Carl F. G. Schroth from London

This little fellow was Carl Frederick Gustavus Schroth. Someone marked down his birthday too: February 23, 1885. Little Carl was 6 months old when this photo was taken in London.

I find one 6-year-old Carl F. G. Schroth living with his parents Carl E. and Marion Schroth in Islington, London, in 1891. Looks like Carl was his parents’ only child. According to the same Census, Carl Sr. had been born in Germany which might explain why this photo was found in Germany. Perhaps it was sent to relatives in Germany?

I don’t know when Carl Sr. came to England. I find one possible match for one Karl Eduard Schroth, born 27. Jan 1845 in Gröbitz in Saxony, Germany, who fits our profile. If that’s the case, we might also know baby Carl’s grandparents ‘names – Carl Friedrich and Christiane Schroth from Gröbitz. Perhaps recipients of this photo in 1885?

In 1891, Carl Sr. was listed in the Census as a scientific instrument maker. I wonder what scientific instruments he made/manufactured in 1891? A decade later in the 1901 Census, Carl Sr. listed as a mechanical engineer.

By 1911, Carl Jr. had lost his mama Marion. I don’t know what happened to her. In 1911, it’s just Carl and his father as well as Carl’s unmarried auntie Ida Baddeley living at 48 Mercers Road, Tufnell Park, Upper Holloway N, and Carl’s father is listed as widowed. This was their home for many years:

GoogleMaps

Carl’s father died in 1916, leaving his son about £160.000 in today’s worth in effects.

For the next two decades Carl lived in the same house at 48 Mercers Road where we find him in the polling lists of 1936. Carl was an electrical engineer by profession.

Carl married Kate Coward at the beginning of 1939 and the couple moved to 24 Bridge Way in Twickenham where we find them in the 1939 polling lists. I don’t think they had children – Carl was 54 and Kate 45 when they wed.

Carl passed away in October 1961 at the age of 76.

How wonderful that his baby photo was found in Germany in almost pristine condition some 140 years after it was taken. Someone kept it safe all these years, so that Carl could never forget his roots.