Henry James Burgess never met his father. Police Constable Henry Conrad Cornelius Burgess died of cholera in London’s East End in 1866, six months before his son was born.

That rather exotic full name on his son’s birth certificate is a little surprising as he was just plain Henry Burgess when he married Jane Hordle on 1st January 1865; but then on that certificate his father was named as Henry Conwright Burgess. Perhaps middle names beginning with C were a family tradition. If so then PC Burgess tried to continue it when he named his first son George Henry Cornelius.

Jane returned to her parents’ home in Wareham for the birth of her second son and so Henry James spent his childhood in Dorset, but he moved to London and was working as a carpet planner when he married Elizabeth Lucy Hely in 1890. It appears that he was not the easiest of husbands because after his two eldest sons returned from war service they felt the need to persuade him to leave home and live elsewhere. Perhaps the lack of a role model in his early years affected his behaviour when he married.

Click here to open a new window with source citations for the tree above.

It seems unlikely that Henry Burgess owned the car in this photograph, but he and some of his family look quite at home in it.

In the back seat, from the left, are sons Albert Henry and Harold William, their mother Elizabeth Lucy and their sister Lucy Elizabeth, who was known as Sis.

Harold was born in 1907 and that fits well with information provided by my cousin Nigel, whose father Reginald was missing from the picture. Perhaps he was holding the camera.

Nigel says that the photograph was taken in 1907/8 on an outing to Clapham Common and that the car was an Argyle 16 or 20 dating from about 1905/6. This convertible bodywork style for the passengers is called a landaulet or landaulette after the landau, a horse-drawn carriage with a similar folding top. Notice that the driver had no protection.

Sis died of pulmonary tuberculosis in November 1927, aged 28. Three years later Harold was in hospital, also with TB. He recovered and his long treatment may be traced through his letters. We can compare Harold's description of his time in hospital with his doctor's account of the treatment for TB in 1930-31. There is also a page showing Harold's practical and creative side.

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Here are some explanatory notes for the family members featured in the links below.

Jane Hordle, born 1843, mother of Henry James Burgess

William Payne, born 1740 and his family (great grandfather of Henry James Burgess)

James, Joseph and Thomas Payne, brothers of William Payne

Harold Burgess, born 1907, son of Henry James Burgess

Cyril Burgess, born 1909, brother of Harold Burgess

Grace Parmiter, born 1778, great grandmother of Henry James Burgess

Highclere Road, family home of Harold Burgess

Jane HordleThe Payne family and the ParishThe Payne brothers and the Militia

Harold Burgess and TBAbout Harold Burgess Cyril Sidney Burgess

Grace Parmiter's origins Highclere Road in WW2