The Purple Photo Gallery

Fairy

Capital, just capital

…. And so we come to our third colour supplement.

I have been aware that there have been a number of branches of the Craxford family living in the London area. It is perhaps unfortunate that whether by accident or design, here in particular the surname has been mis-spelled - and in a variety of ways. I was delighted a few months ago when I received a communication from Liz Osborne about one of her ancestors. The marriage certificate in question has spawned a research trail which will run and run

The stories on this page explore the relationship between the Craxfords and Croxfords. On Page 2 we have the fascinating story of the Britannia Theatre in Hoxton and how the Craxfords became the Craufords. London also seems to have been the melting pot which turned the agricultural Northamptoners into shopkeepers and steelworkers. Some of these links have been clarified but more remains to be done.

The advent of the 1911 England census has also cleared up a glaring mistake of mine and has illuminated some of the history of Elsie Jean Craxford. Her story has been moved from the research pages to its rightful place here.

The even more recent parish records released by the London Metropolitan Archives have unravelled many of the twists and knots in these branches and at long last we feel reasonably confident that we can now trace the lines back to Gretton. We have been struck on many occasions by the numerous references to Suffolk Street in Pentonville in the census returns and on copies of birth and death certificates. Now its history, and that of the family which resided there - can be revealed. Perhaps the widening culture gap between the theatre managers and performers of Hoxton and the traders of Clerkenwell was one reason for the obfuscation of the surname.

... continued in column 3

Page added: June 20th 2005
Last updated: March 3rd 2016

In Memoriam

Reginald Moore (1928-2012)
(Added June 19th 2012)

IN MEMORIAM

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of my cousin Reg on March 20th 2012. He was one of the earliest contributors to this website and his research into the London branch of the family was the initial spur to the development of the PURPLE pages. Our communications showed how truly world wide our connections had become. My thoughts, prayers and condolences go to his family in New Zealand. - ADC

Meet the editor

I had always enjoyed my history lessons in primary school, and one topic that fascinated me more than anything else was family history. Unfortunately as a ten year old, you are restricted as to what you can learn. I found out about quite a lot on my mothers side of the family, but my father’s side was a lot more complicated and therefore much harder to discover any answers. So much so, that I had no idea while I was growing up, that my paternal parents were in actual fact my great aunt and uncle. My siblings and I always knew them to be our grandparents.

Anyway, many years later, I decided to investigate further all branches of my family. Not an easy task, when very little is known. A few years ago, my brother showed me copies of our father’s birth, and also his grandfather’s death certificate. The field was left wide open for me to plunge into. This I did with great gusto and managed to get hold of some other certificates and information. I have searched many websites and found many cousins I never would have known about. There have been plenty of ups and downs in my searches.

It was on one of these searches, looking for some clues regarding Craxford that I came across Alan. My paternal grandfather’s grandfather married Sarah Ann Augusta Craxford in October 1857. This was as far as I could go. No other information could be learnt, despite all my researching. I was glancing through the Craxford name on genesreunited when I came across Alan’s name and sent him an e-mail. This has resulted in many communications, of which, Alan has kindly supplied me with information that he has gathered along the way. I don’t know how this relationship ties in with Alan and his branch of the Craxfords, but it is certainly a challenge to find out.

Liz Osborne: June 20th 2005

Please contact us

If you have any contributions or questions or comments about the information on this site, please contact us at Alan. We look forward to hearing from you.

Feature articles

THE CRAUFORDS OF HOXTON
"Alfred Craxford seemed to go by the name Crauford and had something to do with a theatre in North London."

THE CRAXFORDS OF LONDON: PENTONVILLE, UXBRIDGE AND BEYOND
"They were drawn from separate villages, albeit only eight miles apart. Each left a distinctive mark in the records to pique the curiosity of future researchers."

CRAXFORDS AND THE OLD BAILEY
"When I came into the tap-room, were not you very much in liquor...?"

SARAH'S TWISTED SKEIN
"Their married bliss was short lived as the following year, Thomas was dead... "

MAIDEN POSIES: ELSIE JEAN CRAXFORD
A girl from St Pancras, a talented poet and illustrator, a tragically short career

JOHN CRAXFORD, GENTLEMAN OF FOLKESTONE
"Pay unto my said son John the sum of one pound weekly during the term of his natural life ..."

CAPITAL, JUST CAPITAL... continued from column 1

These same archives, as well as the availability of copies of wills from the National Probate Calendar, have also been fundamental to tracing the lines of the third migration from the Welland Valley. We have followed four generations of descendents of John Craxford and Ann Wilkinson of Middleton cum Cottingham to a final resting place in Uxbridge. In between we have witnessed the highs and lows of wealth, sickness and intrigue. We have tangled with at least five distinct lines of the family Cox. We have tasted a variety of religious persuasions. We have followed one twig to the utmost ends of the earth. We were even able to clarify and amalgamate the two parts of the tree which settled in the valleys of South Wales near Pontypool

As part of these researches we have unearthed the fascinating story of George David Cox (eldest son of Joseph Cox and Louisa Craxford) who trained as a Baptist Minister and emigrated to Australia and New Zealand. From there, his own interests in genealogy led us to one of the "disappeared" villages of Northamptonshire and to another around the world migration which had occurred forty years earlier.

In the mean time, please read on … and enjoy!!