FRENCH CANNINGS:
Alfred Canning's London Area
From banks of the River Thames at the bottom of the map, up to Finsbury, is just over one mile. Each blue circle represents a special area of our family's history. A short walk would connect these circles.
The lowest circle includes 16 Bride Lane, Blackfriars, from which, in 1831, Alfred was writing his correspondence, and receiving it. At this time, he also knew Lieut-Col Leslie Walker (see below), with whom he was presenting the lifesaving device for use at sea to the Royal Sailing Society, London. This must be the same device as the model he was discussing in his correspondence with the Shipwreck Institution (now the national Royal Lifeboat Institution), the offices of which were about a mile away to the east, just past St. Paul's Cathedral.
The middle circle is where Lucy Franklein (nee Lucy Mary Powell) was living in 1886, at 19 Harpur Street. This is significant because it may prove to also be the place where she was born, in 1843. And THIS may connect to Ann Powell ~ we hope! Lucy Franklein's mother (also named Lucy Powell) in one census record, was said to have been born in Blackfriar's, right where Alfred was! Lucy's mother may have been Ann Powell's sister. The Powell women were quite elusive. But online censuses and information now show that they seem to have stayed right in the Holborn/Blackfriars area for many generations. I think it likely that Ann may well have been a young woman living in Holborn (maybe even at the Harpur Street house) when Alfred occupied 16, Bride Lane.
The upper-right circle is where Rafton Canning died in 1866, on Spencer Street, with John O'Connor at his side. Rafton had a look-alike brother. That brother was most probably Baltriune Canning, born to Alfred and Ann in 1837, Rotherhithe, just across the Thames River at the bottom of this map.
About a quarter mile northwest of the top circle, just off the map, is Cumming Street, the residence of Lieut-Col. Leslie Walker. It was Col. Walker who joined Alfred in presenting his lifesaving device to the Royal Sailing Society in 1831. Walker was himself an inventor, and we have a copy of his fire escape patent. He was quite a significant personage. He fought at the Battle of Waterloo as a Major, 71st Highland Regiment, and became a Companion of the Order of the Bath (C.B.) for his services in that battle. Became Lieutenant Colonel, unattached, in 1828. And, he may well be the same Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Walker (how many could there be?) who, in 1836, founded the first Masonic Lodge in South Australia. We recall that Margaret Hook, Baltriune's wife and the mother of his two sons, was a world traveller from South Australia.
CONTACT US ~~~
Kim Salisbury
Bixby Knolls, California
tractionpads@earthlink.net