BURRAGE, Abbots Langley, 1877-1928

April, 2007

Albert Richardson (johnjudy @t blueyonder.co.uk) of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, writes: Carey Thomas Burrage of The Laurels Abotts Road,  Langley ???, died at St Pancras Schools, Leavesden, on 21. May 1928. He was born 1877 at Abbots Langley,  and married to Selina. He left a will,  so one supposes that he was a helper of some sort,  a teacher perhaps.  I am researching the Burrage family, especially those from the Abbots Langley area,  and those at Carshalton in Surrey.

There are photographs of Abbots Road circa 1909 and 1959 in Hastie's book Abbots Langley - An Outline History, which says it was laid out in 1866 and built up from 1880. You can find where it is by using modern online maps such as the facility on Google.

There is a picture and brief description (from 1886) of the St Pancras Schools on the Leavesden page, and the schools are described in later Kelly's directories (some of which are available online) up to its closure in about 1930. Like the nearby mental hospital (see The Long Stay Hospitals of the St Albans area) it was an outpost from Middlesex/London, and was built in Hertfordshire to educate pauper children (out of sight, out of mind). For this reason you should expect to find any relevant archives in London.

Carey Thomas Burrage's occupation should be given on his death certificate, and would normally be given in his will, and the associated administration documents. For earlier dates it should also be on his marriage certificate and the birth certificates of any children (who one might expect to be named in his will).

I see that in the 1901 census his occupation is given as a bricklayer, and I wonder if you have considered the possibility that he may still have been in the building trade in 1928, and died as a result of a work-related accident at the St Pancras Schools. The death certificate should make this clear, and if there was an accident the inquest is likely to be covered in the Watford Observer. [Note: Carey's place of birth is accurately transcribed on 1901 Census online - but has been indexed incorrectly on Ancestry.]

If you haven't yet done so it might be worth checking the online Kelly's Directories for Abbots Langley at the same time as you are checking the Leavesden entries for St Pancras Schools information.

May, 2007 (Afterthought)

A check of some Kelly's directories for Hertfordshire gives the following in Abbots Langley