1841: Alice's parents William Wiseman and Alice Appleyard married on 4th February in the the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral. They both gave their address as Ship Lane.


1853: Alice's birth is recorded in Ely in the fourth quarter.


1854: Alice was baptised in the Lady Chapel of Ely cathedral on 22nd October. Her address was given as Common Muck Hill, Ely.


1861 census: the 1861 census for Ely is lost. Alice would have been eight years old.


1871 census:

Alice was seventeen at the time of the 1871 census. The Wiseman family were living in Victoria Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Alice's father William is shown as a labourer (unemployed). He was 55. Her mother Elizabeth was 48.

Alice was the second of four children living at home. Abraham was 29 and is shown as a labourer, Benjamin was 12 and James was 4.

All the family were born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, except for her father who was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk. You can see the transcript for the entry here, and the original entry here.




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 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:

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

Her husband Henry is shown as an agricultural labourer. He was also 26 years old.

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

Alice was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as were all the children. Her husband 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 actually in Essex, just over the border. The transcript for their entry is here.

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

1899: When Alice'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 Alice's husband 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:

Alice was forty-four years old at the time of the 1901 census. The Page family were living in Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Alice is shown as a charwoman. Her husband Henry was in prison at the time of the 1901 census. She is described as married, and her relationship to the head of household is noted as wife.

Alice had 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 (suggesting that the Thomas who appeared on the 1891 census was ten months old, not ten years), Charles was 8, Sarah 6 and Helen 1 (a significant five year gap?).

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

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.

I haven't yet worked out where Alice's home address was, but three of her 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.

Alice's husband Henry was sixty-seven years old at the time of the 1911 census. He is 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.