Poplar councillor imprisoned during the 1921 rates protest.
Despite the claim on his Wikipedia page that he was born on 3 April 1887, this was not the case. He was the fifth of the twelve children of George Lansbury (1859-1940) and Elizabeth Jane Lansbury née Brine (1860-1933), his birth being registered in the 2nd quarter of 1887 in the Poplar registration district. He was baptised on 3 April 1877 at St Stephen's Church, Tredegar Road, Bow, where the baptismal records show his date of birth as 24 February 1887, that the family resided at 105 St Stephens Road, Bow, and that his father's occupation was a veneer drier.
In the 1891 census he is shown as a scholar living at 105 St Stephens Road, Bow, with his parents and four surviving siblings: Bessie Lansbury (1881-1909), Annie Lansbury (1882-1952), William Arthur Lansbury (1885-1957) and Dorothy Lansbury (1890-1973). An elder brother, George Henry Lansbury, who was born in 1883, had died in 1889. His father was described as a knife veneer drier.
The 1901 census describes both him and his brother William Arthur Lansbury as clerks to a public company. He was living at Double House, Aldeborough Hatch, Ilford, Essex, with his parents and nine siblings: Bessie, Annie, William Arthur, Dorothy, Daisy Beatrice Lansbury (1892-1971), Nellie Lansbury (1896-1980), Doreen Lansbury (1899-1902), Constance Lansbury (1899-1983) and Violet L. Lansbury (1900-1972). His father was now recorded as a director and manager of a timber company.
When his four youngest sisters were baptised on 17 May 1902 at St Mary's Church, Straford, Bow, the baptismal records show that the family were living at 42 Campbell Road, Bow and when his youngest brother Eric George Lansbury (1905-1965) was baptised at the same church on 14 May 1905 the family were residing at 103 St Stephens Road, Bow.
When the 1911 census was taken, he was described as a timber merchant living in 11 rooms at 101 & 103 St Stephens Road, Bow, with his parents and five siblings: Annie, William Arthur, Dorothy, Daisy Beatrice and Nellie. His father was shown as a timber & veneer merchant and a Member of Parliament.
He married Minnie Glassman (1889-1922) in the 2nd quarter of 1914 in the Poplar registration district and electoral registers in 1915 show his address to have been 25 Mornington Road, Bow, (later renamed and is now Mornington Grove) and from 1919 to 1921 at 6 Wellington Road, Bow, (later renamed and is now Wellington Way).
His wife died on 1 January 1922 and he was re-married in the 3rd quarter of 1924 in the Holborn registration district. His new wife was born as Charlotte Lilian McIldowie (1895-1975) in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland. She had married a Reginald Harry Francis Denham (1894-1983) in the 2nd quarter of 1919 in the Wandsworth registration district and they had a daughter, Islolde Denham (1920-1987), but were divorced in early 1924. She was an actress who used the stage name of Moyna Macgill.
He and his new wife had three children: Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (b.1925, the actor) and twins Edgar George MacIldowie Lansbury (b.1930) and William Bruce Mcgeean Lansbury (1930-2017). Telephone directories in 1924 show him listed at 16 Great James Street, London, WC1 and from 1925 at 5 Regent's Park Terrace, London, NW1. In both the 1927 and 1928 directories he is shown at 64b Hamilton Terrace, London, NW8. From 1933 to 1935 directories only list Mrs Edgar Lansbury and Mrs Moyna Lansbury, actress, at 7 Weymouth Avenue, London, NW7.
He died of stomach cancer, aged 48 years, on 28 May 1935. Probate records confirm that his address had been 7 Weymouth Avenue, Mill Hill, and that when probate was granted to his widow on 10 September 1935 his estate totalled £7,956-5s-0d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
