Eliza Whiting 1848-1909

Parents:     William Whiting and Harriet Barber(1)
Born:           21st July 1848 in Clements, Haverhill (1,2)
Baptised:   22nd October 1848 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill (1)
Married:      George Butler, 20, railway servant, son of William Butler, on 18th October 1868 at St.Paul's Church, Cambridge.(3,6)   
Children:    William Butler b.1868, Alice Mary Butler b.1871, Susannah Butler b.1874, George Butler b.1876, Walter Butler b.1878, Albert Butler b.1879
Died:            18 May 1909 at 57 New Street, Wednesfield (12)

Bio:              Eliza was born in Haverhill, but is not on the 1851 census in Haverhill as she was living with her mother and father and grandfather Stephen Whiting in Haverhill Road, Helions Bumpstead. By the 1861 census, Eliza is living in Rookwood, Haverhill with her parents and grandfather.

It is very likely that it is this Eliza Whiting who features in the Suffolk and Essex Free Press of 1st January 1863 in connection with an assault: "Samuel Cracknell, of Haverhill, weaver, appeared to an information of assaulting Eliza Whiting, on the 10th December. - Eliza Whiting deposed: 'I was going home from my work when I met the defendant. He asked me if he should go home with me; I told him 'No'. He followed me across the common, and when I got to the fence the defendant pulled me about; he tried to get me down; I called out and he ran away. - Samuel Cracknell stated, in his defence, that he went part of the way home with her, but that he did not touch her, but that she was always coming after the men where he worked. - Fined £2 10s, including costs; in default one month"(11). Aged fifteen at the time, 'our' Eliza is the only one of about the right age to be the Eliza Whiting featured here. Samuel Cracknell was a silk weaver who was born around 1843, and so would have been about twenty at the time.

Eliza was to marry George Butler, a railway servant, on 18th October 1868 at St Paul's, Cambridge. He was the son of William Butler, a railway labourer, and Elizabeth Dickerson(7) and was baptised at St Mary the Less, Cambridge, on 24th February 1848.(8)

Eliza and George appear at 2 Russell Street, Cambridge, on the 1871 census. They have a 3 month old daughter, Alice. At the time the census was taken, their other child William Butler is staying with his grandparents William and Harriet. At the time of the next census in 1881 they have moved to 20 Hooper Street, Cambridge, and the family has swelled in size with the addition of three boys, George, Walter, and Albert. Strangely, William Butler their firstborn is still staying with his grandparents as is another of their children, Susannah. One wonders whether William was illegitimate and not in fact the son of George, particularly as his birthplace is given as Haverhill when we see him on the 1911 census.

It is hard to track the family down after this point. From what I can gather, George's work with the railway takes him to London - a George Butler and his son George, both born in Cambridge are boarders at 35 Havelock Street, London, on the 1891 census. George snr, 40, is listed as an Engine driver, and George jnr, 16, as a Van guard. No sign of Eliza.

We can trace the address of Eliza and George's daughter Alice Mary to 8 Corporation Street, Islington, in 1892 because this was her place of residence on 30th July 1892 when she married Alfred Henry Edward Rickett, a jeweller, at St Luke's Church, West Holloway. Her father is given as George Butler, Engine driver.(10)

This address seems to be where various members of the family lived over the following decade, and St Luke's was where several of them would marry, too.

On 17th October 1897, George jnr marries Lucy Holt, 20, a cook living at 325 Holloway Road. George's profession is examiner, and his address is given as 8 Corporation Road, and his father George's profession is given as Engine Driver.(4)

Eliza's son Walter Butler, a printer, married Lilian Alice Howard on 2nd April 1899. His address is also given as 8 Corporation St. His father is confirmed as George, profession of Engine Driver.(9)

The next census in 1901 finds Eliza living at 8 Corporation Street in London with her son William Butler, now a gold and silver refiner, and his family. Also living with them is Eliza's granddaughter Mabel, 10, who was born in Cambridge. No sign of George, but the property is registered in his name on the 1897-1900 Electoral Registers. (5)

We have William Butler registered here in 1902, Eliza in 1903 and then William continuing until 1913 - he features on the 1911 census at 8 Corporation Street as a widower with two sons, but no sign of his mother Eliza.

Previous on the 'Missing Whitings' list, Eliza was finally tracked down, thanks to Judy Stratford, who discovered she had been living with her daughter Susannah Hadley, at 57 New Street, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, when she died of a cerebral haemorrhage aged 61 years on 18 May 1909. Her daughter was present at the death. Eliza was described as the widow of George Butler, a railway engine driver (12).

Sources:     

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p11 of 37
(2) Birth Register. 1st Quarter 1848, Risbridge District, Volume 12, Page 418
(3) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1868, Cambridge district, Volume 3b Page 1137
(4) London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Luke, West Holloway, Register of marriages, P83/LUK, Item 014
(5) London Electoral Register, 1832-1965, London Metropolitan Archives.
(6) Familysearch, England Marriages 1538-1973, GS Film No: 1040431, Batch: M13802-1
(7) Marriage Register. 2nd Quarter 1840, Chesterton District, Volume 14 Page 81
(8) Familysearch, Births and Christenings 1538-1975, GS Film No: 1818408, Batch: 100498-8
(9) London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Luke, West Holloway, Register of marriages, P83/LUK, Item 014
(10) London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Luke, West Holloway, Register of marriages, P83/LUK, Item 013
(11) Suffolk and Essex Free Press, 1st January 1863, p.3, Findmypast.co.uk
(12) GRO death index. 2nd Quarter 1909, Wolverhampton, Volume 6b Page 363