Wellington

Theodore Francis Garrett

Wellington Square, Hastings
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Introduction

This is about my great-grandfather, Theodore Francis Garrett. In one sense it is a biography, but no life can be understood in isolation.
Theodore's story is inseparable from the family, friends, colleagues and wider Victorian world in which he lived.

Over many years I traced hundreds of people in my family tree, yet only two stood out: Brigstock Weaver and Theodore Francis Garrett.

Of the two, Theodore proved irresistible. Discovering that he had written The Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery - a work still cited by chefs today - opened the door to a life that became more intriguing with each discovery.
The deeper I looked, the stranger the story became.
A surgeon who wrote bestselling cookery books.
A respected Victorian professional who appeared under an assumed identity in the census.
A family whose relationships became increasingly difficult to untangle.
A witness in a controversial inquest.
The more I uncovered, the more these real lives seemed to possess all the complexity of a Victorian novel.

This is a project that is still evolving. If you have anything to add or any questions please send an email

Theodore wasn't simply a Victorian surgeon who wrote cookery books. He was a man who spent much of his life balancing a highly respectable public reputation with a private life that was unusually complicated even by Victorian standards

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1887

Theodore and Gertrude

Theodore marries Gertrude in 1887

In the summer of 1887 Theodore Francis Garrett married my great grandmother Gertrude Annie Journeaux

Portrait of Francis Garrett He was only forty-two years old yet the records already reveal a life marked by professional success, repeated bereavements, changing households and an extended family whose relationships defy easy explanation. As a confident Victorian gentleman standing at the altar he had already lived several lives.

Gertrude Annie Journeaux was about eighteen years old (the census isn't always accurate) when she married Theodore at St Clement Danes in London. She came from the Jersey community whose families had maintained links with London for many years. At the time of their marriage neither of them could have known that Gertrude would become the mother of the youngest branch of Theodore's family and the woman with whom he would spend the remainder of his life.

Four years later the 1891 census recorded the household at 7 North Hill, Hornsey. Theodore, now forty-five, lived with his twenty-two-year-old wife Gertrude. Also in the Highgate house were
- Annie Garrett, daughter, also aged twenty-two,
- Violet Garrett, daughter, aged ten,
- baby Constance, daughter, only one year old and
- Annie E Pollikett, a servant.

At first glance this appears to be an ordinary middle class Victorian family.

It is anything but.
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1845

Theodore before Gertrude

Theodore' early life


I knew about my great grandmother and Theodore's previous wives but at this point there were questions that still puzzled me.
I had found a number of things in Theodore's personal life in the years from 1867 when he married Annie Marion Evans to 1891 when he married my great grandmother Gertrude Journeaux. But I wanted to know what his life was like before this.
Where was he born?
What type of upbringing did he have?
How did he become a surgeon.
How did he meet Annie Marion Evans?

The first thing I wanted to do was to look at the world into which he was born. His upbringing, family background and education may help explain the man he became and the ambitions that shaped his later life.
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Theodore Francis Garrett

A life lived on his own terms

  • Further research on Theodore's life is continuing and any questions or comments are welcome
    Theodore@37p.co.uk