I recently attended my Great Aunt's funeral where the mystery of the names was discussed.
My Great Aunt Sybil, and her siblings my Grandmother Violet Annie and Great
Uncle Robert (Bob) were the children of Joseph and Annie (nee Winter)
Faux, who in turn was the son of
Burrell and Susanah
Faux.
It was always known by my mother and her cousins that at the turn of the 20th century my Great Great Grandfather's family seemed to have two surnames - some were
Faux and some were
Foulger - for example my Great Grandfather ( Joseph) was known as
Faux but his two unmarried sisters ( known as the maiden aunts) were known as
Foulger.
With the death of my Great Aunt - the last of her siblings -there was no link left to ask so I decided to do some detective work using the Census records.
I decided to start with Joseph – Great Grandfather Joseph – since I knew he lived and was bought up in St
Johns Road Leatherhead.
My first problem was that I couldn’t find any record of him in 1901 – so went back to 1891 – and there he was.
1891 – the starting point
There were two household of
Faux living in St John’s Road:
First, Thomas, age 26 (born in Leatherhead) – carpenter/builder – and his wife Amy , 23 (born in Fetcham)
Secondly,
Burrell Faux, 48 (born
Pakenham,
Suffolk) – carpenter/builder - and his wife Susan, 43 (born Southampton) plus their children :
William, 21, bricklayer
Rose, 13
Stephen, 14 – carriadge?
Joseph, 9
Nellie, 7
Jane, 5
I then hit my first hurdle. Moving forward to 1901 I could find Thomas and Amy, now living in Ashtead, but no trace of
Burrell and family.
Through using some of their neighbours and hoping they still lived there I found out that by 1901
Burrell and Susan had changed their name to
Foulger, and
Burrell Faux had become William
Foulger!
1901 Census...
Thomas and Amy are now living in
Gladstone Road, Ashtead as
Faux with their children Thomas H, age 6, Dorothy H, age 5, and Margaret A, age 1.
The
Burrell Faux family have now become the William
Foulger family consisting of William and his wife Susan and their children:
William now 32 – bricklayer
Stephen, 24 – bricklayer
Rose, 23 – housemaid/domestic
Joseph, 20 – carpenter
Nellie, 18 – dressmaker
Jane 16
I then tried to go back further. 1881 was a complete blank as far as anything in
Surrey was concerned. The only
Burrell Faux I could find was born in
Pakenham Suffolk (near
Bury St
Edmunds) but was 55 (born ca 1826) living in
Bradwell,
Bucks with his wife Emma (4
Harwood St) and was a carpenter in a railway Carriage Company. At first I thought this may be the father of
Burrell Faux in Leatherhead but later ruled this out – just another branch, I think.
I tried 1871 and found nothing.
Then I struck lucky on the 1861 Census.
1861 Census...
Burrell
Faux age 19 , a carpenter, born in
Pakenham,
Suffolk was living with his parents John, age 36, - a carpenter- and Anna, age 42 – a shopkeeper in Chigwell
Essex.
Also living with them were:
Louisa, 17
Joseph, 15 – a carpenter
John, 12
Jane,7
Frederick, 1
The age, birthplace, name and occupation seem too close a fit to be wrong
I then went back to 1851 and 1841 and followed the links
1851 Census..
Burrell
Faux, age 8, was living in Puttocks Hill,
Pakenham,
Suffolk with his parents John and Anna.
Also:
Elizabeth P, 10
John G, 2
Louisa, 6
1841 Census...
John and Anna are living at Puttocks
Hall,
Essex with Elizabeth, age 11 months:
This still left me with the problem of 1871 and 1881, because they could not have just disappeared!
Eventually I found the following:
1871 Census..
The name on the census was using the spelling
Fawkes. Burrell and Susanah
Fawkes were living in
Fairfield, Leatherhead with:
Burrell, age 7
Thomas, age 4
John, age 2
Wiilliam, age 11 months
I could not find any of the family as
Faux or
Fawkes in the 1881 census. As a long shot I tried looking for a Rose
Foulger and struck gold!
1881 Census...
In St John’s Road the family is known as William and Susan
Foulger! Living with their children:
Robert, age 16 – railway clerk ( for some reason he isn’t on 1871 or 1861 lists, but could have been away from home, or could be
Burrell using another name!)
Thomas, age 14
James, age 13 – could this be John using a different name?
William, age 11
Mary, age 9
Stephen, age 4
Rose, age 2
Summary:
From
Burrell Faux/William
Foulger point of view I think I have peiced together the following:
1842/3: Born in
Pakenham,
Suffolk to John and Anna
1851: age 9, living in Puttocks hall with parents
1861: age 19, still living at home but in Chigwell
Essex, now a carpenter
1871: age 29, living in
Fairfield, Leatherhead with wife Susanah – spelt name as
Fawkes – and 4 children
1881: age 39, now known as William
Foulger for the first time. Living in St John’s Road with Susan and 7 children
1891: age 49, now back to
Burrell Faux (!) in St John’s Road with Susan and 6 children at home
1901: age 59, William
Foulger again (!) in St John’s Road with Susan 6 children still at home.
Post 1901.. appears that some of the family – Joseph reverted back to
Faux ( Nan, Sybil and Bob for example) but some stayed as
Foulger ( Iunderstand that Nellie and Jane were known as
Foulger)
Explains some of the what happened but no nearer knowing the why? Perhaps
Burrell had the name William as well – its not recorded anywhere in the census and I can’t find a birth record for a
Burrell faux in
Pakenham ca 1842/3 – but where did the Faux/Folger switch come from and why?
I have ordered the marriage certificate for
Burrell and Susan to see what that brings!!
I have also established that
Burrell Faux died in 1910 - I found the BMD record - but cannot find any death record of Susan/Susanah Faux/Foulger, even though I am told she died in 1932. My Great Aunt, who was born in 1912, always claimed that she never knew her Grandparents ( Burrel and susanah) - Burrell would have died before she was born but Susan/Susanah didn't die until she was 20!
Is anyone else researching this line because there must be quite a few descendents from
Burrell Faux/William
Foulger around!!
I would be willing to exchange any information by eMail if you leave a message here...
