workhouse and probably wasn't much fun for the inmates.

Thanks Madmeg for the info.
So Annie died, the children were put into a home and George went to a workhouse...
Do you know if there would be any way for me to find out Annies cause of death?

I'll look up Workhouses on Google, I don't know a lot about them. Would he have had to go there as he had no money? Sorry if that is a stupid question, I just have no idea!

They're all back with grandma in 1911, as already posted:

OTWAY, Sarah Head Widow F 75 1836 Surrey London VIEW
OTWAY, George Son Widower M 47 1864 Labourer Surrey London VIEW
OTWAY, Robert Grandson Single M 17 1894 Machine Minder Bradford Yorks VIEW
OTWAY, Herbert Grandson Single M 14 1897 Errand Boy Bradford Yorks VIEW
OTWAY, Percy Grandson Single M 13 1898 Jobber Bradford Yorks VIEW
RG14 Piece:
26732 Reference:
RG14PN26732 RG78PN1540 RD498 SD2 ED13 SN68
Bradford Central Enumeration District:
13 Parish:
Bradford

Address:
72 Chandos St Bradford County:
Yorkshire (West riding)

1901 seems to have "the year" for people in Workhouses. I haven't worked out why.

No mention of the daughters there though - Annie and Sarah.

He would go there either cos he had no money to pay his rent, or he might have been ill, cos Workhouses were the only places to go for medical care. He could have been depressed (I doubt that, cos they would have called him an imbecile or similar) or simply nowhere to live. Chucked out by the landlord with no female relatives to look after the kids. He probably did the best he could at the time. Times were hard, back then. Our rellies did their best. Seems to me that your George did what he could for his kids. They may only have been in he Workhouse/School for a short time and back to granny.

Workhouses were very different across the country. By 1901 some were quite reasonable places, relatively clean and disease-free, some were like shit (Excuse me).

But people just did what they could. The fact that George is back with his mum and 3 kids in 1911 tells me that he was a good man who took his responsibilities seriously.

Daughter Annie in 1901?


OTWAY, Sarah Head Widow F 63 1838 Charwoman
London VIEW
OTWAY, Annie L Grand Daughter F 14 1887 Worsted Doffer Spinner
Bradford
Yorkshire VIEW
ROBINSON, Mary Lodger Single F 39 1862 Charwoman
Crowland
Lincolnshire VIEW
RG13 Piece:
4148 Folio:
10 Page:
11
Bradford Sub District:
Bradford East Enumeration District:
1 Ecclesiastical Parish:
Bradford St Luke

Civil Parish:
Bradford Municipal Borough:
Address:
72, Chandos Street, Bradford County:
Yorkshire (West riding)

EDIT Already posted.

Sarah is in the children's home with the others in 1901. Annie is with her grandma.