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| Pedigree chart for the Davies, showing my paternal great- grandmother |
In the news this week was the protest by
anarchists against a recently opened Cereal Killer Café. The Café was, according to the protesters, a
sign of the ongoing gentrification of Shoreditch, a part of London long the
home for the less well-to-do. The concern,
as is always the case with gentrification, is that the residents would no
longer be able to afford to live there, and as one of the only remaining less
expensive parts of London, they would be forced further out of town.
When I heard the report on CBC radio, I
remembered Shoreditch from the family records.
It took me a bit, but I located Shoreditch as the home of the Davies
family. The Davies are related to me
through my paternal grandfather. You
might recall Sarah Davies and her son Edward from an earlier blog where I tried
to uncover the truth behind a family legend, which I now suspect is one of a
Victorian-era bastard.
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| Davies family census 1861 |
Almost a century ago, Shoreditch was known
for its crafts industry, industrial workers and skilled trades. Our ancestors were French polishers and
hatters. I stumbled across a map of old Shoreditch (circa 1912) actually created in stunning detail by current artist
Adam Dant (featured on a blog about the area called Spitalfields Life). It’s worth checking out the link because you
can see where the different trades and crafts did their work. There are plenty of places manufacturing
varnish (useful for our French polisher Edward Lane Davies), along with
furniture makers. Interestingly, there is also a small
synagogue? Perhaps Sarah met a
“foreigner of Jewish origins” after all?
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| Adam Dant's map of Shoreditch |
Shoreditch continued its evolution as
London moved on in its industrial growth and its gentrification took off in the
last couple of decades as the dot.com industry started moving in. Commercial endeavours sprang up to support
those working in the industry, then hipsters, and now cafés which cater to
them… including ones specializing in cereals that your mother would never dare
feed you… Count Chocula anyone?
Sources:
Birth record for Edward Davies 1825
Census record for 1841, 1861
http://cerealkillercafe.co.uk/
Adam Dant’s Map of Shoreditch: http://spitalfieldslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/industrious_shoreditch_map.jpg
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