Wednesday, 11 July 2018

Great Great Grandmother Mary Ann 'Polly' Boobier (nee Manning)

My Great Great Grandmother Polly (1869 - 1916) was a laundry maid, housewife, and mother of two.



Mary Ann 'Polly' Manning was born early in 1869 in Exeter, Devon to William Manning (about 39), a general labourer, and Mary Ann Manning (nee Ireland) (about 28), a laundress.

Polly was baptised on 13th June 1869, in St Leonard, Exeter. She was named after her mother.

Polly was the third of nine children (five daughters and four sons):

  • Emma  1865 - 1866 (11 months old)
  • William  1868 -
  • Mary Ann 'Polly' 1869 -
  • Kate  1871 -
  • Rose  1875 - 1877 (2 years old)
  • Samuel  1877 - 1877 (11 weeks old)
  • James  1879 - 1887 (7 or 8 years old)
  • Unnamed Daughter  1880 - 1880 (0 years old)
  • Frederick John  1882 - 1882 (6 weeks old)

Alas six of Polly's siblings passed away in infancy: Polly's older sister Emma passed away aged eleven months in 1866, three years before Polly was born; when Polly was eight, her younger sister Rose (two years old) and younger brother Samuel (eleven weeks old)  passed away in 1877; when Polly was eleven, a younger sister, who was not named, passed away, having been born after only a six month pregnancy, in 1880; when Polly was thirteen, her youngest brother Frederick passed away aged only six weeks old in 1882; and when Polly was eighteen, her younger brother James passed away aged seven or eight years old in 1887.

Why did so many of Polly's siblings pass away so young? My initial gut theory was syphilis, which can cause poor pregnancy outcomes. The mother can have many children, but few survive, as is the case here. However, Polly's father was dismissed from the army, before he settled down to have a family, for showing signs of tuberculosis. Did his illness affect the survival of his children? Did he pass it on to them?

1871 Census:


On the next census, visitor Mary Ireland is described as 'mother' to William Manning. She is in fact his mother in law and his wife Mary Ann's mother. I cannot find a marriage between a William Manning and a Mary Ann Ireland; however, a Mary Ann Ireland was born in the same place and year as the future Mary Ann Manning.

Polly grew up in the district of St Leonard, Exeter. Her future husband Walter Boobier was her neighbour. The 1881 Census shows them both living in Jubilee Street, St Leonard, Exeter.

1881 Census:


Sometime in the 1880s, Polly and her family moved from Jubilee Street to 4 Colleton Grove, also in Exeter. There Polly and her younger sister Kate followed their mother and worked as laundry maids.

1891 Census:


The 1891 Census lists Polly's younger sister Kate as deaf.

In 1895, when Polly was about twenty-five, her father William passed away, aged about sixty-five, in Exeter.

Polly, her widowed mother, and younger sister Kate stayed at 4 Colleton Grove.

1901 Census:


On 16th August 1901, Polly (31) married Walter Boobier (30), a municipal labourer in Holy Trinity, Exeter. At Polly's house of 4 Colleton Grove, the young couple set up home.

Polly and Walter had two daughters:

  • Ellen Emma  1903 - 1977 (74)
  • Ivy Jane  1905 - 1978 (73)

In 1908, when Polly was thirty-nine, her mother Mary Ann passed away, aged about sixty-six in Exeter.

1911 Census:


Early in 1916, Polly passed away aged forty-six, in Exeter.

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