1851: Henry was born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire a few weeks after the census and baptised on 17th August at St Mary's church.


1861 census:

Henry was ten years old at the time of the 1861 census. The Page family were living in The Street, Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire.

Henry is shown as a scholar. His father Robert is shown as a lime burner. He was 42 years old. His mother Elizabeth was also 42.

Henry was the fifth of seven children at the time of the 1861 census. Robert was 20, Sarah was 18, John was 14, Emily was 12, William was 6 and Elizabeth was 4.

Henry was born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire. Henry's father Robert was born in Harston, Cambridgeshire. His mother Elizabeth was born in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire. His brother Robert was born in Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire, and all his other brothers and sisters were born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire.The transcript for their entry is here.

1870s: There was a major restoration of Ely Cathedral at this time under the guidance of the architect George Gilbert Scott. As a stone dresser it seems likely that it was work on the cathedral that brought Henry from Little Shelford to Ely at some time between the 1871 census and his marriage in Ely in 1873.

1873: Henry married Alice Wiseman in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral on the 5th July. They both gave their ages as 19 years old. Henry gave his occupation as a labourer. Henry's given address was Broad Street, Ely, and Alice's was New Street, Ely. The witnesses were Joseph Bird and Mary Ann Appleyard - Mary Ann was probably an aunt or cousin of Alice.


1874: Henry and Alice were living in Broad Street, Ely, at the time of the baptism of their first son Henry in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral on 4th February.


1875: Henry and Alice were living in Annesdale, Ely, at the time of the baptism of their son William Robert in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral on 20th June.


1879:

Henry and Alice's son Arthur, my great-grandfather, was born on 31st March. His birth certificate shows he was born in Annesdale, Ely.


1881 census:

Henry was twenty-six years old at the time of the 1881 census. The Page family were living in Annesdale, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Henry is shown as an agricultural labourer. His wife Alice was also 26 years old.

Henry had five children at the time of the 1881 census. Henry was 7, William 5, Emma 3, Arthur was 2 and John less than 1.

Henry was born in Great Chesterford, Cambridgeshire. This appears to be a census-taker's error - in fact, Henry was born in Great Shelford. Great Chesterford is in Essex, just over the border. Henry's wife and children were born in Ely, Cambridgeshire.The transcript for their entry is here.

1882: At the inquest into the death of one Joseph Henry Bush, who had been drowned in the River Ouse beside the Waterside district of Ely, evidence was given by two men named Henry Page and Thomas Cross... They were standing on the High Bridge, and saw the deceased sculling up the river; he seemed to be all right: and for a minute they crossed the bridge to look up the river, but on returning to their old spot, they saw the boat empty: the deceased appeared once on the surface of the water, and disappeared. Although Henry Page and Thomas Cross are not uncommon names in Ely, it is probable that this our Henry. Like Henry, Thomas Cross is the name of one of my great-great-grandparents. Thomas was the father of Sophia Cross who would later marry Henry's son Arthur. Thomas lived in Broad Street, Henry in neighbouring Annesdale, and It seems not unlikely that the two men were friends twenty years before their children married.

1895: When Henry's daughter Sarah was baptised at St Peter's on 5th October, the family's address was given as Newnham Street.

1899: When Henry's daughter Ellen was baptised at St Peter's on 19th July, the family's address was given as Willow Walk.



1901: on 29th March, the Cambridge Independent Press reported that Henry Page, a labourer of of Willow Walk in Ely, was charged at Ely Petty Sessions at the instance of Inspector Dixon of the NSPCC with cruelly ill-treating his children - Susan (aged 11), Thomas (aged 9), Charles (aged 7), Sarah (aged 6) and Nellie (aged 1) by wilfully and unlawfully neglecting them. Henry pleaded not guilty. The charge was brought because he had failed to provide money for the family despite his £7 payoff for six months with the Suffolk Militia. Alice had been able to look after the family while he had been away, but on his return she had been forced to live apart from him because he ill-treated her from time to time and was unkind to the children. He demanded from her the money she earned as a charwoman, leaving her with only a few coppers, and she was unable to provide enough food for the children. Henry was given an exemplary sentence of six months with hard labour.

1901 census:

Henry was in prison at the time of the 1901 census. I have not found him.. He would have been fifty years old. Henry's wife Alice was forty-four years old at the time of the 1901 census (actually forty-eight). The Page family were living in Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Alice is shown as a charwoman. She is described as married, and her relationship to the head of household is recorded as wife.

There were seven children at home at the time of the 1901 census. John, an agricultural labourer, was 20, Herbert, an errand boy, was 18, Susan was 14, Thomas was 10, Charles was 8, Sarah 6 and Helen 1.

Alice was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as were all the children. The transcript for their entry is here.



1908: Henry's son Herbert's army attestation papers give Henry's address as the Queen's Head, Waterside, Ely (his wife Alice, also recorded in the papers, was living on Back Hill at the time).

1911 census:

Henry was sixty-seven years old at the time of the 1911 census. He was living in the Workhouse, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Henry is shown as formerly road labourer. No other members of the Page family are in the workhouse. The original census form is here.

His wife Alice was fifty-six years old at the time of the 1911 census (actually fifty-eight). She was a patient at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. Alice was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The transcript for the entry is here and the original image is here.

Three of Henry's five youngest children are living in a house on Back Hill, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Susannah (Susan in 1901) is 24 years old and married to Robert Easey, a market gardener aged 21. With the Easeys are living Charles Page, a boat cleaner aged 18, and Ellen Page (Helen in 1901) who is 11. The transcript for this page is here.