Edward Henry Mickelborough (b. 1854)

Edward Henry Mickelborough was born in the district of St George's in East in 1854, the son of upholsterer and polisher William Henry Mickelborough (b. ~1818) and his wife Sarah (b. ~1817).

He married Julia Kipping in 1875 and they moved to the West Ham district, where the both the Hitchcocks and the Kippings had established their greengrocery trade. They had at least 7 children: Julia Sophia (1875–1969), Edward Charles (1878–1940), Arthur Henry (1880–1961), Archibald Earnest (1882–1959), Sarah Ann(e) (1885–?), Jessie (1887–1957) and Lilly (1890–1958).

In the 1881 Census he was a "fruiterer employing 1 man & 2 girls" at 7 Maryland Terrace, West Ham. By the time of the 1901 Census, his son (also named Edward) had become a fruiterer's assistant whilst Edward curiously gave his profession as a "traveller in gas fittings".

In 1896, Julia's brother Albert Kipping, who also worked as a fruiterer, had married Kate Hitchcock, and this link with the Hitchcocks is the most like explanation for Edward Henry taking over the lease of the greengrocery at 517 Leytonstone High Road when William Hitchcock (b. 1862) moved to Salmon Lane, Limehouse, circa 1907. The 1911 Census lists 3 of their daughters helping out with the family business.

Whilst Edward Henry remained at number 517 until his death aged 63 in 1917, his son Edward Charles ran a separate greengrocery at 151 Leytonstone High Road, where he lived with his wife Emma Sarah Louise (née MacGuire) whom he married in 1905.

His sons Arthur Henry and Archibald Earnest also worked as greengrocers and fruiterers in Leytonstone.

Edward Henry's wife Julia died in 1942, aged 89.