Cissy (Cissie) Amelia Barker nee Cornwell (1901-82)

The following item was kindly supplied by Karen, who I made contact with as a result of our Ancestry DNA test results showing a partial match. Cissy was a grand-daughter of George Cornwell (1840-1912), who was a brother of my ancestor Jane Wilkins nee Cornwell (1851-1934). Karen writes:

“My grandmother Cissy Amelia Cornwell was born on the 7^th December 1901 at Constance Road Workhouse East Dulwich. Her mother Emma Amelia Cornwell was admitted to the workhouse on the 2^nd of December. It states in the records that Emma was admitted from the parish of Camberwell. On Cissy’s birth certificate it gives Emma’s occupation as sewing machinist and her address of 108 Lower Park Road. The name of Cissy’s father is not given, indicating that Emma was not married to him. The birth was registered on the 21^st December 1901.  Cissy was baptised on the 21^st December 1901 in the parish of Camberwell.

There had always been rumours in the family that Cissy was ‘adopted’ by Alfred Sampson, the gatekeeper at the workhouse. On the 1901 census Alfred Sampson is shown as the gate porter at Camberwell infirmary. Alfred and his wife Harriet took Cissy in. At this time, child adoption was an informal procedure (it had no legal status in England until 1926). Alfred and Harriet had two of their own children, a son Norman and a daughter Lilian who were 13 and 11 when Cissy moved in with them. We are not sure whether the Sampsons might have been paid to look after Cissy. On the 1901 census Harriet Sampson is shown as living at 43 Fenham Road, Peckham with Norman and Lilian.

Emma Cornwell discharged herself from the workhouse on the 28th December 1901 at her own request, leaving Cissy behind. The next record I found for Emma was a marriage entry on December 25th 1904 at St Andrew’s Peckham in Camberwell. She married Harold John Scott an upholsterer aged 22. Emma gave her age as 25 (she was in fact 32). Emma’s address was 21 Fenham Road, which is interesting, as The Sampsons were living at number 43 in 1901. The witnesses at the marriage were Emma’s parents George and Louisa Cornwell. Emma and Harold had 3 children, Harold John Scott 1905-1990, Roma Sybil Scott 1907-2003 and Netta Irene Scott 1909-1998.

In the 1911 census Cissy (now showing as Cissie which is how my nan always spelt her name) is living with Alfred, Harriet, Norman and Lilian Sampson and Alfred’s brother Ernest at 24 Calverley Grove in Upper Holloway. Cissie, aged 9, is shown as an adopted child. Alfred, aged 50, was a motor car cleaner at a motor repair works. He was very kind to her and Cissie thought the world of him. Cissie had no interest in who her birth parents were.

We’re not sure what school Cissie attended but she had learnt to play the violin and had earned her life saving badge. Cissie knew she was born in a workhouse and had a real fear of ending up in an institution again.  

Her first job was as an apprentice dressmaker at Liberty’s of London. She started by picking up the pins from the floor for the dressmakers and became a very accomplished dressmaker and embroiderer. Cissie was often required to deliver dresses to clients. We presume she worked at Liberty’s until she married in 1924.

Cissie as a young woman

Cissie married George Henry Barker on September 21^st 1924 at the Parish Church Albany Street, St Pancras. She was aged 22, he was 25, a motor mechanic. George and Cissie met as they lived at the same address, 66 William Street, St Pancras with their families. The earliest electoral register that I can find showing the families living there is 1921.

George and Cissie Barker

Cissie and George’s only child, a daughter, was born in 1933 in St Pancras. The 1939 Register shows them living at 6 Frideswide Place in St Pancras. George was a motor mechanic and driver and Cissie’s occupation is listed as unpaid domestic duties.  

The family later moved to East London, where the family lived during WW2. They were ‘bombed out’ several times, which is the main reason there are so few photographs of them. Before one particularly bad raid, they went to stay at the house of Austin Reed, who my grandfather worked for. When they returned to their property, it had gone. Their daughter was evacuated to Bedfordshire. In 1944 Cissie joined her daughter and took Alfred Sampson, who was by then completely blind, with her. He died there in 1944, aged 83. That was when my mum first found out that Cissie was adopted, as the rest of the family said it wasn’t fair that Cissie had to pay towards the funeral costs for Alfred as she was adopted.

Cissie and George were not well off and lived in a series of properties, usually consisting of a couple of rooms with outside lavatory, an oven on the landing and no washing facilities. Bathing consisted of a weekly trip to the public baths. My mum remembers the horrors of bed bugs!

One of my favourite memories of my nan, and it’s only a simple one, is when she used to stay with us at the weekends. Every Sunday morning she’d bring us tea and biscuits in bed. A luxury I still enjoy! She enjoyed watching the wrestling on a Saturday and listening to music. Nan had a lot of patience with me. She tried to teach my very left-handed self to crochet, not an easy task as I did most of it backwards! Nan took me to see The Sound of Music when it came out. We enjoyed it so much that we sat through it again (when cinemas allowed you to do this). As nan lost her sight in the advanced stages of glaucoma, one of her greatest pleasures was listening to talking books. She never wanted to be a burden to anyone. She was lovely.

Cissie and George lived in London until his death in 1967 aged 68. Cissie then moved to Hayes in Middlesex to be closer to her family. She continued to work well into her 70s in the restaurant at the local cottage hospital.

Cissie died in hospital on the 12^th April 1982 aged 80. A good age for someone who had a tough beginning. She was cremated at Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip.”