Herbert Sargent Barham was my great-grandfather and was the youngest son of Charles Hazelton Barham and his wife Eliza. He was born on 5th September 1859 in Northfleet, and in the 1861 census is listed living there aged one year with his parents and elder brother Charles. There is an anomaly however in that his mother's name is given as Elizabeth - a cause of confusion as Eliza had a younger sister called Elizabeth.
The next census in 1871 shows that the family had moved to Erith and that four further children had been added to the family - Clara, Bertha, Alice and Louisa. From the birthplaces of the daughters it can be deduced that they had moved at some time between 1865 and 1871. Parents Charles and Eliza plus brother Charles are listed but strangely there is no sign of Herbert. He was living nearby at the Locomotive Inn with his grandfather Richard Sargent and aunt Elizabeth.
Richard Sargent was born in Aylesford, Kent and had been a Coastguard in Sheerness where his wife Elisa Jessop was born, as were the two daughters Eliza and Elizabeth, They had moved to Erith by 1841 where a son, Richard, was added to the family and the 1851 census shows that they were then living in Greenhithe. Three years later Eliza married Herbert's father Charles in Southwark (her father's profession on the marriage certificate was described as "carpenter"). The 1861 census records that the Sargents were living in Plumstead and Richard was described as "Superintendent Coastguard but by 1866 they had returned to Erith where Eliza died aged 66. Richard must have retired from his coastguard duties as she is described on the death certificate as "Wife of Beer Shop keeper" - the beer shop being the Locomotive Inn where Herbert was residing in 1871. It was still in existence in the 1830s, as one of the volunteers at the Erith Museum when I visited in the summer of 2005 recalled it, being in the High Street, on the opposite side of the road from the Cross Keys. It finally closed in the 1960s - as described in a brief note on www.closedpubs.co.uk
The Locomotive was situated on the High Street near the junction with Bexley Road. This was a small 'spit and sawdust' pub that was demolished in the 1960s as part of the misguided regeneration of Erith.
It might be assumed that for some reason Herbert had spent the night with his Aunt and Grandfather on the night of the 1871 census, but 10 years later he was again to be found living there rather than with his family. The reason for this is a mystery. My father reported that when my grandfather (Herbert's son) spoke of his early life in Erith and SE London, he mentioned the two businesses – building and the pub.
On 16th December 1882, Herbert married Mary Agnes Hellyer in Rotherhithe. Mary was born in Weymouth, the daughter of Giles Hellyer a former mariner who had retired to Rotherhithe where he was a lock gate keeper on the Surrey Canal.
Herbert and Mary’s first child. also named Herbert, was born in Erith in 1886. He was soon followed by Edgar Percival, my grandfather; born on 20th December 1887 in Greenwich and baptised on 1st November 1989 at the Holy Trinity Church, Rotherhithe. At the time of the 1891 census they were living at 26, Hassenden Road, Greenwich (the house is still in existence today) and a further child, Harry Giles, was added to the family in 1889.
Over the next decade four more children were born – George Douglas (1893) Florence Isabel (1894), Agnes Mary 1894) and Walter Vivian (1895). The last two however died in childhood, Agnes at the age of 6 and Walter at 5. The 1901 census shows that the family had moved to Oakfield, 21 Old Dover Road in Greenwich. This section of the road no longer exists as it was excavated to make the approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. The eldest 5 children were present Agnes and Walter having died in infancy. The last child, Emily Constance (Emm) was born in 1903, by which time the family had moved to Southend-on-Sea in Essex.
