Susannah Mason c.1837-1898

Parents: Henry and Sarah Mason.
Born: c.1837 in Cheveley, Cambridgeshire.
Baptised: ?
Married (1): Charles Whiting, widower, groom, of Queen Street, Haverhill, son of William Whiting, labourer, on 24th April 1864 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by ?.(1,2)
Children (1): Kate Laura Whiting b.1865, Genetta Florence Whiting b.1867, Etherlinda Hannah Whiting b.1870
Married (2): Alfred Coe, widower, stockman of Bury St Edmunds, on 25th December 1879 at St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds.(5,6)
Children (2): None.
Died: January 1898 (8) at 43 Garland Street, Bury St Edmunds. Buried on 6th January 1898 at Bury St Edmunds Cemetery.(7)

Bio: Susannah was born around 1837 in Cheveley, Cambridgeshire. She was the daughter of Henry Mason, who was at that time a blacksmith, and Sarah.

We find her on the 1841 census in Cheveley Street, with her parents Henry and Sarah, 36, and siblings Mary, William and Martha.

On the 1851 census we see the family had relocated to Haverhill. They are living in Chauntry Croft, where Henry Mason, now a widower, is working as a schoolmaster. Susannah's grandmother, also a Sarah, is living with them along with Susannah's five Siblings Mary, William, Martha, Elizabeth and Georgianna, who was born in Haverhill.

Susannah's mother, it seems, had died in the second quarter of 1848 after they had moved to Haverhill.(3)

By the next census in 1861, Susannah has left home and we find her living as a lodger in Beggar's Row, Haverhill, with the Fairweather family. She is working as a dressmaker.

Sometime afterwards, she meets Charles Whiting who is working as a groom in Queen Street, and they marry in 1864. On the 1871 census we see them at Cross House, in Haverhill Hamlet. They have three daughters, Kate, Genetta, and Etherlinda, and Susannah's sister Mary is staying with them as a visitor.

At some point the family move away from Bury St Edmunds, and it appears that Charles Whiting dies in the Bury St Edmunds district in 1874.(4)

On the 1881 census we find that Susannah has remarried to Alfred Coe, also a widower, and a stockman originally from Yaxley, Suffolk, and she is living at 1 Maynewater Lane, Bury St Edmunds. Her Whiting daughters Genetta and Ethelinda are living with them, alongside Frank Farthing, a stonemason, who is a lodger. Susannah still works as a dressmaker.

The 1891 census finds her and Alfred living at 43 Garland Street, Bury St Edmunds. Her children have left home, and she is no longer listed as working as a dressmaker.

Susannah died in 1898(8) and was buried at Bury St Edmunds cemetery on 6th January. The burial register lists her address as 43 Garland Street and her husband as Alfred.(7)

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p26 of 37
(2) Marriage Register. 2nd Quarter 1864, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 557.
(3) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1848, Risbridge district, Vol 12 Page 296
(4) Death Register. 3rd Quarter 1874, Bury St Edmunds District, Volume 4a Page 285.
(5) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1879, Bury St Edmunds District, Volume 4a Page 1061
(6) Bury and Norwich Post, Tuesday, January 6th 1880, p.4, issue 5089, C19th British Library Newspapers: Part II
(7) SFHS, Suffolk Burial Index, issue 2, 1538-1900
(8) Death Register. 1st Quarter 1898, Bury St Edmunds District, Volume 4a Page 515