Beatrice was born on 24th April 1882 in Exeter, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 30), a railway guard and horse keeper/groom/carman, and Bessie Staddon Edworthy (nee Nott) (about 22), a housewife.
Beatrice was baptised on 31st May 1882 in St Mary Major, Exeter.
Beatrice was the third of six children (four girls and two boys):
- Edith Florence Jessie 1878 - 1895 (16)
- William Gilbert John 1880 - 1949 (69)
- Beatrice May 1882 - 1969 (86 or 87)
- Cora Agnes 1886 - 1907 (21)
- Frederick 'Fred' Cecil 1888 - 1975 (87)
- Winifred Violet 1895 - 1982 (87)
At the time of Beatrice's birth and baptism, the family lived at Follett's Buildings in Exeter. Follett's Buildings had been built only seven years earlier in 1874, when an improvement scheme headed by Exeter's mayor Charles Follett had seen their construction. With Exeter's recent cholera outbreaks in mind, Follett oversaw the building of these new tenements of between two and four rooms, with each tenement having a larder, scullery, water supply, coal cellar and water closet!
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| Later photograph of Follett's Buildings |
By 1886, and the birth of Beatrice's younger sister Cora, the family had moved from Follett's Buildings to Hoopern Street, also in Exeter. There Cora was privately baptised on the day of her birth - a practice often done if the child was not expected to live long. Possibly due to complications at her birth, Cora retained only the abilities of a very young infant. She was unable to talk, and had to be washed, dressed, fed etc by others. Beatrice's parents tried to care for Cora at home, but struggled. Cora was initially sent to Earlswood Asylum in Surrey, but in 1904 her parents had got her back closer to her home in Exeter and she spent the remainder of her short life in Digby Hospital (Exeter City Asylum), Cora passed away from phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis or a similar progressive wasting disease), aged twenty-one, on 29th December 1907.
The family were still living at Hoopern Street in 1888, when Beatrice's younger brother Fred was baptised, but sometime in the early 1890's, they moved to 64 Howell Road, near the railway station. On her youngest sister Winifred's 1895 baptism record, their father's occupation is listed as a railway guard. Previously William senior has been a carman, and many carmen were employed by the railway for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. Beatrice's brothers, William (junior) and Fred would both go on to work for the railway.
As a young woman, Beatrice left her family home and went into domestic service. The 1901 Census shows her working as a housemaid at the grand Wonham House at Bampton. At the time the house was owned by John Hollond, a former Brighton MP, though the family seem to have been away on the night the 1901 Census was taken. Nineteen-year-old Beatrice was one of nine live-in servants, including a housekeeper, two housemaids, a cook, kitchen maid, scullery maid, footman, hall boy and butler. A gardener and gamekeeper also lived in neighbouring cottages. Beatrice was likely considered the second housemaid, being the younger of the two young women.
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| Modern Photograph of Wonham House, Bampton, 2018 |
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| Interior of Wonham House, Bampton, 2018 |
1901 Census:
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1903, Beatrice (20), a housemaid, married Harry Toze (20), a mason, in the district of Tiverton.
Beatrice and Harry had one son:
- William 'Harry' Henry 1904 -
Sadly, their marriage was short-lived, as Harry passed away, aged only twenty-four, in 1906. He was buried on 8th December 1906 in his native Bampton. At the time of his death, the family lived on the High Street in Bampton. Harry, with his parents and siblings, could be found living on the High Street in the 1901 Census. Maybe, after his marriage, Harry and Beatrice moved into his family home.
After Harry's premature death, Beatrice appears to have gone back into service, whilst their young son went to live with her parents, his maternal grandparents, in Exeter.
In January 1911, when Beatrice was twenty-eight, her father William passed away, aged about fifty-nine, in Exeter.
The 1911 Census shows the young widow living and working as a parlour maid for the Manlove family from Derbyshire, headed by retired Cotton manufacturer Simeon Manlove, at their large villa of Oldenburg House at Paignton.
1911 Census:
Beatrice was thirty-four, when the First World War began. Her older brother William would serve as a private. Thankfully he survived the war.
In her mid thirties, Beatrice remarried. In Jan/Feb/Mar 1918, Beatrice (35), a parlour maid, married David Snell (36), a house painter and formerly a private in the Labour Corps, in the district of Totnes.
David had been deemed unfit for army in December 1917 due to an old injury - he had enlisted only ten months earlier, in February 1917, and saw no foreign action. Back in 1899, aged only seventeen or eighteen, he writes: "whilst working on timber hauling, a large oak tree fell on me and caused two fractures in the right leg below the knee, one in left leg below the knee, a compound fracture of left thigh, and injury to the back. Since that time, I have only been able to do light work, though I made a great effort to resume my former work of ship-building". The doctor writes of his present condition in 1917: "he appears always to be in more or less pain in the back, increased by stooping and moving about". His disability was deemed permanent. Still his army records give his character as 'good'.
Though they married in 1918, Beatrice and David had evidently been a couple since at least 1912, for the couple's first daughter was born in that year. Beatrice and David would have five daughters. Interestingly his 1917 army service records name Beatrice as his wife, though they would not marry till 1918. His army service records list the names of his three elder daughters. Interestingly he also lists William Henry Toze, Beatrice's son from her first marriage, as his son. His and Beatrice's address is given as 4 Morley Cottage, Paignton, in 1917.
At some point in the 1910's, Beatrice widowed mother Bessie and youngest sister Winifred came to live with Beatrice and her young family at Morley Cottage.
Beatrice and David's five daughters:
- Winifred 'Winnie' Doris 1912 -
- Olive Hyne 1913 - 1940 (26 years old)
- Audrey Betty (known as Betty) 1915 -
- Joyce Eileen 1920 -
- Peggy A 1925 - 1927 (2 years old)
The couple baptised their daughters, Olive and Audrey, together in October 1915. Their address at the time is given as Curledge Street, Paignton.
I wonder why Beatrice and David, clearly living together as husband and wife from 1912, did not marry until 1918.
Did Beatrice's name her eldest daughter Winifred for her youngest sister of the same name?
On 3rd April 1919, when Beatrice was thirty-six, her mother Bessie passed away, aged about sixty, in Totnes.
Sadly, Beatrice and David's youngest daughter Peggy also passed away, aged only two, in 1927.
By the dawn of the Second World War, Beatrice and David, along with their youngest surviving daughter Joyce, were back living on Curledge Street (no. 38).
1939 Census:
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1940, when Beatrice was sixty-one, her and David's second daughter Olive sadly passed away, aged only twenty-six, in the district of Totnes. It seems she died as a result of childbirth, as her only child, a daughter named Joyce N Nicholls (likely named for her younger sister), was born in the same quarter.
On 1st April 1949, when Beatrice was sixty-seven, her husband David passed away, aged also sixty-seven, at their home of 100 Barton Avenue, Paignton. The 1939 Census had previously shown their late married daughter Olive at this address. In his death notice in the local newspaper, David is described as "beloved husband" and "dearest father".
Beatrice would outlive her first husband by over sixty years, and her second husband by twenty years. In Apr/May/Jun 1969, Beatrice herself passed away, aged eighty-six or eight-seven, in the district of Torbay.
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