John James Magee
John James Magee
born 14 January 1847 Deptford
married Catherine Eliza Warner 23 September, 1866 in Southwark
died 17 December 1915 in Peckham
Children
Catherine Eliza (1869-?)
John James (1871-?)
Anny (1873-?)
William (1875-?)
Florence (1879-?)
Maude Beatrice (1884-1925)
Documentation
Birth, death and marriage certificates
Censuses for the years 1851-1911
Daughter Maude’s birth and marriage certificates
Register of Leaving Police Force
John
origins
Hebrew meaning ‘favoured of God’. An all-time favourite name. In his case he was probably named after his paternal grandfather.
variations
Jon, Jonathan, Johan, Jean
abbreviations
Johnny, Johnno, Jack
James
origins
Hebrew, from the same root as Jacob, meaning ‘supplanter’ Another all time favourite name. In this case it was his father’s name.
variations
Seamus
abbreviations
Jim, Jimmy, Jimbo, Jamey
I see this great-grandfather as a tough man - he was a policeman after all, and I doubt you could follow that profession for many years without being tough. You also needed to be tall (well at least 5ft 8 ins) and strong apparently.
His father was poor - a mere gardener and labourer, and he grew up poor, and, indeed, probably lived poor most of his life, though perhaps marginally more prosperously than his father Roger. That life was spent on the south side of the River Thames from his Deptford origins to the rather better Peckham and Forest Hill of his middle and later years. None of it was exactly salubrious though and he didn’t really live to a grand old age - he was 68 when he died - good enough for the time and place though.
Alas there are no photos but I recently found this one which is perhaps a bit better than the original drawing that I used.
