Stephen James Fuller 1841 - 1905

Stephen James Fuller was one of my maternal great great grandfathers.  His birth certificate states that he was born on 1st March 1841.  Stephen's parents were William and Ann Fuller.  He was born in Margate in Kent and his father was a carpenter by profession.  The family lived in a road called Serene Place - what a lovely name!

Stephen was baptised at St John's church, in Margate, on 25th April 1841.

1841 Baptism of Stephen James Fuller (courtesy Find My Past)

St John's church, Margate

On the 1841 census Stephen and his family are living at 1 Serene Place in Margate.  Stephen is living with his parents, William and Ann, and 4 of his siblings.

1841 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

I have found 6 siblings for Stephen.  They were:

Catherine 1829 - 1868
William 1832 - ?
Frances 1834 - ?
Eliza Ann 1839 - ?
Emily 1844 - ?
Annie Jane 1847 - 1915


On the 1851 census Stephen and his family are still living at the house in Serene Place.  The house and the road may not exist any more.  So far I have only been able to find a road called Serene Place in Broadstairs.  I think the road was near Clifton Street, not far from Northdown Road, in Cliftonville.

1851 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

On the 1861 census Stephen is still living with his parents at 1 Serene Place in Margate.  By now he has a profession and is a gas fitter.

1861 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

On 25th August 1861 Stephen married Eliza White.  They married at the parish church of St John's in Margate.  Interestingly both Stephen and Eliza signed their names rather than placed a mark.

1861 Marriage of Stephen James Fuller and Eliza White

On the 1871 census Stephen, and his wife Eliza, are living at 3 Florence Row in Margate.  The couple have their own family.

1871 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

The couple were eventually to have 12 children.  They were:

William John 1862 - 1952

Maud Ethel 1864 - 1952

Jane Annie 1866 - 1899

Stephen James 1867 - 1952

Herbert 1869 - 1946

Walter 1871 - 1932

Elizabeth 1874 - 1946

Charles Henry 1876 - 1940

Eliza Ann 1879 - 1961

Florence Louisa 1880 - 1953

Sidney Richard 1882 - 1919

Clara Nelly 1884 - 1950

Two of Stephen and Eliza's children, Charles Henry and Sidney Richard, emigrated to the Nebraska in the United States.  

On the 1881 census Stephen and his family are living at 1 Thanet Road in Margate.  Stephen is still a gas fitter by profession.

1881 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

On the 1891 census Stephen and Eliza are living at 6 Milton Cottages in Arnold Road in Margate.  Stephen is now a whitesmith by profession which meant that he worked with metal.  By this point in time Stephen and Eliza had had all of their children although in 1891 only 7 of them were still living with their parents.

1891 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

On the 1901 census Stephen and Eliza are living in the lodge which is in Dane Park in Margate.  Stephen had become the first park keeper of Dane Park.

1901 Census (courtesy of Find My Past)

The lodge in Dane Park is shown in the photo below.

Dane Park Lodge circa 1923 (courtesy Margate Local History website)

The photograph below shows Stephen James Fuller outside the lodge in his Park Keeper uniform.  The photo was probably taken in around 1901.  I love this picture of him.

Stephen died in the first quarter of 1905.  He was 64 when he died.