Chairman of Cripplegate Institute in 1894.
Henry James Felton is listed as a churchwarden at St Giles Cripplegate in 1885 and as a vestryman in 1887. His son, Charles Page Felton, attended City of London School, and Warwick Road, Upper Clapton (now Warwick Grove E5) is given as the Felton address.
Our colleague, Andrew Behan, states that Henry James Felton was born on 25 December 1847 in Spitalfields, Middlesex (now Greater London), a son of Matthew George Felton (1812-1872) and Sarah Felton née Clarke (1811-1892). His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1848 in the Whitechapel Registration District, Middlesex (now Greater London).
On 23 March 1856 he, together with his nephew, George Matthew Saweard Felton (1855-1857), were baptised in St Leonard's Church, Shoreditch, Middlesex (now Greater London) where in the baptismal register his family are shown to be living 16 Pearson Street, Shoreditch and that his father was an umbrella maker. The register also shows his date of birth as 25 December 1848, but it is believed the curate who conducted the baptism erroneously recorded the year of his birth and it should have been 1847.
In the 1871 census he is shown as Henry Felton, aged 23 years and an umbrella maker, living at 5 Gore Terrace, Bethnal Green, Middlesex (now Greater London), with his parents together with a female domestic servant. His father continued to be described as an umbrella maker.
On 15 August 1874 he married Mary Jane Page (1854-1936) at St Matthew's Church, Bethnal Green, where in the marriage register he is shown as of full age, a bachelor and a warehouseman residing 4 Tynemouth Terrace, Bethnal Green, whilst his wife was described as a minor and a spinster living at 18 St James Road, Bethnal Green, the daughter of Charles Page, a merchant.
When the 1881 census was undertaken he was shown as Henry J. Felton, aged 33 years and an umbrella manufacturer, residing at 27 Warwick Road, Stamford Hill, Hackney, Middlesex (now Greater London) with his wife and their three children: Charles Page Felton (1876-1917) - a scholar; Ethel Mary Felton (1878-1926) and Hilda Maud Felton (1879-1976), his brother George Matthew Felton (1833-1883) - a shirt and collar manufacturer, two nieces: Isabel Sarah Felton (1860-1927) and Laura Felton (1861-1942), together with a cook, a housemaid and a nurse.
On 3 September 1883 he applied to be admitted into the Freedom of the City of London by redemption, claiming that he carrying out the business of a manufacturer at 6 Aldermanbury Postern.
He was described in the 1891 census as Henry J. Fulton, aged 43 years and an umbrella manufacturer, living in a property in Oaklands Road, Bromley, Kent (now Greater London), with his wife, five of their children: Ethel Mary Felton; Hilda Maud Felton; Kathleen Gleeson Felton (1881-1957); Reginald Horace Felton (1883-1970) and Duncan George William Felton (1887-1974), his niece Laura Felton, together with a cook, a housemaid and a nurse.
He was described in the 1901 census as aged 53 years and a retired manufacturer of umbrellas living at Nos.3 and 4 Beach Mansions, Southsea, Hampshire, with his wife, who was shown a boarding house proprietress, five of their children: Ethel Mary Felton; Hilda Maud Felton; Kathleen Gleeson Felton; Reginald Horace Felton and Duncan George William Felton, his great niece Isabella Mary Wreford (1892-1958), 10 female and 3 male boarders, 2 housekeepers, a cook, a kitchen maid, a parlour maid, a pantry maid and a male waiter.
His death, aged 59 years, was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1907 in the Portsmouth Registration District, Hampshire. Probate records confirm that his address had been 4 Beach Mansions, Southsea and that he died on 11 August 1907 at the Rothbury Nursing Home, Clarendon Road, Southsea. Probate was granted on 7 October 1907 jointly to his widow and to his son Charles Page Felton, a manufacturer's agent. His effects totalled £15,264-15s-10d.
He is commemorated as 'H. J. FELTON Chairman.' on the Cripplegate Institute foundation stone at Cripplegate House, 1 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0RR.
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