7 Ainsworth Street

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Number 7 Ainsworth Street is one of a terrace of three houses on the west side of Ainsworth Street.

1881 census

Morris Ephstein, head, 30, draper’s commercial traveller, b. Prussia
Sarah Ephstein, wife, 36, b. Hilgay, Norfolk
Miriam Ephstein, daughter, 3, b. Cambridge
Cassell J Ephstein, son, 4 months, b. Cambridge

Morris Epstein (or Ephstein, Ebstein) was born in Prussia in 1852.

In September 1881 Morris applied for the position of Education Inquiry Officer, but he lost out to a Mr Swinn of Bradmore Street.

A third child, Reuben William, was born on 28 June 1884.

Sarah Epstein died in 1888 and was buried at St Andrew the Less on 12 March. In the four weeks prior to her death, she was nursed by a Mrs Tindall, cook and housekeeper. Mrs Tindall stayed with the family for a further month to look after the children.

In June 1888 Mrs Tindall took Morris Epstein to court to claim £24 8s 3d, the wages she said she was owed and a sum of money that she lent him.

The £17 loan was admitted, but Mr Epstein had a counterclaim of £13 14s 2d. Mr Ellison was in court for Mr Epstein (Cambridge Independent Press, 29 June 1888):

Mr. ELLISON: Isn’t the whole cause of it that you fell out because he would not have you as Mrs. Epstein No.2? – No sir, I swear it is not (laughter).

Did you tell him that his children were neither Jews nor Gentiles? – I might have done so; but I cannot say whether I did or not.

Mr. ELLISON: I should think you did.

His HONOR here intimated that he was inclined to disallow the claim for wages.

Later Epstein denied giving presents to Mrs Tindall ‘although he had made her a present of a footstool (laughter)’.

The Cambridge Independent Press for 3 August 1888 has an article about the ‘Accidental Suffocation of an Infant’. This child was 3-week-old Mary Epstein, ‘the illegitimate daughter of an unmarried Jewess, named Dinah Epstein, who has been lodging with her brother at No.7 Ainsworth Street, during the four months she has been in Cambridge’.

1891 census

Morris Ebstein, head, 39, draper & outfitter, b. Prussia
Cassel Ebstein, son, 10, scholar, b. Cambridge
Reuben Ebstein, son, 6, scholar, b. Cambridge
Miriam Ebstein, daughter, 13, scholar, b. Cambridge

Morris Epstein appears in Kelly’s Directory for 1892 and 1896 as a ‘shopkeeper and draper’.

1901 census

Morris Epstein, head, 49, pedlar, own account, b. German, Germany
Miriam Epstein, daughter, 23, b. Cambridge
Cossell Epstein, son, 20, compositor, b. Cambridge
Reuben Epstein, son, 16, shorthand & typewriting, b. Cambridge

On the 1901 Census he was just a ‘pedlar / hawker’.

On 19 March 1903, Morris and his three children left the UK, sailing from Liverpool on SS Bavarian. The border crossing document gives his occupation as ‘watchmaker’. They arrived in Halifax on 23 March 1903

Morris Epstein died in Chicago on 25 December 1909 at the age of 56. His occupation was given as jeweller. Morris is buried in Forest Park Cemetery, Chicago.

Miriam Epstein married farmer Daly Rasmussen on 8 June 1908 in Michigan. They had four children, David, Arthur, Herbert and Leonard. Miriam died in 1962 and is buried in Two Lakes Cemetery, Wisconsin.

Cassell Epstein married Lillian Levian on 12 June 1904 in Chicago. He kept his name on the 1910 Census and was still a compositor. On his Naturalisation record in March 1916 he gave his old name, but also his new name as ‘Joseph Cassell’. Lillian and Cassell had two children, Miriam and Lucille.

Reuben Epstein married Sadie Kauffmann on 19 January 1908 in Milwaukee. He was a stenographer. Reuben and Sadie had two children, Seymour and Marvin.

In 1920 Reuben and his brother were living together with their families at 1425 Carmen Avenue in Chicago. They were now both stocks and bonds salesmen. The families stayed close together in 1930 on Sawyer Avenue. After that Reuben vanishes until his death in Los Angeles in 1973. Joseph stayed at Sawyer Avenue until his death in 1949.

1911 census

Thomas Albert Tingey, head, 1883, 28, carman, b. Cambridge
Florence Annie Tingey, wife, 1877, 34, housekeeper, b. Cambridge
John Thomas Tingey, son, 1908, 3, b. Cambridge
Barbara Ellen Tingey, daughter, 1910, 1, b. Cambridge
George Alfred Riseley, step son, 1901, 10, school, b. Cambridge
Ethel Alexandra Riseley, step daughter, 1903, 8, b. Cambridge
Florence Pomfret, visitor, 1888, 23, housemaid (domestic), b. Ely, Cambridgeshire
Married 3 years, 2 children

Thomas had already joined the Royal Engineers in 1901 and was a Lance Corporal in the Army Reserve at the start of World War I. He was with the Royal Field Artillery during the War, received a field promotion to 2nd Corporal in March 1915 and a promotion to Corporal in May 1916.

Thomas served (presumably abroad) with the British Expeditionary Force from 17 August 1914 until 25 May 1919. On his Demobilization Forms, dated 4 June 1919, he is a Sergeant in the 2nd Field Squadron of the Royal Engineers.

The Tingey family lived here until 1918, when they moved to 2 Ainsworth Street, and then to 27 Ainsworth Street in 1926.

1921 census

Henry James, head, 36, cement worker, b. Cambridge
Mary Ann James, wife, 35, house duty, b. Dartford, Stone, Kent

Henry James worked for Messrs Keeble & Davies Ltd at Norman Cement Works in Cherry Hinton.

Henry James died in 1932, and Mary Ann is recorded in the Electoral Register as living here until 1934.

Sources: UK census records (1881 to 1921), General Register Office birth, marriage and death indexes (1837 onwards), the 1939 England and Wales Register, London Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754–1932, National Burial Index for England & Wales, Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire (1892 / 1896), Cambridge Independent Press (24 September 1881, 29 June 1888, 3 August 1888), Illinois Federal Naturalization Records, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960, NorwayHeritage.com, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, Milwaukee Wisconsin Marriages, 1838-1911, Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index, 1878–1922, FindAGrave.com, United States Federal Census (1910, 1920, 1930, 1940), Cambridgeshire, England, Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books (1914–1966), British Army WW1 Service Records

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