William
Cracroft Fooks, aged 25, married Letitia Walker at Holy Trinity Church,
Dartford in 1838. She had been born in Dartford, was aged 26, lived at Bowman’s
Lodge in Dartford and was a daughter of Thomas Walker, a solicitor. William and
Letitia went on to have two boys and five girls that survived infancy. They
were Ellen Cracroft (b 1838), William Cracroft (b 1840), Walter Pemberton (b
1842), Isabel Georgina (b 1844), Emily Letitia (b 1847), Alice Augusta (b 1849)
and Agnes Edith (b 1851).
Isabel
was born on January 5th 1844 in Holborn. She was baptised on
February 3rd 1844 at St Andrew’s, Holborn. Her parent’s address in
the baptism record was 19 Bedford Row. In 1847 Isabel and her family moved from
Lonsdale Square, Islington to Bowman’s Lodge on Dartford Heath. This house was
on a road (then a track) that is now called Swan Lane.
The
1851 census shows William (aged 36, a barrister in practice) living at Bowman’s
Lodge, Dartford with his wife Letitia (36) and children Ellen (12), Isabel (6),
Emily (3) and Alice (1). There were also three servants in the household.
Isabel’s brothers are not listed at the address because they were at a boarding
school in Thame, run by their uncle Thomas Broadley Fooks.
In
1856 William’s daughter Emily died aged 8 and later that year his wife Letitia
died aged 44 (when Isabel was aged 12). William married Julia Shears Christy
nee Spurrell, on January 1st 1858 at St George the Martyr, Queen Square,
Holborn. He was aged 45, Julia was 35. She was a widow, having married Edward Christy
in 1847 in Dartford.
Isabel’s
autobiography says that she soon fell out with her stepmother, who “boasted
that she had never had a bath and had never drunk a glass of water.”
William
and Julia later had a daughter, Julia Letitia (b 1859) and a son, Courtenay Cracroft
Spurrell (b 1860). The 1861 census shows William (aged 48, a barrister-at-law)
and Julia (39) living at Bowman’s Lodge with William’s children Walter (19),
Isabel (17), Alice (11), Agnes (9), Julia (2) and Courtenay (1) plus a
governess and four house servants. Alice died in 1864 aged 15.
Isabel
married William Henry Homewood on February 5th 1867 at Holy Trinity
Church in Dartford. He was aged 30, born in Tunstall, Kent. His occupation on
the marriage register was “gentleman”. She was aged 23. Later that year Isabel
and her husband travelled to Christchurch, New Zealand via Panama (crossing the
isthmus by train) and Wellington. They bought the freehold of a farm up the
gorge of the River Wiapora, about 50 miles north of Christchurch. It was
already fenced and had a good house built of limestone but there was no proper
road leading to the house. Isabel became pregnant, but the child did not survive.
After 5 years running the farm with her husband, Isabel became unwell with “lung
trouble”. She was ill for 3 months in Christchurch, when her doctors told her
that she should return to England.
After
Isabel and her husband got back to England they went to live with William’s
father. The 1881 census shows Isabel (aged 37) and her husband William (45, no
profession) living at Ufton Court, Tunstall, Milton, Kent. This was the house
of William’s father Edward, a widower aged 78, a farmer of 220 acres employing
8 labourers. Also listed at the address were William’s siblings Mary (aged 40),
Charles (37) and Charlotte (35) plus three domestic servants. Tunstall was a
village 2 miles south of Sittingbourne, which is now on the outskirts of the
town.
Isabel’s
husband William Henry Homewood died on 26 September 1884 aged 48 at Ufton
Court, Tunstall. Probate records show that Isabel was the executor of his
estate (value £112 14s). She left her father-in-law’s house soon after his
death and spent a year visiting friends and relations.
Isabel’s
autobiography describes various journeys abroad that she made after her husband’s
death. They included another trip to New Zealand. In 1887, Isabel went to
Tasmania with her father William Cracroft Fooks QC (then aged 75). He went to represent
a railway company in a court case against the Tasmanian Government. In 1896 she
obtained a passage on a trading steam boat, which called at many ports on route
to the Black Sea.
In
1894, Isabel (aged 50) took up cycling.
According to her book she rode over 13,000 miles in her first year, over
12,000 miles in her second year and 10,000 miles in many following years. She
would often do sixty miles in a day. These are impressive distances, especially
since her bicycle would have had no gears and would have been heavier than
modern bikes. Most of her cycling trips were done on her own. She cycled in
England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Denmark,
Sweden and Norway.
In
1897, Isabel began a three months training course at York Road Lying-in
Hospital, Lambeth to become a midwife. She passed but did not become a full-time
midwife, preferring to cycle and travel.
Isabel’s
father died in 1899 leaving £13,341. Under the terms of his will, Isabel
inherited one seventh of his estate when her stepmother Julia died in 1900.
Isabel
is shown in the 1901 census as living in Ealing at the house of her nephew Edwin
V R Fooks aged 29, a physician and surgeon. He was born in New Zealand and was a
son of Isabel’s brother Walter Pemberton Fooks, who emigrated there in 1863.
In
1904 (aged 60), Isabel embarked on a cycling tour of Eastern Europe. She
travelled through Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and
France. In 1910, she set out on a world tour which involved cycling in the USA,
from there she sailed to Auckland in New Zealand, then cycled to Christchurch.
She later toured Australia before returning to the UK. She went on another
visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1913. Isabel gave up cycling in 1923,
when she had reached her 80th year.
Isabel in 1928, aged
84
Isabel
died on November 14 1933 aged 89 in Brentford. Probate records give her address
as 2
Greystone Court, The Common, Ealing. Probate was granted to Emily Letitia
Worsfold (wife of Edward Worsfold), Henry Verdon Baines solicitor and Isabel
Frances Paterson, spinster. The estate had a value of £9,378 2s 7d. Emily
Letitia Worsfold nee Fooks (1869-1947) was a daughter of Isabel’s brother
Walter Pemberton Fooks. Isabel Frances Paterson (1900-1962) was a grand-daughter
of Walter.
