The Jordan Story

James and Elizabeth Jordan Chapters

The James and Elizabeth Jordan Family

by Dave Jordan

On 16 November 1876, Elizabeth Priscilla Holloway Scholdberg married James Jordan at St. Mary Stratford Bow. It was exactly one year and a day after Oscar had died and the year and a day was a custom on the time one should wait to be remarried after being widowed. She brought two young sons and a baby girl into the marriage. The marriage certificate provides few details about James except that his father was John Jordan, a farmer, and that James was a donkey engine driver. This occupation was the same as Oscar on his last voyage and suggests that perhaps Oscar and James worked together or learned the trade together. There were two male witnesses on the marriage record, possibly suggesting that these were friends of Oscar.

On 27 December 1879, James and Elizabeth had their only child, which they named James Henry Jordan. It appears they name him after his father and after Elizabeth's brother Harry. At the time of young James' birth, the family lived at 4 Wade Street in Poplar, a short distance from 20 Wade Street where Elizabeth's parents lived and nearby to where Elizabeth had lived with Oscar. Thus the children Oscar and Charles continued to live in the same neighborhood after their father's death.

Sadly just 16 days before James Henry Jordan was born, 4 year old Elizabeth Ada Scholdberg died of phohisis, some sort of lung disease, possibly a form of tuberculosis. It happened on 11 December 1879. She was only 4 years old and never knew her father Oscar Scholdberg.

In 1881, a census year, James and Elizabeth were not to be found. However, the three children Oscar Scholdberg, Charles Scholdberg, and James Henry Jordan were at their grandparent's home at 20 Wade Street. In England, on census night, people are enumerated where they are at the moment and not necessarily where they live. Thus the kids could have been visiting for a day or a month while James and Elizabeth were elsewhere. The 1881 Census is indexed, but James and Elizabeth have yet to be found.

In 1891, a census year, James and Elizabeth were not found again. Their son James Henry was at their grandparent's home at 20 Wade Street, but Charles was missing. It is unfortunate that James and Elizabeth Jordan could not be found in 1881 and 1891. As a result, there is no information about the age or origins of James Jordan.

In October 1892, Joseph Steward died at about age 68. He was still working to support the family. It is suspected that about this time, James Jordan also died, although it is possible that there was a divorce. Unfortunately, James Jordan is a pretty common name, so it has been hard to verify if any of the many James Jordans that died around then was our James Jordan.

Notes

1. Initial Web Publication Date: 2/6/2003
2. Modified: 1/31/2005
3. Desktop Master file: Stories_Jordan