Robert George Murduck

A Photographer in England

His Early Life

1875 - 1897

Robert George MURDUCK was born in Clapton Park, Haggerston, London, England, on 30 August 1875 [Register of Baptisms, St Augustine, Haggerston, County of Middlesex, England, 1863-1886; Entry No. 2235, Page 280]. His parents were Robert Murduck, a 'joiner', and Mary Elizabeth [nee WARE]. They had been married at St. James the Less, in the Parish of Bethnal Green, on 6 September 1874 [Marriage Register, St James the Less, Parish of Bethnal Green, 1873-1878; Entry No. 124, Page 62]. Robert George was their oldest child. When Robert George was baptised at St Augustine's church on 19 September 1875, his parents were noted to have been living at Elderfield Road, Clapton Park. Robert George was more than likely born in his parents' home.

On Census Day in 1881 (the evening of Sunday, 3 April), Robert and Elizabeth Murduck, three children - Robert G, William A, and Mary E, and the elder Robert's older sister Elizabeth, were living in 'Asylum Lodge' on Clapton Road in the civil parish of St John at Hackney [1881 Census of England and Wales; England; London; Civil Parish of St John at Hackney; Ward & Borough of Hackney; Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints; Enumeration District 25, Page 3, Schedule No. 14. The National Archives: Record Group 11, Piece 303, Folio 92 (front)]. The elder Robert was described at the time of enumeration as being a 'carpenter & joiner'. Five year old Robert had, of course, no occupational description, but neither was he said to be a 'scholar' attending school. Charles Gainsbury, the enumerator, described Asylum Lodge as being on Clapton Road near the corner of Lea Bridge Road.

Robert the elder and Mary Elizabeth are thought to have moved from Clapton Road to the town of Hastings, in East Sussex around 1888. Certainly on Census Day in 1891 (the evening of Sunday, 5 April) Robert the elder and his three children were enumerated as residents of 149 Perth Road, in Hastings [1891 Census of England and Wales; England; East Sussex; Town, Sanitary District and Parliamentary Borough of Hastings; Civil Parish of St Leonard; Ecclesiastical Parish of St Matthew; Registration District of St Mary's in the Castle; Enumeration District 31, Page 9, Schedule No. 61. The National Archives: Record Group 12, Piece 766, Folio 110 (front)]. The enumerator, James E Offen, suggested that 149 Perth Road was on the south side, just beyond the junction with Battle Road. The elder Robert was again described as being a 'carpenter & joiner'. Curiously, his wife is missing from the enumeration record (and her whereabouts at that time are presently unknown), but his oldest sister Rebecca was living with the family - 44 years, a 'machinist', born in Bethnal Green. Young Robert G was enumerated, aged 15 years, and described as a 'photographers apprentice' who had been born in Clapton. Who the photographer young Robert might have been apprenticing with is not known - no 'photographers' appear to have been enumerated in the Hastings area in 1891. Also within the Murduck household were young Robert's siblings William A, a 'drapers assistant', 14 years; and Mary E, 12, a 'scholar'.

By about 1897, Robert George Murduck was in Exmouth, Devonshire, in the south-west of England, and the next phase of his life began. Read about this in the next article: Robert George Murduck's life in Exmouth, Devonshire, 1897-1920.