More pictures on the Leavesden Pages

Military

Watford

Leavesden was a parish created from part of Watford in the 19th century and I have restructured and augmented the pages with more post card images. There is a master Leavesden entry page with links to separate pages for All Saint's Church, The Grove (and Grove School), Munden, The Metropolitan Asulum (where the Post Office Rifles were billeted in 1914/5), The St Pancras Schools and the local part of the Grand Junction Canal.

The Post Office Rifles in Leavesden Asylum, Watford

Phil has asked if there were any records of Arthur Edward Draper being billeted at Leavesden Asylum - and whether there are any photographs.which might show him.

Captain Peel

When war broke out the 2nd London (Territorial) Division moved to War stations and many ended up in billets. The problem is that only the Army at the time would have kept detailed records of who went where - and these records have not survived. The Councils would also have been involved - particularly when buildings like schools were taken over - because while the school buildings were vacant when war broke out in August the children would be returning to to study in September! Unfortunately most council records have not survived, and the information that is available is mainly about buildings and not the units or individual soldiers that occupied them. 

CAN YOU HELP?

What I have done is to set up an answer page on the Post Office Rifles (1/8 Battalion of the 2nd London Division) from which it is clear that most information on where they were billeted has come from soldiers' letters and post cards home - such as those by Captain H. Peel. There must be many more such letters surviving in private hands - and if the information can be brought together it would help to paint a more detailed picture of where units (and individual soldiers) were billeted in Hertfordshire during the First World War.

Did Theresa remarry leaving her first husband in Leavesden Asylum?

Alison reported that Louis Flatau was married Theresa Newstadt in 1881 but in 1892 Theresa remarried Albert Waddell but the only death found for anyone called Louis Flatau was in 1906 at Leavesden Asylum. I checked the 1891 and 1901 censuses and there was no sign of any Lewes/Louis Flatau or any likely mispelling of Flatau in the Asylum. In any case the death indexes contain many errors and the failure to find a death circa 1890 does not mean the he did not die then, and other records support the idea that he was dead. My first reaction was to suggest that the Louis Flatau whose death was recorded in 1906 could not be him. However a later rethink, suggested there is something of interest. As a result I have appended an expanded and tidied up version of my original rough notes to the detailed analysis of the Louis Flatau case.

Leavesden Lunatic Asylum circa 1915

Basically there was a patient in Leavesden  in 1901 who fits the general description of Louis Flatau (age, occupation, place of birth) but his name is recorded as Louis Woolf.  So what - there were hundreds of people in Leavesdon which came from exactly the same part of London - so it could just be a coincidence. But wait a moment. Louis Flatau's mother's maiden name was Woolf, so perhaps Louis's full name was Louis Woolf Flatau and the Flatau was dropped when her was admitted to Leavesden. The complication is that the Flatau and Woolf families seem to have been immigrants from Eastern Europe, living in a close-knit community and there are a number of genuine Louis Woolfs who could also have been the patient in Leavesden Asylum.

The Cave Family of Abbots Langley

Last year I posted a picture, and some background, on Arthur William Cave, a fishmonger of Abbots Langley. A relative, Janet, has supplied  some detailed information on the family and and number of photographs, which have been appended to the original page.

These include a picture and information of the young Herbert Bushby Cave, 1896-1916, who died on the Somme. 

There is also information on the Dolamore of Abbots Langley and Leavesden.