Robert Mollett jr - the children 2

Robert Mollett 1783 or 4-1866 The children (2)

Family no. 2

Robert Mollett 1783 or 4-1866 + Lucy Farr

Henry George 1819-1850

Isaac Farr - 1821-1857

The first born of Robert's second family was born two years into the marriage. I have no idea where his names came from. They are not, as far as I know anything to do with either of his parents' families, although they are, of course, pretty common names. George IV was king at the time, so I guess that might have been a reason. The youngest of his older siblings would have been 11 at the time of his birth, and possibly away at school, so Robert and Lucy may well have had him all to themselves. I'm sure he was cherished.

School in Bagshot perhaps followed by entry into clerking, not pastry and confections. Maybe Robert thought his children could do better.

By that 1840s court case he was working with William at Curries, for he is mentioned in the proceedings. and in the 1841 census he is living at the bank in Cornhill, working as a clerk However, even more interestingly I found his name on a list of subscribers to the Dublin and Kilkenny railway in 1837. He was just 18 at the time. He subscribed £1500 which when I investigated I found to be worth almost half a million Australian dollars these days! Where on earth did he get this? or was there a £1500 limit and the money was really being invested by his big brother John, who is also on the list? His occupation is also given as Gentleman - so really I wonder if there is another H R Mollett somewhere. If so I haven't come across him. Another mystery not worth investigating I guess. He does not appear to have married, but then the next thing we know of him is that at the age of 31 he dies. Why? Well again not worth looking into, but most likely some disease such as TB. In London there was a massive cholera outbreak between 1848 and 1850, so maybe he was one of its victims.

So tragic that a young man at the height of his powers should die. He is buried in Abney Park with his parents and younger brother.

Isaac Farr - clearly named for his maternal grandfather was another young man of promise cut off in his prime.

Unlike his older brother Henry, Isaac chose to work for big brother John and his Russian brokering/banking firm in Austin Friars. I know this because he is a witness in the Exchequer Bill court case. What else do I know of him?

Well he never married, but then he was just 36 when he died and may just not have found the right woman as yet.

He lived at home with his parents - first in Skinner Street where he grew up above the pastry cook's shop, and then in Stoke Newington with his mother and sisters.

And finally but probably most significantly he was a radical - a member, the Secretary no less of the North London Charter Association - The Chartists. The Chartists were, in a way, England's Revolutionaries. They campaigned for more equality in the form of worker's rights and suffrage, though I don't think they did much for women. Some of their leaders were convicted and transported to Australia. But not Isaac who just beavered away writing letters and Minutes, although he most likely attended demonstrations and rallies.

And then he died. In the prime of life. I do not know how.

Edward 1823-1824

Then a tragedy - baby Edward, who died at just 11 months old. Lucy's third child and as it turns out, her last son. It happened back then.

Lucy (Louisa) 1825-1875

At last a girl, which may have gone some way to alleviating the pain of losing Edward. And she was named for her mother. Mostly Lucy - like her mother, but sometimes Louisa - also like her mother.

And being a woman there is really not much to tell. She lived at home with her mother and sister, and Isaac too until he died, and then at the late age for the times of 35 she married a fairly wealthy man - an outfitter and hosier of Cheapside - who was almost twenty years older than she. He already had a grown family but they had no children, and within ten years of the marriage he died leaving her a wealthy widow at their home in Croydon. Ellis integrated himself into the family whilst married to Emily as I have noticed his name on various documents. I hope she was happy with him or a t least content.

She died in 1875 at the relatively young age of 49.

A bit of a gap and then the baby of the family, born in 1828, twenty four years younger than Robert and John, who must have seemed like uncles rather than brothers.

She seems to me to be the archetypal spinster aunt/daughter/sister. Always there to help and befriend. Indeed she seems to have spent most of her life in the company of her cousin Esther Mollett Gurney and various other Esthers - Esther Maria Greeves and a younger Esther Mary Gurney. She lived with her parents until they died, then with her big brother Robert and then with the various Esthers, moving from Stoke Newington, to the Isle of Wight where she finally died at the grand old age of 88. Maybe she moved here to be with her slightly younger big brother William.

She was always there - at deaths, as executor to wills, and so on. A quiet life, but most likely a peaceful and contented one. After all she never had to go through the trials of childbirth and its risk of death and she must have been comfortably off as well. She left a reasonable sum of money, it seems, to William Mollett Gurney - one of the many. Well he has Probate anyway.

It was the middle of WW1. Time to go maybe.