On the 19th of May 1822 Elizabeth and Hannah Ousby were baptised at the church of St Mary Magdalene in Bermondsey to parents Henry and Elizabeth Ousby of Grange Road. Henry is described as a Labourer, and they are probably the Henry Ousby and Elizabeth Jenkins who married on the 18th of April 1802 in St Leonard's, Shoreditch. This baptism seems to be the only mention of the Ousbys in the Bermondsey parish registers, though with the name appearing in many different spellings - and transcriptions - varying from Ausly through Cusby and Ousley to Houseby, it's possible some have been missed. The 1851 census finds a John Ousby born in Bermondsey in about 1802, and living in the workhouse there, where he died in 1854, who was possibly Henry and Elizabeth's first-born. My original line of enquiry was into the granddaughter, Flora Isabel Bayliss, of the Elizabeth Ousby baptised in 1822 in an "heir-hunters" type investigation for the friends of a friend who died intestate. I didn't pay much attention to Elizabeth at the time but subsequent research has turned up a lot of information about her and her immediate family, much of this coming from parish removal orders. Elizabeth was born in about 1814, and married twice, both times to much older men. Her first husband was William Flint whom she married on the 11th November 1838 in St Leonard's, Shoreditch; he was a widower, twenty years her senior, and a Labourer living in High Street, Shoreditch. Elizabeth describes herself as a Servant, living in Curtain Road, and her father Henry, is one of the witnesses. Elizabeth brought an illegitimate daughter, born in Bermondsey in 1834 to this marriage, and she grew up as Mary Flint. The Examination of Elizabeth Ousby, singlewoman, Middlesex, to wit - This Examinant on her oath saith that she is 20 years of age, hath not been married, neither hath she done any Act to gain a Settlement in her own right. That for many years her father Henry Ousby Rented and Occupied an Entire House, No. 4 Smith's Rents in Bermondsey Street in the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey in the county of Surrey and paid £18 per annum for it; that he left the said house about 5 years ago and has not gained any subsequent Settlement. That she (the said Examinant) is pregnant by Alfred Dean of the "George" public house, Camberwell Road, in the County of Surrey, and is now become chargeable to the parish of Saint Leonard, Shoreditch. Sworn 20th February 1834. [Signed] Elizabeth Ousby. To be removed back to Bermondsey from Shoreditch. Elizabeth, William and Mary are still living south of the river in Southwark in 1841, though she'd married William from the family home in Shoreditch. William died in 1843 and Elizabeth married George Bayliss on the 7th April 1846 in St. Nicholas, Deptford. George, born in about 1785 was even older than her previous husband; described as a Labourer in the marriage register, the subsequent census has him as a Greenwich pensioner and he was buried at Greenwich Hospital on the 16th September 1856, aged 71. At this marriage, Elizabeth describes her father Henry, who had died in 1843, as a Warehouseman. George and Elizabeth had two sons: Joseph born in 1846 in Blackheath died the following year, and Samuel Henry who was born in 1851 died in 1905. At the time of the 1861 census, Elizabeth and her son Samuel Henry are living in St Pancras with her daughter Mary, who is now married to Alfred Campbell Jones. By 1871 Samuel Henry is an apprentice cabinetmaker, and Elizabeth seems to have dropped out of the records. Elizabeth's sister Hannah is also mentioned in a removal order, this time for her, Hannah's, illegitimate son, Frederick Ousby, or Henry Houseby. Hannah had four illegitimate children: Elizabeth, born in 1833 in Bermondsey; James born in 1838 in Shoreditch; Hannah Isabella born in 1841 in Shoreditch; Frederick (or Henry) born in 1845 also in Shoreditch. Frederick was subject to two removal orders: the first in October 1850 came about as the result of his mother, Hannah's death on the 14th August 1849. Aged 5, and born at No. 30 Norfolk Place, Bateman's Row on the 25th December 1845, he was living with his sister Elizabeth, age 17, at 122 Curtain Road, Shoreditch. it was decided that he should be taken to his father Henry Sharp. Thurs 3 Oct 1850. As to Henry Houseby of 122 Curtain Road aged 5 years with sister Elizabeth Houseby aged 17 years - Mother Hannah Houseby died 14th August 1849 - not married to Henry Sharp father of child - Child was born in Norfolk Gardens on 25th December 1845 - Mother's brother Joseph Houseby of 69 Friars Street Blackfriars Road - Mother's sister Elizth. Baylis lives at Blackheath wife of George Baylis a Greenwich pensioner aged 64 years - Taken to father 3rd February 1851. His sister Elizabeth was about to get married to Frederick Charles Turnpenny, so presumably didn't want him around. Uncle Joseph Ousby (Houseby) and his wife Elizabeth are already looking after his brother James, while George and Elizabeth Bayliss have care of his sister Hannah Isabella. I haven't found out where Henry Sharp lived but Frederick was back in Shoreditch on the 10th August 1851 to be baptised. The second removal order was in 1856, when the 11 year-old Frederick was sent back to Shoreditch from the parish of St Bartholomew the Great; is that where his father was living? Poor Fred, shunted around from pillar to post, doesn't seem to appear in any subsequent records. Hannah's daughter, Hannah Isabella Ousby, was born on the 8th July 1841 in Shoreditch, and when her birth was registered, her mother's maiden name was said to be Jones. She was baptised at St Leonard, Shoreditch on the 13th August 1843 to parents Thomas and Hannah Ousby who were living in Motley Court; the invented Thomas was said to be a Porter. In 1851 she is living in Blackheath with the Baylisses, and in 1861 she is a servant in Tottenham. When she married Samuel Silvester in 1865 in Croydon, she said her father was James Ousby, a Silversmith. Hannah Isabella died in 1920. Joseph Ousby was probably living with his sister Hannah and her children Elizabeth and James in Motley Court, Shoreditch in 1841. He was, according to the 1851 census, born in Bermondsey in 1813, and that census finds him working as a tailor at 69 Friar Street in Southwark. He had married Elizabeth Lake on the 24th September 1843 in St Saviour, Southwark, and Elizabeth Flint, his sister, was a witness. He gives his address as 10 Chapel Court, High Street, Boro', which is where George and Elizabeth were living at the time of the 1841 census. His nephew, James Ousby, Hannah's son who was living with them in 1851, joined the Royal Navy, and served on board HMS Niger; he died in 1876, when his ship was HMS Toowoomba, and he was found drowned. Another sibling for Elizabeth and Hannah was probably the short-lived Rebecca Ousby. She was born at the beginning of 1817, but was buried at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey on the 29th October that year having succumbed to smallpox: the address on the burial record is given as Smith's Rents, which was the address of the Ousby family as sworn to by Elizabeth in 1834. Thomas Ousby born in 1808 may well be another sibling. His birth year conveniently falls between John and Joseph, and he shows up in Shoreditch in 1828 about the time Henry and Elizabeth moved across from Bermondsey. He appears in the newspapers and the records of the Old Bailey accused with William Morley of "feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of George Carpenter Austin , on the 27th of October, at St. Leonard, Shoreditch, and stealing therein 3 spoons, value 15s.; 1 pair of shoes, value 6s.; 1 key, value 6d.; 1 poker, value 6d., an 18d., in copper monies , his property". They were both found guilty and sentenced to death, but "Recommended to Mercy by the Prosecutor and Jury, on account of their youth", Thomas was transported to New South Wales for life, and apparently arrived there on the 13th September 1829. And what of their parents? Henry Ousby seems to have been born in about 1767 if his age of 76 on his death in 1843 is to be believed. Elizabeth Ousby (née Jenkins) died at Curtain Road in 1838 in Shoreditch and was buried at St Leonard on the 9th August, aged 59.

Tales around the tree The Ousby family of Bermondsey & Shoreditch