Alfred's birth certificate states that he was born at 23 Belle Vue Place in Ramsgate. This was his family's home. It would appear that the street in which they lived no longer exists. There is a Bellevue Road and a Bellevue Avenue in Ramsgate but I cannot find Belle Vue Place. I think it might have been near these two streets.
As far as I know Alfred's siblings were:
Abraham William 1849 - 1876
Emily Elizabeth 1850 - 1852
Henry George 1852 - 1857
Cecilia Emily 1855 - 1857
Lavinia Eleanor 1858 - 1917
Frederick Henry 1861 - 1929
Walter Ernest 1865 - 1866
Horace Walter 1867 - 1955
Five of the nine children died before their father Abraham. It must have been tragic for the family.
The first census which Alfred appears on is that for 1861. Alfred is living with his parents and two of his siblings.
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| 1861 census for Alfred John Bristow (courtesy of The National Archives and Ancestry) |
Alfred is the one member of my ancestors about whom there are several newspaper articles. Sadly they aren't all good news!
In 1864 Alfred was accused of stealing some duck eggs. A report was written in the Thanet Advertiser of 11th June 1864.
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Thanet Advertiser 11 June 1864 (courtesy Find My Past)
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In 1870 Alfred was given two sentences of hard labour for robbing items from his father and elder brother. The following article was from the Kentish Gazette on 16th August 1870.
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| Kentish Gazette 16 August 1870 (courtesy of Find My Past) |
I cannot find Alfred on the 1871 census. I think this was probably the time at which he was serving his sentence of hard labour. As I understand it some prisoners went to serve hard labour somewhere in Sandwich in Kent.
In 1872 Alfred was in trouble with the police again. This time he had absconded from a fishing boat upon which he was serving as an apprentice.
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| Thanet Advertiser 29 June 1872 (courtesy of Find My Past) |
Sadly for Alfred there were problems at home as his mother was very ill in an institution at this time. She died in October 1872 in the Kent lunatic asylum in Maidstone.
In 1874 there was happier news as Alfred married Ann Fanny Moore on 2nd April in Great Yarmouth.
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| 2 April 1874 - marriage of Alfred Bristow and Ann Moore (courtesy of Ancestry) |
The couple had one son, Alfred John, and then Alfred's wife, Ann, died of tuberculosis in 1878.
Alfred married again in 1879. He married my two times great grandmother Mary Ann Woodward. Alfred was in the local newspaper once again but for a happier occasion this time!
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| 1879 marriage of Alfred Bristow and Mary Woodward (courtesy of Find My Past) |
The couple married at the Ebenezer Chapel in Ramsgate on 26th January 1879. The building is still standing. It is located in Meeting Street in Ramsgate and is now used as a children's nursery.
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| The Ebenezer Chapel in Ramsgate (courtesy of Google Maps) |
The couple had two sons, Walter (1880 - 1963) and James (1882 - 1964). James emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s.
On the 1881 census Alfred, Mary and their two children are living in Claremont Gardens in Ramsgate.
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| 1881 census Alfred Bristow (courtesy of The National Archives and Ancestry) |
The house still exists in Ramsgate.
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| Claremont Gardens Ramsgate (courtesy of Google Maps) |
Sadly the next document I have for Alfred is for his death aboard a fishing boat called the Young Rose. A storm blew up one October night in 1882 and the boat which Alfred was on was one of three lost on the same night.
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| Young Rose lost at sea (courtesy of The National Archives and Ancestry) |
As Alfred's body was never found there is no death certificate for him. Alfred was to appear in the local newspaper again. This time to confirm his loss of life at sea. A report about the loss of all the fishermen was written in the Thanet Advertiser of 16th December 1882.
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| Thanet Advertiser 16th December 1882 (courtesy of Find My Past) |
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