Susannah Whiting 1823-1901

Parents: Joseph Whiting and Sarah Farecloth (1)
Born: 22nd January 1823 in Burton End, Haverhill.(1)
Baptised: 11th May 1823 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill (1)
Married: Edward Ship, batchelor of Duddery, Haverhill, weaver, son of Timothy Ship, weaver, deceased, on 11th October 1845 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by Charles and Phoebe Backler. (2,3) Children: Lydia Elizabeth Whiting (illegitimate) b.1839.(4,5)
Died: March 1901 in Haverhill. Buried on 31st March 1901 at Haverhill Cemetery. (7,8)

Bio: Susannah was born in Burton End, Haverhill. It appears she had a 'base-born' child on 18th May 1839(4,5) when she would have only been 16. On the 1841 census Susannah is living with her illegitimate child, Lydia, parents and siblings in Burton End.

She was to marry Edward Ship (or Shipp), a weaver, in 1845. On the 1851 census, Edward and Susannah are living in Haverhill high street with Lydia (now known as Ship) and a lodger, George R Backler, 62, who is a widower and drabbet weaver. Edward works as a silk weaver, and his step-daughter Lydia as a silk winder.

By the 1861 census, Lydia has left home and Susannah has taken over silk-winding duties. She and Edward are living in Haverhill Hamlet and boarding with them are her grand-nephews Henry and Thomas Whiting, who were the illegitimate children of Susannah's niece Harriet (Louisa Whiting's illegitimate daughter). Henry is working as an agricultural labourer, and Thomas is a silk winder.

Back in Burton End on the 1871 census, Susannah and Edward have their daughter Lydia, her husband Thomas Jobson and their three children boarding with them.

Edward was to die in early 1874 at the age of 61(6). On the 1881 census Susannah is a widow living with her grandchildren Frederick and Alice in Parson's Yard. She does outdoor work.

Still at 1 Parson's Yard at the time of the 1891 census, Susannah (or Susan as she is sometimes known) has her usual quota of boarders. This time, they are Harry Ship, 10, who was the grandchild of a relative of her late husband and Frederick and Arthur Whiting who are the great-grandchildren of Susannah's sister Louisa Whiting.

So, although Susannah only had one child and this was not her husband's, she was always surrounded by family even if they were not immediate.

Susannah died in 1901 and was buried in Haverhill Cemetery.(7,8)

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p8 of 37
(2) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p23 of 37
(3) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1845, Risbridge district, Volume 12 Page 829
(4) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p10 of 37
(5) Birth Register. 2nd Quarter 1839, Risbridge district, Volume 12 Page 390
(6) Death Register. 1st Quarter 1874, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 298
(7) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref.2705. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(8) Death Register. 1st Quarter 1901, Risbridge district, Volume 4a Page 475