Patrick Stephen Corvan continued

I can't find any information on Cecilia Burn and her family, but there is a reference to her on the Oldbaileyonline site which states her address in 1845 as Lawrence Street, which was given as her address at the time of her 1846 marriage in the parish records of the Sardinian Chapel:-
"1313. SARAH BRYAN was indicted for stealing 2 pair of trowsers, value 7s.; 2 pairs of boots, 1s. 6d.; 1 scarf, 3d.; and 1 apron, 6d.; the goods of Richard Thorpe.
RICHARD THORPE . I live in Lawrence-street, St. Giles. On the 22nd of May, about half-past two o'clock, I went out for some refreshment—I returned at half-past three, and missed my trowsers and the other things stated—I went out, and saw the prisoner down Lascelles-place, with this pair of trowsers and this apron in her apron—they are mine.
CECILIA BURN . I live in this house. About three o'clock I was in the parlour—I heard a person going down stairs—I opened the parlour door, and saw the prisoner coming down, with a bundle of clothes in her apron—I could see the back of a pair of boots amongst the things quite plain—I knew the prisoner before by sight.
Prisoner's Defence. At half-past one o'clock I was coming home; a woman was coming along with a basket of clothes; I looked at these trowsers; she asked me half a crown for them; I gave her 1s. 9d., and I gave her 1 1/2d. for this apron.
GUILTY . Aged 54.— Confined Three Months.
SARAH BRYAN, Theft, simple larceny, 16th June 1845.

Lawrence Street was also part of the St. Giles Rookery district, and in close proximity to Buckeridge Street where the Corvans resided. Another Old Bailey report reveals that Lawrence Street was also the location of a shop that John and Patrick Corvan ran together in the mid-1840s:-

" 49. November 1844: ANN DOWLING was indicted for stealing 1 stock, value 6d.; 1 pipe, 6d.; 1 ring, 5s.; the goods of Patrick Stephen Corvan: 1 brush, 1s.; 1 locket, 3d.; 2 pieces of thrum, 3d.; 1 piece of candle, 1d.; 1 fork, 6d.; and 1 tobacco-stopper, 2d.; the goods of Patrick Stephen Corvan and another, her masters.
PATRICK STEPHEN CORVAN: I am a partner with my brother. We have a shop in Lawrence-street, St. Giles's. The prisoner came there from time to time as a charwoman. She was in my employ on the 1st of October, and left on the 2nd, I think. On the 4th she came to my shop with this ring, which is my property, on her finger. I said, "Dear me, that is my ring, where did you get it?". She said, "I picked it up by the water-butt". I said, "Give it me". She took it off, and gave it me. I missed other property, and went with a policeman to her residence. I found the property produced in a trunk and boxes. She was present at the time we found a brush, a pipe, and a stock. They are the property of myself and my partner. The prisoner said they were given to her by my sister.
DENNIS MAHONEY (police-constable E 63.) I went with Mr. Corvan to the prisoner's lodging. She was there. I found all these things, except the ring, in her boxes.
ROSA CORVAN : I live with my brother John, who is partner with Patrick Stephen Corvan. I never gave these things to the prisoner.
Prisoner's Defence: I found the ring, and left it in the kitchen till Saturday, and then took it home; the other things have never been in that house; the brush belonged to a young man who is gone to sea.
GUILTY . Aged 32.— Confined Two Months ."
An advertisement in the Catholic Advertiser of 1845 also supports the fact that the Corvans had a business in Lawrence ( or 'Laurence') Street:- "John Corvan, Coal Merchant. Royal George Wharf, Bankside, Southwick; and 9 Laurence Street Bloomsbury."

In 1844, Buckeridge Street was one of parts of St. Giles which was demolished when New Oxford Street was driven right through the centre of the district in an attempt to rid London of one of its worse slum areas. The plan backfired, however, when no attempt was made to re-house the thousands of poor citizens who lost their homes and lodgings- they simply crammed themselves into the parts of St. Giles which were still standing and made the overcrowding and resulting disease far worse. One of the streets saved from destruction was Church Street, and it was here that Patrick Corvan had already removed to when he married in 1846.

The first child born to Patrick and Cecilia Corvan was a daughter. Born in 1847, CATHERINE ANN CORVAN named after both of her grandmothers,and known as 'Kate'. She was born in the family home at 31 Clements Lane, Westminster. Kate Corvan died in 1858, aged ten years.

Second child was a son named THOMAS PATRICK CORVAN, named for his grandfather Thomas Burn and father and grandfather( both Patrick Corvans).The London Times carried the notice of his birth:

" “BIRTHS: On the 5th inst. the wife of Mr. P.S. Corvan, of Clements Lane, of a son and heir.
-Thursday September 7, 1848.”

Twenty two year old Thomas Corvan in the 1871 census was working as a carpenter and living at home with his parents and siblings. His father was a master builder employing 4 men, so Thomas was most likely working for him.
In 1880, at the age of 32 years, Thomas Patrick Corvan married Annie Vandome, the daughter of Thomas Vandome and Ann Peak. Annie was born in St. Pancras in late 1854, and had two brothers- John born 1851 and William born 1852. Their father Thomas Vandrome was a light porter who had been born in c. 1821 in Shoreditch.He married Ann Peak in 1849, but died in early 1855 after only five years of marriage.His wife Ann raised her children by becoming a lodging house keeper.

Annie Vandome Corvan was not even one year old when her father died, and like her mother she also lost her husband after only several years of marriage. Thomas Patrick Corvan died in late 1884 in the Kensington district, aged only 35. His four years of marriage had produced two daughters, Annie Corvan, born Kensington district in late 1880,and her sister Cecilia Corvan born in 1882; and a namesake, Thomas Patrick Corvan in September 1/4 of 1884, just before his death. Sadly, his son did not live to honour his father's name...baby Thomas Patrick Corvan died late 1885, aged one year.Daughter Annie did not marry, and died in 1917 aged 36.
The 1911 census return shows the widowed Annie living at 19 Siddons Buildings, Drury Lane, Strand, with her two daughters. Annie was 56 years old and working as 'foreman, book folding'. Daughter Annie was single and aged 31, and employed as a numerical printer. Twenty eight year old Cecilia was working as a book folder.


In 1850, second son JOHN CORVAN was born to Patrick Stephen Corvan and Cecilia Burn. As a young man John was taught the trade of ornamental engraver, and was working in this profession at the time of the 1871 census when he was 20 years old and living at home with his family.
In the September 1/4 of 1873, 22 year old John Corvan married Elizabeth Inch.Their first child was a daughter whom they named Rose Cecilia Corvan. She was born in the September 1/4 of 1874, at St. Clement Dane, Westminster.
Other children born to John and Elizabeth were John Stephan Corvan in 1875, also in St Clement Dane and Vincent Anthony Corvan in 1879, distict of St.Olave,Rotherhithe, in Surrey.Vincent Anthony Corvan emigrated to the USA and had a family, the descendants of whom still live there.
Moving on from John and his family for the moment, the fourth child born to Patrick Stephen Corvan and his wife Cecilia was a third son. Named ANTHONY CORVAN, the baby was born in 1852. The little fellow came to a tragic end in 1856 when he suffered terrible injuries in a fire accident in his home. The local newspaper told the story:

" A child named Anthony Corvan aged five years was burnt to death by a fire breaking out on Friday night at Number 42 Clements Lane,Strand.It appears that the mother had gone out and left the child in the room, and neglected to put a guard before the fire, when the unfortunate little creature began playing with the cinders and accidentally set fire to the bed and bedding in a front room on the first floor.- From Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, Sunday July 13, 1856.
Four year old Anthony Corvan was buried on July 14, 1856, at the All Souls Catholic Cemetery in Chelsea.

Cecilia Corvan's next two children also did not survive their childhood:- CECILIA CORVAN was born in 1854 and died the same year, and the following year sixth child GEORGE CORVAN was born and died in 1855.Both of these children were buried in the All Souls Catholic Cemetery at Chelsea...Cecilia Corvan was buried on October 27, 1857, and her five week old brother George Corvan was buried on October 19, 1855.

Child number seven was a daughter named ROSA CORVAN after Patrick Corvan's youngest sister. She was born in 1857, and remained a spinster all of her life. She lived with her brother John and his wife Elizabeth after the death of their parents in the mid-1870s, then after 1884 lived as a lodger or boarder in other peoples' houses.

Patrick's and Cecilia's eighth child was JAMES ANTHONY CORVAN, born in 1858, St. James Middlesex. In the 1881 he was 21 and boarding with his brother Albert, working as an upolsterer.James married Mary Helen Fisher on August 9, 1883, at Soho, Westminster.James died in 1919 in the Newcastle Upon Tyne district,and as yet I have no other information about him or his family.

Corvan child number nine was ALBERT GEORGE CORVAN, and he was born in 1861, Strand, London.In 1881, he was a 19 year old plumber in Mile End Old Town, boarding at 28 Charles Street, with his brother James.Albert and his wife Agnes had a large family of children- Albert, Thomas, William, Bernard, Agnes, Rose, Winnifred and Mary. After living in Shadwell, London, Albert moved his family to Walthamstow, Essex, in the 1890s. He changed his occupation as a young man to printers' copyreader, and by the 1901 census was "Printers' reader assistant". Albert Corvan Senior died 1913,West Ham, Essex, aged 51.

The tenth Corvan child was yet another son- VINCENT CORVAN, born c. 1863, St. James Middlesex.Vincent married Bessie Emma Nuttle, Camberwell district, 1884. Their first child was a daughter named Hilary Cecilia Maud Corvan. She was born on February 2, 1885, at 221 Saint James road, Southwark, Surrey. For some unknown reason she was not living with her parents at the time of the 1891 census. They were living together at 48 Earl Street, Southwark:

Vincent Corvan/head/29/printer/b Clare market, London
Bessie Corvan/wife/30/born Plymouth.

I finally located their daughter Hilary at 6 Brook Hill Road, Woolwich, London, living with the Younger family:
Lottie Younger/head/single/18/bc. 1873, Ireland/ P.O telegraphist
Jessie Younger/sister/17/b c. 1874, Ireland/sorter cook(??)
James Younger/brother/15/b c. 1876,Ireland/fitter & turner apprentice
Sidney M. Younger/brother/14/b c. 1877, London
Charlotte C. Smith/cousin/27/b c. 1864,London/housekeeper
Hilary C.M Corvan/niece/6/b 1885/scholar/b London

I have just spent the last hour in investigative mode to discover the exact relationship between Bessie Nuttle and the Younger family, and am very pleased to report success!

Bessie Emma Nuttle was born in Plymstock, Devon, in 1859, to parents Elizabeth Mortimore and Philip Nuttle who had married the previous year in 1858.Another son, William Henry, was born in Plymstock in 1860. Philip Nuttle died in 1862, and in 1867 Elizabeth Mortimore Nuttle was married to Thomas Hogben. He didn't last much longer than her first husband, because by the 1871 census she was once again widowed:

1871: Plymstock, Devon
Elizabeth Hogben/head/widow/35/dressmaker/b Ashburton, Devon
George Parsons/lodger/married/45/ag lab/born Devon
William Nuttall/son/10/b Turnchapel, Devon.

Elizabeth's daughter Bessie Emma Nuttle is staying with her maternal grandmother on the night of the '71 census:
Plympton, Devon
Elizabeth Mortimore/head/widow/59/laundress/b Stoke Damerel, Devon
Samuel Mortimore/son/23/plasterer/b Plympton
Bessey Emma Nuttle/granddaughter/12/scholar/b Plymstock
John Willcocks/son-in-law/32/cordwainer/b Frome, Somerset
Emma Willcocks/wife/27/laundress/b Plympton
George Willcocks/grandson/1 month/born Plympton.

In 1872 Elizabeth Mortimore Nuttle Hogben married for a third time, this time to James Younger.Despite being in her mid-thirties, Elizabeth bore James Younger two sons and two daughters. Daughters Lottie and Jessie were born in Ireland in c.1873 and c. 1874 respectively.Son James followed in c. 1876, also in Ireland, but by the time son Sidney appeared in c. 1877 the family had returned to England.
In the 1881 census the family was living at 38 Parfitt Road, Rotherhithe, which is the same street as John Corvan and his family were living in at the time:

1881: 38 Parfitt Rd, Rotherhithe
James Younger/head/marr/37/engraver-writing/b Clerkenwell, M'sex
Elizabeth Younger/wife/45/b Ashburton, Devon
Lottie Younger/daughter/8/scholar/b Ireland
Jessie Younger/daughter/scholar/b Ireland
James Younger/son/5/b Ireland
Sidney M/son/4/b Bermondsey, Surrey


In 1881 20 year old Bessie Emma Nuttle was working as a farm servant for 41 year old farmer Walter Wyatt and his 35 year old sister Susan at Plymstock.She married Vincent Corvan, youngest son of Patrick Stephen Corvan and Cecilia Burn, in 1884.

James Younger, Elizabeth's third husband, died at Woolwich in 1888, aged 44. Elizabeth herself died in early 1891, aged 53, which explains why her daughter Lottie was the head of the household at the young age of 18 in the 1891 census.Lottie's siblings were aged 17,15 and 14, so it was fortuetous that their 27 year old cousin, Charlotte Smith, was living in their home as a housekeeper. The fact that 6 year old Hilary Cecilia Corvan was described as their niece was by the virtue of her being the daughter of their half-sister, Bessie Emma Nuttle, from their mother's first marriage.
Phew..that took a lot of delving and scribbling on paper to sort out relationships and marriages!
Sadly, Hilary Cecilia Maud Corvan died not long after the 1891 census. She died at Woolwich, aged six, in the September 1/4 of 1891.I obtained her birth certificate to ascertain who her parents were, and the information given was "On the second of February, 1885, at 221 Saint James Road, Southwark, Hilary Cecilia Maud was born to Philip Vincent Corvan, a farmer, and Emma Bessie Corvan formerly Nuttle. The informant was "P.V Corvan, father, of 221 Saint James Road, Bermondsey."
It is interesting to note that the forenames and middle names of both parents were reversed on the certificate...Vincent calling himself 'Philip' and Bessie as 'Emma'.
Two more children can be found in the birth index for the St. Olave district after Hilary...in 1886 Alfred Moray Corvan was registered and then in 1888 Elizabeth helen Corvan. Both children died in the same year as they were born.Without purchasing the certificates I cannot say for sure whether they were the issue of Vincent and Bessie, but it is certainly a possibility.
I have trawled the 1901 census for Vincent and Bessie( or Philip and Emma!) under every spelling and variation and combination, and am just about ready to admit defeat. I can't find their deaths either-for the moment the pair of them have simply vanished into thin air.



The last child to be attributed to Patrick and Cecilia Corvan was a daughter named CATHERINE CORVAN. Unfortunately, their last born child was to be no more fortunate than their first born...like her namesake Catherine 'Kate' Corvan who died when she was 10 or 11 in 1858, this baby Catherine died in her infancy in 1866, the year after her birth.

The census returns help track the growth and progress of Patrcik's family:-

The 1851 census finds the Corvan family living at 31 Clements Lane, Westminster:
Patrick Corvan/ head/ 38/ coal merchant/ b Lingfoner, Ireland
Cecilia Corvan/ wife/ 24/ b St. Andrews, City.
Kate Corvan/ daughter/3/ b St. Clements, Westminster.
Thomas Corvan/ son/ 2/ b St. Clements, Westminster.
John Corvan/son/ 6 months/ b St. Clements, Westminster.
Ann White/ servant/ 21/ house servant/ b Cork, Ireland.


In 1861, Patrick and his family were still in Clements Lane:
42 Clements Lane, Westminster.
Patrick S. Corvan/ head/ 49/ builder/ b St. Giles, London.
Cecilia Corvan/ wife/32/ b St. Andrew’s, M’sex
Thomas Corvan/ son/ 12/ scholar/ b St. Clements
John Corvan/ son/ 10/ scholar/ b St. Clements
James Corvan/ son/ 3/ b St. Clements
Rosa Corvan/daughter/ 4/ b St. Clements
Mary Crisp/ 65/ widow/ servant/ b Ealing M’sex.


1871 Census: 42 Clements Lane, St. Clement Danes
Patrick S. Corvan, b c. 1817, aged 54. Born county Longford, Ireland/ Head of household. Occupation builder master, employing 4 men.
Cecilia Corvan, aged 41, born St. James, Middlesex, wife.
Thomas P/ 22/ born Middlesex/ son
James J. / 20/ born Middlesex/ son
Albert/ 10/ born Middlesex/ son
Vincent/ 8/ born Middlesex/ son.




Patrick Corvan built himself a successful career as a builder. He died in 1873, aged 63.