Joseph Robert Wilkins was born in Clerkenwell, London on Wednesday 20 Oct 1886 [1], the son of Joseph Robert Wilkins, a printer from the City of London and Annie Denson from Newington, South London. Joseph was born at 38 Easton Street, Clerkenwell, London, a small road leading off the north side of Exmouth Market, not far from Mount Pleasant post office. This area is known as 'Little Italy' due to the high proportion of Italian migrants residing thereabouts.

Joseph was the eldest of five children, his siblings being a younger brother William and also three sisters Annie, Alice and Amy (see family tree, below).

The Wilkins family stay in Easton Street did not last very long, as by the time of the 1891 census [2] some five years later they had moved to no. 14 Goswell Terrace, a distance of approximately 850 metres from Easton Street. At this time there were five members of the family living in 2 rooms of a terraced house, shared with one other family. Joseph's father was employed as a letterpress printer and somewhat surprisingly his mother was employed as a sheet metal worker, which was not common in those days, especially considering that they had three young children at this time. It is possible that the move away from Easton Street was due to the construction of Rosebury Avenue in 1894 to allow for increased traffic in the Clerkenwell area.

The housing conditions in the late nineteenth century were pretty basic. There would have been no electricity and although gas was used for street lighting it had yet to be introduced into residential housing. The main source of light would have been candles, which in winter time would be used in addition to the light given out from coal fires. Water would have been obtained from a communal pump, although it is possible that they had an internal water supply inside the house. Sanitation would have been a outside communal toilet and bathing would have entailed a weekly trip to the local bath house.

It is not known which school Joseph attended.

The 1901 census [3] for Holborn shows seven members of the Wilkins family living at 53 St Albans Buildings, Holborn. At this time Joseph had left school and was working as an apprentice printer. The family were still living in two rooms and although his father had a skilled job they appear to have no ambitions to move up the housing ladder.

On Monday 20th May 1907 Joseph Robert, aged 20, married Florence Agnes Knight aged 23 at St Peter's Church, West Hackney [4]. No known wedding photos have survived and it appears that no members of there families were present as it is usual for family members to sign as witnesses (the witnesses were John Petit and Margaret Barling).

After they were married in 1907 and by the outbreak of the first world war they had four children: William Thomas their eldest son was born on Wednesday 26 August 1908 whilst they were living in Holborn and Thomas Henry was born on Sunday 17 April 1910 whilst they were living in Islington. The 1911 census [5] shows the Wilkins family living at 10 Baldwin Terrace, Islington. Joseph Robert, Florence Agnes and their two sons, William Joseph aged 3 and Thomas Henry aged 11 months occupied 1 room in a house adjacent to the Regents Canal in Islington, opposite the Wenlock Basin. Although the houses have long since been demolished, the pub on the corner of Baldwin Terrace and Wharf Road, the Narrowboat is still open today. Their third son George Robert was born in on Saturday 11 May 1912 and Florence Emily their eldest daughter was born in Shoreditch on Sunday 27 Sept 1914, at which time the family were living at 86 Crondall Street, Hoxton.

On the Tuesday 25 May 1915, aged 29 Joseph, like so many of his contemporaries answered Kitchener's call to arms and enlisted in the 3rd (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). Joseph was transferred to the Royal West Surrey Regiment Territorial Force on the 13 March 1917 and then to the Northants Regiment, 4th battalion. He enlisted as a private, was promoted to corporal on Monday 14 May 1917 and finally promoted to Sargent on Sunday 27 January 1918 [6]. As part of his military service, Joseph spent two tours of duty in France: the first with the Royal West Surrey regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force from February to November 1916 and the second tour as part of the Northants regiment from March 1917 to August 1918. Along with his compatriots, Joseph was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his efforts during the war [7].

Joseph was injured whilst serving in France where he suffered from the effects of mustard gas poisoning. From the 6 March 1919 he was awarded a pension of 22s and 9p plus an allowance of 14s for four children, the award to last for a period of six months. After the war, Joseph and Florence had three more children: Albert Joseph born on Friday 16 May 1919; Joseph David born on Sunday 28 August 1921 and Doris Brenda born in September 1924, at which time the Wilkins family were living in Hoxton, London.

The 1921 census [8] shows Joseph Robert, a Gold Blocker, and his wife Florence Agnes together with their five children, William aged 13, Thomas aged 11, George aged 9, Florence aged 6 and Albert aged 2 living at 86 Crondall Street, Hoxton, London. Joseph.

Joseph was working as a bookbinder, but was not in good health due to the injuries suffered during the war. Not much is known about his life and certainly, there are no known surviving photographs and all documentation, such as marriage certificates have been lost or destroyed.

Joseph Robert Wilkins died on the 25 July 1925, aged thirty-eight at the Hendon Infirmary in Colindale from the effects of tuberculosis [9].

Copyright © 2006 - R Wilkins