| | | | | | William and Ann Susan's third child, a daughter also called Ann Susan, was baptised in the same church nearly three years later on 26th February 1815.
A fourth child Mary was born 5th February 1817 and baptised the following month at All Saints but was also buried there in 7th August the following year.
A fifth child, Caroline, was baptised at All Saints, Wandsworth on 5th December 1819. We hear nothing further of her until 26 years later (See Part 1.6).
No entry could be traced in the parish record for the last 2 children either. As with their second child, these records were found in the Bishops Transcripts.
The absence of other records of William makes it unlikely that he was a native of Wandsworth although as a boy he could have lived in the village of nearby Clapham, in which case, he may have been the son of Thomas and Margaret Gander, born on 24th October 1773 and baptised in St. James Garlickhithe in the City of London. Alternatively he could have been the son of Thomas and Sarah Gander of Cranleigh, Surrey, and baptised on 3rd April 1774. Both possibilities are further explored in Part 1.7. | | | | | | | | | | | | 1.2 WANDSWORTH
 andsworth
was already a very busy place by the early 18OO's when
William was working there. Its centre lay where the river
Wandle runs into the Thames and was bounded by open country
to the south. The 6 miles from Gracechurch Street in the City
of London were covered by a daily horse coach and cart service
and by river there was a ferry from Queenhithe and Hungerford
Stairs.
According to Francis Sheppard in his book London - the Infernal Wen the Wandle Valley was then one of the most industrialised districts in England.
In 1805 there were listed 39 premises on a 9 mile stretch of the Wandle, including 16 calico printing and bleaching works, 9 flour mills, 5 snuff mills, 4 oil seed crushing mills, a paper mill, a saw mill, a copper refinery, an iron works and a brewery. The great market of London was of course responsible for all this industrial development. The brewery referred to was Young's Ram brewery. | | | | | | | |
