Ada Louisa (Gravestock) Dudman (1878 - 1947)

Born 1878 in Great Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Died 1947 at about age 69 in Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Biography

Birth

Ada Louisa Gravestock was born in the hamlet of Water End, Hertfordshire^[1] in the summer of 1878. Her birth was registered in the district of Hemel Hempsted,^[2] and she was the daughter of Daniel Gravestock and his wife Maria Geary.

Water End is in the parish of Great Gaddesden, and that's where Ada Louisa was baptised on 4th August, 1878. Her father's occupation was given as gardener.^[1] Water End is beside the River Glade, a chalk stream which had many watercress beds, and this may have been the work he was engaged in; he was described as an agricultural labourer on the 1871 census.^[3]

Family Life

By 1881, the family had moved south to Hendon in Middlesex, when Daniel was described as a carter and was still an agricultural labourer.^[4]

They were still in Hendon a decade later,^[5] but by 1901 they'd moved the relatively short distance to the rapidly expanding area of Willesden. Here, Ada's father was working as a general labourer and her younger brother as a plasterer. Twenty-two year old Ada and her 25-year old sister were both described as wickers in a night light factory.^[6]

Ada, aged 32, was unmarried, still working in the night light factory and still living with her widowed mother in 1911. Two of her brothers - one a plasterer, the other an insurance agent - were also living with them.^[7]

Birth of Frank

In the second half of 1912, Ada found herself pregnant. With her baby's father either unable or unwilling to marry her, she appears to have been "made to feel the shame of her situation". Her son, Frank James Gravestock was born in April 1913, in a home run by The Society for the Rescue of Young Women and Children in Upper Norwood, Surrey, to the south of London.^[8]

The Society had been formed in 1853 to rescue young girls from prostitution, and ran Victoria House, 99 Central Hill, Upper Norwood as a training home for girls, advertising it's services regularly as a laundry.^[9][10] In the 1911 census, most of those listed as inmates were teenagers. In her mid-thirties, and from a respectable home, Ada was probably one of a steady trickle of similar women, many of whom had never imagined this could happen to them, who passed through its doors.

Unlike in some such establishments, there doesn't seem to have been a requirement for her to remain in the home long-term with her son, but there's no evidence that she returned to her family home and it's not clear where Frank spent his childhood.

Marriage

In 1916 Ada married Wallace Dudman, a porter at Dulwich College school, who was a widower a few years older than her with several children. The marriage took place in Camberwell registration district in south London.^[11]

In 1921, Ada L Dudman was recorded living in Camberwell with her husband Wallace and five children from his previous marriage, but her son doesn't seem to have been with them.^[12]

Widowhood and Death

Wallace died, aged 48, the following year. His death was registered in Hendon, a registration district which covered a wide area to the north west of London, including Willesden.^[13]

The couple had perhaps moved nearer to Ada's family as Ada herself also died in Hendon registration district, aged 69, in 1947.^[14]

Research Notes

More sources for Ada's parents: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/MLR8-8DD

Wallace Dudman in 1911 census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW5T-3SX His wife Rosa A Dudman, 36, died in 1914 in Camberwell registration district.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hertfordshire : Great Gaddesden : St John the Baptist : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5b14eddaf493fdb40a6a8349 : viewed 19 Oct 2023) baptism Ada Louisa Gravestock 04 Aug 1878 Parents Daniel and Maria, father's occupation Gardener. Abode: Water End.
2. ↑ Birth Registration: England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Birth (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content : accessed 19 Oct 2023), database entry for GRAVESTOCK, ADA  LOUISA  (Mother's maiden surname: GEARY). GRO Reference: 1878  S Quarter in HEMEL HEMPSTED  Volume 03A  Page 460.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VF6V-8W9 : 26 June 2022), Daniel Gravestock, 1871.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27Z-8KJ3 : 13 December 2017), Daniel Gravestock, Hendon, Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 41, Piece/Folio 1367/83, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,584.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q67F-SW2 : 22 February 2021), Daniel Gravestock, Hendon, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Middlesex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X96W-7Z2 : 20 May 2019), Ada Gravestock in household of Daniel Gravestock, Willesden, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Willesden subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW4H-CGD : 24 March 2022), Ada Gravestock in household of Maria Gravestock, Willesden, Middlesex, England; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
8. ↑ Frank's Birth: "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FPN-VTN : 1 October 2014), Frank J Gravestock, 1913; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Croydon, Surrey, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England. [1]
   Image of Birth certificate attached to son's profile.
9. ↑ 99 Central Hill: Newspaper report on a prize giving referring to '... training girls to a life of usefulness … at the Home at 99, Central Hill, Upper Norwood. ... part of the work of the Society for the Rescue of Young Women and Children, …' Norwood News 28 June 1928
10. ↑ Victoria House: Laundry work solicited for Girls' Training Home. Price list from Matron. Victoria House, 99 Central Hill, Upper Norwood. Streatham News August 1915 and other dates
11. ↑ Marriage Registration: Marriage Entry (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=3jCLp85VEwRtKNh9%2BDelRA&scan=1 : accessed 19 Oct 2023) FreeBMD database online. Gravestock, Ada L. [and Wallace Dudman https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=mB92yuVhCWixUsFBVhSppQ&scan=1], Marriages , 1916 June Quarter, Camberwell Volume 1d Page 1728.
12. ↑ 1921 Census: Database online at FindMyPast UK Entry for Ada L Dudman, b 1877 Hertfordshire, England; living in parish Camberwell, Registration District Camberwell. (accessed October 2023 Paywall: Image available)

    Camberwell, London, Surrey

    Wallace Dudman, b 1874 Camberwell

    Ada L Dudman, b 1877 Hertfordshire

    Ethel F Dudman, b 1896 Camberwell

    Kenneth Dudman, b 1899, Egham Surrey

    Hilda May Dudman, b 1903 Camberwell

    Doris Rosa Dudman, b 1905 Camberwell

    Charles Wallace Dudman, b 1908 Camberwell

13. ↑ Wallace's death: England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Death (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content : accessed 19 Oct 2023), database entry for DUDMAN, WALLACE     (Age at death: 48  ).GRO Reference: 1922  D Quarter in HENDON  Volume 03A  Page 319
14. ↑ Death Registration: England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Death (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content : accessed 19 Oct 2023), database entry for DUDMAN, ADA  LOUISE   (Age at death: 69  ).GRO Reference: 1947  S Quarter in HENDON  Volume 05F  Page 168