Loen Gimber (abt. 1811 - abt. 1866)

Born about 1811 in Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died about 1866 at about age 55 in Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jessie Gregor [send private message]

Biography

Written from perspective of Jessie Gregor.

Unfortunately, this profile for my great x3 grandfather is a limited and confusing one despite many years of research!

Based on the 1851 Census and his probable death record, Loen or Lowen (aka James or John) was born in about 1811-1813 in Spitalfields, Middlesex. I cannot find any baptism to confirm that date or place yet but I continue to search.

His first definite record was his marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Stockhill on the 23rd April 1838 at St John the Evangelist, Lambeth, Surrey.^[1] Loen is described as a stationer and bachelor of full age whose father was Loen Gimber, clerk. It is difficult to read his signature but it looks as if he signed Loen so I have used that as his preferred name. His residence was given as 23 Belvedere Road, and the witnesses were James Green and Robert Brown.^[2][3]

The 1841 Census^[4] is a strange one because his wife Sarah is living at Brunswick Street, Shoreditch with their baby daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, but the head of the household is James Gimber, a warehouseman, aged 25 (although ages were rounded down in this census). This wasn't a transcription error because it's clearly James in the original image. It's also the correct spouse because, apart from their daughter, another occupant was an Ann Stockhill which would match Sarah's maiden name. Was this actually Loen using another name? (See a further explanation for this below.) Or was it a relation of Loen's who was taking care of the family whilst he was away on business? There is certainly no evidence of a brother called James.

(Beware, there is another couple called James and Sarah Gimber but he was a cheesemonger.)

In the London Electoral Registers, 'Lowen Gimber' is recorded as living at 42 Cumberland Street between at least 1849 and 1853.^[5] The 1851 Census is far more useful and straightforward, thank goodness. It confirms that the family are definitely living at 42 Cumberland Street, Hackney Road, Shoreditch.^[6] They are recorded as Loen Gimber, head, 38, warehouseman stationer, born in Spitalfields, his wife Sarah, and their children Sarah (11), Jane (5) and William (2).

The London Electoral Registers show Lowen Gimber living at 29 Brownlow Road, Shoreditch in 1858 but now the plot thickens even further because, in the 1861 Census, Sarah describes herself as the head of the family but still married. She is living at 20 Bartholomew Place, Hackney with four of her children: Sarah (21), Henry (9), Walter (7) and Sidney (5). There's no sign of Loen!

Bearing in mind, Loen's residence in Brownlow Road in 1858, I believe he is the Lowen Gimber in the Perry's Bankrupt Gazette of 30th May 1857 which records him as living at Brownlow Road, Dalston, town traveller. That particular record was an interim order and the bankruptcy was annulled in February 1858. I also have many newspaper articles dealing with this bankruptcy, including the partnership with Henry Holmes Woodfull and Lowen Gimber of 52 Aldermanbury, stationers, which was dissolved in March 1858.

When his wife Sarah died in 1870, she was recorded as the widow of John Gimber, stationer! Was this another alias or was it simply because her death was registered by her son Henry who was only born in 1851 so may not have known his father well? Assuming that Loen died between the 1861 Census when Sarah described herself as still married and 1870 when she died as a widow, there is no death for a Loen or Lowen but there is one in 1866 for a James Gimber in Shoreditch Workhouse.^[7] Considering the earlier, mysterious James in the 1841 Census, I think this could be 'our Loen'? His age and occupation both fit because in the death certificate he is described as James Gimber, 55, book binder journeyman. His certified cause of death was apoplexy. In the absence of any better evidence, I've pencilled that death in here but will change it if I find something better later on.

Sources

1. ↑ UK marriage registration: Lambeth, Vol 4, Page 254, June quarter 1838 (Loen Gimber/Sarah Elizabeth Stockhill).
2. ↑ Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p85/jna3/030. Source information: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 [database on-line].
3. ↑ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DH4-2MJ : 13 December 2014), Loen Gimber, 1838; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1838, quarter 2, vol. 4, p. 254, Lambeth, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQVJ-SHL : 22 May 2019), Sarah Gimber in household of John Jones, Shoreditch St Leonard, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Electoral Registers. Source Information: Ancestry.com. London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 [database on-line].
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGXB-WX1 : 12 September 2019), Sarah Elizth Gimber in household of Loen Gimber, Saint Leonard Shoreditch, Middlesex, England; citing Saint Leonard Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, p. 22, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ UK death registration: Shoreditch, Vol 1c, Page 130, December quarter 1866 (age given 55).