Thomas Ainley Hanmer: Census data
The census data for Thomas Ainley, once he'd left home, are as follows:
1881: Sunday 3 April: He was lodging (aged 24), with his older brother, John Marsden (aged 26), at 23 Sandon Street, Liverpool. John was at that time Assistant Secretary at the Liverpool Sailors' Home and Thomas was an Accountant. The Lodge House-Keeper was a 47 year old widow called Elizabeth Allison. She had been born in Cornwall and had a son, Will, aged 19, a Clerk. The census was taken in April. Later the same year, in December, Thomas married: his place of residence, recorded in the marriage certificate, is still 23 Sandon Street.
1891: Sunday 5 April: Now aged 34, an Incorporated Accountant and employer and married to 33 year old Elizabeth Ellen, Thomas was living at 43 Peel Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool with his wife and 4 children:
Bryce Meredith, aged 7 and a scholar
Thomas Leslie, aged 5, also a scholar
Doris, aged 3; and
Hassal, aged 1.
All four children are recorded as having been born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool.
Also part of the household were two unmarried servants: Florence Mitchell, aged 27, a mother's help; and Maria Taylor, aged 22, a general servant.
John Marsden was also by married by this time, to Pattie Nessie Stuart, and they had one son, Marsden S Hanmer. They were living at 9 Ingestre Road, Oxton, Birkenhead, but it wasn't their own house. Head of the household was George W Bennett, a widower and retired Iron Founder, aged 39. John (aged 36 and still occupied as Assistant Secretary of the Liverpool Sailors' Home) and Pattie (aged 33) were described as George Bennett's son-in-law and daughter-in law. This suggests the link was through Pattie's family - maybe her sister had been married to George. Marsden S Hanmer, George's nephew, was aged 8 and a scholar. Other members of the household were:
Dorothy M Bennett, George's 7 year-old daughter, a scholar.
Mary B Crosfield, 23 and single - a niece.
Lilian Crosfield, 21 and single - another niece.
Arthur M Crosfield, 18 and single - a nephew.
Henry M Bennett, 43 - George's brother and like him a retired Iron Founder.
Kate Bennett, 41 - Henry's wife.
James Turner, 22 - a visitor, "living on his means".
There were also 6 servants, all single women, including 2 nurses. Altogether a household of 17 people.
1901: Sunday 31 March: By this time Thomas and Elizabeth's family was almost complete - the only exception being Nancye Darling who was born in 1904. The family address was 16 Fairview Road, Birkenhead, Wirral. Thomas was now 44 and a fully Chartered Accountant and employer. Elizabeth was 43. Their 9 children ranged in age from 17 (Bryce Meredith, by now an Articled Clerk with a firm of Law Solicitors) to Philip Marsden, aged 1. The six eldest children had been born in Liverpool; the three younger ones in Birkenhead, Cheshire.
They had one servant, Evelyn Davis, aged 18 and from Liverpool.
John Marsden's 1901 census entry shows he is now the 46 year-old Manager of the Liverpool Sailors' Home and is living at 18 Reedville, Birkenhead with wife Pattie (43) and son Marsden (18). They have 2 servants - Alice Eccles, 22, a housemaid; and Elizabeth Miles, 20, a cook. John died on 7 September 1909.
1911: Sunday 2 April: The family were now living at 6 Hamilton Road, New Brighton, Wallasey, Cheshire. Thomas Ainley was 55 and still occupied as a Chartered Accountant. Elizabeth was 54, and there was a new addition to the family - 7 year-old Nancye Darling, born in Wallasey on 1 December 1904. Bryce Meredith, who would by now have been 27 and who married in 1908, had clearly moved out of the family home. Still living with their parents were:
Thomas Leslie, aged 26, Clerk.
Doris, 24.
Hassal, aged 22, a student.
John Satterfield, 16, a schoolboy.
Elizabeth Mary, 14.
Philip Marsden, 12, and like his older brother John a schoolboy.
According to Wikipedia, Oxton was once one of the most affluent areas in England mainly due to its proximity to Liverpool and the fact that, along with various other Merseyside locations, it was a favourite residential area for wealthy Liverpool merchants and tradesmen of the time. Oxton Village is a mainly early Victorian era settlement with fine sandstone and brick built houses, many of which now form part of a conservation area.