Grace Edith Irene Whiting 1888-1962

Parents: Alice Laura Whiting and Ernest Gillings (see entry for Alice Laura Whiting). (1)
Born: 27th July 1888 in Haverhill.(1,2)
Baptised: 7th February 1897 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill.(1)
Married: None.
Children: None
Died: 1962 in Haverhill. Buried on 9th November 1962 at Haverhill Cemetery.(3,4)

Bio: Grace was the illegitimate daughter of Alice Whiting and Ernest Gillings, and was born on 27th July 1888, most likely at 17 Eden Road, Haverhill, which is where we see her on the 1891 census living with her mother and grandmother, Susannah Maria, who was by then married to Daniel Purkiss. in 1890, Grace's mother Alice had taken Grace's father Ernest Gillings to a hearing at Haverhill over maintenance payments, which were duly paid to her at a rate of 5 shillings per week until Grace was 16 (see entry for Alice Laura Whiting).

On the 1901 census we find Grace still at 17 Eden Road with the same combination of people, except that Daniel Purkiss has died and her grandmother is now a widow. Her occupation is not given; whether she was a scholar is unclear.

Grace remained at 17 Eden Road with her grandmother after her mother died in 1909. We see her here on the 1911 census, single, and working at Gurteen's as a drabbet weaver.

Grace appears in an article in the South West Suffolk Echo dated 22nd August 1925 which contains the interesting revelation that she was deaf:
"ACCIDENTS. On Saturday evening Miss Grace Whiting, of 17, Eden Road, was crossing the road near the Council School, when she was knocked down by a cyclist riding from Wratting Road, having her arm rather badly cut and being considerably shaken. It appears that on account of being deaf she failed to hear the sound of the cyclist's bell"

Her grandmother Susannah died in 1935, and Grace was shown in the 1939 Register living at 17 Eden Road, Haverhill. She was single, and a church cleaner(5). She never married, because on her gravestone she is still Grace Whiting. She was buried alongside her mother when she died in 1962.

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Baptism Index, SFHS, Clare Deanery 1813-1900
(2) Birth Register. 3rd Quarter 1888, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 613
(3) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1962, Newmarket District, Volume 4b Page 1056
(4) Haverhill Cemetery, Compartment M, Space No.287, Ref.7989.
(5) 1939 Register. 17 Eden Road, Haverhill. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6661A. Ancestry.co.uk