Edward WHITE's name was first added to the family tree when Edwina received a copy of his son's marriage certificate. James WHITE married Catherine CREW at Stepney Parish Church in 1843, though they do not ever seem to have lived in Stepney. On their marriage certificate James's father is named as Edward WHITE, occupation 'Baker'. Mary Ann CREW and Thomas WHITE were the witnesses to this marriage. From the 1871 and 1881census we knew that Catherine was born in Rotherhithe, and James was born in Deptford. They seem to have lived in Rotherhithe all through their married life.

Then we found them on the 1861 census. They were living in Rotherhithe, but James's birthplace was given as Portsmouth, Hants. This seemed surprising, but very interesting as it was the family's first known connection with Hampshire. Why would James have come from Portsmouth to Deptford? One of our first thoughts was that both places had naval dockyards. Perhaps James had originally worked at the dockyard. Indeed, on his marriage certificate he described himself as a sawyer, and a large number of sawyers were employed at the Dockyard.

Many searches of online census indexes for the Deptford area and the Portsmouth area failed to find any baker called Edward WHITE. There was no way of knowing even whether he had still been alive at the time of his son's wedding. Clergymen and registrars did not always make a note of whether the father was deceased or not.

However, eventually an entry on the 1851 census popped up that looked promising. At 41, Grove Lane, St. Paul's, Deptford lived 58-year-old Edward WHITE, with a son, Thomas WHITE (remember the witness on the marriage certificate?). Both were born in Portsea, Hants. This looked good. But Edward's occupation was 'Pension'd from HM Dk Yd'. And Thomas was 'Labourer (ditto)'. Could this be the right Edward?

Bob laughed and said, 'Perhaps he made the ships' biscuits!'

And he was right. A member of the North-West Kent Family History Society pointed out that the Royal Victualling Yard was on the same site as the Dockyard, and then, of four possible Edward WHITEs on the 1841 census, one, living with his wife, Jane, in Fairey's Buildings, St. Paul's, Deptford,  turned out to be working as a 'J. Biscuit Baker', which probably means 'Journeyman Biscuit Baker'. James (15), who was a woodcutter, and Thomas (15), who was a 'B. Baker ap.' (Biscuit Baker Apprentice) were living with them. All the family were born out of county. The 1841 census did not give specific birthplaces. This certainly seemed like confirmation that the names and occupations matched the people we were looking for.

What an interesting trade! It calls up images of the great sea-faring age. Jack Tars banging the weevils from their biscuits on the oaken tables below decks! As a working man Edward was very fortunate to have such a good, steady job, and most amazing of all, he received a pension once he had retired. All the agencies relating to the Navy were known to be very good employers.

There are some records of Victualling Yard employees in the Records Office at Kew. One day we must search through these. I wonder if there will be any clue as to how Edward came to bring his family to Deptford. Perhaps men were sometimes redeployed to other yards... or perhaps on the other hand the Portsea link is a complete coincidence.

Edward WHITE died in September 1860, at the age of 68. On his death certificate all our detective work is confirmed. His occupation is given as:  'A superannuated Baker from H M Victualling Yard'.

Click the 'LINKS' button on the left hand menu. Under the heading 'Resources for London' you can link to a website about the Deptford Dockyard and Victualling Yard.