Great x3 Aunt Agnes Davey (nee Nott)

My Great x3 Aunt Agnes (1868 - 1924) was a dress maker, milliner, boarding house keeper, housewife, mother of one, and the youngest sister of my Great Great Grandmother Bessie Staddon Edworthy (nee Nott) (1859 - 1919).

Agnes was born in Oct/Nov 1866 in Morchard Bishop, Devon, to William Nott, an agricultural labourer, and Grace Nott (nee Cobley) (about 40), a wool weaver.

Agnes was baptised on 10th November 1866, in Morchard Bishop. She was likely named for her maternal grandmother, Agnes Cobley (nee Davey).

Agnes was the youngest of nine children (four sons and five daughters):

• William  1850 - after 1861
• John Henry  1852 - after 1861
• Frederick  1853 - 1927  (74)
• Mary Emma  1855 - after 1871
• Eliza Lydia  1856 - 1869  (12)
• Bessie Staddon  1859 - 1919  (about 60)
• Walter  1860 - 1916  (55)
• Jessie Rose 1864 - 1947  (83)
• Agnes  1866 - 1924  (57)

In 1869, when Agnes was about two, her older sister Eliza passed away, aged twelve.

Agnes grew up with her family at Southcott Cottage in Morchard Bishop.

1871 Census: 

On 15th July 1889, Agnes (22), a dressmaker and milliner, married Richard George Davey (26), a saddler and harness maker, in Winkleigh. 

Agnes' maternal grandmother was born a Davey. Was Agnes somehow related to her husband?

Agnes was nearly seven months pregnant, when she married Richard, for their only child, Fred, was born on 23rd September 1889. At the time of Fred's birth, the family lived at Vine Street, Winkleigh.

Agnes and Richard's one son:

• Fred  1889  

1891 Census: 

On 8th February 1892, Richard became a police constable, moving the family from Devon to London. In London, Agnes worked as a housekeeper, running a bordering house in their home - first at 7 Lucas Place (1901 Census) and then 24 Bloomsbury Square (1911 Census). Looking at the other houses on Bloomsbury Square, the majority look to be boarding houses or hotels.

Lucas Place seems to have been off Cromer Street (formerly Lucas Street), somewhere. In 1901, of the twelve houses on Lucas Place, there were police constables living at four (no. 1, 2, 7 and 9).

1901 Census:

At the time of the 1911 Census, their two boarders were both architectural students - one from Australia and one from South Africa.

1911 Census: 

24 Bloomsbury Square

There was a (suffragette approved) literary circle held at 'Little Salon' at 24 Bloomsbury Square from 1911 for a few years. 

In 1910, the Little Salon was at Studio, 15, Rectory Chambers, Chelsea, but seemingly moved to 24 Bloomsbury Square in 1911. Often no name is given on advertisements, but some in 1913 give M.L. Breakell. Seems to have been Mary Louisa Brekell (penname Penumbra), artist and writer, from Manchester, who later moved to London, who was indeed living at 15 Rectory Chambers on 1911 Census. Did Mary Louisa move to 24 Bloomsbury Square in 1911, or was Agnes still at that address and involved in the salon?

Agnes' only child, Fred, served as a corporal in the First World War. He served in the 3/5th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. The battalion was deployed in Gallipoli in July 1915, landing at Suvla Bay in August. They were evacuated in December 1915 and moved to Egypt. Fred survived the war. His own son, Agnes's grandson, Fred Ernest, would serve in the Second World War and thankfully survive his service too.

Agnes' son, Fred's career out of the army... He was a laboratory attendant at the time of the 1911 Census, an insurance agent by the time of the 1921 Census, and a sub post master stationer by the time of the 1939 Census. His own son, Agnes' grandson, also called Fred, was a clerk for a chartered accountant by the time of the 1939 Census. Agnes's family had evolved from a working class family in the Devon countryside to a middle class family in the capital city. 

Agnes' son Fred married Elizabeth Maria, in 1915, the daughter of Alfred Barringer, who was the district superintendent in Islington, for 22 years, of the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society. Fred's father-in-law, a 'staunch liberal', was 'held in high esteem by all who knew him and there always existed a spirit of brotherhood between him and his agents'.

Agnes' husband Richard, a constable in the Whitechapel division, after a service of over 27 years, retired from the police force on 28th September 1919, after which date he was in receipt of a police pension. His pension gives a brief description of his physical appearance: he was nearly 5' 11'', with dark hair turning grey, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

1921 Census:

Agnes and Richard moved back to their native Devon around 1923. They settled in Dawlish, living on The Strand.

In Apr/May/Jun 1924, Agnes passed away, aged 57, in the district of Newton Abbot.

In Jan/Feb/Mar 1925, (6 - 12 months after Agnes' death), Agnes' widower Richard (61), a retired police constable, remarried. He married Victoria Slade (48), a housekeeper in Dawlish, in the district of Newton Abbot. The couple moved to 6 Luscombe Terrace, also in Dawlish. Victoria was interestingly born in Gibraltar - her father was English, but her mother was Gibraltarian. Nearly fifty, this was her first and only marriage - it lasted only eight years.

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1933, Richard passed away, aged 70, in the district of Newton Abbot.

Victoria was still living at 6 Luscombe Terrace at the time of the 1939 Census. She would outlive Richard by nearly thirty years, passing away, aged 85, in 1962, in Exeter.