John Stoliday (1817-1896), his wife Catherine and the courts

John Stoliday (1817-1896) and Catherine Smith (1822-1910). My 3rd great-grand uncle and aunt. John Stoliday was born on 25 April 1817 and baptised on 8 June that year at All Saints’ Church in Rackheath, Norfolk, to parents James Stoliday and Mary Gay. John grew up with his parents and siblings in and around Rackheath and […]

Alice Amelia Stolliday (1877-1929) and a tale of tragedy

Alice Amelia Stolliday (1877-1929) and Robert William Feek (1875-1934). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Alice died relatively young, leaving her husband so distraught that he took his own life. She was born on 5 August 1877 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and baptised on 12 May 1878 at St Nicholas’s Church to parents Edward Stoliday and […]

William Budgen (1873-1916), Croydon baker

William Budgen (1873-1916) and Phoebe Jones (1884-1962). My great-grand uncle and aunt. Born on 24 January 1873, William Budgen was baptised at St Katharine’s Church, Merstham, Surrey, on 9 March that year to parents Thomas Budgen and Maria Dolamore. He was listed as a clerk in the 1891 Census, living with his family in Bell […]

Mary Ann Budgen (1863-1953) and her family’s brush with poverty

Mary Ann Budgen (1863-1953) and Frederick John Lunnon (18664-1932). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Born in 27 August 1863 in Worth, Sussex, Mary Ann Budgen was baptised on 4 October that year at St Nicholas’ Church. Her parents were Thomas Budgen and Maria Dolamore. At the time of the 1881 census she was living at […]

Phoebe Ann Ward (1836-1921)

Phoebe Ann Ward (1836-1921). My 2nd great-grandmother. Phoebe Ann Ward was born in Tottenham, Middlesex, on 28 November 1836 and was baptised there on 26 February 1837 at All Hallows Church. Her parents were gardener William Ward and Mary Ann Downer. As a teenager, Phoebe worked as a domestic servant. The 1851 census shows her living at […]

Tanjore Abraham Ward (1832-1920) – businessman and publican

The Cook's Ferry Inn in about 1900

Tanjore Abraham Ward (1832-1920) and Amelia Lambourn (1834-1895). My 2nd great-grand uncle and aunt. Tanjore was born on 12 August 1832 and baptised at All Hallows in Tottenham, Middlesex, on 27 July 1834. Of all William Ward and Mary Ann Downer‘s children, Tanjore is the most curious. His name comes from a city, also known […]

Hannah Maria Stoliday (1851-1932) – court cases and a marriage mystery

Hannah Maria Stoliday (1851-1932), James William Bull (1850-1874), William James Thurgate and John Crisp. My 2nd great-grand aunt and uncles. Hannah was born to William Stoliday and Sarah Rose and baptised at All Saints’s Church in Salhouse, Norfolk, on 19 March 1851. She ended up with three marriages to her name, experienced tragedy and lived […]

William Stoliday (1836-1930), a long-lived market gardener

William Stoliday (1836-1930), Mary-Ann Carr (1827-1866) and Ann Dove (1845-1917). My 2nd great-grand uncle and aunts. Baptised on 4 December 1836 at All Saints’ Church in Salhouse, Norfolk, William was the son of my 3rd great-grandparents William Stoliday and Sarah Rose. He became an agricultural labourer, like his father, and was married twice. His first […]

Gertrude Emma Stolliday (1881-1964) – widowed by war

Gertrude Emma Stolliday (1881-1964) and Jonathan George Skipper (1879-1916). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Gertrude was born in Great Yarmouth on 2 January 1881 to parents Edward Stoliday and Harriet Goulty and baptised on 26 June of that year at St Nicholas’s Church. The census for 1881 showed the family living in the town’s row […]

Edward Stoliday (1849-1938) and Harriet Goulty (1848-1936)

Edward Stoliday (1849-1938) and Harriet Goulty (1848-1936). My 2nd great-grandparents. Edward Stoliday was baptised at All Saints’ Church in the Norfolk village of Salhouse on 12 August 1849. His parents were labourer William Stoliday and Sarah Rose. At the age of 13 he was already working as an agricultural labourer, according to the 1861 Census. But […]

Arthur Albert Stolliday (1875-1935) and Elizabeth Mary Ann Wetherall (1876-1952)

Arthur Albert Stolliday with wife Elizabeth and son-in-law Gerald Finch

Arthur Albert Stolliday (1875-1935) and Elizabeth Mary Ann Wetherall (1876-1952). My great-grandparents.  Arthur Stolliday was a colourful character and a Norfolk lad – born on 12 May 1875 in Row 123, Great Yarmouth, to Edward Stoliday and Harriet Goulty. He served in the First World War, worked behind the bar in various pubs, got into […]

Agnes Louisa Finch (1869-1952), shopkeeper in Scotland

Agnes Louisa Finch (1869-1952) and Robert Hardie (1866-1920). My great-grand aunt and uncle. Agnes spent much of her life in Scotland but was baptised on 21 November 1869 in St Matthew’s Church, Redhill, Surrey, England, the daughter of Isaac Finch and Phoebe Ann Ward. The family lived in Chart Road and Glovers Road, Reigate, when […]

George Budgen (1826-1893), Brighton publican

George Budgen (1826-1893), Ann Maria Baker (1826-1873) and Margaret Cole (1835-1903). My 3rd great-grand uncle and aunts. Baptised on 28 January 1827 in Worth, Sussex, George was the son of agricultural labourer William Budgen and Sarah Rice. In 1841 George was living with his parents at Standing Hall Farm in the village and working as a farm […]

Edward Thomas Budgen (1868-1925) – he took his family to Australia

The Kingstonian - the ship Edward sailed on to Gallipoli

Edward Thomas Budgen (1868-1925) and Alice Jane Hacker (1868-1943). My great-grand uncle and aunt. Edward Budgen was born in the Sussex parish of Worth on 28 April 1868, and was baptised by his parents Thomas Budgen and Maria Dolamore at St NIcholas’ Church there on 7 June that year. He went to live in Australia, […]

Emma Budgen (1861-1925) – Mayoress of Reigate

Reigate in the First World War

Emma Budgen (1861-1925) and George Alfred Reynolds Ince (1863-1951).My great-grand aunt and uncle. Emma Budgen was the oldest of Thomas Budgen and Maria Dolamore‘s children. She was born in 1861 in Worth, Sussex, and baptised in the village on 1 September that year, but went from humble beginnings to become the Mayoress of Reigate, Surrey. […]

Isabella Finch (1848-1934) – died in a cycle crash

Isabella Finch (1848-1934) and Jesse Freeman (1846-1923). My 2nd great-grand aunt and uncle. Isabella Finch was christened on 27 August 1848 at St Mary’s in Reigate, Surrey, the daughter of Henry Finch and Jane Bashford. She grew up in the town while her father worked as an agricultural labourer. On 4 September 1870 at St Mary’s […]

Peter Finch (1845-1891) and his well-travelled son Henry

Peter Finch (1845-1891) and Eliza Esther Turner (1841-1895). My 2nd great-grand uncle and aunt. Born in 1845 to parents Henry Finch and Jane Bashford, Peter could well have been the twin of his brother George as they were both baptised on 15 June that year at St Mary’s Church in Reigate, Surrey. And he ended […]