Robert Penfold (c.1853 - 1945) - husband of Elizabeth Caroline Lucas:

Curriculum Vitae



Names: 

Robert Penfold (senior), father of Frank Penfold, who (Frank) was father of Gwen Penfold.Archer.


Dates:     

Date of birth shown in WPFT as ‘c.1850’, and date of death as ‘c.1945’, and it adds ‘aged 95’. Clearly he died as a very old man, presumably remembered as such by his granddaughter Gwen Penfold.Archer.

Birth certificate data: (incorrect, I fear):

Robert Penfold’s birth certificate:


  1. Application No. COL 119 309;
  2. Registration district: Reigate;
  3. 1856;
  4. Birth in the sub-district of Reigate, in the county of Surrey;
  5. No. (can’t read the serial No.);
  6. When and where born: ‘Eighth February 1856, Walton-on-the-Hill’;
  7. Name, if any: Robert;
  8. Sex: Boy;
  9. Name and surname of father: William Penfold;
  10. Name, surname, and maiden surname of mother: Ann Penfold, formerly Letts;
  11. Occupation of father: Bricklayer;
  12. Signature, description and residence of  informant: ‘(X) The mark of Jane Letts. Present at birth’;
  13. When registered: ‘Fourth March 1856’;
  14. Signature of registrar: William Kendall (might be, can’t really read it), Registrar;
  15. Certified etc etc..... 25.4.2007.



Parents:

Not known, because not shown on WPFT. This Robert Penfold is the first Penfold shown. The Wells family goes back one generation further on the WPFT. It would be worth looking to see if Raymond  Penfold’s family history book called (approximately): ‘The Memories of a Forgetful Man’ contains anything more than the WPFT.


Siblings: 

None shown on WPFT.

Education:      

Not yet known.


Married: 

Robert Penfold is shown on the WPFT as marrying: (first name unknown) Lucas, and that they had five children (see below).

The WPFT also says that (in the context of Robert and his wife being strict baptists), that she was ‘afraid to die’, and that the Lucas family is believed to have a Jewish connection.

Census Data re Penfold Family:

1851 Census:

Cannot yet find William and Ann Penfold in 1841 in Somersetshire. The only Somerset location shown is Martock and the name appears to be ‘Banfield’ anyway.(pba.23.6.07). Since two of the sons (George and Robert appear to have been born in Somerset, there must be some explanation in terms of the family having a period of some years there).

1861 Census re Robert Penfold: 

1. Nutfield, Broosans Cottages;

2. William  Penfold, head, married, age 57, Agricultural Labourer, born Surrey, Nutfield;

3. Ann  Penfold, wife, married, age 53, Laundress and (finally deciphered with Ruth (Ruth Garner.Archer)’s help) Charwoman, born Surrey, Capel;

4. William Penfold, son, unmarried, age 16,  (so born approx 1845) agricultural labourer, born Surrey, Reigate;

5. George  Penfold, son, age 13  (so born approx 1848), born Somersetshire, (can’t read town);

6. Robert Penfold, son, age 8 (so born approx 1853), scholar, born Somersetshire, Stogursey;

7. So, Robert is the youngest of 3 children, all sons, born to William and Ann Penfold, agricultural labourer and laundress/charwoman. These sons were born at Ann’s ages of 37, 40, and 45, which seems quite remarkable. And it appears that the couple lived in Reigate, Surrey at first (being there at least in 1845 when William was born), and then moved to Somerset (being there at least when George was born in 1848 and when Robert was born in 1853, so being there at least 5 years), before returning to Surrey. See saved document re agricultural history of Stogursey.(pba.7.2.14).

1871 Census re Robert Penfold:

1. Clarence (not really ‘Clarence’ but that’s the nearest I can get) House, Nutfield, Surrey;

2. William Penfold, head, married, age 66, labourer, born Surrey – can’t read town – looks like: ‘Newdigabes’(!);

3. Ann  Penfold, wife, married, age 62, born Surrey, Capel;

4. Robert Penfold, son, unmarried, age 18, labourer, born Somerset, Stogursey;

5. Margaret Croft, grand-daughter, unmarried, age 17, laundress, born (shown by ‘ditto’ signs) Somerset, Stogursey;

6. So, Robert Penfold was, at the age of 18 living with his parents aged 62 and 66, in Nutfield, and working as a labourer, while his wife-to-be was in domestic service in Reigate, aged 19;

1881 Census re Robert Penfold:

1. Thelpole Coffee Tavern, Reigate Foreign, Reigate;

2. (Looks on the census form as if ‘Thelpole Coffee Tavern’ is part of ‘Lorne Villa’ in which the adjacent families on either side live. So perhaps it was a Victorian terrace of which part had been converted into a coffee tavern. Could try to look this up on Google; haven’t found much on an initial ‘dip’ into the records.pba.22.12.07;

3. Robert Penfold, head, married, age 28, coffee tavern proprietor, born Somersetshire;

4. Elizabeth Caroline Penfold, wife, married, age 29, Coffee Tavern proprietor, born Lambeth (sic);

5. Frank Penfold, son, age 5, born Surrey, Nutfield;

6. Caroline Penfold, age 3, born Surrey, Redhill;

7. Ellen Kenward, servant, unmarried, age 17, general servant – domestic, born (could be) Sussex (not clear);


1891 Census re Robert Penfold: 

1. Reigate Foreign, Reigate, Surrey;

2. 11 Doods Road, Robert Penfold, head, married, aged 37, insurance agent, employed, born Somersetshire, Glastonbury;

3. Elizabeth C. Penfold, wife, married, age 38 (difficult to read 2nd figure), born Middlesex, London;

4. Frank Penfold, son, single, age 15, auctioneer’s clerk, born Surrey, Nutfield;

5. Caroline Penfold, daughter, age 10. scholar, born Surrey, Redhill;

6. Robert Penfold, son, age 7, scholar, born Surrey, Redhill;

7. Herbert Penfold, son, age 4, scholar, born Surrey, Redhill;

8. So, Frank Penfold was the eldest of 5 children born to Robert and Elizabeth Penfold, having been born to her at the ages of about 23/28/31/34; the family having lived at Nutfield and Redhill, Surrey, before moving to their present address at Reigate;


Census Data re Lucas Family:

1851 Census:

  1. Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark;
  2. No. 13 Layton’s Grove;
  3. William Lucas, head of family, married, age 23, Farrier, born London St. Andrew’s;
  4. Elizabeth Lucas, married, age 21, born Norwich;
  5. Elizabeth Lucas, daughter, born London ‘H’born’(?);
  6. Mary Ann Lucas, daughter, age 1 month, born Southwark, St. George;

1871 Census re Elizabeth Lucas:

  1. Civil parish of Reigate Forest(?) (begins with ‘For’, but looks like ‘Foreign’), municipal borough of Reigate, 
  2. Road or street or name of house: ‘Warwicks (something – might be ‘Road’ but doesn’t really look like it);
  3. William Holland, head of house, married (I suppose it must be, but doesn’t really look like it), age 53, Coachbuilder in London, born (can’t read it – may be Hertfordshire);
  4. Elizabeth Holland, wife, married, age 49, born Westminster;
  5. Elizabeth (might be ‘C. Elizabeth’, hard to say because the ‘Elizabeth is a ‘ditto’ sign below the ‘Elizabeth’ of Mrs Holland, and the ‘C’ is hard to decipher) Lucas, servant, unmarried, age 19, general servant domestic (difficult to decipher – see enlarged portion of this census saved separately), born London;
  6. So (pba, 9.6.07): Elizabeth Lucas was a general domestic servant in the home of William Holland, coachbuilder, of Reigate. And that location of her work was very probably how she came to meet Robert Penfold of Reigate;
  7. And (pba, 9.6.07) if Elizabeth Caroline Lucas was 19 in 1871, then she was born in about 1852;

Marriage Certificate:

Certified copy of an entry of marriage;

Robert Penfold and Elizabeth Caroline Lucas;


  1. 1874;
  2. Marriage solemnized at: The Parish Church in the Parish of Reigate, in the county of Surrey;
  3. No. 251;
  4. When married: December 5th (could be 15th), 1874;
  5. Name and surname: Robert Penfold and Elizabeth Caroline Lucas;
  6. Age: ‘full age’ (in both cases);
  7. Condition: Bachelor and Spinster;
  8. Rank or profession: Engine Cleaner, and blank;
  9. Residence at time of marriage: Groves Road, Reigate (in both cases);
  10. Father’s Name and Surname: William Penfold, and John Lucas;
  11. Rank or  profession of Father: ‘Labourer’ (looks like, but not very clear), and: Engine Driver;
  12. Married in the Parish Church, according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church, .... after Banns.... by me John M. Harrison (looks like), Vicar;
  13. This marriage was solemnized between us: Robert Penfold, and Elizabeth Caroline Lucas, in the presence of us: ‘Robert Dealing his (X) mark’, and Mary Jane Lucas; (Question [pba.5.11.09]: I wonder if this witness, R.Dealing, is significant, since there was a Robert Dealing who married…. Caroline Lucas, the bride’s mother, after the bride’s father, John Lucas, died. Yes, so Robert Dealing was witness to the marriage of his step-daughter Elizabeth Lucas ie he stood-in for his wife’s first husband in this role, as seems only natural.
  14. Certified to be a true copy... 25.4.2007.


(pba.5.5.07.ends.).

1901 Census:

1. 40 York Road, Reigate, Surrey;

2. Robert Penfold, head, married, age 48, insurance agent, worker, born Glastonbury, Somerset;

3. Elizabeth Penfold, wife, married, age 49, born London, Southwark;

4. Frank Penfold, son, single, age 25, estate agent’s clerk, born Surrey, Nutfield;

5. Robert Penfold, son, single, age 17, corn merchant’s clerk; born Surrey, Redhill;

6. Herbert Penfold, son, age 14, born Surrey, Redhill;

7. Rosalind Penfold, daughter, age 6, born Surrey, Reigate;



Children: 

Frank, born 1875, died 1959, aged 84, who married Rosa (Rose) Wells, and had children Vincent, Gwendolen, and Raymond;

Carrie, a milliner. No dates shown in the WPFT. Did not marry;

Bob, who Bob emigrated to New Zealand. No dates shown in the WPFT. It also says that, of the five children of Robert Penfold and his wife (nee Lucas), only Frank married. This is now known (through Helen Archer.Bowler’s research in New Zealand) to be not strictly correct, in that Bob married someone with a (to pba) Maori-sounding name; 

Bert, estate agent. No dates shown in the WPFT. Like Carrie and Roz, Bert did not marry.

‘Roz’ (presumably Rosalind), born 1895, died 1981, aged about 86, who, like Carrie and Bert, did not marry, and was an inland revenue accountant.


Occupation:  

  WPFT says: “He had a modest job as insurance collector with The Prudential”.c.f. his son Frank’s father-in-law, William Wells  (junior), who was a horticulturalist with nurseries at Merstham;



Lived:      

Nothing shown in WPFT about where he lived. 

Robert Penfold (junior)’s death certificate however clearly states: ‘Where born: Redhill, Surrey, England’. So, that, at least can be a starting point for searches in censuses for the family.


Other biographical details:

Photographs of Robert Penfold at one or two family events exist.

The WPFT comments, the comment being written across and above both of the names of  Robert Penfold and his wife: “narrow-minded, strict baptists, she, afraid to die.” It adds: “He had a modest job as insurance collector with The Prudential”.

(09.12.2009): Edward Archer phoned me (pba) this evening to tell me that he has found in Gwen’s room at 17 Ambleside Drive (where he lives – and she died there on 31.10.09) a book beside her bed called “Rural Gleanings” by (sounded like) Orlando Whitcraft, and inscribed (in pencil, I think Edward said): “William Penfold – his book. September 27th 1862”. So this may even be William Penfold’s own handwriting. The book is some kind of almanac. Edward said he would be happy to pass it on to me. (pba).

Sources of this data:

‘Wells/Penfold Family Tree (‘WPFT’), ‘Mk II’ by REA/GMA, which is marked: ‘Put together in Summer 2000 by R.Edward Archer from information supplied by Gwen Archer, nee Penfold.


Data from 1901 Census:


  1. Municipal Borough of Reigate, Surrey; North West ward; Address: 40 Yorke Road; 
  2. Robert Penfold, married, head of family, age 48, insurance agent, worker, born 'Somersetshire, Glastonbury'; 
  3. Elizabeth Penfold, married, wife, born London, Southwark; 
  4. Frank Penfold, son, single, 25, estate agent's clerk, born Surrey, Nutfield; 
  5. Robert Penfold, son, single, 17, corn merchant's clerk, born Surrey, Redhill; 
  6. Herbert  Penfold, son, born Surrey, Redhill; 
  7. Rosalind Penfold, daughter, age 6, born Surrey, Reigate; 
  8. Next door neighbours: at No. 42: family name Smith: head of house 'bricklayer's labourer', daughter: 'apprentice to tailoring'; 
  9. Other occupations noted in the same street: 'housemaid domestic', 'watchmaker jobber', 'baker journeyman', postman, gardener, dressmaker;



Dates of entry of data: 

06 and 07.12.06; 28.1.07 (census data);



qaa© Philip B Archer 2014