LACCOHEE ancestry in Southwark

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London/Southwark | historical overview | Norwich to London | origins: Wallonia | descendants

This page summarises what is known of those Laccohees from in and around Southwark, including, in particular, Neil's direct line: William Laccohee (1773? - 1849?); Charles Bousfield Laccohee (1817 - 1893) and Maria Laccohee (1844 - 1919). There is also a section on the curious names that William gave to his children and another on how these Laccohees fit into the wider Laccohee community.

William Laccohee (1773? - 1894?)

Neil's earliest confirmed Laccohee ancestor was his three times great grandfather, William Laccohee. (He is referred to as William II on the page about the Laccohee exodus from Norwich to London, which suggests a probable father, William I, and grandfather, Thomas I). No birth record has yet turned up for William, but we do have a death certificate which is probably his. (There are other William Laccohees.) This William died on 29 Dec 1849 at 4 Hodson Street, age 76, which gives 1773 as his year of birth. We know from both the death certificate and his son's marriage certificate that he made "boxes" and "cabinets" for a living.

Although we have not been able to trace William's Laccohee line back further with total confidence, it is illuminated by Diana Divo's work on Laccohee origins, how the Laccohees came to leave Wallonia for Norwich, England; and of course the above-mentioned Laccohee exodus from Norwich to London.

William may have had two marriages. He certainly married a Hester or Esther Pitman because she was the mother of the following of his children:

• Mary Anne Laccohee was born on 27 Oct 1805. She was baptized on 17 Nov 1805 at St Saviours, Southwark.
• Esther Laccohee was born on 8 Apr 1807. She was baptized on 3 May 1807 at St Saviours, Southwark.
• William Marshman Laccohee was born on 8 Feb 1809 at Southwark and baptized on 5 Mar 1809 at Saint Saviour, Southwark. He married Sarah Lowe in 1832 at St George in the East and had a large family. His occupation was a "looking glass frame maker". He died in Sep 1859 at age 50 and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery with the surname  Lacombe*. [We have mixed memories of searching for graves in Abney Park Cemetery!]
• Jacob Laccohee was born on 23 Feb 1811. He was baptized on 17 Mar 1811 at St Saviours, Southwark. Judging by his name, he was probably related to the Jacob Laccohee who the 1861 census shows as born about 1792 in Norwich, a silk weaver with wife Ann at Priory Yard, St James, Norwich.
• Alice Culsha Laccohee was baptized on 31 Jan 1813 at Saint Saviour, Southwark. She married Richard Hall a shoemaker on 19 Apr 1835 at Saint Peter, Walworth, Surrey. They appeared together in the 1841 census with son James 15, daughter; Elizabeth 10 and Charles "J or L acookee" 25 Shoe Maker, at North Buildings, Lambeth.
• Edward James Laccohee was born on 26 Apr 1815 at Southwark. He was baptized on 21 May 1815 at St Saviours, Southwark, and in 1851 was a looking glass frame maker (like his older brother William Marshman), living as a lodger at 42 Radner Street, Maylebone, Finsbury.

William's last child was recorded with the mother Elizabeth - which is the reason for thinking that William may have married twice. However, "Elizabeth" may have just been a transcription error, as there is no other supporting evidence for a second marriage, especially as all the children seem to have been born at two year intervals. There is no realistic likelihood that the father is another William because (i) a later census shows the adult child living with sister Alice (by then Alice Hall) and (ii) the child was a victim of his father's penchant for giving his children curious middle names. The child was:

• Charles Bousfield Laccohee, born on 21 August 1817 and baptised at St Saviours, Southwark on 14 September 1817. He was Neil's great great grandfather, and his story is taken up again below.

The curious names of William's children

It is striking that William gave his children such curious middle names (eg Bousfield, Culsha, Marshman). Diana Divo attributes this to their being named after their godparents or good friends. "Bousfield", so Diana reports, is an illustrious name stemming originally from the north of England, although Bousfields did come south. A Charles Bousfield was christened in Peckham around the same time as Charles Bousfield Laccohee. In 1881 there were Bousfields living in Crewis Villa, Peckham and a Bousfield Street still exists in Peckham. The Bousfields were well connected. Later in the century some were Masters of the Clothmakers guild.

Charles Bousfield Laccohee ( 1817 - 1893)

Charles Bousfield Laccohee

Charles Bousfield Laccohee (1817 - 1893) was, like his siblings, baptised at St Saviours, Southwark. He, also like them, bore a curious middle name.

His first marriage was on 14 July 1839 at St Johns W..?.., Lambeth to Rosina Ann Lowen, daughter of John Lowen. The address of the bride and groom was given as East Street. Rosina died the following year, in the second quarter of 1840, possibly in child birth. So at the time of the 1841 census, Charles was a widow. He was in the household of his sister Alice with her husband and children at North Buildings.

Maria Laccohee, born Maria Purkiss

The story of Neil's ancestry is taken up again with Charles' second wife. On 28 December 1842, the widowed Charles, age 25, married Maria Purkiss, daughter of Uriza Purkiss, at Trinity Church, St Mary Newington, Surrey. (Newington is just south of Bermondsey and east of Lambeth, and Uriza's name is unclear on most records - variously transcribed as Josiah or Uriah or Euriah. Censuses show that Maria was a couple of years older than Charles, but no birth record for her has yet turned up.

Charles and Maria had two surviving daughters of whom we know anything.

• Maria Laccohee was Neil's great grandmother, and her story is taken up below.
• Alice Laccohee was born in 1847. She married Charles Thomas Tomkies in the autumn quarter of 1869. There were at least two children, of whom one was called Charlie (ie Charles Tomkies). We would love to make contact with descendants.

• Charles Laccohee, born 13 Jun 1848, died 18 months later from measles 1 week, pneumonia and convulsons 3 days. His mother registered the death.

• Sarah Laccohee died on 12 Nov 1852 age 1 year 11 months of pneumonia. Charlotte Purkiss, (presumably a relative of Maria) was present at the death.

Charles Bousfield Laccohee's family

It is probably these children who are with Charles and Maria in the photo on the right. The other couple and their children are unknown.

Charles and Maria appeared in the 1851 census as follows: Charles, head, 33, cordwainer, born Surrey, Horselydown; with wife Maria, shoe closer, born Middlesex, Bishopsgate; daughters, Maria, 7, Alice 4 and Sarah 4 months; all born Surrey, Walworth; and mother in law Charlotte Purkiss, widow, 71, shoe closer, born Somerset Yeovil. Charles was probably working in the Bermondsey leather market.

No census 1861 census record for the family has been found. They were probably still living in Deans Buildings in East Street as those census books appear to be missing.

The 1871 census showed Charles at 91 Elstead Street: Charles Laccohee, head, 54, shoemaker, born Surrey; with wife Maria, shoecloser, born Middlesex. They were still there in the 1881 census, but Charles was now listed as a haberdasher.

At the beginning of 1891, Charles was widowed again when Maria died. The 1891 census showed him at 5 Curlew St, Horslydown with the family of his daughter Maria who was, by then, married William Samuel Webb.

Charles died on 3 Nov 1893 at 35 Curlew Street, Horsleydown, London, aged 76 of cerebral haemorrhage. (The death certificates shows age 77.)

Maria Laccohee (1844-1919)

Maria Laccohee who became Maria Webb

Maria Laccohee - Neil's great grandmother - was born on 3 January 1844 at 1c North Buildings, East Street, Walworth, Surrey. What we know of her before her marriage is from census records, which are given above for her father's family.

Maria married William Samuel Webb and the rest of her story is documented on his page. Their daughter, Maria Alice Webb, became Neil's grandmother after she married Alexander George Cryer.

How the Southwark Laccohees fit into the wider laccohee community

This page is 1 of 5 Laccohee pages. 2 of 5 documents their origins in the weaving communities of Wallonia. 3 of 5 is about the move from Wallonia to Norwich, England. 4 of 5 is about the move some 200 years later from Norwich to London, and 5 of 5 gives genealogical data on the early descendants of the London Laccohees.