............Introduction
This is the 250 year history of an ordinary London family.
The authors John Harris and Dave Wilson both share common great grand
parents George and Emily Musgrove. The early
part of this story has largely been forgotten.
Separating fact from fiction has been an interesting but time consuming
exercise. We have been able to trace most of George's life through public
available sources such as Census returns, Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates,
local directories etc.
George was born in 1845,
christened in 1851 and married twice, in 1869 and 1871. Firstly to his
cousin Christiana Musgrove and secondly to Emily
Harris, a daughter of friends of the family. George inherited a large
fortune following the death of his first wife who had inherited it from
the wealthy Musgrave family.
His good fortune enabled George to remarry and raise a family with Emily
over the next twenty years. During this period he lives as a man of independant
means supplementing his income from his first wife's trust fund firstly
as a money lender and then later a career as a publican. The family
moved
during
this
period
from Kennington
to Balham and out to the Essex villages of Hatfield Peveral, Navestock,
Writtle, Great Baddow, and Danbury. They also spent a short while in
both North and South London. His wife Emily died in 1897 when the family
were
running the Rose and Crown Inn at Dunton Green near Sevenoaks Kent. George
died three years later at the family home in Broomfield near Chelmsford.
Our researches show that with the resourses of the twenty first century,
in particular records now available on the Internet (if you click on
contacts on the home page we have listed the best sites),
have proven
invaluble for family research. Without access to the Census and BMD records
it
would
have
been an almost
impossible
task
to
piece
together these details. However only a fraction of records are available
online.
The majority of records are still stored in archives around the country.
Finding precise details
relating
to the family has entailed much travelling and will continue for the
foreseeable future.
There are still many aspects of our families history which still remain
a mystery. Precise
details of George's
parents
and the
mysterious circumstances of his first wife's death may never be known.
On the following pages 'George's Story' is told in three parts. First
his early years up to 1871. Part two covers the period from his second
marriage
to his death in 1900. and part three covers the period of the twentieth
century and what has happened to George's descendants.
Please click on each link throughout the story to see the details of each
event. We have shown original documents wherever possible which are supplemented
with photographs and maps from the period to present day.
There
are over 2000 photos, certificates, directories, electorial records
etc. To which we are continuing to add to and update. There are over
four hundred pages
in total.
We
would like to thank Robbie Buck (grandson of Adelaide Musgrove)
Susan Ratclife, Cindy Bennett (grandaughters of Herbert
and Ivy Musgrove) and many other family members who
have lent us old family photos and documents.
We hope
you
find
our little
story
interesting. Any comments, information or suggestions are welcome.
.............. ......................John
Harris and
Dave Wilson
................. ...davewilson@blueyonder.co.uk
......................................................... Home | George's
Story
We have now added update information to the 'News & Updates' link on the
Home Page.
George's story updates show the
latest additions to the story. The updated details are not listed in any
date order as this information is added only when new details are discovered
and reseached.
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