A Victorian Mystery
This article is part of an ongoing series treating the
photographs in my family collection as primary sources — not simply
illustrations of family stories, but historical evidence capable of testing,
confirming, and sometimes overturning those stories altogether.
In 1871, a Camberwell bootmaker appeared in the census as
“Alec Lee.”
Yet the birth certificates of his children consistently
named him as Alfred Ellis.
For more than a decade, the family lived publicly under one
surname while keeping another in legal records. The wife was buried as Lee. But
whenever a child’s birth was registered — a permanent legal act — the father
gave the name Ellis.
Why would a working-class Victorian tradesman adopt a new
identity for fifteen years, then abandon it when he remarried?
And who was the mysterious Alexander Lee whose name he
borrowed?
Figure 1 Three Brothers, all the
children of James Ellis and Sarah Harriet Jardine with one child from the next
generation (son of Alfred Ellis and nephew of the other two). Left to Right:
Back Row. James Ellis (b.1833), Richard Ellis (b.1842), Charles Ellis (b. 1874
son of Alfred Ellis & Martha Bartlett), Front Row -seated, Alfred Ellis
(b.1839), Camberwell Surrey. Date c1910 [208]
The photograph was found late one afternoon in an old
cardboard suitcase in Lurline’s garage, during a visit from a cousin who had
come searching for family memorabilia and history. Lurline thought there might
be more photographs somewhere. She was right. She disappeared outside for a few
minutes, came back with the suitcase, and found the photograph inside. It was
instantly clear this photograph mattered.[i][ii]
This particular photograph had a sheet of waxed paper over it with the names of the 4 men written over their images.
Alfred Ellis — the seated man in the front row — had spent
fifteen years living under an assumed name. The surviving records allow us to
reconstruct how it happened.
1. Alfred Before “Lee”
Alfred Ellis was born in Clerkenwell in 1839, the son of
James Ellis, a shoemaker.[iii] He grew up in the crowded artisan households
of inner London, surrounded by the tools and rhythms of bootmaking.
But in his early twenties, Alfred drifted. When he married
Martha Bartlett in 1864, he described himself not as a bootmaker but as a watchmaker,[iv]
a trade entirely unrelated to his father’s. It was a brief detour. Within a
year, he had returned to the family craft, registering his first child as a
“Bootmaker (Master).”[v]
By 1865, Alfred appeared to be establishing himself
independently. But something went wrong. And that is where the story begins to
twist.[vi]
2. The First Clue: St George’s Road
In November 1867, Alfred registered the birth of his second
child, Edward.[vii]
His occupation had changed. He was no longer a “Master” bootmaker. He was now
a “Shoemaker Journeyman” —an employee, working for someone
else.
He appears to have lost his independence. And he was living
at 2 St George's Road, Camberwell.
Now consider the following. That same year, Kelly’s
Directory of Surrey listed a master bootmaker trading on St Georges Road under
a different name:
Lee Alexander, boot maker,
Camberwell.[viii]
A man named Alexander Lee was already there—an established
tradesman with his own shop, his own customers, his own reputation. Alfred
Ellis, a journeyman, was almost certainly working for him.
The evidence begins to align.
3. The Move to 257 St Georges Road
Between November 1867 and December 1870, something decisive
occurred. The family moved from number 2 to 257 St. George's Road—and the
name Lee appeared for the first time in the family.
The evidence comes from an extraordinary document: the birth
certificate of Martha Sarah Ellis, born 31 December 1870.[ix]
Alfred registered the child as Ellis, as he always would.
But the informant was not Alfred. It was Martha herself. And when asked
for her maiden name—her name before marriage—she did not write “Bartlett.” She
wrote “Lee.”
This is not a registrar’s error. Martha signed the
certificate. She had so thoroughly internalised the family’s assumed identity
that she gave her everyday social name as her legal former name.
By the end of 1870, the Lee identity had become embedded in
everyday family life.
4. Living as the Lee Family
From this point on, the family presented as Lee to almost
everyone.
The 1871 census records the household as “Alec
Lee” (Alexander Lee), with Martha and the children all listed under the same
surname.[x]
School enrolments between 1872 and 1876 show the children—Martha,[xi]
Kate,[xii]
Alfred Jr.,[xiii]
and Edward[xiv]—all
enrolled as Lee. Martha, the eldest daughter, started at Gloucester Road
Infants around age two, then transferred to Gloucester Road School in August
1875. The father is recorded simply as
“Alfred” in the school registers, suggesting he used his real first name in
person while maintaining the Lee surname publicly.
But critically, on every single birth certificate from 1865
to 1877, Alfred registered his children as Ellis. He understood that birth
registration fixed a legal identity permanently. The census, the school, the
neighbourhood—they could call him Lee. The register office would record Ellis.
Alfred maintained a clear, consistent distinction: legal
identity vs. social identity—and he never confused the two.[xv]
5. The Children and the Two Surnames
The children absorbed this double identity without apparent
confusion.
When Alfred Jr. left home, he used Lee socially.
The 1881 census finds him working as a waiter at the Bell Tavern in
the City of London, recorded as “Alfred E. Lee.”[xvi]
But when he emigrated to Australia in 1887, the passenger list records him
as Alfred Ellis—his legal name.[xvii]
His brother Edward followed the same pattern. When admitted
to the Gordon Road Workhouse in 1880, he was entered as Edward Lee.[xviii]
But when transferred to the Mount Edgcumbe industrial training ship, the naval
register recorded him as Edward Ellis.xx Institutional authorities appear to
have required his legal surname.[xix]
The daughters, Martha and Kate, navigated the same dual
identity. After their mother’s death in 1880, they remained with their father
and younger siblings, and in 1881 were baptised under the surname Ellis—their
legal name.[xx][xxi]
Yet in everyday life, they continued to use Lee. In 1889, they emigrated together
to Western Australia under assisted passage schemes.[xxii]
Martha later settled in Melbourne and married Walter Todman, while Kate married
in Fremantle.[xxiii]
The younger sons—Charles, Walter, and Frederick—eventually
dispersed across England, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia. As adults, none
appears to have continued using the surname Lee. Their father’s borrowed
identity had served its purpose and was quietly abandoned by the next
generation.
The children followed the same distinction their father had
maintained for years: Lee in social life, Ellis in legal identity. They knew
who they were.
6. Martha’s Death and the Deepening of “Lee”
On 2 September 1880, Martha died at 245 St Georges Road from
post-partum haemorrhage. She was forty years old.[xxiv]
Alfred registered the death himself. He signed the
certificate as “Alexander Lee, Widower.” Not Alfred Ellis. Not even a
hybrid. He used the assumed name on a legal document for the first time. And he
buried her as Martha Lee.
At first glance, this contradicts his careful avoidance of
Lee on birth certificates. But it makes sense when you understand the
difference.
Birth registration fixed a permanent legal identity for a
child. Alfred never compromised that.
Death and burial recorded the identity a person had lived
under. Martha had been Martha Lee to her neighbours, her children, and her
community for a decade. Burying her as Martha Ellis would have been not only
locally incomprehensible but a kind of retrospective erasure of the life she
had actually lived.
Alfred appears to have understood that distinction clearly. In
doing so, he chose fidelity to the life she had actually lived over strict
legal formality.
7. The Return to Alfred Ellis
On 13 November 1883, Alfred remarried. His bride was Mary
Elizabeth Southgate.[xxv] And on the marriage certificate, he
appeared as Alfred Ellis—his birth name, his legal name, his
father’s name.
The Lee identity was not abandoned overnight. Electoral
registers show him listed as Alexander Lee as late as 1890,[xxvi]
as Alfred Ellis in 1892,[xxvii]
and as Alexander Ellis Lee in 1893 alone — and finally as Alfred Ellis from
1894 onwards, now registered at 118 Commercial Road[xxviii]—a
hybrid name that suggests the authorities were trying to reconcile his dual
identities. But the reversion had begun.
Why did he go back to Ellis? Most likely because marriage
required proof of identity—especially for a widower. His first wife had died as
Martha Lee.[xxix]
To marry again legally, he needed to establish who he really was.
The Lee period ended as it began: with a practical decision.
8. The Commercial Road Years
By the mid-1890s, Alfred Ellis had settled into something
new: ordinariness.
The borrowed name was fading. St George’s Road—where he had
traded as Lee for more than a decade—was behind him. Commercial Road, Peckham,
became the centre of his later life.
The transition was gradual. Electoral records through the
late 1880s and early 1890s show Alfred moving between addresses while still
maintaining connections to the St George’s Road premises. But by 1895, he had
consolidated both home and business at 118 Commercial Road, where he would
remain for the rest of his life.
The 1901 and 1911 censuses both record him there, still
working as a bootmaker into old age. For a brief period around 1908–1909,
electoral registers suggest he also maintained rooms nearby at 145 Commercial
Road, though the reason is unclear.
Alfred Ellis died in March 1912 at 118 Commercial Road. He
had spent the final decades of his life living openly under his own name,
without any borrowing required.
Figure 3 Alfred Ellis outside his shop
at 118 Commercial Road, Peckham, c.1908. Electoral registers suggest the family
also briefly maintained rooms at nearby 145 Commercial Road during this period.
[ T224]
If the photo is examined carefully, the number 118 can be
seen on the building. 145 Commercial Rd, Peckham, circa 1908. They lived at 145
Commercial Rd, and the shop was at 118 Commercial Rd.
9. So Who Was Alexander Lee?
The surviving records cannot prove exactly what happened
between Alfred Ellis and the original Alexander Lee.
But the most plausible explanation is this: sometime between
1867 and 1870, the original Alexander Lee ceased to operate his bootmaking
business at 257 St George’s Road — whether through death, retirement, or
emigration. Alfred Ellis, who had been working for him as a journeyman, took
over the premises and the trade.
In Victorian England, it was common practice to continue
trading under a previous owner’s name. The goodwill of a small business was
tied to personal name recognition. Customers knew “Alexander Lee the
bootmaker.” A new proprietor trading as “Alfred Ellis at the old Lee premises”
risked losing that accumulated trust.
So Alfred became Alexander Lee — in business first, then
gradually in every aspect of daily life.
What began as a practical commercial decision became, over a
decade, the family’s lived reality. And when Martha signed “Lee” as her maiden
name, she was not lying. She was telling the truth about who she had become.
The mystery is not fully solved. We may never know what
became of the original Alexander Lee. But the evidence points strongly to a man
who borrowed a name to keep a business alive — and found that the name borrowed
him back.
For descendants, the story leaves an unusual legacy: a
family that lived for years between two names, carrying both identities at
once. The surviving records preserve not simply a deception, but the
complicated reality of how ordinary Victorian families navigated work,
reputation, legality, and survival
This post is part of Sepia Saturday
827 : Saturday 23 May 2026. Click here to
see how others are sharing their history through photographs.
Footnotes
[i] Yvonne Marshall in conversation with
Lurline Marshall during a visit to Western Australia, 2003-4
[ii] As told by Yvonne Marshall in a
discussion with the author 2003-4
[iv] Marriage
certificate of Alfred Ellis and Bartlett Martha, married 27 April 1864; District
Shoreditch, Vol 1d, Page 256, General Register
Office, England and Wales (certified copy).
[v] Birth
certificate for Alfred Ellis, born 15 Oct 1865, son of Alfred
Ellis & Martha Bartlett, citing General Register Office, England GRO Reference: 1865 D Quarter
in CAMBERWELL Volume 01D Page 584 (certified copy).
[vi] Birth
certificate for Alfred Ellis, born 12 October 1839; 1841 census
(HO107/661/1/50); 1851 census (HO107/1521/333/42); 1864 marriage certificate
(Shoreditch, Vol 1d, p.256).
[vii] Birth
certificate for Edward Ellis, born 18 November 1867, son of Alfred
Ellis & Martha Bartlett; citing General Register Office, England GRO
Reference: 1867 D Quarter in CAMBERWELL
Volume 01D Page 644 (certified copy).
[viii]
1867 Post Office Directory, in UK, City and County
Directories, 1766–1946 (database online), Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.,
Provo, Utah, 2013; entry for Alexander Lee, boot maker, St George’s Road from
Well Street to Crabtree Shot Road, Peckham, Camberwell, Surrey, p. 1482. No
building numbers listed. Accessed via Ancestry
[ix] Birth
certificate Martha Sarah Ellis, born 31 December 1870, daughter of
Alfred Ellis and Martha, citing General Register Office, England, GRO
Reference: 1871 M Quarter in CAMBERWELL
Volume 01D Page 741 (certified copy).
[x] 1871
census of England, London, Surrey, Enumeration District: 19 - St
George Road, Camberwell, London, England, folio 130, page 47, Alec Lee head of
household; digital images, brightsolid online publishing ltd, Findmypast
(www.findmypast.com : accessed 29 Jan 2017); citing PRO RG10/739
[xi] London
Metropolitan Archives, School Admission and Discharge Register for Girls,
Gloucester Road School, admission entry for Martha Lee, admitted August 1875;
giving birth date 2 June 1870, age 5, daughter of Alfred Lee; reference
LCC/EO/DIV07/GLO/AD/001. Database: London, England, School Admissions and
Discharges, 1840–1911, Ancestry
(Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), citing records held by The
London Archives, London, England.
[xii] London
Metropolitan Archives, Admission and Discharge Register for Girls, Gloucester
Road School, admission entry for Kate Lee, admitted June 1876; age
4, born 12 June 1872, daughter of Alfred H. Lee; reference
LCC/EO/DIV07/GLO/AD/001. Database: London, England, School Admissions and
Discharges, 1840–1911, Ancestry
(Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), citing records held by The
London Archives, London, England.
[xiii]
London Metropolitan Archives, Admission and Discharge Register for Boys,
Southampton Street School, admission entry for Alfd Lee, admitted 21
September 1874; age 8, born 15 October 1865, son of Alfd Lee; reference
LCC/EO/DIV07/SOU/AD/001. Database: London, England, School Admissions and
Discharges, 1840–1911, Ancestry
(Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), citing records held by The
London Archives, London, England.
[xiv] London
Metropolitan Archives, Admission and Discharge Register for Boys, Southampton
Street School, admission entry for Edward Lee, admitted 21 September 1874;
age 6, born 31 December 1867, son of Alfd Lee; reference
LCC/EO/DIV07/SOU/AD/001. Database: London, England, School Admissions and
Discharges, 1840–1911, Ancestry
(Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), citing records held by The
London Archives, London, England.
[xv] 1871
census of England; school enrolment records (1872–1876) show children
enrolled as Lee, father recorded as “Alfred.”
[xvi] 1881
England Census, London City registration district, civil parish of St
Martin Ludgate, Enumeration District 2, RG11/377, folio 17, page 2, entry for
Alfred E. Lee, aged 15, waiter, born Peckham, Surrey, living and working at 61
Old Bailey, “The Bell Tavern,” in the household of Sarah A. Suggate; database, Ancestry
(Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2004).
[xvii]
Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923,
Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria; Inward Overseas
Passenger Lists (British Ports), microfiche copy of VPRS 947, Series VPRS 7666;
entry for Alfred Ellis, English, age 21, arrived 6 August 1887 on Orient,
departing London and arriving at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia;
database, Ancestry (Ancestry Record 1635 #3166801, accessed 17 April
2022).
[xviii]
Entry of Admission for Edward Lee Gordon Road Workhouse 10 March 1880
(Ancestry, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1659-1930, Gordon Road
Workhouse 1879-1892, London Metropolitan Archives, London, England. LEBG/189/1
[Image 30 of 238, accessed 17/08/2015]
[xix] Census
returns of England and Wales, 1881, Civil Parish, Township or Place: St
Germans - extract for Edward Ellis living on the "Mount Edgcumbe"
Industrial Training Ship (1881 Census, Registration district: St Germans,
Sub-registration district: Saltash, ED, institution, or vessel: Industrial
Training Ship Mount Edgeumbe, Public Records Office, England (PRO)
RG11/2282/177
[xx] Church
of England Parish Registers, St Luke’s, Peckham, Southwark, London, baptism
register, entry for Martha Ellis, baptised 27 May 1881, no. 578, p. 73;
London Metropolitan Archives, London, England; in London, England, Church of
England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906, database and images, Ancestry, Ancestry
(accessed 27 January 2017).
[xxi] Church
of England Parish Registers, St Luke’s, Peckham, Southwark, London, baptism
register, entry for Kate Ellen Ellis, baptised 9 September 1881,
no. 686, p. 86; London Metropolitan Archives, London, England; in London,
England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906, database and
images, Ancestry, Ancestry (accessed 27 January 2017).
[xxii]
Passenger and Crew Lists, ship Nairnshire, passenger list,
p. 3, arrival 8 October 1889, entry for Kate Ellen Ellis and Martha Sarah
Ellis; State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia;
copy of original record provided via email by Tom Reynolds, 8 February 2013.
[xxiii]
Marriage Certificate, Walter Todman and Martha Ellis, married 16
January 1892, reg. no. 345/1892; Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages,
Victoria, Australia; indexed in Victorian Marriage Index, Victoria
BDM (accessed 23 May 2026).
[xxiv]
Death Certificate, Martha Lee, 2 September 1880, St George, Camberwell,
Surrey, England; citing September quarter 1880, Camberwell registration
district, vol. 1d, p. 534; General Register Office, Southport, England. The
certificate records her cause of death as post-partum haemorrhage.
[xxv] Marriage
Certificate, Alfred Ellis and Mary Elizabeth Southgate, 13 November 1883,
Camberwell registration district, Surrey, England; citing December quarter
1883, vol. 1d, p. 1263; General Register Office, Southport, England.
[xxvi]
London Metropolitan Archives, Electoral Registers, Southwark Camberwell
North, 1890, entry no. 2846 for Alexander Lee, house at 52 Commercial Road,
Peckham, and shop at 245 St George’s Road; image 52 of 221; London, England, UK
[xxvii]
London Metropolitan Archives, Electoral Registers, Southwark Camberwell
North, 1892, entry no. 2836 for Alfred Ellis, house and shop at 245 St George’s
Road, p. 68, image 74 of 372; London, England, UK.
[xxviii]
London Metropolitan Archives, Electoral Registers, Southwark Camberwell
North, 1894, entry no. 2850 for Alexander Ellis Lee, house at 245 St George’s
Road; London, England, UK.
[xxix]
Death Certificate, Martha Lee, 2 September 1880 Informant: “Alexander
Lee, Widower.”
