Richard GUMBLETON

Richard was baptised on 13 April 1842, along with his younger brother, Henry, in Ibstock, Leicestershire, where his parents had previously been married.

It is assumed that the family made only a short visit to Ibstock, although little is known of their whereabouts. Richard, himself, next turns up in the 1851 census where, at the age of 14, he is working as a grocer with his uncle (also Richard Gumbleton) at 44 Grosvenor Row, Pimlico.

In 1861 he was working as a shopman for Joseph WHITE, a tea-dealer in High Street, Southwark. From 1863-1868, the London PO directories list Richard Gumbleton, grocer, at 12, Old Dorset Place, Clapham S. This refers to his uncle, as evidenced by the 1861 census. Next door to this address, lived the family of Thomas Henry Bowditch, a corn merchant, whose eldest daughter, Elizabeth BOWDITCH, married Richard Gumbleton on 14 April 1868, at St Stephen's Church, Lambeth, Surrey.

Their first child, Elizabeth Mary Gumbleton, was born on the 27th Feb 1869, at 52, Cranmer Rd, Lambeth, Surrey and Richard is recorded as a grocer on the birth certificate. In the 1871 census, Richard and his family were still living at 52 Cranmer Rd, but he is then listed as a wine merchant's traveller.

By October 1871, at the baptism of their daughter Ellen Louisa, Richard's address is given as 2 Clarendon Place, Vassall Road, and he is described as 'Corn dealer'. In March 1873 (at the baptism of Richard Thomas) the address is given as 53 Vassall Road, North Brixton, with Richard described as a 'Tea dealer'. By the birth of Walter Henry in 1879, they had moved to 4 Eythorne Rd, North Brixton and Richard was a commercial traveller.

In the 1881 census, Richard was listed as a commercial traveller and was living at 4 Eythorne Rd, Brixton, Surrey, with his wife and children: Elizabeth M, Ellen L, Richard T, Alice L, and Herbert G. He was still there in 1891.

In the 1901 census, the family were in Knatchbull Road.

Richard died, aged 72, at 154 Springbank Rd, Catford, Lewisham, Surrey, on 7 May 1909. The cause of death was syncope due to chronic bronchitis and weak heart. He was buried in Norwood Cemetery on 12 May 1909.