Eliza Sparling was born as Eliza Margaret Donovan on 25 November 1876, a daughter of Cornelius Donovan (1846-1916) and Margaret Donovan née Kent (1845-1891). Her birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1877 in the St. Saviour registration district, Southwark. On 21 February 1877 she was baptised at Christ Church, Southwark, where the baptismal registers show her family to have been living at 5 Great Charlotte Street, Southwark, and that her father was a printer.
On 23 August 1880, she and her elder brother William Donovan (b.1875) were admitted into the Leipsic Road School (renamed as Comber Grove School in 1921) where the register shows her as Eliza Donovan and their home address as 6 Chatham Street, Walworth.
The 1881 census lists her as Eliza M. Donovan and a scholar, still residing at 6 Chatham Street, with her parents, three siblings: Henry John Donovan (1868-1917), William Donovan and Margaret Lucy Donovan (b.1878). She and her sister were shown on the school register dated 11 June 1883 as living at 29 Chatham Street, Walworth.
In the 1891 census she is described as a domestic servant living at 29 Zoar Street, Southwark, with her mother and three siblings: William, Margaret Lucy and Francis Donovan (1889-1945).
On 12 October 1901 she married William Sparling (1873-1929) at Christ Church, Southwark. The marriage register shows her as a spinster living at 12 Princes Street, Southwark, whilst her husband was described as a bachelor and a labourer residing at 10 Princes Street, Southwark. (Princes Street was subsequently renamed to Risborough Street, SE1).
When their daughter, Eliza Sparling (b.1902), was baptised on 30 April 1902 at Christ Church, Southwark, the baptismal register shows the family were living at 4 Zoar Street, Southwark. They had moved to 29 Zoar Street when their daughter Alice Sparling (1904-1991) was baptised on 31 July 1904 according to the Christ Church baptismal register. Their daughter Jessie Sparling (1906-1987) was also born in Zoar Street. When their son, William Philip Sparling ( 1909-1957) was baptised on 14 March 1909 the baptismal register at St Peter's Church, Walworth, shows the family residing at 28 Moss Alley, Southwark.
On 7 February 1910, when their daughters Alice and Jessie were admitted into the Orange Street School, the register shows the family living at 4 Golden Place. It describes her husband as an 'invalid' and her as 'does a little washing'. The 1911 census describes her as an office cleaner and confirms she was still living at 4 Golden Place, Union Street, Southwark, with her husband and their four children.
Their son, Henry John Sparling (1912-2003) was born 5 January 1912 and electoral registers of that year and in 1913 show her listed at 36 Zoar Street, Southwark. Electoral registers from 1918 to 1937 show her listed at 14 Risborough Street, Union Street, with varying members of her family. Her husband died and was buried on 7 February 1929 in Newham.
Electoral registers in 1938 show her at 136 Union Street and this address was confirmed in the 1939 England and Wales Register where she is shown as performing 'unpaid domestic duties' and living there with her two sons, William P. Sparling a 'porter fruit and vegetable, and Francis Sparling a 'porter Post Office'.
She died, aged 63 years, on 10 September 1940, as a result of enemy action when a bomb fell on the Ewer Street air raid shelter. Her name is recorded in The Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939-1945 that is kept just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey. In this she is shown as living at 136 Union Street Flats, Union Street, Southwark, but it incorrectly gives her age as 62 years, as does the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
