Mabel Barry / Lanyon nee Wilkins (1891-1957)

Mabel was born on October 1st 1891 in Woolwich. She was the youngest of nine children (two boys and seven girls) of Henry and Jane Wilkins. One of Mabel’s sisters was my grandmother Gertrude Amy Wilkins (1890-1919).

When Mabel was born her family was living at 31 Kidd Street, Woolwich Dockyard, which was the address of the grocery shop run by Henry Wilkins. In 1900, he began to operate a coffee house at 11 Church Street, Woolwich. The 1901 census shows Henry (aged 50, a coffee house keeper), Jane (49), Albert (23), Alice (21), Ethel (19), Bessie (16), Annie (15), Herbert (13), Gertrude (11) and Mabel (9) living at this address.

Mabel was still living at 11 Church St in 1911. The census gives her age as 19 and her occupation as a rubber casing machine hand working for Siemens Brothers Electrical Works. Also at the address were her father Henry (62, a dining room keeper), mother Jane (59), sister Gertrude (21) and niece Florence Wilkins (7).

Mabel at the marriage of her sister Gertrude in 1912

In 1913 Mabel married Laurence Barry in Woolwich. He was aged 25, she was 21. His occupation in the 1911 census was “fireman (ship)”. This was a rating for Merchant Navy seamen working in the engine room. Mabel and Laurence went on to have three children, Laurence Robert in 1915, Norah Annie in 1918 and Dennis in 1921. Dennis died soon after he was born.

In 1915, Laurence volunteered to join the army to fight in the war. He was a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery and was sent to Egypt, where he arrived on 30^th October 1915. He survived the war, returned home and rejoined the Merchant Navy.

Laurence Barry's Merchant Navy record card 

The 1921 census shows Mabel Barry (aged 28) living at 5 Glass Yard, Woolwich with her children Laurence (5) and Norah (3) as well as her nephew Thomas Drake (13). Thomas was a son of Mabel's sister Annie Louisa Drake nee Wilkins (1886-1916). The census return says that both of Thomas's parents were dead. Mabel's husband is not listed, presumably he was abroad, working on a Merchant Navy ship.

Electoral registers show Mabel and her family living at 5 Glass Yard from 1922 to 1932. They moved to 38 Arsenal Road, Eltham in 1933. The electoral register for 1939 shows Mabel and Laurence living at this address with their children Laurence and Norah. The 1939 national register shows that Mabel's husband Laurence was by then working as crane driver in a brass foundry.

38 Arsenal Road (in 2012)

Mabel's son Laurence Robert Barry joined the Merchant Navy in 1930. On August 23rd 1940, he was on board SS Cumberland, which was in a convoy heading from Liverpool to Curacao. The Cumberland was torpedoed by a German submarine. Laurence, aged 24, and three other of the ship's crew of 58 were killed.

Mabel's husband Laurence died in 1942 aged 53 in Woolwich. Probate records show that administration of his estate (value £535) was granted to Mabel. She remarried in 1943 to Charles Lanyon. She was aged 52, he was 55. Charles’s first wife, Ethel had died earlier that year. The 1945 electoral register shows Mabel and Charles at 38 Arsenal Road with Charles’s children Gladys Mamie (born 1917) and Harold (born 1921). Gladys had moved out by 1949. Mabel, Charles and Harold continued to live at this address until Mabel died on July 1st 1957 aged 65. She was buried in Plumstead cemetery in the same grave (K / 2031) as her first husband Laurence. Probate for her estate (value £2097) was issued to Charles Lanyon (a retired carpenter) and Norah Annie Stemman (her daughter, who was married to John Stemman). Charles died in 1967 aged 79.

Albert Henry Wilkins (1877-1928), dining room keeper, and his wife Beatrice Louisa Wilkins nee Tothill (1885-1959)

This item includes information and photos kindly supplied by Russell Wilkins, Albert's grandson.

Albert Henry Wilkins was the eldest brother of Gertrude Amy Wilkins (1890-1919), who was the mother of Eric William Taylor (1913-2003), my father. Albert was born on 26^th December 1877 at 13 Whitworth Place, Plumstead, the second child of Henry Wilkins and his wife Jane (nee Cornwell). When Albert was born, Henry’s occupation was fresh meat dealer.

The family was still living at 13 Whitworth Place, when Albert was baptized at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich on 27 Jan 1878. The 1881 census shows Henry Wilkins aged 29, a greengrocer and dairyman, living at 21 Prospect Place, Woolwich with his wife Jane (29) and their children Elizabeth (5), Albert (3) and Alice (1).

In 1891 the Wilkins family were living at 31 Kidd St (a shop), Woolwich Dockyard and consisted of Henry (aged 41, a grocer), Jane (40), Elizabeth (15), Albert (13), Alice (11), Ethel (9), Cecilia (7), Annie (5), Herbert (3) and Gertrude (1). Kidd St is now called Wood Hill. The site of 31 Kidd St is now occupied by modern housing. 

Albert Henry Wilkins aged about 18

The 1901 census lists Henry Wilkins aged 50, a coffee house keeper, living at 11 Church Street, Woolwich with his wife Jane (49) and children Albert (23, machinist shell factory), Alice (21, shirt machinist), Ethel (19, cook domestic), Cecilia (called Bessie, 16, shirt machinist), Annie (15), Herbert (13), Gertrude (11) and Mabel (9). The site of 11 Church Street is now occupied by post war housing.

On 2^nd January 1910, Albert (aged 32, a tram conductor) married Beatrice Louisa Tothill (aged 24, born on the Old Kent Road in London, her father was a coachman) at St Michael and All Angels Church, Woolwich. 

Marriage register entry

The 1911 census shows the couple living in 3 rooms at 9 Vincent Terrace, Abbey Road, Abbey Wood. Albert’s occupation is given as a tramway conductor, employed by London County Council. Albert's grandson, Russell Wilkins, has the ticket holder that he used.

Albert was a witness on the parish record of the marriage of his sister Gertrude (my grandmother) in 1912. 

Albert aged about 40

In 1911 Albert’s father Henry left his business premises in Church Street and opened Dining Rooms at 14 Beresford Street, Woolwich. Albert and Beatrice took over the business after Henry died in 1915. They lived at 499 Abbey Road, Abbey Wood (Albert’s sister Gertrude was living at 503 Abbey Road in 1916). 

The 1921 census shows Albert (caterer, working at home) and Beatrice living at 14 Beresford Street. Also at this address were Jane Wilkins (69, Albert's widowed mother) and Florence Wilkins (18, caterer's assistant). Florence was Albert's niece, a daughter of Albert's sister Mary Cecilia Wilkins.

Electoral registers from 1923 to 1929 show Albert, Beatrice and Jane Wilkins at 14 Beresford Street.

Albert and Beatrice had a son, Albert Edward Wilkins, in 1923, when Albert was aged 45 and Beatrice was 38.

The photo above (taken c 1927) shows the Wilkins Dining Rooms in Beresford Street. The people standing in the doorway are (from left to right), Florence Graham nee Wilkins, Albert and his wife Beatrice. My father had memories of visiting the dining rooms when a child (after attending church at the Baptist Tabernacle opposite) and being given a meal by Beatrice (known to him as “Aunt Beat”).

Beatrice Louisa Wilkins nee Tothill

Albert Henry Wilkins died of heart failure on 31^st December 1928 aged 51 years. The probate index record for him shows that he left no will and that administration of his estate (valued at £498 4s 3d), was granted to his widow, Beatrice, who continued to run the business at 14 Beresford Street after his death. Jane Wilkins lived there until she passed away in 1934. 

In 1939 Beatrice (aged 54) married Thomas Charles Nicolls (aged 62). They are shown in the photo above. The 1939 national register shows Beatrice (a caterer) and Thomas (a steel sawyer) living at 14 Beresford St. My mother remembered visiting the dining rooms in 1940 with my father and that Aunt Beat gave them gifts of food that was rationed during the war. The LCC bomb damage map shows that properties nearby were completely destroyed during the war and that the Wilkins Dining Rooms suffered minor blast damage. Thomas Nicolls died in 1945. My parents kept in touch with Beatrice - she was a godmother to my sister Evelyn.

The photo above shows the redesigned front of the dining rooms at 14 Beresford Street after the war. Beatrice continued to run the business until 1951. Beresford Street has been redeveloped and the building that housed Henry’s / Albert’s / Beatrice’s dining rooms no longer exists. Beatrice also owned the Four Aces Snack Bar, which was where the ambulance station on the new ferry approach is now. 

Four Aces Snack Bar

Beatrice died in 1959 aged 73. Albert and Beatrice are buried in grave O/115 in Woolwich Cemetery. The headstone (which is in good condition) is inscribed

Sacred to the memory of ALBERT WILKINS. A dear devoted husband and father who was called beyond suddenly 31^st December 1928, aged 51 years. His life was all unselfishness, his end was peace, perfect peace. Also BEATRICE wife of the above, who died 16^th March 1959, aged 73 years

Laurence Robert Barry (1915-40), Merchant Navy seaman who died in WW2

Laurence Robert Barry was born on November 30^th 1915 in Woolwich, the eldest child of Laurence (1887-1942) and Mabel (1891-1957) Barry who married in 1913. Later they had two other children, namely Norah Annie born in 1918 and Dennis born and died in 1921. Mabel’s maiden name was Wilkins and she was a younger sister of my grandmother Gertrude Taylor nee Wilkins (1890-1919). Laurence Robert Barry was a cousin of my father, Eric William Taylor (1913-2003), although my father seems to have lost touch with most of his Wilkins relations and never mentioned him to me.

Electoral registers show Laurence and Mabel Barry living at 5 Glass Yard, Woolwich from 1922 to 1932. They moved to 38 Arsenal Road, Eltham in 1933.

Laurence Barry senior was a Merchant Navy seaman. The FindMyPast website has records showing him in this occupation from 1919 to 1935. His son Laurence Robert followed the same career and joined the Merchant Navy when he was aged 14. He lied about his date of birth, giving it as November 30^th 1914 (it was actually 1915). Laurence Robert’s first job was as a bellboy on RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Ascania, a Cunard Liner built in 1923. It carried passengers, mail and cargo on the route London-Southampton-Quebec-Montreal, switching to Halifax and New York during the winter. 

Laurence Robert's first Merchant Navy record card

Laurence senior also worked on RMS Ascania in 1925, 1929 and 1935. In 1925 and 1929 he is described as a “Greaser”. This was a rating for Able Seamen working in the Engine Room Department of a ship. Greasers were responsible for keeping oil-levels in various sumps on generators, compressors (air and refrigeration), winches, steering-gear etc. topped-up. They kept all machinery in the engine-room and on deck lubricated. They would also make sure engine-room bilges were kept pumped-out, so were kept fairly busy both at sea and in port.

Laurence Robert worked on RMS Carinthia, another Cunard liner, in 1932 and 1933. In 1934 he was back on RMS Ascania. A Merchant Navy record card for him that year gives his height as 5 foot 4 inches, eyes blue, hair fair and complexion fair. He worked on other ships after this – a record card gives their numbers but not their names. 

1934 Merchant Navy record card

In 1938, Laurence Robert (aged 22) married Ann Elizabeth Curry (aged 22) in Woolwich. They had a daughter in 1939. The 1939 Register shows Laurence and Ann living at 49 Paget Rise, Woolwich. His occupation is given as "submarine and power cable worker".

The picture above was taken in 1939. The couple on the left hand side are Laurence Robert and Ann Barry. The photo was taken at the wedding of Thomas Henry Drake (a cousin of Laurence Robert) to Kathleen Marguerite Dunger in Woolwich.

After the Second World War was declared in 1939, Germany began to attack British shipping in an attempt to prevent food and materials reaching Britain. Many merchant ships were sunk, mainly by German submarines. About 36,000 British civilian seamen died during the war. On August 23rd 1940, Laurence Robert was working as a Greaser on board SS Cumberland, which was a cargo boat in a 32 ship convoy heading from Liverpool to Curacao. The Cumberland was torpedoed by German submarine U-57, 25 miles north east of Malin Head, County Donegal. Laurence Robert, aged 24, was killed. It seems likely that he was working in the engine room (which would have been below the waterline) when the torpedo struck. Laurence Robert’s body was not recovered. His name is on the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill, London. Three other of the ship's crew of 58 also died. They were Greaser Thomas Herbert Baker aged 39, Greaser John Nicholas Donnelly aged 27 and Greaser James Reginald Tribbeck aged 21. The SS Cumberland sank on August 26^th 1940.

Names on the Merchant Navy Memorial, Tower Hill

An inscription at the memorial reads “The twenty four thousand of the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets whose names are honoured on the walls of this garden gave their lives for their country and have no grave but the sea.”

 The Merchant Navy Memorial, Tower Hill.

Laurence's wife Ann married Henry B Brind in 1946 in Woolwich. She died in 1982 aged 65 in Greenwich .