Emmens – Brunswick Lodge, Anerley Vale and 17 & 18 Anerley Vale

EMMENS – Brunswick Lodge, Anerley Vale and 17 & 18 Anerley Vale

John Emmens (Bn 1862 D1930) and wife Emma (née Tripp) (Bn 1865 Anerley Vale D1943) were living in Brunswick Lodge, Anerley Vale, in 1891 and 1901, with their three children, daughters Violet, Elizabeth and sons, John (Bn 1890 D1958 16a Waldegrave Road) and William (Bn 1892). John (Snr) married Emma at All Saints Church, Upper Norwood, in August 1885, when he was a Cab Driver. Emma’s father Lowing Tripp (1825-1889) was a Blacksmith and the family had been resident in Anerley Vale before the 1871 Census.

In 1921, John and Emma were resident at 18 Anerley Vale. Emma was still resident there in 1939, with sons John and his wife May (Margaret) (Bn 1890 D1948). John (Jnr) worked as a Labourer for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

John (Jnr) in 1914, aged 24, became a Gunner, 219th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, 5ft 9”, dark brown hair, green eyes, 10 stone. Conduct ‘Good’. Occupation, a Labourer.

John Emmens (Senior) was a familiar character in picturesque Norwood. In his livery and bowler hat, he drove the horse mail van for Messrs Coldman, and collected the parcels from the railway stations and delivered them in the district from 1888, a year after the service was opened, up to the close of 1914. He was fondly thought of when he died in 1930.

In 1921, son William (Bn 1892) and Selina Emmens, née Hensley (M 1920), lived at No 17 Anerley Vale. William’s occupation was a Labourer, for F Lawrence & Sons, Builders and Decorators, 37a Westow Hill. In 1903, he had been living on the opposite side of Anerley Road, at 3 Brunswick