John Whiting 1815-1892

Parents: Joseph Whiting and Sarah Farecloth (1)
Born: 11th December 1815 in Burton End, Haverhill.(1)
Baptised: 28th January 1816 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill (1)
Married (1): Elizabeth Barber, spinster of Burton End, daughter of Isaac Barber, labourer, on 5th August 1838 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by James Barber and Sarah Mead (2,3)
Children: Charles Whiting b.1840, Phoebe Whiting b.1843, Ruth Whiting b.1846 died in infancy(8,9,10), Caroline Whiting b.1846, Amelia Whiting b.1850, Walter Whiting b.1853, Mary Ann Whiting b.1856 and Emily Whiting b.1858.
Married (2): Martha Elizabeth Backler, widow of Haverhill, daughter of John ?, labourer, on 9th November 1869 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by John ? and Emma Williams.(4,5)
Children: None.
Died: Jan 1892 at 3 Chauntry Row in Haverhill. Buried at Haverhill Cemetery on 14th January 1892.(6,7)

Bio: John had grown up in Burton End, and was living there at the time of the 1841 census with his wife Elizabeth and son Charles, who had been born less than a year previously. He was working as a labourer. By the 1851 census he is still living in Burton End, next door to his widowed mother and on the other side another Whiting, William, who may well have been an uncle. John is still working as a labourer and by this time he and Elizabeth have had 3 more children, all girls - Phoebe, Caroline and Amelia. The also had a child, Ruth, who died in infancy.(8,9,10)

On the 1861 census, there are a total of 7 children living with John and Elizabeth in Burton End. The oldest are hair and cotton weavers, as is Elizabeth, and John and his eldest son Charles are labourers.

John's wife Elizabeth died in August 1866 and was buried at Haverhill Cemetery on 4th August 1866. John was to remarry three years later, to a widow Martha Elizabeth Backler. It appears Martha had previously been married to Stephen Backler, a labourer from Withersfield and had been living in Chigwell, Essex, before moving back to Haverhill. Stephen died in 1866. Martha and Stephen appear on the 1861 census in Chigwell and their children Charles and Mary Ann Backler appear to match up with John's stepchildren on the 1871 census. Now he is living in Burton End with an extended family of three children from his first marriage, Walter, Mary Ann and Emily and four of Martha's Backler children, Charles, Elizabeth, Harriet and another Mary Ann.

Whether this arrangement proved too much for John is hard to tell, but on the 1881 census we find him living as a boarder with his daughter Amelia and her husband William Beavis in Chauntry Croft, whilst his wife Martha is living with her daughters from her first marriage Elizabeth and Harriet in Eden Road working as a factory hand jacket maker.

It appears this arrangement suited him, for John was still living there, at 3 Chauntry Croft, with his daughter and stepson at the time of the 1891 census.

John died the next year, and was buried at Haverhill Cemetery on 14th January 1892. John's wife Martha was buried at Haverhill Cemetery in 1895.(11,12) Her age is given as 62 on the burial entry but there appears to have been a mix-up as John's wife was some ten years older than this.

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578
(2) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p23 of 37
(3) Marriage Register. 3rd Quarter 1838, Risbridge district, Volume 12 Page 478
(4) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p27 of 37
(5) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1869, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 773
(6) Death Register. 1st Quarter 1892, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 362
(7) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref.1887. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(8) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p11 of 37
(9) Birth Register. 2nd Quarter 1846, Risbridge district, Volume 12 Page 427
(10) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1846, Risbridge district, Volume 12 Page 264
(11) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref.2191. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(12) Death Register. 1st Quarter 1895, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 488