Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Great x3 Aunt Ellen Yeo

My Great x3 Aunt Ellen (1869 - 1937) was a domestic servant, and a younger sister of my Great Great Grandmother Annie Sandford (nee Yeo) (1868 - 1948).



Ellen was born in Jul/Aug/Sep 1869 in the district of Okehampton, Devon, to George Yeo (35), an agricultural and quarry labourer, and Ann Yeo (nee Gliddon) (about 30), a housewife.

Ellen was the fifth of six children (one son and five daughters):

  • Thomas 'Tom'  1863 - 1904  (40 or 41 years old)
  • Mary 'Mary Anne' Gliddon  1864 - 1941  (76 years old)
  • Emily Ann  1867 - 1872  (5 years old)
  • Annie  1868 - 1948  (80 years old)
  • Ellen  1869 - 1937  (68 years old)
  • Harriet  1872 - 1893 (21 years old)

Ellen also had an older half brother, Joseph Gliddon (1860 - 1928) (67 years old), her mother Ann's illegitimate son born before her marriage. Joseph lived with his maternal grandparents.

1871 Census:


In October or November 1872, when Ellen was only three, her older sister Emily Ann passed away aged only five years old. Emily Ann was buried on 8th November 1872, in Okehampton. About three months later, Ellen's father George passed away, aged thirty-nine, in 1873, in Okehampton. He was buried on 30th January 1873, in Okehampton. And about three months after that, Ellen's mother Ann also passed away, aged thirty-three or thirty-four. She was buried on 30th April 1873 also in Okehampton. I wonder if they all succumbed to the same disease. 

Unless relatives took them in, Ellen and her five remaining siblings (aged zero to nine) would likely have ended up in the workhouse. Indeed, in the next census (1881 Census), Ellen (11) and Harriet (9) can be found living in the Union Workhouse in Okehampton. I wonder if the other older siblings also entered the workhouse after their parents' early deaths, but by thirteen years old were deemed old enough to go out and work. 

1881 Census:


As a young woman, Ellen lived and worked as a domestic servant for the Rich family, headed by farmer Richard Rich, at Westlake Farm, Inwardleigh. Her older brother Tom had previously lived and worked at Westlake Farm for Richard Rich, and can be found there on the 1881 Census.

1891 Census:


I can't presently find Ellen on the 1901 Census; however, by the 1911 Census, she was still (or once more) working for the Rich family, though now at Loveland Farm, Northlew.

On 1st August 1904, when Helen was about thirty-five, her older brother Tom, aged forty or forty-one, was sadly killed in a road accident. Having reportedly had a few drinks, Tom was riding his bike from their sister Annie's house in Bow, Devon; making his way to the Eggesford Flower Show with friend and fellow cyclist Thomas Rice. Whilst going down a steep decline, the pair met with a pair of horses being taken to the smith by a young farm lad. Rice road past the horses without issue; unfortunately one of the horses then became restive and Tom collided with it. He was throw violently from his bike onto the hard ground, striking his head, which rendered him unconsciousness. Rice quickly went to his friend and the young lad went to the doctor. Tom was taken back to Bow, but never regained consciousness, passing away about twelve hours after the accident.

1911 Census:


Two of Ellen's nephews served and died/were killed in the First World War.

Her half nephew James Henry Gliddon (the eldest son of her older half brother Joseph Gliddon) served as a seaman in the Royal Navy. He had enlisted before the war, in 1910, serving on many ships. He passed away in 1916, aged twenty-six, of cirrhosis of the liver, on board the hospital ship Somali.

Her nephew William Wallace Yeo (the son of her older brother Tom) served as private in the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion of the Royal Marine Light Infantry Plymouth Division. He had also enlisted before the war, in 1913. He served for two and half years on board the H.M.S Donegal, from late 1914 to early 1917; he also served with the Victory Brigade (or RM Brigade) in Belgium. He was killed in action in 1917, aged twenty-three, in Belgium.

Ellen never married. In newspaper articles of 1937, she is described as a spinster, late of Loveland Farm, Northlew. 

On 8th September 1937, Ellen passed away, aged about sixty-eight, at Loveland Farm. 

From the Western Times of 10th September 1937:


Having been orphaned as a toddler, spent her childhood in the workhouse, and then worked as a domestic servant on farms, it is unexpected that Ellen left an estate. There are newspaper notices to inform of such, which are replied to by her sister Annie Sandford (nee Yeo) and her nephew Leon Thomas Yeo (the eldest surviving son of her older brother Tom). 

From the Western Times of 17th September 1937:



From the Western Times of 12th November 1937:

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