Thomas Adolphus Kienlin: A London Life

Germans abroad

Whilst taking a break from upcoming World War One genealogical research, I wish to briefly examine the life and times of Levi's 4 x great grandfather, Thomas Adolphus Kienlin. Tracing his steps through Victorian London has not always been straight forward; his name varies from document to document. Kinlin, Kirnlin, Kinnlen, Kanlin, Kenlin, Keenlin – this is the reality of an era before ossified surnames, particularly one which is distinctly German in origin.

Early nineteenth century engraving of Schilling's birthplace in Marbach, the small town from which the Kienlin Family originated

For, Thomas was born in 1794 in St. George’s, Surrey (possibly the parish of St George the Martyr, Southwark) to a German father, Christian Phillip Kienlin. It is not entirely clear when or why Christian had immigrated to London – he was christened in the small town of Marbach, the son of Johann Gottfried Kienlan and his wife, Maria Catherina Hamp on the 8th August 1764. Incidentally, Marbach was the birthplace of poet and philosopher, Friedrich Schiller, just five years older than Thomas’ father.

Thomas' father's baptismal record in Marbach, Germany in 1764.

Certainly by 1861 there were some 28,644 German immigrants living in England and Wales, many coming to England due to the lack of economic opportunities at home. Many Germans emigrated from the south west of the country (where Marbach is located) during the early nineteenth century due to the multitude of tiny holdings which were unable to support the families who relied on them.

A Hackney Childhood

Engraving of St John's Church, Hackney from 1790

Whatever his reasons, by 1792 Christian found himself in London and married a woman called Sarah. It is not clear from the record if she was English or a fellow countryman from home. Some sources suggest that her name was Sarah Hamp. If true, then it is quite possible that Thomas' parents were cousins (for his paternal grandmother was also a Hamp).

Regardless of the exactitude of their relationship, it was to them, that Thomas was born, and by 1802, the family were settled in Hackney, in East London. According to the tax records from that year, Christian (here called P. Kienlin) paid 17 shillings 3 pence under the proprietorship of one George Gossett. Thomas would have been eight years old at the time. He had lost his baby sister Charlotte just the year before. His other sister Sophia died at eighteen in 1819. Only his older brother, Henry Augustus, would join him in navigating late Georgian London.

Christian Phillip Kienlin's tax records from 1802

Hackney, once considered 'the place' to retire to for the emerging middle classes, with its numerous coffee houses, assembly rooms, bowling greens and taverns, changed rapidly during Thomas' lifetime. Following building works beginning in the early 1800s, between 1801 and 1841 the population of Hackney had tripled to 68, 246.  Samuel Pepys' idyll of Hackney ‘which I every day grow more and more in love with’ was destroyed forever with the arrival of the railway in 1851. By 1871 the population had boomed to 249,810 people, the well heeled long having fled their eighteenth-century neo-classical townhouses and Hackney, became the inner city urban centre that it remains today.

A view of Hackney, 1840 - its population had tripled between 1801 and 1841 to 68,246. Thomas would have undoubtedly been very aware of this rapid expansion

Growing Pains

At some point (it not clear quite when) Thomas’ mother died, and his father remarried on the 1st August 1804 to another Sarah, this time a Sarah Hall, at St Lukes, Old Street, Finsbury. Just four years later, Christian also died, leaving Thomas an orphan at just fifteen years old. Christian was buried nearby in Hackney at St Johns. The ‘Widow Kinlin’ appears in tax records as late as 1817. The second Sarah Kienlan’s fate after this date is not presently known.

Tax records from 1815 for Thomas' step-mother, Sarah Hall

A balloon ride leaving the grounds of the Mermaid Tavern, Hackney in 1811. Thomas would have been 17 years old - and may have even seen this spectacle

As for Thomas himself, he was married at twenty three at St Mary Whitechapel to Elizabeth Bisgood, of Gray’s Inn Lane, in 1817. The couple had at least nine children – five daughters and four sons. Indeed, the couple’s first child, John Christopher, was born at least a year before they were formally married in 1815. Within thirty years of emigrating, you can see the Kienlins gradually anglicizing themselves. Though Kienlin family names such as Sophia are maintained in the naming of Thomas' children, the distinctly German edges are smoothed.  Thomas' third son, presumably named for his brother, is August, rather than Augustus for example.

An engraving of St Mary Matfelon from 1831. The church, which had stood for over 600 years, was destroyed in the Blitz

The Long Arm of the Law

So far, nothing particular of note. Thomas was simply one of many Anglo-Germans eking a living out in the East End of London. But what makes Thomas, slightly different to the countless other individuals on Levi and my family trees is that we have something more than simply census records, baptismal records and tax returns to his name. For in the early months of 1848, it is apparent that Thomas fell foul of the law. Appearing in the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey on the 28th February of that year, Thomas was accused of knowingly receiving stolen goods, and from these records we can get a tantalizing glimpse of the man behind the records.

This illustration by George Cruikshank of the infamous McNaughton Trial in 1843, shows how the Old Bailey looked in the years running up to Thomas' own brush with the law

The case was a simple one. A young boy of fourteen, Francis Lowes, was hauled before the courts for stealing 112lbs of lead from the roof of 9, Clapton-Place. The property in question belonged to a plumber John Barber, but had been leased to the father of the defendant. Thomas was accused of buying the lead from young Francis, knowing that it was stolen.

The arresting officer, Edward Smith, said in court:

‘I went with him to Kienlen's shop—Kienlen was not at home— he came home while I was there—he sells coals, coke, and ginger-beer, and deals in marine-stores—“

London Police Uniform from 1850

Thomas listed, during this period in the 1841 census, that he was a confectioner. His shop, not listed in the court transcripts, was likely to be in Morning Lane, Hackney (where he was residing in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses).

'The Shop' - a cartoon by Victorian illustrator Charles Keene (1823-1891)

The arresting officer continued:

"I asked Lowes if Kienlen was the man—he said, "Yes," and said to Kienlen, "I want to buy that lead back again, master"—Kienlen hesitated a minute, and then said, "I have sold it"—Lowes said he had given him 2s. 1d. for one lot, and 11d. for the other—I took them to the station—I went back to Kienlen's, but found no lead—I went back to the station, and asked Kienlen where he had sold the lead—he said in Kingsland-road—I asked him where, but he did not tell me the shop—I got information from Sergeant Hawkes, went to Messrs. Chuck and King, lead-merchants, Kingsland-road, and found 54lbs. weight of lead—I compared it with some lead at 9, Clapton-place—it fitted—it was bright where it had been cut—two gutters had been taken up whole.”

Peelers at work in Victorian London

Another police sergeant, Richard Hawkes, continued in court:

“I was with Smith—I asked Kienlen at the station for his book—he said he had not kept one for twelve months, as his dealings were so small in marine-stores—part of the lead was quite bright—I compared it, and found it came from the premises.”

Contemporary photo of a police constable apprehending a man (c) Essex Police Museum and Memorial Trusts

Despite the quick sell of the goods (to an unnamed vendor), the recovery of some of the missing lead and the rather convenient lack of a record book, Thomas was found innocent of the charges against him. Perhaps there was not enough evidence on the part of the police to convict him. Young Francis Lowes, on the other hand, was confined for one month for the crime.

George Cruikshank's illustration of Fagin in Prison 1838. Oliver Twist had been published ten years before Thomas' trial

The End of the Road

After this, the records for Thomas go quiet for a couple of years. Eight years later he made his will, leaving his house at 2 Morning Lane to his widow, for the rest of her natural life, with the house being passed on to his daughter, Sophia, the wife of Nathaniel Collett of 17 Brooksby’s Walk. The remainder of his residue was to be equally divided between his remaining children.

The beginning of Thomas' last Will and Testament

 It was at Morning Lane, then, on the 19th August 1856, that Thomas drew his last breath in the company of another daughter, Fanny Eliza Wombell. His death at 62 was given as pthisis - a common medical term used at the time for tuberculosis or other wasting diseases.

An extract from Thomas' death certificate

Thomas Adolphus Kienlan: not an extraordinary Victorian Londoner's life, but perhaps a representative one.

References

A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10, Hackney (1995) - available online

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 Project - online here

The Settlement of Germans in Britain during the Nineteenth Century by Panikos Panayi - accessible here

'The Suprising History of Hackney' - Dr Mathew Green for the Guardian Online (2012)