Mary was born on 8th August 1864 in the district of Okehampton, Devon, to George Yeo (30), an agricultural and quarry labourer, and Ann Yeo (nee Gliddon) (about 25), a housewife.
(Mary's name was registered at birth as Mary Gliddon Yeo; however, on a few records from around 1890, she puts her middle name as Anne (on her 1889 marriage certificate, her daughter Leonora's 1890 baptism record, the 1891 census). Fortunately, her record of burial gives her unusual middle name of Gliddon and usual married name of Higerty, thus confirming, though her name and place of birth change a little on different records, they still relate to our Mary.)
Mary was the second 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)
Mary 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.
Mary and her siblings grew up around Meldon, just outside Okehampton.
1871 Census:
In October or November 1872, when Mary was eight, her younger sister Emily Ann passed away aged only five years old. Emily Ann was buried on 8th November 1872, in Okehampton. About three months later, Mary'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, Mary'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, Mary and her five remaining siblings (aged zero to nine) would likely have ended up in the workhouse. Indeed, in the next census (1881 Census), Mary's youngest sisters Ellen (11) and Harriet (9) can be found living in the Union Workhouse in Okehampton. I wonder if Mary and 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.
Sometime in the 1880's, as a young woman, Mary moved from her native Devon all the way to London.
On 7th December 1889, Mary (25) married Edwin Thomas Higerty (29), a leather gun case maker, at St Marks, Peckham, London.
Mary and Edwin had three children:
- Leonora Mary 1890 -
- Rose 1892 - 1892 (0 - 3 months old)
- William 1892 - 1892 (0 - 3 months old)
Sadly, their twins, Rose and William, passed away as very young babies. They were born and died in the same quarter - Oct/Nov/Dec 1892 in the district of Camberwell.
1891 Census:
1901 Census:
On 1st August 1904, when Mary was thirty-nine, 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 Mary'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.
1939 Census:
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1941, Mary passed away, aged seventy-six, in the district of Hendon, Middlesex.
Mary was buried on 29th March 1941 in Harrow, London. On her record of burial, her full name is given as Mary Gliddon Higerty, confirming it is our Mary, who left her surviving siblings behind in Devon, travelled all the way to London alone as a young woman, and made a new life for herself there, with her husband Edwin and their surviving daughter Leonora.
Her husband Edwin outlived Mary by six years. In Apr/May/Jun 1947, Edwin passed away, aged eighty-six, in the district of Hendon, Middlesex.
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