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Sixth Generation
Family of Richard PLOWMAN (P10) and Mary Ann PRIVETT
P15 Richard PLOWMANBorn in 1831 in St Pancras, Middlesex and christened on 2 November 1831 at St John The Baptist, Croydon, Surrey.
Richard was baptized in Croydon St John the Baptist on 2 November 1831 on the same day as cousin Mary Ann, daughter of Henry Plowman
Recorded residing at 10 Kings Street, Croydon in 1856.
Occupation: Annuitant (on 1881 Census return).
Richard married Emma. She was born in 1856 in St Pancras, Middlesex.
They had one child:
Marie (1880 Clerkenwell, Middlesex -)
Richard is recorded in the 1881 Census living at 40 Thornhill Square, Islington, London aged 46 with wife Emma, 25 and daughter Marie, 1.
P16 William George PLOWMAN
Born in 1835 in Beddington, Surrey. William George was baptized in Croydon St John the Baptist on 6 September 1835.
Occupation: Builder's Labourer.
About 1864 when William George was 29, he married Amelia. She was born in 1834 in Stockwell, Surrey.
They had the following children:
Thomas (1865 -)
John (1867 -)
Amelia (1870 -)
Phillip (1876 -)
William is listed in 1881 Census, aged 45, living with wife Amelia, 47 and children at Pelham Road, 8 Lavina Terrace, Wimbledon, Surrey.
Family of Charles PLOWMAN (P13) and Mary Ann POTTER
P17 William PLOWMAN
Born on 6 February 1848 in Overton’s Yard, Croydon (at 7.45pm) and christened on 11 June 1848 at St John The Baptist, Croydon, Surrey.
Recorded residing at
43 Surrey Street, Croydon in 1872;
12 Surrey Street, Croydon in 1876;
South Norwood in 1878;
Surrey Street, Croydon in 1881;
25a South End, Croydon in 1885;
67 South End, Croydon in 1887;
35 South End, Croydon in 1888;
Church Path, Croydon in 1900;
10 Keeley Road, Croydon in 1901
21 St James Road in 1911;
and at 381 Whitehorse Road, West Croydon in 1919
Picture 30 - Surrey Street market in 1911
William died in Croydon on 22 April 1919, at the age of 71. He was buried on 28 April 1919 in Queens Road Cemetery Croydon.
Occupation: Master Basket Maker.
Religion: Anglican.
On 2 April 1878 when William was 30, he married Elizabeth GROSSMITH (G15) in St Luke’s, Norwood, London.
Elizabeth GROSSMITH was the daughter of Thomas GROSSMITH (1819-15 April 1877) and Amelia Jane BROOKS (1818-6 January 1900. She was born on 10 September 1851 in Croydon.
Elizabeth died in 76 Eldridge Road, Croydon on 7 February 1933, at the age of 81. She was buried on 13 February 1933 in Queens Road Cemetery Croydon.
When William Plowman married Elizabeth Grossmith he was running the basket making business at 12 Surrey Street. However their marriage certificate has his address as Lower Norwood, (admittedly not a great distance from Croydon]. Elizabeth's father Thomas was shown as deceased.
They had the following children:
William Charles Arthur (1879 Croydon – 28 April 1881, aged 2)
Elizabeth Amelia (1880 Croydon. – 17 April 1882, aged 2. Cause of death: Measles)
P22 Rosabel Madelin Maud (1892-1960)
William is recorded in the 1851 Census living with parents and siblings at Overton's Yard, Surrey Street, aged 3. In the 1861 Census he is living with parents and siblings at 43 Surrey Street, aged 14. In the 1871 Census living with mother and siblings at 43 Surrey Street, aged 24.
William carried on the family business from his father, as a basket maker in Surrey Street, Croydon. At this time, it was the main shopping street in Croydon. Today it is one of the few open-air fruit and vegetable markets surviving in Surrey.
William is listed in Croydon Street Directories trading as a Basket Maker at 43 Surrey Street, Croydon between 1872 and 1874; and then at 12 Surrey Street between 1876 and 1884.
In the 1881 Census William Plowman is recorded as living in Surrey Street, at the age of 34, with wife Elizabeth, 29, son William, 2, and daughter Elizabeth, 11 months; and William's brother Henry C Plowman, 30. Elizabeth GROSSMITH lived next door, the daughter of a Glover and gaiter maker.
In the 1901 Census William is recorded aged 54 living at 10 Keeley Road, Croydon 'working on his own account' as a Basket Maker. He is with Elizabeth 50 and Henry 14, Florence 11, Maude 8, Ellen 7 and Cecil Ravenswood 1 (shown as a visitor). There are two boarders - Thomas Shepherd 46 at tailor and his wife Sarah 33.
William employed 40 men at the Surrey Street site. There is a family story that he made a chassis for a car in basketwork, and basketwork arch for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
According to his grandson, Stan Holledge, William was Queen Victoria’s "Brougham Maker", and did wicker work on carriages used on state occasions.
Picture 31 - A Brougham Carriage. This example was built around 1880 in London
The Surrey Street area of Croydon was very old almost medieval, in the 185Os,
with narrow winding lanes and houses where the upper stories overhung the road
and almost touched those opposite. About this time Croydon was expanding so the
whole area was demolished the roads widened and straightened and the Plowman
families moved to South Croydon.
The family moved to South End and was at three addresses: 1885 Number 16, 1887 Number 67 and 1889 Number 35. The last address (35 South End) was the former premises of William Grossmith, Glover.
The Plowman family had been involved in basket making for over 200 years. But the business failed in 1908, as cardboard boxes were cheaper. William was a very nice man but not very good at collecting debts. He was said to be a handsome man with great charm, much loved by his children.
In the 1911 Census William Plowman (64) and Elizabeth (59) are recorded as living at 21 St James Road, Croydon. He is recorded as a Basket Maker 'working at home'. Living with them are their children Maude 19, Nellie 17 and Cecil 11.
Picture 33 - The family moved to South End, Croydon in 1885
My Family Tree is a 60 minute documentary that I have made with my digital camcorder and edited into a video production.
This documentary is the story of four families. It is the story of my father's parents, Brigden and Chapman, and my mother's parents, Crowhurst and Plowman.
The video can be purchased for £5 plus £2 postage and packaging. To order a copy click here