I was very interested to read the article by
Pauline Houldey in the September issue on ‘An
appeal for a mangle’. My great-grandfather
was William John Povey, the elder brother of
Letitia, Pauline’s great-grandmother. I have
only been researching my family history for a few
months, but I also found Hannah Povey (née
Havell) of interest. The birth certificate of
William John Povey shows his mother as Ellen
Povey, nee Havell, who lived at 3 Gas Court,
Friar Street, although his baptism record shows
his mother as Hannah, also resident at Gas Court.
I may be able to provide an answer to Pauline’s
question regarding Hannah’s future. In the
1871 census I found William at 12 Chatham Street,
Reading, along with two younger brothers, shown
as sons of John and Hannah Langham. She is shown
as a common wife, although whether or not she
married John is unknown at this stage. The same
family appears at 27 Chatham Street in the 1881
census, but without William who was by then
married. Intriguingly John’s wife is shown
as Ellen Langham, birthplace Woodcote, Oxon., the
same place as Hannah. I haven’t yet checked
her birth certificate to see whether she had two
Christian names.
