Rebecca Cole 1805-1878

Parents: Thomas and Elizabeth Cole (4)
Born: 13th March 1805 in Haverhill.(4)
Baptised: 15th July 1806 performed by James Bowers at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, Haverhill. (4)
Married: Joseph Whiting, batchelor of Haverhill, on 6th Nov 1826 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by Nathaniel Webb, Sarah Webb and Samuel Bigmore. (1)
Children: Hannah Whiting b.1827, Sarah Whiting b.1830, Edmund Whiting b.1832, Ruth Whiting b.1834, Catherine Elizabeth Whiting b.1836, Boaz Whiting b.1839, Jesse Whiting b.1842, Phoebe Whiting b.1844, Anne Whiting b.1845 and Ellen Elizabeth Whiting b.1850
Died: October 1878 in Haverhill. Buried at Haverhill Cemetery on 19th October 1878.(2,3)

Bio: Rebecca's birth and baptism dates and parentage are to be found in the registers of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, Haverhill.

We know she married in 1826, and by the 1841 census is living in Burton End with his husband Joseph and children. They move to Chauntry Croft and are there on the 1851 Census.

Between 1851 and 1861, the family move to London and Joseph becomes a dock worker. Rebecca is a 'Slop maker' ('slop' was a term for mass produced clothes). Joseph dies in Bethnal Green in early 1868. Rebecca, his wife, moves back to Haverhill and is listed on the 1871 census as a 'cotton weavers widow'. She lives in Garwoods Yard and has a lodger, Rhoda Nunn, who is around her age and also a widow.

Rebecca dies in October 1878 and is buried at Haverhill Cemetery.

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4
(2) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1878, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 299.
(3) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref. 819. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(4) Non-conformist Registers, RG4/1794/46, www.bmdregisters.co.uk