THE LANGLANDS FAMILY

(This article is in six sections, each of which ends with a clickable link to its neighbours.)

Part 2: 2nd generation – Lawrence, 1797-1867

Our narrative continues with John and Sarah’s son, Lawrence. On 22 August 1822, the 25 year old Lawrence Langlands married 21 year old Rebecca Cole in St Andrew’s, Holborn. The couple made their home in Epsom and appear to have had eight children, four of whom died in infancy:

• Mary Ann, born on 16 June 1822 – who in due course married Arthur Browne and moved away;
• Charles John Lawrence, born on 12 February 1823 – a key figure in the next generation, who we shall be following in Part 3;
• Emily Rebecca, born on 17 August 1825 – who died, unmarried, in 1864, aged 38;
• Augustus William, born on 10 November 1829 – another we shall be following in Part 3;
• Julia, born in 1828 and who died, aged 2, in 1830;
• Julia Sarah Elizabeth (presumably named for her recently deceased sister), born on 6 August 1831 and who died aged 6 in 1837;
• “Eliza”, about whom we know only from the mention of her on a gravestone in St Martin’s churchyard as (together with Julia, Edwin & the second Julia) one of “Four children of Lawrence and Rebecca Langlands); and
• Edwin Richard, born on 25 January 1833, who died in 1836, aged 3.

While Mary Ann and Charles John Lawrence were baptised in St Martin’s shortly after their births (on, respectively, 23 June 1822 and 27 June 1824), the surviving four were all baptised (also in St Martin’s) on 10 August 1834. The spur for that may have been that their mother, Rebecca, had died – aged only 33 – earlier that year, being buried in St Martin’s churchyard on 18 May 1834.

All those baptism records note that their father, Lawrence, was a “Cabinet Maker”. Interestingly, St Martin’s records also note two other “Langlands” baptisms – John Perkins on 12 June 1814 and Harriet Elizabeth on 16 June 1817 – recording them as the children of William (also a “Cabinet Maker”) & Elizabeth Ann Langlands of Epsom. This William does not appear to be Lawrence’s brother, and may have been a cousin. It seems likely that the two worked together in Epsom, but William and his family then moved away from the district, by the time of the 1841 Census being recorded in Lambeth.

The first national census in 1841 records the widowed 45 year-old Lawrence living in Epsom High Street with his surviving four children, all in their teens: Mary; Charles; Emily; and Augustus. This 1841 Census listed Lawrence as an “Upholsterer” – different from the “Cabinet Maker” of his children’s baptism records, and at odds with his entry in the 1839 Pigot Directory for Epsom which lists him as a “Cabinet Maker, Carpenter & Builder”

The 1851 Census finds the family still in Epsom High Street, but the now 55 year-old Lawrence is now listed as a “Builder” with 28 year-old Charles as an “Estate Agent” and 21 year-old Augustus as a “Carpenter”. No occupation is shown for the two daughters, who presumably kept house for the family.

Lawrence’s later years (up to his death in 1870) overlap significantly with the life of his son, Augustus – and both are covered in the  next section.

Roger Morgan © 2022
with special thanks to Terry Friday for his research from which this series of articles has been developed.

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