The Importance of Addresses

This post highlights the importance of addresses on crew lists. I mentioned in my previous blog that an address helped me identify John ACKERS and Jonathan STAFFORD as the same person. Addresses have once again proved very helpful in unravelling the story of Henry AIREY, a 48-year-old waiter from the SS Dwinsk. In Henry’s case checking the addresses on Ancestry’s images of Liverpool crew lists resulted in an unexpected discovery and yet more questions.

Remember, if an address was recorded on a crew list it may not appear on a transcription. When working with online records always check the image if it is available; images hold valuable clues that can be missed.

 The Story of Henry AIREY

What does the CWGC website tell us?

No members of Henry’s family were mentioned on the CWGC, just his age, birthplace and position on the Dwinsk when it sank on 18 June 1918.[1]

I deduced I was looking for a single man whose parents had already died. His home address at the time of death was 14 Kenilworth Street.[2]

Finding his birth

Henry AIREY was born in Liverpool in about 1870. I used Free BMD to check birth registrations for the period 1860-1880 and found two possbilities. Sadly, one of the boys died shortly after his birth.[3] [4]

The other child was registered in the West Derby area of Liverpool in the final quarter of 1869.[5] In 1871 he was living at 38 Canal Street in Bootle, West Derby with his father, John, several brothers and sisters and a servant.[6] Although John AIREY recorded that he was married, his wife was not in the house. Sarah AIREY, nee JONES, had in fact died at the same address in 1866,[7] before the birth of both Henry and an older brother, William.

Annie BARGE, the servant, died aged 40 at 64 Canal Street in 1877.[8]The AIREY family were living at the same address on 3 April 1881 and John was then recorded as a widower.[9] They had a visitor, 22-year-old Elizabeth BARGE, so there was obviously a lasting connection between the BARGE and AIREY family. I have checked the General Record Office website: although William’s entry does include the mother’s maiden name, BARGE,[10] there is no maiden name given for Henry’s mother.[11] It seems likely however that Ann and John were Henry’s parents so I sent for a pdf of his birth certificate, because I want to see how his mother’s name was recorded . The PDF confirmed his mother was Ann BARGE, Henry was born on 24th October 1869 at 40 Canal Street Bootle and registered by his mother Ann BARGE on the 13 November 1869. His father was named as John AIREY.

Finding evidence to link Henry, son of John AIREY in the 1871 census, to the SS Dwinsk

In 1882, Algerina, daughter of John AIREY and Sarah JONES, married George STEVENSON from her home at 64 Canal Street.[12] The following year her sister Sarah married John THOMSON who was nearly twenty years older than his new wife.[13]

By 1901 Sarah was a widow with two children at school. She was living at 14 Kenilworth Street Bootle.[14] This was the address given on the burial records for her father John AIREY in 1902[15] and the address given for Henry AIREY in the overseas death register.[16]

The 1915 crew list revealed two entries for Henry AIREY, although the transcriptions recorded him as Henry AMY and Henry AVIEY so if your seafarer doesn’t seem to appear in the database please try other spellings or just search by first name and birthplace. I was lucky here because Henry’s surname was at the beginning of the alphabet!

The SS Franconia passing Castle Island in Boston USA. 1910-1916 Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/det/item/det1994021789/PP/ accessed : 2 March 2021.

Henry was aboard the SS Franconia for a few days in February 1915; he stated he lived at 37 Brook Road, Bootle, which was the address of his sister Algerina in 1911.[17] On the 26 February he joined the crew of the SS Andaria and gave 14 Kenilworth Street as his current abode.[18]

These links to Algerina and Sarah, daughters of John AIREY, are evidence that the year-old-child at 38 Canal Street in 1871 died on the Dwinsk in June 1918. But where was Henry AIREY between 1881, when he appears on the census with his family at 64 Canal Street[19], and 1915, when I can place him at the homes of his presumed half-sisters? The most obvious conclusion is that he was at sea at the time of all three censuses, but he would still have had a home address. There is no record of Henry AIREY marrying and in 1915 and 1918 he was living with his sisters so maybe he gave a family member’s address through his time at sea.

The Liverpool Crew Lists.

A search of the Liverpool crew lists did uncover a printer named Henry AIREY, working on ships between 1895 and 1911. This sailor was not always consistent in the age he gave when signing on, but enough details of his name, position, place of birth and addresses match to be sure it is the same person appearing in each crew list.

An example of a printed menu from 1906. This may have been the kind of printing Henry AIREY was engaged in before WW1. The menu comes from RMS Etruria, but the ship shown above the menu is RMS Saxonia on which Henry AIREY did serve.

The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1906. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-7e2e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 : accessed 6 March 2021.

In 1895 the sailor worked aboard the SS Lucania[20] and subsequent crew lists indicate he probably continued to do so until 1905 when he joined the SS Carmania. [21] His signature on the crew lists usually appears among stewards dept so I assume he worked within the restaurant printing the daily menus. I can imagine that during the war, when the ships were filled with soldiers travelling to the front, menus were not so important and a man who printed menus may have become a waiter.

It is likely this is the Henry who died after the sinking of the Dwinsk, but checking the addresses from the crew lists against the census returns for all of John AIREY’s children could give firmer proof.

There were no matches. Henry gave his address as 22 Grove Street in 1901[22] and 13 Ashley Street in 1911,[23] so, was this another sailor of the same age who just happened to believe he was born in Liverpool or, as we have seen in the stories of Jonathan ACKERS and John BALMER, did he use aliases?  

I searched the addresses on Find my Past and found a woman called Emily BARGE, her son Henry Stanley and daughter Edith Frances living at 22 Grove Street in 1901.[24] She described herself as married and was the head of the household. This seemed to support the assumption that Annie BARGE was Henry Airey’s mother, but who was Emily’s husband?

In 1911, I found Emily living at 13 Ashlar Street. Her husband was Henry BARGE born about 1870, a printer mariner who was born in Bootle, [West Derby] Liverpool.[25] They had married in 1890[26]  Emily’s father’s name was recorded but not Henry’s. The couple then appear in the 1891 census at 24 Grove Street[27] which was another address used by Henry AIREY on the Lucania.[28] A search for Henry BARGE’s birth on free BMD found a registration on the same page as Henry AIREY’s registration.[29] I could not find an entry for Henry BARGE’s birth on the GRO website, nor was he found in the 1871 or 1881 censuses.

The facts suggest Henry BARGE and Henry AIREY were the same person, but if so, why did Henry use two names? If he had fallen out with his father, I would have expected him to use the surname BARGE at work as well as at home.

Emily BARGE definitely survived AIREY. She was recorded as a widow and living with Henry Stanley and Edith, both single, in 1939.[30] So, were the BARGE family also living at 14 Kenilworth Street in 1915 or was he with his sisters because he was estranged from Emily?

Interestingly, Henry AIREY deserted from the SS Saxonia while in New York in 1911. At that time his address was still 13 Ashlar Street.[31] I wonder if he returned to England on the next available ship or stayed in America?  We know Henry AIREY was working as a waiter on board ship by early 1915 when he is recorded as resident in the homes of Algerina and Sarah. It would be interesting to see who was named as next of kin, if anyone, on the Dwinsk crew list. There may still be more to learn about Henry from crew lists in different archives. For now, I seem to have found another alias and a lot more questions.

References

[1] Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Casualty details. Death: 18 June 1918. AIREY, Henry. Waiter SS. Dwinsk. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/ : accessed 3 Feb 2021.

[2] Death (CR) At Sea. 18 Jun 1918. AIREY Henry BT334, Box: 0073. p24. Collection:  British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths. https://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2021.

[3] Birth Index (CR) England and Wales RD: Liverpool. 1st Q 1873. AIREY Henry vol.8b p.76 https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[4] Death Index (CR) England and Wales RD: Liverpool. 1st Q 1873. AIREY Henry vol.8b p.52  https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[5] Birth Index (CR) England and Wales RD:  West Derby [Liverpool]. 4th Q 1869. AIREY Henry vol.8b p.447 https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[6] Census returns. England.  West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 02 April 1871. AIREY, John. (Head) ED: 4a. SN:206. Piece: 3832. Folio:25. p.41. Collection:1871 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[7] Burial Record (CR) Anfield, cemetery, Church of England Section. Merseyside. 3 March 1866. AIREY, Sarah. Collection: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, Merseyside, England; Liverpool Cemetery Registers. https://ancestry.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2021.

[8] Burial Record (CR) Anfield, Cemetery, Church of England Section. Merseyside. 3 March 1877. BARGE, Annie. 352 CEM 6/1/7. Collection: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, Merseyside, England; Liverpool Cemetery Registers. https://ancestry.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2021.

[9] Census returns. England.  West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 03 April 1881. AIREY, John. (Head) Class: RG11, ED: 32. Piece: 3692. Folio:129. p.40. Collection: 1871 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[10] Birth Index (CR) England and Wales RD:  West Derby and Toxteth Park [Liverpool].  2nd 1867. AIREY, William vol.8b p.447: https://www.gro.gov.uk  : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[11] Birth Index (CR) England and Wales RD: West Derby and Toxteth Park [Liverpool].  4th 1869. AIREY, Henry vol. 8b p.447 https://www.gro.gov.uk  : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[12]  Marriages (PR) England. Bootle Chapel, Walton on the Hill, Liverpool Lancashire. 2 Jan 1882. STEVENSON, George and AIREY, Algerina Alice Margaret. Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England. Reference Number: 283 BOO/3/2ii.  https://www.ancestry.co.uk  :accessed 28 Feb 2021

[13] Marriages (PR) England. St Mary’s Kirkdale, [Liverpool] Lancashire. 11 Dec 1883. THOMSON, John and AIREY, Sarah. [Transcription] Collection: England select marriages 1538-1973  https://www.ancestry.co.uk  : accessed 28 Feb 2021

[14] Census returns. England.  Bootle, West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 31 March 1901. THOMSON, Sarah. (Head) Class: RG13, ED: 18, Piece: 3461. Folio:37. p.9 Collection:1901 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[15] Burial Record (CR) Anfield, cemetery, Church of England Section. Merseyside. 6 Jun 1902. AIREY, John, CEM/6/1/14 Collection: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, Merseyside, England; Liverpool Cemetery Registers. https://ancestry.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2021.

[16] Death (CR) At Sea. 18 Jun 1918. AIREY Henry BT334, Box: 0073. p24. Collection:  British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths. https://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 10 Jan 2021.

[17] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1915 SS Franconia  16 -19 Feb 1915.  AIREY, Henry waiter.  Collection: National Maritime Museum. 1915 crew lists. https://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[18] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1915 SS Andania 26 Feb- Jun 1915.  AIREY, Henry waiter.  Collection: National Maritime Museum. 1915 crew lists. https://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[19] Census returns. England.  West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 03 April 1881. AIREY, John. (Head) Class: RG11, ED: 32. Piece: 3692. Folio:129. p.40. Collection:1871 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[20] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1896 SS Lucania 17 Dec 1895-11 Jan 1896 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[21] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1905 SS Carmania 29 Dec 1905-22 Jan 1905 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[22] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1901 SS Lucania 16 April -11 May 1901 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[23] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1911 SS Carmania 15 May -8 Aug 1911 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[24] Census returns. England.  Bootle, West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 31 March 1901. BARGE Emily (Head) Class: RG13, ED: 18, Piece: 3462. Folio:150. p.2 Collection:1901 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[25] Census returns. England. Waterloo, Crosby, Liverpool, Lancashire. 02 April 1911. BARGE, Henry. (Head) ED: 15. Piece: 22314. Folio:129. Collection: 1911 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[26] Marriages (PR) England. Walton-on -the Hill Liverpool Lancashire. 06 October 1890. BARGE, Henry and MOORES, Emily. [Transcription] Collection: England Marriages 1538-1973. https://www.findmypast.co.uk

 : accessed 4 March 2021

[27] Census returns. England. Bootle, Liverpool, Lancashire. 05 April 1891. BARGE, Henry. (Head) ED: 21. Piece: 2973. Folio:100. Collection: 1891 England and Wales census. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[28] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1897 SS Lucania 20 Jul-14 Aug 1897 1901 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.

[29] Birth Index (CR) England and Wales RD:  West Derby [Liverpool]. 4th Q 1869. BARGE, Henry vol.8b p.447 https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ : accessed 12 Feb 2021.

[30] 1939 Register (England) Birkenhead, Cheshire.  29 Sep 1939. BARGE, Emily.   Reference: RG 101/3915I. Collection: 1939 England and Wales register. https://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 24 Feb 2021.

[31] Crew Lists (Merchant Navy) England 1911 SS Saxonia 27 Sept -14 Oct 1911 AIREY, Henry printer. Collection: Liverpool crew lists 1861-1919 https://www.ancestry.com  : accessed: 23 Jan 2021.