Address: Red Cross Court

The 1871 Census gives her age as 49 and place of birth.

Address: Southwark, Surrey

Her parents would have been present but who else is not known

At the time of the 1861 Census taken after she had been widowed she is working as a laundress. It is assumed that she had to start working shortly after her husband's death and that she continued work as a laundress until she married Hezekiah Dowell.

Address: 20 Rinlice Place

The family consisted of Elizabeth, who is now a widow and working as a laundress, and her two children, Thomas 9 who is at school and Elizabeth 13 who is employed as a paper box maker. She probably worked at home.

Address: Shoreditch, London

She probably worked to supplement the family income especially as her husband's job as a sawyer was probably not well paid and took whatever work she could get. The available evidence (she worked as a laundress before her marriage to Hezekiah Dowell and after his death) indicates that she had not been formally trained as a seamstress and her level of skill was based on what she had been taught by her mother and practice. The dates are somewhat speculative and are based on the date of her marriage to Hezekiah and of his death.

Address: 3 Ducal Street

She is living by herself in one room in a house occupied by two other families who, judging from their names are not related to her. There are a total of 8 people in the house sharing facilities such as a toilet. How she cooked or made a hot drink is a matter for speculation.

Address: Bethnal Green Workhouse, Waterloo Road, Bethnal Green

She is one of about 300 inmates and there is a staff of 26. Althoug her recorded age is 76 she is shown as working as a laundress. Whether she worked in the workhouse laundry or went out to work is not known.

Address: Bethnal Green, London

She was not recorded in the 1911 Census. A trawl through the the Death Registration Index for her death between 1901 and 1911 produced only one possible match in Q4 1907 aged 83. However, it is not registered in Bethnal Green which it would have been had she died in the workhouse, but in Wandsworth. At first it was thought that one of her children had taken her in but as it is not known where they lived it is not possible to connect them to Elizabeth. However, when the Death Certificate associated with the death registration was obtained it was found to refer to a different Elizabeth Dowell. Extending the search produced no credible 'hits', neither did a search on the General Register Office website. It would appear that Ancestry does not have digitised records for the Bethnal Green Workhouse which are held by the London Metropolitan Archives. Thus a visit to the LMA would be needed to search the Admission and Discharge Registers and Creed Registers for Elizabeth.

At this stage all that can be said is that Elizabeth died after 1901.

Hezekiah Dowell (1816-1881)

Sarah Dowell (1862- )

William Dowell (1864- )

Address: in the Parish of Shoreditch, Middlesex

Edward Drew was the brother of Hezekiah’s first wife Hannah Drew. The relationship of Jane Goddard to the couple is unknown. Hezekiah's father may have been present but his mother had died in 1836. Elizabeth's parents may also have been there but who else attended the wedding is not known. Elizabeth was nearly seven monthe pregnant with their first child whn she went to the altar.

Address: 2b Queen Street, Pitfield Street

The household consisted of Hezekiah, his second wife Elizabeth and their son William Dowell; Hezekiah's two sons from his previous marriage to Hanna Drew, Fredrick and Thomas Dowell; Thomas English who was Elizabeth's son by her previous marriage to Joseph English; and a grandchild Elizabeth Quince who was the daughter of Elizabeth English (d/o Joseph English and Elizabeth Gill) and Henry Quince. Although Hezekiah was working as a sawyer, Elizabeth as a seamstress (almost certainly at home), Thomas English as a wire worker, and Frederick and Thomas as errand boys the total family income was probably very small. They shared the house with 2 other families and in all there were 18 people in the house. The size of the house is unknown.

Thomas English (1825-1851)

Elizabeth Mary Ann English (1848-1931)

Thomas English (1852- )

Address: Islington, Middlesex

Thomas and Elizabeth and possibly members of their families would have been present to hear the Banns read.

Address: Islington, Middlesex

The relationship of the witnesses to the couple is not known. J Price was probably a friend of the groom. Thomas English may have been the bride's father or brother. Probably members of the groom's and bride's families were also present.

(It had been deduced from the 1871 Census record for Hezekiah Dowell that his wife Elizabeth had been married previously to an English. Their Marriage Register entry showed that her maiden surname was Sparks.)