According to the records there are two children with the name Susanna(h) Julia Phillips who were born in 1854 at Holborn to (1) Eliza Phillips (2) Charles and Emma Phillips respectively. We do not know if these are separate individuals or whether the records are not telling us the whole story, and that these are in fact the same person.

[1] Susanna Julia Phillips

Born approximately 1854 in Holborn, Middlesex (estimated from the age given in the 1861 census^[1]) .

Baptised March 27th 1859 at Holy Trinity, Dartford. The parents were recorded as Eliza Phillips (no father’s name given) and the residence is given as Union House, Dartford^[2].

1861: Dartford Union Workhouse.

[2] Susannah Julia Phillips

Born on 21st April 1854 at the Lying in Hospital, Endell Street, Holborn, London^[3]

The parents were named as Charles Phillips, a Blacksmith, and Emma Phillips formerly Farrier^[4]. The birth was registered on 1st May 1854 by E Phillips, the mother, of 3 Bartlett’s Passage, Fetter Lane in Holborn (Registration District of St Giles in the Fields & St George Bloomsbury, Sub-district of South St Giles in the Fields).

The registers of patient particulars for the Lying in Hospital have survived and are now held by the National Archives. The entry^[7] that corresponds with the birth of Susannah Julia Phillips^[8] gives the following detail:-

There are a number of possible theories to explain what has happened, which are outlined below:

Theory 1

Susannah  is Charles and Emma’s daughter (as the birth certificate states) but she is passed off later in life as Eliza’s daughter.

The patient registers from the hospital would suggest that the information entered on the birth certificate is correct, not least because Emma’s admission to hospital required the support of a ‘recommender’ who could vouch for her.

It is possible that Charles and Emma decided not to risk the life of their young child^[11] on a voyage that would take over 100 days – particularly if the child was sickly (their daughter Ellen Emma Phillips died in 1854 and this may have influenced their decision). At the same time, Charles and Emma would not have qualified for assisted passage to emigrate if it was known that they were leaving behind a daughter of this age.

Nevertheless, there would have been considerable practical difficulties for Eliza in looking after her sister-in-law’s newborn baby in an age where options such as bottle-feeding were a long way from being safely established.

Theory 2

Susannah is Eliza’s daughter but is passed off as the daughter of Charles and Emma when the birth was registered.

Eliza would not have been eligible for admission to the hospital (as she was not married) but perhaps, the family decided that she needed the care of the hospital for the birth of her child and passed her off as Emma to get her admitted.

However, the deception would need to have been carried out for quite some time and involve people outside the family (such as the recommender who supported the mother’s admission to the hospital).

It is worth noting that registrations of births and deaths in New South Wales record the number of children born to Charles and Emma Phillips and these numbers do not support the theory that Susannah Julia is their daughter.

Theory 3

There were two girls named Susannah Julia Phillips born in Holborn in 1854 and they are entirely separate individuals (as well as being cousins).

If this is the case then (1) the birth of Eliza’s daughter was not registered (though the births of her other children were registered) (2) the death of Charles’ daughter was not registered (Charles and Emma emigrated by themselves). At such an early date in the history of civil registration it was not uncommon for births and deaths to go unregistered.

Conclusion

Weighing up the evidence from the birth certificate, register of patient admissions and the 1861 census entry (which shows Eliza Phillips in Dartford Union Workhouse with her daughter, Susannah Julia Phillips, who was born around 1854) it seems highly likely that there was only one Susannah Julia Phillips.

Although the early documentary evidence supports the theory that Susannah was the daughter of Charles and Emma Phillips the practicalities of looking after a new born baby (as well as the fact that the child survived) would tend to support the theory that Susannah was Eliza’s daughter. However, the only certainty is that no definite conclusion can be reached from this distance to the actual events!

Susannah Julia Phillips (1854-1910)

The registers and census records show that there is one Susannah Phillips alive in the following decades, which would appear to be the child living with Eliza in Dartford Union Workhouse in 1861.

Although Susannah states her place of birth in all the records after 1861 as Dartford, Kent we know that no birth was registered for a Susannah Julia Phillips in Dartford. As Susannah spent almost all her childhood in Dartford it is perhaps unsurprising that she gives this as her place of birth (she may not even have been aware of the Holborn connection).

1861: Dartford Union Workhouse^[12]

Susan (7)  is in the workhouse and is listed as a scholar. The record shows that she was born in Holborn, Middlesex. Susan is living with Eliza (30), a calico print worker; her brother William (13), a scholar; and her sister Eliza (3), an infant. The rest of the family have Dartford, Kent listed as their place of birth.

1871: 23 Waterside, Dartford, Kent^[13]

Susan Phillips (16) is an unmarried servant to the family of Alfred Wolfe. Susan’s occupation is given as general servant domestic and her place of birth is recorded as Dartford, Kent.

1881: 114 Hythe Road, Dartford, Kent^[14]

Susan Phillips (23) is an unmarried mill hand and her place of birth is recorded as Dartford, Kent. At this time she was a boarder with Thomas and Mary Shepherd. A few doors away, at 108 Hythe Road, is Edward Cuckow (31) an unmarried gas laborer stoker.

Susannah Phillips married Edward Cuckow in the Parish Church at Orpington by Banns on April 23rd 1882^[15]. Edward Cuckow, a bachelor of full age, was working as a labourer at the time of their marriage. 

In the marriage certificate Susannah Phillips, a spinster of full age, names her father as John Phillips – Labourer. This would seem to rule her out as Eliza’s daughter, except that it was commonplace for illegitimate children to provide a fictitious name or to name an uncle on marriage. It is possible that this has happened in this instance.

The witnesses to the marriage were Alfred Smith and Eliza Smith. This couple appear in the 1881 census living in Albert Road, Orpington^[16]. Alfred (32) was a worker in the paper mill while his wife Eliza (23) was a rag cutter in the paper mill. At the time of the census they had two children – George (5) and Eliza (2). All were born in Orpington except Eliza (23) who was born in Dartford, Kent. Eliza’s maiden name was Phillips and the combination of her age and place of birth makes it likely that she is the daughter of Eliza Phillips and the sister of Susannah Julia Phillips – a theory which is further supported by the appearance of Susannah as the witness at Eliza’s wedding.

1891: Gas House, 17 Gas Lane, Dartford, Kent^[17]

Edward F. Cuckow (41), Foreman at the Gas works, and his wife Susannah Cuckow (37) were living with their children: Amy Dyson Cuckow (8); Edward Cuckow (6); Arthur R. Cuckow (4) and Lilian (1). The entire family were born in Dartford, Kent.

1901: 17 Gas Lane, Dartford, Kent^[18]

Edward Cuckow (51), Foreman (Gas Works), and his wife Susan Cuckow (47) were living with their children: Amy Cuckow (18)^[19]; Edward Cuckow (16), a private in the Vol. Medical Staff Corps.; Arthur (14), an Engineers Shop Hand; and Grace (5).

Susannah Julia Cuckow died on 7th January 1910^[20] from Phthisis Pulmonis (tuberculosis)^[21] and she was buried at Brent Cemetery, Dartford on 12th January 1910^[22].

Edward Frederick Cuckow died on February 5th 1914^[23] and he was buried at Brent Cemetery, Dartford on 10th February 1914^[24].