Henry Richard was baptised on 11 Jan, 1831 in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire^a1, the third son of William Alcock (1798–1864)★, a labourer, and Ann Lawson (1796–1862)★. He is Stephanie's great great grandfather.

Henry was recorded in the 1851 census at Tenter Buildings, Newark on Trent^b1 with his father William, now a stone sawer, mother Ann, a lace runner and three siblings Maria, a lace runner, Alfred, an agricultural labourer and Emma.

He married Millicent Mary Sharp (1837–1901)★, a domestic servant, on 4 Aug, 1859 at The Register Office in Newark on Trent^c1 and went on to have three children with her.

• William born on 29 Mar, 1860 at Tenter Buildings^a2. Married Annie Elizabeth Staines on 24 Oct, 1881^d1. Died on 17 May, 1941 in Huntingdonshire, England at the age of eighty-one.
• Henry Arthur★ born on 27 Jan, 1862 at Tenter Buildings^c2. Married Anastatia Cody★ on 25 Nov, 1886^e1. Died on 31 Jan, 1931 at 108 Salisbury Street, Bedford^c3 at the age of sixty-nine.
• Susannah Eliza born on 7 Apr, 1866 in Old Lenton, Nottingham. Died in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1919 in Caistor Registration District, Lincolnshire at the age of fifty-three.

In the 1861 census he was living at 48 Tenter Buildings, Newark on Trent, Newark on Trent^f1 with his wife Millicent Mary and son William.

Timeline

1831

11 Jan

Baptised in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire^a1.

1851

30 Mar

Recorded in the 1851 census at Tenter Buildings, Newark on Trent^b1.
Occupation recorded as agricultural labourer^b1.

1859

4 Aug

Married Millicent Mary Sharp★ at The Register Office in Newark on Trent^c1.
Occupation recorded as plaster pit labourer^c1.
Recorded as living at Tenter Buildings^c1.

1860

29 Mar

Son, William Alcock, born at Tenter Buildings^a2.

1861

7 Apr

Recorded in the 1861 census at 48 Tenter Buildings, Newark on Trent, Newark on Trent^f1.
Occupation recorded as working maltster^f1.

1862

27 Jan

Son, Henry Arthur Alcock★, born at Tenter Buildings^c2.

3 Feb

Occupation recorded as working maltster^c2.
Recorded as living at Tenter Buildings^c2.

11 Feb

Occupation recorded as maltster^a2,a3.
Recorded as living at Tenter Buildings^a2,a3.

1866

7 Apr

Daughter, Susannah Eliza, born in Old Lenton, Nottingham.

1881

24 Oct

Occupation recorded as maltster^d1.

1886

25 Nov

Occupation recorded as seaman^e1.

1901

22 Mar

Occupation recorded as master maltster^c4.

1919

Oct-Dec

Daughter, Susannah Eliza, died at the age of fifty-three in Caistor Registration District, Lincolnshire.

1931

31 Jan

Son, Henry Arthur, died at the age of sixty-nine at 108 Salisbury Street, Bedford^c3.

1941

17 May

Son, William, died at the age of eighty-one in Huntingdonshire, England.

Other Information

Other names and variations

• Henry Richard Alcock^a1,a2,a3
• Henry Alcock^{c2,c1,e1,d1,f1}
• Richard Alcock^c4
• Henry Allcock^b1

Research Notes

Where did Henry go? #

Henry was born in 1831 in Newark and married Millicent Mary Sharp★ (Mary) there on 4 Aug, 1859. By 1861 he was living with his wife and eldest child, William, in Tenter Buildings, Newark. He was recorded as a working maltser, a common occupation in the area.

However, something happened in the mid 1860s that led to Henry’s disappearance. The last mention of Henry in the records is the baptism of his last child Susannah in 1866. Thereafter we just have indirect references to him:

• In 1871 his wife Mary is living with her two sons William and Henry★ in Newark. She is recorded as married and is working as a charwoman to support the family. Their youngest child, Susannah, is living with Mary’s parents William and Mary Sharp in Grantham.
• By 1881, Mary has joined her parents and is living in Grantham with them and two of her children, William and Susannah. Henry junior has enlisted in the army and is barracks at Aldershot. Mary is still recorded as married so she presumably still believes her husband to be alive. She is working as a washerwoman.
• In 1891 Mary, still recorded as married, is living alone with her widowed father in Grantham.
• Mary dies on the 24 March 1901. Her son William was the informant on her death certificate where her occupation is recorded as “Wife of Richard Alcock, maltster master”. If William believed his father to be dead then almost certainly her occupation would have been recorded as “Widow of Richard Alcock”.
• Strangely, when Henry junior married Anastatia Cody★ in 1886 he stated his father’s occupation as “Seaman”.

We can can only speculate why Henry Richard is missing from the records for40 years. There are a number of possibilities, of varying plausibility:

a) He abandoned his family and took up with another woman. However, there is no trace of him in the census or civil registration records. He could have changed his name, which would make him exceedingly hard to find.
b) He was in prison. We haven’t found any records of his conviction or any reports in newspapers of the time. Being in prison might be an explanation for his son recording his father’s occupation as Seaman to avoid the shame.
c) He was at sea. We could take Henry’s marriage certificate at face value and assume his father was at sea. Newark was apparently a major inland port and the maltings were built close to the canal for transportation. The River Trent ran past Newark through Gainsborough to the Humber. (see humber packet boats article) We could check merchant seaman records for him.
d) He was present with his family but somehow was not recorded in the census. This seems implausible too. If he was not with his family on the night of the census then where was he and why was he not recorded in the census at that location? He could, of couurse, be aboard a ship. However, the seperation of the family in the 1871 census is suggestive of an unexpected economic shock. Mary has had to take on work as a charwoman and her daughter has been sent to live with her parents.
e) He was admitted to an asylum. It’s possible that Henry Richard had some kind of breakdown and was committed. His mother died in 1862, his father in 1864 and by 1866 he was supporting his wife and three children. Maltsers often had seasonal lulls so possibly there were economic pressures on him.