My Great x3 Aunt Mary (also known as Polly) (1869 - 1938) was a domestic servant, housewife, mother of nine, and the youngest sister of my Great Great Grandfather William Edworthy (1852 - 1911).
Mary was born in Jan/Feb 1869 in East Worlington, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 48), a farm labourer, and Mary Edworthy (nee Harris) (about 45), a housewife.
On Valentine's Day 1869, Mary was baptised in East Worlington.
Mary was the youngest of eleven children (four daughters and seven sons):
- Ann 1841 - 1882 (41 years old)
- John 1844 - 1910 (65 years old)
- Elizabeth 1849 - 1917 (about 68 years old)
- William 1852 - 1911 (about 59 years old)
- George 1854 - 1876 (22 years old)
- Samuel 1856 - 1920 (64 years old)
- Ellen 1858 - 1934 (75 years old)
- Lewis 1861 - 1943 (82 years old)
- Frederick 1863 - 1943 (79 years old)
- Frank 1866 - 1929 (63 years old)
- Mary 'Polly' Harris 1869 - 1939 (69 years old)
(You can read more about the structure of the property here.)
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| Edgelake/Oddislake Cottage |
1881 Census:
On 25th March 1886, Mary (just 17 - though she gives her age as 19), a servant, married John Greenslade (22), a labourer, in East Worlington.
Mary and John had 9 children:
Mary and John had 9 children:
- William Henry Hopper Stoneman (adopted) 1889 -
- Lucy 1893
- Frederick 'Fred' John 1895
- Florence 'Flo' Mary 1898
- Ernest 'Ern' 1901
- Thomas 'Tom' 1903
- Alice 1906
- Charles 'Charlie' 1909
- Frank G 1911
Though she married so young, it wasn't because she was pregnant. In fact, Mary and John didn't have any children in the first 7 years of their marriage. Perhaps they had trouble conceiving.
Sometime before 1891, the young married couple took in baby William. William is listed as a border on the 1891 Census, but by the 1901 Census is listed as an adopted son, though he retains his birth name (not taking the surname of Greenslade). I wonder if William's mother was Charlotte Stoneman, an unmarried domestic servant living two doors down from the Greenslade family on the 1891 Census.
When William, twelve, attended Crediton Hayward School for one month in June 1902, his parent/guardian is listed as Mr W W Smith and his address is given as (Credition) Union (Work) House. He leaves to attend Shobrooke Board(ing?) School in July 1902, as he is sent to another Union (Workhouse). Could Mary and John no longer look after him? He had been with them seemingly since a baby, over a decade, until the age of about twelve. They may have been the only 'parents' he had known. Yet it did strike me that he never takes their name of Greenslade; and on the 1891 Census baby William is listed as a border, and it is specifically stated he is an adopted son on the 1901 Census. By the 1911 Census, William, a young man, is a patient at the Axbridge Union Workhouse and Infirmary, at Axbridge, near Weston Super Mare, Somerset. Interestingly he is there as a patient and not as an inmate. His infirmity or illness is not recorded. Did he suffer from a lifelong illness that required a degree of care that Mary and John could no longer provide? I can't find records of William after 1911.
1891 Census:
In the early 1890's, the young family moved to Shobrooke, where the children were born.
The family lived at Westacott Cottage, a thatched cob cottage built in the late 1600s/early 1700s, in Shobrooke for many years.
The family lived at Westacott Cottage, a thatched cob cottage built in the late 1600s/early 1700s, in Shobrooke for many years.
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| Westacott Cottage, Shobrooke |
(You can read more about the building's structure here.)
1901 Census:
1911 Census:
Mary and John's son Fred (11042) enlisted on 7th September 1914 (war have been declared only just over one month earlier), aged nineteen, as a private, in the 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment. It seems he had tried to apply before, but was dismissed because of leg trouble. Again he was discharged on medical grounds - less than one month later - on 2nd October 1914, as he had 'a severe flat foot'.
His service record gives a brief physical description of Fred as a young man: in addition to being flat-footed, he was 5'10'', had fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.
1921 Census:
In 1921, Mary's eldest daughter Lucy (28) had an illegitimate daughter - Margaret Nina Greenslade. Lucy brought Gilbert Gutsham of Tiverton to court for child maintenance in July 1921. He was ordered to pay 10s a week, until the child reached sixteen.
From the Western Times of 15th July 1921:
On 23rd August 1921, Mary and John's son Tom, aged 19, enlisted in the Royal Marines. He was away serving twelve years later when his father passed away.
In 1933, Mary's husband John passed away, whilst visiting Ide.
From the Western Times of 7th April 1933:
In Oct/Nov 1938, Mary passed away, aged 69, in Smallbrooke, Newton St. Cyres.
From the Western Times of 18th November 1938:
