Finch Family History

Leonard Victor Finch

He was born on 28th April 1904 in Chelmsford Essex. His father was William John Finch and his mother was Alice Bonnigton.

On the 1891 and 1901 censuses his father’s recorded occupation is [Gardiner].
Leonard was the youngest of his parent’s 9 children.

At the time of his birth, he had one living grandparent his maternal grandfather William Alfred Redger Bonnington. His maternal grandmother was Harriett Fitch (1839 – 1875).

His paternal grandparents were Robert Finch (1808 – 1879) and Elizabeth Blackfall (1810 – 1888).

 

The Finch family in 1904:

Father

William John Finch
(1847 – 1907)

Mother

Alice Bonnington
(1862 – 1917)

Son

William Finch
(1885 – 1962)

Son

Arthur James Finch
(1886 – 1952)

Son

Harry Finch
(1888 – 1916)

Son

Frederick Charles Finch
(1890 – 1901)

Daughter

Alice Ethel Finch
(1893 – )

Son

George Ernest Finch
(1895 – 1970)

Daughter

Emily Beatrice Finch
(1898 – 1983 )

Daughter

Christina Mabel Finch
(1902 – 2005 )

Son

Leonard Victor Finch
(1904 – 1972)

Baptism

Leonard Victor Finch was baptised on 8th Jun 1904 at Moulsham, St John The Evangelist, Essex.

Chelmsford in the 1900s

By the beginning of the 20th century, Chelmsford had a population of almost 22,000 (181,000 in 2023). And it continued to grow rapidly (partly due to boundary extensions). Meanwhile, amenities in the town improved. A library opened in 1906 and before the First World War, the first cinemas opened.

Source: Local Histories ‘A History of Chelmsford’ – more info

Death of William John Finch

In March of 1907, Leonard’s father died. According to the 1901 census, he was a ‘Jobbing Gardner’. His wife Alice had no occupation.

William and Alice’s two eldest sons William Finch and Arthur James Finch are both service apprenticeships. From this, it can be assumed that William John Finch was supporting the family on his wage.

The 1911 Cencus

The Finch household

168 Upper Bridge Road has been renumbered and the house is now 175 Upper Bridge Road.

In 1911 the majority of the family is is still living at 168 Upper Bridge Road in Chelmsford.

  • Alice Finch  age 49 [No occupation]
  • William Finch age 26 [Engineering Labourer] Industry: Wireless Telegraph
  • Arthur James Finch age 24 [Engineering Turner] Industry: Ball Bearings
  • George Ernest Finch age 16 [Wood box Maker]
  • Emily Beatrice Finch age 13 [School]
  • Christina Mabel Finch age 8 [School]
  • Leonard Victor Finch age 6 [School]

Compared to the 1901 census two family members are missing from the household. Harry Finch and Alice Ethel Finch. They both appear under different addresses.

Alice Ethel Finch

Alice Ethel Finch appears under her middle name ‘Ethel‘. Working as live-in [Domestic Servant] at the home of Ernest Edwin Shead a local [Corn Dealer].

The house is approximately a 40-minute walk from the family home on Upper Bridge Road.

Harry Finch

The 1911 census shows Harry, aged 22, serving as an engine room stoker on the armoured cruiser H.M.S. Indominable in Chatham Dockyard in Kent.

The Great War (WWI)

Beginning in July of 1914 the First World War was thought that the War would only last a few weeks. However, the war would go on until November 1918 and see 20 million deaths and 21 million injured.

In January of 1916 the Military Service Act was passed. This imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, but exempted the medically unfit, clergymen, teachers and certain classes of industrial workers.

 

Marriage William Finch

On the 4th of August, 1913 William Finch married Beatrice Alice Bartlett at St Paul, Bournemouth, Hampshire. Beatrice was born in Sherborne, Dorset.

Marriage Arthur James Finch

On the 23rd of July 1913, Arthur James Finch married Lucy Alice Herridge in Maidenhead, Berkshire. From her birth and census records Lucy Herridge had lived in the Maidenhead area her whole life.

The Death of William Alfred Redger Bonnington

William Alfred Redger Bonnington died in January of 1915. He was the only surviving grandparent of Leonard Victor Finch and the father of Alice Finch nee Bonnington. He was 83 at the time of his death.

Birth of Ruby Finch 

Ruby Finch daughter of Arthur James Finch and niece of Leonard Victor Finch, was born 26th of April 1915 in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire.

The birth was registered by her father Arthur James Finch, he lists his occupation as [Factory Forman].

Arthur James Finch Valuation Roll 

The 1915 Valuation Roll records Arthur James Finch living at Argyll Park House.

The Munitions Factory

The Argyl Motor Works was a car factory in Alexandria. The factory was retrofitted into a munitions factory during the War effort, it was locally known as the “Torpedo Factory”. 

Today it is know as the Lomond Galleries.

Harry Finch Acting Lead Stocker HMS H3

Harry Finch was killed on the 15th of July 1916 on the HMS H3 when the submarine hit a mine in the Gulf of Cattaro in the Adriatic Sea while on patrol. All 22 men on board lost their lives.

HMS H3 (H.M.S. Dolphin) was a British H-class submarine built by Canadian Vickers Co, Montreal.

Brief History of Harry Finch’s Military Service

  • Harry joined the Royal Navy on 10th May 1909. His service number was K.2941. He was recorded as five feet three and one-tenth inches tall, with a 35.5 inch chest. His hair was auburn, his eyes brown. His first posting was to H.M.S. Acheron as a Stoker 2nd Class.
  • He was promoted to Stoker 1st Class, 10th May 1910, reporting to H.M.S. Pembroke II from 4th August 1910.
  • Harry returned to H.M.S. Pembroke II on 15th May 1913, before moving to H.M.S. Boaventure from 2nd June 1913, and was there at the outbreak of the war on 4th August 1914 he was promoted to Acting Leading Stoker 1st October 1914 and then moved to H.M.S. Dolphin (Submarine H3) on 7th April 1915.

For more in-depth information on Harry Finch and his military career visit his page on Chelmsford at War.

Two articles published in the Chelmsford’s local papers give a snapshot of the time.

    Essex Weekly News:

      “Naval Casualty – Mrs. Finch of 175 Upper Bridge-road. has received an intimation from the Admiralty that her second son, Acting Leading-Stoker Harry Finch, has lost his life on one of H.M. ships on war service. Deceased, who had served eight years in the Navy, was formerly in the 5th Essex Territorials. Of his four brothers two are in the Navy, one is in the Army, and one is working on munitions.”

      Essex County Chronicle:

        elmsford, has been officially informed that her son Harry, an acting leading stoker in the Navy, has lost his life on duty in one of H.M. ships on war service. Mrs. Finch has another son in the Navy, and another in the Essex Regt., who is now in hospital suffering from his third wound, a rather bad one in the thigh.”

        The Death of Alice Finch

        Alice Finch nee Bonnington died on the 11th of August 1917 the obituary in the local newspaper gives a hint that she had been ill for a while with the statement “after a long and Painful Illness”.

        The death certificate states that Alice Finch died from Heart Disease and Kidney Inflammation. The death is registered by A. J. Finch (Arthur James Finch), it is stated he was ‘present at death’. He states his usual address as Alexandria in Scotland, matching the valuation roll and birth certificate of RubyFinch.

        The Finch Family 1917 

        Father

        William John Finch
        Died 1907

        Mother

        Alice Bonnington
        Died 1917

        Son

        William Finch
        Injured 1915 WWI

        Son

        Arthur James Finch
        Living and working in Alexandria in Munitions

        Son

        Harry Finch
        Died 1915

        Son

        Frederick Charles Finch
        Died 1901

        Daughter

        Alice Ethel Finch
        Last known living as servant Writtle Green 1911

        Son

        George Ernest Finch
        Serving WWI Navy

        Daughter

        Emily Beatrice Finch
        Assumed to be in the family home

        Daughter

        Christina Mabel Finch
        Assumed to be in the family home

        Son

        Leonard Victor Finch
        Assumed to be in the family home

        With the death of Alice Finch nee Bonnington and elder members fighting or having been killed in WWI this leaves:

        • Alice Ethel Finch age 24
        • Emily Beatrice Finch age 19
        • Christina Mabel Finch age 15
        • Leonard Victor Finch age 13

        With Alice Ethel Finch assumed to still be working as a servant she would not have the capacity to take on any dependents. Emily Beatrice Finch would be in a similar position. At age 15 Christina Mabel Finch would be of school-leaving age for the time. That leaves Leonard Victor Finch as the only minor.

        Was anyone in the wider Finch or Bonnigton family able to look after Leonard?

        As above the immediate family did not have any capacity.

        Alice Finch nee Bonnington had 8 siblings 3 Brothers and 5 sisters. All her sisters are alive and appear to be living in the Essex area at the time of her death.

        • Edith Bonnington
        • Florence Bonnington
        • Harriet Bonnington
        • Louisa Mary Bonnington
        • Sarah Ann Bonnington

        Not enough is known about them to know if they could take on a 13-year-old child.

        William John Finch had 4 brothers and 1 sister. All had died by 1917.

        It may be that Leonard travelled to Scotland with his brother Arthur James Finch.

        The munitions factory where Arthur was working employed most trades including Engineers, Joiners, Joiners and Plumbers.

         

        Birth of Kathleen Olive Finch

        The 2nd child of Arthur James Finch and Lucy Alice Finch nee Herridge. Kathleen Olive Finch is born in Alexandria. This means that Arthur James Finch has been at one stable address throughout the War. 

        Birth of Vera May Finch

        Vera May Finch is born on the 20th of March 1920, the first child of William Finch and Beatrice Alice Finch nee Bartlett.

        1921 Census

        Leonard Victor Finch

        Leonard appears living as an ‘inmate’ in the ‘Edinburgh Home for Working Lads’ (previously the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade) on Ponton Street.

        The home is almost exclusively occupied by young men from the immediate Edinburgh area there is one other inmate from England William Wilson Stenright from Northumberland and one inmate from Washington in the USA, Edward Nicol.

        Aside from these two, the furthest other inmates have travelled from where they were born is Perthshire and Ayrshire.

        The fact there are no other inmates from Essex would suggest there was no formal link between the home and organisations in Chelmsford.

        William Finch

        In 1921 William Finch was living in Chelmsford with his wife Beatrice Alice Finch, daughter Vira May Finch and a Boarder, John Gilmore Robinson.

        Both William and the Boarder John are working for Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company in Chelmsford.

        George Ernst Finch 

        George Ernst Finch appears on the 1921 census living in Staines as a Boarder in the home of Stephen James Gorrod. Both George and James work for Laganda Ltd a car manufacturer later acquired by Aston Martin.

        Lucy Alice Finch (wife of Arthur James Finch)

        Lucy Alice Finch and her three children appear on the 1921 Census as visitors in her brother Frederick John Herridge‘s house, address 1 Railway Road, Newbury.

        There is no reference to Arthur James Finch and he does not appear on the 1921 census in Scotland or England.

        Emily Beatrice Finch and Christina Mabel Finch

        Emily and Christina appear on the census together living at 15 Chaplin Road, Willesden both working as Men’s Room Attendants. Both list their place of work as London General Omnibus, Omnibus Proprietors co, specifically at the Willesden Garage

        The Edinburgh Industrial Brigade

        In 1899 the building on Ponton Street that Leonard was living in was the 4th incarnation of the Edinburgh Inductial Brigade. Originating in Cockburn Street, then Leith Terrace and subsequently Grove Street. The completed building, designed by Frank W Simon cost £10,500 (£1.1 Million in 2024).

        “On the Fountainbridge and Ponton Street frontage, it consisted of four storeys and basement, and towards Thorneybank of three storeys. The Fountainbridge frontage was faced with stone, and the other elevations with terracotta-facing bricks. The buildings were arranged around an open court to provide ample light and ventilation. The block facing Fountainbridge had a series of shops on its ground floor, on the first floor a directors’ and ladies’ room, and reading and play rooms for the boys.” 

        Find out more at https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/EdinburghIB/

        What was the home like?

        For the time the home was forward-thinking with a goal to educate young men with a trade. The location in Fountainbridge gave the young men easy access to industries of the day. It was in close proximity to Tanners, Slaughter Houses, Breweries as well as all the main trades.

        The home was for boys aged 14 years and up, this would put Leonard in the right age range. His brother’s job in munitions would have required skilled tradespeople from all main trades. It would not be outside the realms of possibility that Arthur James Finch was working with men who had been residents of the home.

        The Edinburgh Industrial Brigade would have been luxurious when compared with the alternative Workhouses in Essex and London.

        23 July 1906 

        The Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post

        An article in the paper talks about about how ‘boys’ from the home had attended a camp in Dundee. It referred to the home as “the pioneer, and most important of its kind in Britain”

        Another article from 1921 gives an operational overview of the home and a glimpse into how the home runs. It mentions the 100 boys in resident of which Leonard is one.

        Photograph

        This is the earliest known photo of Leonard Victor Finch, taken in approximately 1921. The image was taken at a Football Camp organised by the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade. Locations could be Gullane (East Lothian), Ladywell (Fife) or Bonaly (Edinburgh). According to various reports, these were the main locations the home-organised camps.

        1925 -1927

        Leonard appears on the Electoral Roll for 1925 and 1926 at the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade. The address on the roll is 1 Ponton Street, Edinburgh.

        Leonard appears on the Electoral Roll for 1925 and 1926 at the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade. The address on the roll is 1 Ponton Street, Edinburgh.

        In 1927 Leonard’s address changed to 3 Freer Street, Edinburgh. Although Freer Street still exists today the buildings and structure of the street have completely changed.

        Originally the Street consisted of large tenement buildings along with a social club for workers of the Scottish and Newcastle Brewery. 

        The back of Freer Street ran across the Union Canal 

        © Robert Blomfield                                                                                                                             Photo taken 1960

        © Robert Blomfield Photo taken 1960

        Below is a copy of the 1927 Electoral Roll for Freer Street and Freer Street Terrace. It shows Leonard along with Elizabeth and Robert Sutherland*.  

        This is the home of Leonard’s future wife Rachel Burns Sutherland

        *The Robert Sutherland on the Roll could be Rachel Burn Sutherland’s father or brother.

        © Robert Blomfield                                                                                                                             Photo taken 1960

        Marriage 

        Leonard Victor Finch married Rachel Burns Sutherland on the 21st of December 1929.

        © Robert Blomfield                                                                                                                             Photo taken 1960

        Leonard lists his address as 17 Downfield Place, Edinburgh and Rachel as 7 Wardlaw Street, Edinburgh. Their occupations are Plumber and Dairy Worker respectively.

        Leonard records his father by his middle name ‘John’ Finch

        The 1929 Electoral Roll records both Rachel and Leonard as living at Freer Street. Possibly they had moved later in the year as their marriage was in December or they were using Freer Street as a permanent address.