William J. Lines, my three-times great-grandfather.
When William J Lines was born on 3 November 1799 in Barking, Essex, his father, William, was 21 and his mother, Frances, was 28. He married Mary Judana Morgan on 2 June 1822 in St Stephen Coleman Street, London. They had nine children in 15 years. He died on 2 June 1858 in Romford, Essex, at the age of 58.
Little is known about William’s early life. The 1841 census shows him working as a gardener, likely at one of the many market gardens in the area.
At the start of the 19th century, Barking, then in Essex and now in east London, was a major centre of market gardening. It supplied vegetables to London along with its fishing industry. Market gardens covered much of the fertile land around the lower Roding and Thames, with large areas of arable and garden ground in and around the parish.
In 1851, William was still employed as a gardener and living on Goodmayes Lane. At this time, Goodmayes Lane was a country lane linking scattered farms and cottages south to the main road and north to open countryside. There was no dense housing or commercial frontage until the 1890s.
William died in Romford in 1858.
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