albert freelove
Subject : Albert Freelove (b 1869 – d 1955)
Researcher : Mike Brock
Guildford Union Workhouse orphan makes career as a tailor
Albert Freelove was born illegitimate and orphaned at the age of 2, but his time in the Guildford Union Workhouse saw him learn to be a tailor, going on to make a full-time career in the business as well as successfully raising a family in Handsworth, near Birmingham.
George Albert Freelove, to give him his full name, was born on 23rd April 1869 in ‘Pislake’ (now Peaslake), Shere, Surrey, the illegitimate son of Eliza Freelove. No father was named on his birth certificate. Eliza, aged 19, was the youngest of seven children of labourer John Freelove, and his wife Sarah. No record has been found of Eliza having had an occupation, but this may have been because at this time she was caring for her mother Sarah who passed away a few months later in early 1870 from ‘apoplexy’ aged 64.
The following year, in April 1871 the Census showed one-year-old Albert, as he came to be known, and his mother Eliza, living in Pislake with Albert’s widowed grandfather John Freelove and another of John’s grandsons. Eliza was the ‘housekeeper’.
Eliza was pregnant again at the time of that Census, but just two months later, she died in June 1871 after losing her unborn child and then suffering from complications. Eliza was just 21, leaving 2-year-old Albert as an orphan. The Guildford Union paid for her medical expenses and coffin.
There are no records to show if Albert remained in the care of his grandfather, but John too passed away in February 1879. The likelihood is that Albert was already in the Guildford Union Workhouse, where he was an inmate and a scholar when the 1881 Census was taken, just a couple of weeks before his 12th birthday.
As well as learning the basics in the Workhouse school, Albert would’ve been taught practical skills to help him find employment when he left the Workhouse. Tailoring was one such subject, with the Board of Guardians having employed a tailor, William Cheney, from about 1847 until his retirement in 1883.
Albert appeared to have learnt well from William Cheney and probably his successor, as the 1891 Census showed Albert to be a tailor, lodging in Eton, Buckinghamshire. Although just 21, he was clearly well respected in his job as he was a member of the Windsor and Eton Tailors’ cricket team. However, a scorecard showed him being caught for a duck in a match against Cippenham, so hopefully his tailoring was of a somewhat better quality than his cricketing skills!
Albert moved to Handsworth just to the north-west of Birmingham where he met Liverpool-born dressmaker Sarah Jane Daniel. They had their first child Albert Daniel there in September 1899, and although the birth certificate indicated Albert and Sarah Jane were married, this did not happen until the following year. The birth certificate also showed that Albert was a ‘tailor journeyman’, a title that originated from the French word for day, ‘jour’, meaning that he was paid on a day-by-day basis.
The 1901 Census showed 31-year-old Albert, Sarah Jane, 24, and their son, living with Sarah Jane’s widowed mother Jane in Douglas Road, Handsworth, along with Sarah Jane’s five younger siblings.
By the time of the 1911 Census, Albert and Sarah Jane were in a five-roomed property at the back of 97 Booth Street, Handsworth, where they would spend the rest of their lives. They now had three more siblings for 11-year-old Albert – 
Sidney Leonard (6), Dorothy Jane (4) and Walter William Lloyd (1). Walter William, though, passed away shortly after the 1911 Census, the family’s second loss as son Norman Owen had lived for only a short time in 1908. One more daughter, Marjorie Ella, was born in 1913, the year before the outbreak of World War 1.
Albert and Sarah Jane’s first son Albert Daniel was a month short of his 17th birthday when he enlisted in July 1917 with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Despite his young age, his civilian occupation had been a motor driver for WH Smith. In April 1918, Albert transferred to the 5th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and was sent to France in August. Less than a month later, he suffered a gunshot wound to his right elbow and was returned to England for treatment. Fortunately, the wound healed well and with the Armistice called in November, Albert was discharged from the Army in February 1919. He returned to work for WH Smith.
Later that year, Sarah Jane and Albert’s seventh and final child, Horace George, was born.
20 years on, the 1939 Register showed 70-year-old Albert, Sarah Jane, 62, and their youngest son Horace, 20, at Booth Street. Once again, with the outbreak of World War 2, Albert and Sarah Jane had to endure a son of theirs going overseas, with Horace serving in the Royal Army Service Corps in Burma. He came through the conflict, being released from duty in March 1946 and awarded the Burma Star Medal.
Albert and Sarah Jane, after almost 55 years of marriage and 45 years living in Booth Street, were finally separated when Albert passed away at home on 4th February 1955, aged 85. Sarah Jane died 10 years later aged 87, at ‘back 97’ Booth Street.
April 2025
Footnote: Albert’s aunt Emma Freelove (1835-1918) was also in the Guildford Union Workhouse in the 1881 census.
Spike Lives is a Heritage project that chronicles the lives of inmates, staff and the Board of Guardians of the Guildford Union Workhouse at the time of the 1881 Census. The Spike Heritage Museum in Guildford offers guided tours which present a unique opportunity to discover what life was like in the Casual/Vagrant ward of a Workhouse. More information can be found here
Sources
Ancestry.co.uk
British Newspaper Archive
General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
Surrey History Centre, Woking Surreycc.gov.uk
Wikipedia.org
For a full list of references click here