Joseph Whiting 1869-1946

Parents: Charles Whiting and Eliza Tatt.
Born: 7th January 1869 in Haverhill.(1,11)
Baptised: 8th August 1869 at Old Independent Church, Haverhill.(6)
Married (1): Annie Maria Cracknell, 23, spinster of Finchingfield, daughter of John Cracknell, horsekeeper, on 4th August 1890 at St John the Baptist Parish Church, Finchingfield. Witnessed by Fred and Martha Cracknell.(2,7)
Children: Charles Whiting b.1891 and Hilda Agnes Irene Whiting b.1893
Married (2): Rose Argent, in 1938, Newmarket district.(8)
Children: None.
Died: 8th September 1946 in Haverhill. Buried on 11th September 1946 at Haverhill Cemetery.(4,5)

Bio: Joseph just makes it onto the 1871 census, where he is living as a child with his family in Queen Street, Haverhill. On the following census, Joseph remains in Queen Street with his family where he is a scholar. Just prior to the next census, he married Annie Maria Cracknell (who we see on the 1881 census living at Petches Cottage, Lombard Street, Finchingfield, with a large family) and they started a home at 6 Bumpstead Road, Haverhill. The 1891 census shows Joseph living at 6 Bumpstead Road and working as a rug weaver. He and Annie have a young son, Charles.

The 1901 census sees Joseph and Annie living at 37 Duddery Road, Haverhill. They have a daughter, Hilda, living with them as well as son Charles and a boarder, Susanna Whittle(?), 21, who is a brush weaver.

On the 1911 census we see Joseph still at 37 Duddery Road, with a boarder, Stanley Sidney Dawes, 21. Joseph's occupation is millman in the mat making industry. Annie is away at the time of this census, and shows up at 34 St Erkenwald Road, Barking, visiting her widowed mother Harriet Cracknell, who is a domestic at the house of Herbert and Mary Ann Seaman.

When Joseph and Annie's daughter Hilda was married on 21st October 1922, the couple were said to be living in Chelmsford.

Annie Maria died in August 1937(3) and was buried in Haverhill Cemetery.

Joseph married again the next year, to Rose Argent.(8) Without seeing the marriage certificate it is hard to identify whether she had previously been married. One candidate to be her was in service as a domestic servant in London - a Rose Argent, 33, born in Haverhill, is working in the household of Surgeon James Dodd Swallow at Clifton Lodge, 42 Clarence Rd, Clapham Park on the 1911 census. This would explain why she was still single in her early 60's when she married Joseph.

A year later in 1939, Joseph and Rose are shown on the 1939 Register living at 8 Hamlet Road, Haverhill. Joseph is shown as a 'mat maker, now old age pensioner'(11). Rose's date of birth is given as 10th January 1875.

Joseph Whiting was to die in 1946(4) and was buried alongside his first wife in Haverhill cemetery.

Rose lived until 1964(9) and was also buried at the cemetery. Her age is given as 87(10), which is close to the age of the Rose Argent on the 1911 census and the d.o.b given on the 1939 Register.

Thanks to Patrick Ives for the picture of Joseph and Rose. click on image enlarge

Sources:

(1) Birth Register. 1st Quarter 1869, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 441
(2) Marriage Register. 3rd Quarter 1890, Braintree District, Volume 4a Page 811
(3) Death Register. 3rd Quarter 1937, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 823
(4) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref.5770. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(5) Death Register. 3rd Quarter 1946, Newmarket District, Volume 4b Page 716
(6) Baptism records. Old Independent Church, Haverhill. Thanks to Lauraine McPhee for transcriptions.
(7) Essex Records Office, SEAX D/P 14/1/15, Marriage register St John the Baptist Finchingfield, 1876-1919
(8) Marriage Register. 3rd Quarter 1938, Newmarket District, Volume 4a Page 3453
(9) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1964, Sudbury District, Volume 4b Page 983
(10) Haverhill Cemetery, compartment V, grave space 299. Ref: 8086.
(11) 1939 Register, Ref: RG101/6661D/004/17 Letter Code: TYDD, Findmypast.co.uk