Elizabeth Ann was born in Oct/Nov/Dec 1854, around Exton or Woodbury, Devon, to George Mutters (about 29), a farm labourer and sexton, and Anna Maria Mutters (nee Havill) (about 28), a lacemaker and housewife.
George may have wished to name his daughter Elizabeth after his younger sister of the same name, as baby Elizabeth Ann was born soon after her Aunt Elizabeth had passed away. Anna Maria may have also wished to honour her younger sister, also named Elizabeth, who passed away in infancy.
Elizabeth Ann was the second of six children (three daughters and three sons):
- Mary Jane 1852 - after 1871 (at least 19 years old)
- Elizabeth Ann 1854 - 1856 (18 months old)
- Sarah Ann 1857 - 1928 (70 years old)
- John Thomas 1859 - after 1871 (at least 11 years old)
- William George 1862 - 1864 (15 - 18 months old)
- George 1868 - 1918 (52 years old)
Sadly Elizabeth Ann and her younger brother William passed away in infancy. Their father George was sexton at Woodbury Church. A part of a sexton's duties was digging graves, so it seems likely George dug the graves for his two young children.
Little Elizabeth's death, at only eighteen months, was the result of a tragic accident in the home...
On the morning of Thursday 24th April 1856, her mother Anna Maria was at home washing - such a normal domestic situation - and her attention was off her infant for but a moment, but in that moment, that live-changing moment, little Elizabeth managed to pull the tub of boiling water over herself. Imagine the screams, the cries. Somebody must have ran for help, for medical assistance was speedily got, but to no avail: the scalding to Elizabeth was severe and she lived only twenty-four hours more. One can only hope she was soothed and her pain somehow eased within that time.
From the Western Times of 3rd May 1856:
Elizabeth Ann was buried on 4th May 1856 in Woodbury. At the time of her burial, the family lived in nearby Exton.
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