Walter Whiting 1853-1936

Parents: John Whiting and Elizabeth Barber
Born: 3rd Quarter 1853 in Haverhill. (1)
Baptised: ?
Married: Emma Farrant, 23, spinster of Chauntry Croft, Haverhill, daughter of Arthur Farrant, factory hand, on 20th October 1877 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by George and Mary Sizer(2,3)
Children: None.
Died: April 1936 at White Lodge, Newmarket. Buried on 27th April 1936 at Haverhill Cemetery.(4,5)

Bio: Walter first appears on the 1861 census living with his parents John and Elizabeth and a sizeable family of six brothers and sisters in Burton End. Ten years later the census in 1871 shows Walter living in Burton End with his father who had remarried to Martha Backler after his mother had died in 1866. Walter is working as an agricultural labourer.

In 1877 Walter married Emma Farrant, a cotton weaver of Chauntry Croft, daughter of Arthur and Maria. It appears he had a double wedding with his younger sister Emily, who married Emma's brother Ebenezer Farrant also on the 20th October. On the 1881 census they are living in Clements Road, Walter is a labourer and Emma is a clothing factory hand. By the 1891 census they have moved to 45 Mill Road, where Walter appears to have taken up weaving as he is listed as a 'brush hair weaver'. Emma's mother Maria is living with them, her father Arthur having died in 1886. Nothing has changed on the 1901 census, again Maria is living with them, now 83.

We see Walter and Emma at 23 Clements Lane, Haverhill, on the 1911 census. Walter is a horse hair weaver.

Walter died in 1936 at White Lodge, Newmarket. At this time it was still the Newmarket poor law union Institution, and apparently didn't become a hospital until 1942.(6)

He was buried at Haverhill Cemetery, however.(4)

Sources:

(1) Birth Register. 3rd Quarter 1853, Risbridge district, Vol 4a Page 312
(2) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p28 of 37
(3) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1877, Risbridge district, Vol 4a Page 824
(4) Haverhill Cemetery, Ref:5064. http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/burial-records-137.htm
(5) Death Register. 2nd Quarter 1936, Newmarket District, Vol 3b Page 545
(6) http://www.newmarketlhs.org.uk/nlhscorrespondence5.htm