Henry Edward Lester (1806 - 1894)

Born 24 Sep 1806 in Deptford, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia (Husband) Lester — married 20 Mar 1830 in All Saints Poplar

Descendants

Died 5 Nov 1894 at age 88 in Plaistow, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Graham Lester [send private message]

Biography

Muriellesteruk webtree has birthdate of 1807.

Henry Edward and Lydia Lester had thirteen children, and have many living descendants. He married Lydia on 20 March 1830 in Poplar. She was born 1810 in Middlesex and died 1884.

He started work at the age of eight as a bricklayer's laborer and helped support his mother and siblings. He later became a carpenter.

He was baptized on Jan 29 1821 at Poplar Chapel (now called St Matthias Old Church). His parents' names are listed. He was fourteen. I don't know why he was baptized at such a mature age. There were other members of the Lester family who were baptized first as infants and then again as young adults, which runs counter to typical Anglican tradition. This could have been some sort of act of thanksgiving after their father's safe return from his naval service.

Aa a young man, he became a Baptist, which infuriated his father. He had to lock himself in the rest room and pray in secret.(1) He became a noted Baptist lay preacher (sometimes referred to as a dissenter). He was known to be very strict in his religious beliefs.

By the 1841 Census, he had become a shipwright. Address at that time was Spread Eagle Street, St Anne Limehouse, Stepney, Middlesex, England 1851 Census was living at 17 Pennyfields, Poplar, Middlesex, England. 1861 census was at 31 Pigott Street 1871 census lived at Morton House, West Ham At the time of the 1881 British census, Henry, Lydia, and their daughter Harriet were living at 3 Nelson Terrace, Prittlewell, Essex. 1881 Census shows an 84yr old Henry resident at Crescent Rd West Ham Essex with his daughter Lydia Leitch, granddaughter Euphenia Robinson and two great grand daughters Ethel and Hilda Robinson

In retirement, he moved to Southend, where he established a Baptist congregation.(2)

He died November 5, 1894. Living then at 25 Crescent Road, Plaistow, Essex. Effects 40 pounds. Apparent heirs were HE Lester Jr and a William Walters Howard. (https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/)

Sources

• Mother of World Peace: The Life of Muriel Lester, by Jill Wallis. UK: Hisarlik Press, 1993.
• The Match Girl and the Heiress by Seth Koven. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.
• London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
• London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns
• 1841 Census. Source Citation Class: HO107; Piece: 701; Book: 12; Civil Parish: St Anne Limehouse; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 22; Folio: 38; Page: 28; Line: 20; GSU roll: 438814. Source Information. Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Data imaged from the National Archives, London, England.
• 1881 Census. England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27D-CNVF : 12 December 2017), Henry Edward Lester, Prittlewell, Essex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 1, Piece/Folio 1769/55, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,676.
• 1891 Census. "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL4L-4PZ : 10 December 2017), Henry E Lester, West Ham, Essex, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Essex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• Also “Genealogy Report: Descendants of George Lester” by Michael Lester. We have a discrepancy with the dates with Michael Lester stating that he "died 13 December 1894."
• Muriellesteruk webtree
• "Muriel and Doris Lester & The Heritage of the Kingsley Hall Community Centres" at Muriellesteruk

References

• (1) (2) Mother of World Peace, The Life of Muriel Lester by Jill Wallis. University of Michigan: Hisarlik Press, 1993, 2