George Ivall (1853-1932), cabinet maker

George Ivall was my great grandfather. He was born on 21 Aug 1853 in Southwark, the son of David Ivall (1816-67) and his wife Elizabeth Ann nee Gibson (1817-92). George was the eighth of their ten children (three of which died in infancy). The 1861 census lists David Ivall, aged 44, a coach maker living at 19 Nursery Row, Walworth, South London with his wife Elizabeth Ann (aged 43) and their children Georgiana (17), Elizabeth (10), George (7), Louisa (5) and William (2).

David Ivall, George’s father, died in 1867. George was then aged 14. He was apprenticed to the piano-making trade but broke his apprenticeship and became a cabinet maker. In 1871, George (18, a cabinet maker) was living in Cottage Row, St Mary Newington, Lambeth with his widowed mother Elizabeth (58, a general dealer), sister Louisa (15, a domestic servant) and brother William (11).

On 17 May 1875, George married Alice Eliza Newman at Christ Church Somerstown, a district of London near St Pancras Station. He was 21 and she 19. She was born 1856 in Portsmouth, the daughter of Edmund Newman (1820-67), a millwright, and his wife Ann nee Creese (1820-74). The marriage was witnessed by Richard Newman (1846-1927), Alice’s eldest brother, and Louisa Ivall (1856-98), George’s younger sister. The marriage certificate indicates that Alice was illiterate.

George and Alice had five children namely Alice Elizabeth (1877-1939), George William (1880-1934), Rosa (1884-84), Rose Lily (1885-1965) and Albert David (1889-1960). All were born in Somerstown.

In 1881, George (aged 27, a cabinet maker), Alice (25) Alice (3), George (5 months) and their niece Eliza Hocking (11) were living at 5 Stebbington Street, St Pancras. Eliza was a daughter of Alice Newman’s sister Mary Jane Newman (1851-1927), who married William Hocking in 1868.

George’s daughter Rosa died in 1884 aged 5 months 10 days. The burial records for St Pancras Cemetery show that she was buried there on 6 August 1884. Her family’s address is given as 5 Stebbington Street.

Records show that George and his family moved house several times between 1881 and 1901, as can be seen from the table below

Year	Address	Record
1881	5 Stebbington Street, St Pancras	Census
1884	5 Stebbington Street, St Pancras	Burial of Rosa Ivall
1885	47 Drummond Crescent, St Pancras	School admission of George W Ivall
1889	16 Clarendon Place, Seymour Street, St Pancras	Baptism of Albert D Ivall
1889	51 Freeling Street, Islington	School admission of Alice E Ivall
1891	51 Freeling Street, Islington	Census
1896	33 Boleyn Rd, Hackney	School admission of Albert D Ivall
1899	61 Spencer Rd, Hackney	School admission of Albert D Ivall
1901	125a Holly Street, Hackney	Census

The 1891 census shows George Ivall (aged 38, a cabinet maker), Alice (36) and their children Alice (13), George (10), Rose (5) and Albert (2) living at 51 Freeling Street*, Islington. Charles Booth did a poverty survey of London in 1891. He classifies the inhabitants of Freeling Street as being in category 3 (out of 7) “Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family.” George’s younger brother William (1859-1940) and his family were living nearby at 44 Freeling Street.

By 1901 the family were living at 125a Holly St*, Hackney and consisted of George (aged 49, still a cabinet maker), Alice (47), Alice (23, a theatre bar manageress), Rose (15) and Albert (12). Their son George is not listed as he was in the marines and overseas. The inhabitants of Holly St are classified as category 5 in the 1898-9 Booth poverty survey meaning “Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings.”

Electoral registers show George Ival living at 26 Sophia Cottages, West Hackney from 1905 to 1908.

In 1911, George (57, a general cabinet maker) was living at 76 Princess May Rd, Stoke Newington with his wife Alice (55) and children Rose (25, a restaurant waitress) and Albert (22, a general cabinet maker). The census return records that there were 4 rooms in the dwelling and that George and Alice had 5 children, 4 of which were alive in 1911. Their older children (Alice and George) had married and moved away by then.

Electoral registers show that George was living at 2 Graham Road, Hackney in 1918 and at 11 Bay Street*, Hackney from 1922 to 1932. The 1921 census lists George (aged 67, a retired cabinet maker) and Alice Eliza (65) Ivall staying with their daughter Rose Lily, who had married Walter Edwin Kebbell and lived at 9 Medina Avenue, Newport, Isle of Wight. Walter (aged 37) and Rose (35) are listed at the address with their children Joyce (7) and Winifred (6). Walter's occupation is recorded as "Brewer's manager, bottling dept" working for Whitbread Co Ltd at the Wighthall Brewery, Quay St, Newport. The census was taken in June 1921, so presumably George and Alice were visiting their daughter for a summer holiday. 

George died in 1932 aged 78 in Hackney. He was buried on 30th June 1932 in grave 2132, square C in Tottenham Park Cemetery.

After George's death, Alice went to live with her son Albert and his wife Florence at nearby 8 Mapledene Rd*, Dalston (Hackney), where she died on 12th May 1935 aged 79. She was buried in the same grave as George. 

* None of these houses exist now, their sites having been developed with new housing.