Not the first Raynham to be born a Cockney, this may well have been his older sister Sarah Grenfield Raynham R79 , Robert was born into a very deprived and depressed area of East London in the early years of Queen Victoria reign (1837 - 1901).

Below is an extract of Cross's Map of London for 1847 and Burn Street and is denoted by the X and close to Catherine Street; today Burn Street no longer exists, having been renamed Dupont Street sometime during the late 1890's.

Robert Partridge Raynham , together with his parents had moved to a neighbouring street by the 1851 census , a copy of the census entry for number 10 Catherine Street, Limehouse [2] and is illustrated in Chapter 1. It was observed that besides Robert's parents being in occupation his older sisters Sarah R34, Emma R35 and his older brother John Thomas R36 were at home.

Also listed are Robert's married sister Harriet Ann Mulley and her son Robert.

Robert had another brother, Ambrose Cornelius Raynham R80 who by the time of his marriage in 1847, had left the family home. He later pops up in the same 1851 census  at 6 Catherine Street just two doors away from his parent's home.

Ambrose and his descendants are well documented and have been traced to Bethnal Green, East London and in Dagenham, Essex . A separate later chapter has been devoted to this side of the Raynham family.

By the time of the 1861 census the family was still residing at 10 Catherine Street , Robert was employed as a junior clerk.

Robert was married on Tuesday 25 May 1873 at the parish church of St George, Gravesend, Kent. His bride was Sarah Emma Allen , little is known about Sarah, other than she was over 21 years of age at the time of the marriage, Robert would have been 29 years of age and occupation was given as metal dealer. A copy of the certificate can be seen below.

From this marriage four children have been identified, Robert Charles R4 born in 1874 Sarah Louise R337, Alfred Henry R10 in 1877 and Minnie Gertrude in 1879. Sarah and Minnie were born in Gravesend, Robert at Poplar and the others in Limehouse.

From the addresses given for their respective birth places the family clearly moved around, possibly in advance of the rent collector. In 1874 they were living at 23 Gough Street, Poplar about half a mile from Catherine Street and in 1877 they were at 78 Gill Street, Limehouse just a short distance from their previous addresses.

By the time of the 1891 census the family was residing at 72 Bancroft Road, Mile End, this address was to figure for some considerable time in the lives of Robert and his family.

The census confirmed four members of the family were residing at this address, Robert and Sarah as well as the two sons Robert R4 and Alfred R10. Both may well have been working for Robert in his general dealer business, Robert's occupation is listed as a general labourer and Alfred's as errand boy.

As for the two daughters as yet there whereabouts or otherwise is not known.

From this address Robert was clearly running his business affairs, as can be shown from entries in the Kelly's London Directory for 1891 and 1896 when this address was given. Other Kelly entries are recorded for his son and grandson during the early 1900s.

Robert died on Wednesday 25 April 1900 at 72 Bancroft Road at the age of 55 years; death was given as cardiac failure no doubt contributed or brought on by the fact he had pneumonia. His wife Sarah was the person who registered the death and was present at his death and a copy of the death certificate is shown below.

From a visit of modern day Bancroft Road there are many examples of Victorian terraced housing which may resemble that used by Robert and his family. There is no evidence of number 72 which may have been demolished to make way for building extensions to the Mile End Hospital, now part of the Royal London Hospital. A typical Bancroft Road terrace house is shown below, the house although in better decorative order would not have changed externally from that occupied by Robert.

During Robert's life the United States abolished slavery in 1863 and General Lee surrender of the Confederate Army in 1865 to end the American Civil War. The trade unions were legalised in 1871 and the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli bought shares in the Suez Canal, from Egypt in 1875.

Just before Robert's death the Boer War between the British and the Boers broke out in 1899 and lasted just 3 years and in the year of his death Germany began the arms race with Britain, commencing with a massive increase in sea power.

During Robert's life he must have wondered how he received his second given name "Partridge". Although there is no evidence of its origin it may have something to do with his father's friendship with his brother-in-law Robert Partridge, this was referred to in Chapter 1.

It is possible that his father kept in touch with Robert Partridge and his sister Sarah R38, even though they were still in Chelsworth  some 80 miles away. We know she was still there from the 1871 census when she was a widow living at the "Marshes". This contact from around the early 1800s to when his son Robert was born in 1844, coupled with the possibility that Sarah may not have had any children would have been sufficient reason to give his son the Partridge name.

Robert lived long enough to see the birth of his first two grandsons, Robert Richard and Charles Edward Raynham , my grandfather.