Sometime in 1834, 20 year old Julia Fox commenced employment
as a house maid for Miss Frances Harley, in her home in the village of Cowley,
near Uxbridge, Middlesex in England. Miss Harley
was a single lady of independent means, the sister of the then Earl of Oxford,
so this would have been quite a prestigious household.
Also in the Harley household at that time was young footman Thomas
Whitley. Julia apparently caught
Thomas’s eye, and the pair formed a relationship. Julia claimed Thomas had
pursued her and made promises of marriage, but when she realised she was
pregnant in mid-1835, those promises disappeared and Thomas told her he could
do nothing for her and she would need to take care of herself.
With her employer unaware of her predicament, Julia left her
position and went to stay nearby with her brother until she could find other employment. Her brother is not named but worked as a
painter for a Coach Maker and had lodgings in nearby Uxbridge.
After a couple of months there, Julia found a position with
a family named Todd, residing at 21 Somerset Street, Portman Square. This did
not last long, as the family moved away. By now at an advanced stage of her pregnancy,
Julia took lodgings with a Mrs Bright of 13 Queen Street, Grosvenor Square,
where her baby girl was born on 13 December 1835. The birth was attended by a
neighbour, Mrs Burton from number 3 Queen Street.
With her baby only a month or so old, Julia had to find a
means of support. She was recommended for a position as wet nurse, and left her
own little girl in the care of Mrs Pearson at 178 Oxford Street while she went
to feed another woman’s baby. John
Fearon, a solicitor, and his wife Jessy had recently become parents to a baby
girl also named Jessy. They lived at 42 Chester Terrace Regents Park. Whether
Mrs Fearon was unable to feed her own baby, or whether she followed the custom
of women of her class and chose not to do so, is not known. However, she
reported being very pleased with Julia and found her to be of good character.
By April of 1836, Julia had to consider further options to
provide for her child. She made application to the London Foundling Hospital to
have her little girl accepted for care there.
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| Early picture of Foundling Hospital 1754 http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1194805 |
The London Foundling Hospital first opened its doors to
accept destitute children in 1741. The rules governing acceptance into the
hospital changed in various ways over the years. By the time Julia was applying
for her baby, the rules were that the child should be no more than 12 months
old, the mother must be single, and the father unable to be held accountable.
Julia’s application was supported by character references
and details of her situation, and after attempts to contact Thomas were
unsuccessful, and correspondence to Miss Harley went unanswered, baby number
19891 was accepted into the Institution on 30 April 1836. We don’t know what
name Julia had given her baby girl, but the following day she was baptised and
became Margaret Hill.
The Foundling Hospital - Coram Story : Coram Story
Records held by the Foundling Hospital show that Margaret
was “sent to the country”, a common arrangement for fostering. This would have been for about 5 years, before she returned to London where she was educated,
learning to read and write. On 14 May 1850 Margaret made her Confirmation. Then
at 15 years of age, she was apprenticed to Alfred Bowden, a surgeon, residing
at 5 St Marks Terrace, Brompton, Kensington, to be instructed in household
duties.
We don’t know if this employment was extended beyond the initial 3 months, or if Margaret found other employment, but somewhere along the way she met my great grandfather James Dewar and they married on 23 June 1859 in Geelong.
On her marriage certificate, Margaret named her parents as John Hill, a carpenter, and Mary Chipping. It is clear from the Foundling Hospital records that this is not true, and these names were part of her “new identity”. I wonder if Margaret herself knew this was not true?
What happened to Julia Fox after giving up her baby is as yet unknown, although I am currently exploring her story. She does not appear as Julia Fox in the 1841 England Census. It is possible that she married in the intervening years, making her harder to find.
As for Thomas Whitley, the 1841 Census shows him still in
service with Miss Harley at her London town house in Harley Street. Miss Harley passed away in December 1848, so
presumably her household was broken up after that.
Checking my DNA matches for the surnames Fox and Whitley, I
found one shared match that traces back to a Julia Fox, but I need to explore
that further. For Thomas, I found 23
shared matches that trace back to a William Whitley and Hannah Parry, of
Christleton, Cheshire. The couple had
eight children, the eldest being Thomas, born 1815. I think I’ve found my man!
Interestingly, William Whitley was convicted of larceny in 1833 and sentenced to 14 years transportation to New South Wales. His wife Hannah and six youngest children
followed him out in 1836. So not only
have I found my 2x and 3x great grandparents, but I can also now claim a
convict ancestor!
The lives of Julia, Thomas, and William & Hannah will be
stories for another day.
https://archives.coram.org.uk
