John Shean lived in Bow and built boats and barges. He married Susanna Bailey and later re-married her sister, Caroline. The family had a strong nautical background. John and Caroline had a son called Josiah, who was born in Bow on 29th September, 1861. Josiah was listed in the Thames Watermen and Lightermen records of 1878, but by age 19, had found employment in a chemist's warehouse.

Josiah married Annie Azubah Horton on 17th September, 1882 in St. Leonard's St May, Bromley in the Borough of Tower Hamlets. They had five daughters and two sons; Florence, Beatrice, Annie Miriam, Ivy Barbara, Elizabeth Althea, Josiah Henry William and Horace Horton. Sadly, the 1911 Census shows that two other children died, but no further details are known. While Mother stayed at home to look after the children, Josiah changed from being a warehouseman to a gas attendant. By 1901, he was an artificer (archaic term for 'skilled craftsman') at the Royal Mint. Twenty years on, he was still working at the Royal Mint, based in the Electrical Department.

Josiah and family moved homes a lot and lived in Aldgate, Tottenham and Ilford High Road. Annie, his wife, died in 1927 and it is uncertain if she actually moved into the New North Road cottages. However records show that in the 1930's, three members of the Shean family occupied 12 New North Road, Chigwell Row, which was the place where they would settle. Josiah, now receiving a Civil Servant's pension, moved there with his two daughters Beatrice and Annie (aka Minnie). Beatrice was incapacitated and Annie was doing unpaid domestic duties. The address changed to 692 New North Road, Hainault when the new estate was built after World War II.