Christiana Whiting 1878-1954?

Parents: John Whiting and Emily Binks (1)
Born: 1878 in Little Wratting. (1)
Baptised: 24th March 1878 at St Mary's Church, Little Wratting.(2)
Married: None
Children: None
Died: 1954 in the Sudbury district?(3)

Bio: Christiana was the fifth child of John and Emily Whiting and was born in Little Wratting early in 1878.

She features on the 1881 census as a child living with her parents and siblings in Little Wratting. Missing on the 1891 census, Christiana turns up on the 1901 census working as a cook in the household of Florence Edith Freeborne, 29, at 10 Blenheim Road, St Marylebone, London. Florence Freeborne was living by her own means. Her father Richard, originally from Ireland, had been a commissions agent and had presumably left her a fair bit of money. She also had a housemaid, Amy Bailey, 22.

Christiana, or Christina as she seemed to become known later, came back to Little Wratting at some point over the next ten years. Her mother had died, and her father perhaps had trouble looking after Christiana's 'feeble-minded' sister Susan, who remained at home.

On the 1911 census we see her doing the housekeeping at home for her father John, who is a labourer. Her sister Susan is there, along with her younger brother William who is also working as a labourer.

Christina had not married by this point and it seems she never did.

We see Christina at White Lodge, Newmarket, as a single, retired domestic servant on the 1939 Register(4). The White Lodge was still a workhouse that was part of the Poor Law Union until 1942 when it closed to become a hospital. Christina gives her birth-date as 3rd December 1878 which doesn't quite make sense as her birth was registered at the beginning of 1878. Maybe she was born at the end of 1877.

It is most likely she is the Christina Whiting (of the correct age) who dies in the Sudbury district in 1954.(3)

Sources:

(1) Birth Index. 1st Quarter 1878, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 483
(2) Suffolk Baptism Index, SFHS, Clare Deanery 1812-1900
(3) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1954, Sudbury District, Volume 4b Page 908
(4) 1939 Register, Ref: RG101/6662I/006/16 Letter Code: TYEM, Findmypast.co.uk