Biography:
Grace Mary Stubbington
07/03/1887 –08/04/1946
Grace Mary Stubbington
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Plot 1163
In loving memory of a devoted wife and mother Grace Maud STUBBINGTON passed away April 8th 1946 aged 57 years
Also George Henry STUBBINGTON her beloved husband passed away July 9th 1950, aged 59
Grace Maud STUBBINGTON
Grace Maud GREEN was born on 7th March 1887 in Kensington, London and was baptised a month later on10th April at St Peter’s Church in Cranley Gardens. Her parents were Ralph, a coachman from Yorkshire, and Elizabeth. In Grace’s early years they lived at No 1, Cranley Mews, a street of 3 room stable-house accommodation for the horses and carriages of wealthy families living in Cranley Gardens, just off Old Brompton Road. Their neighbours were all grooms and coachmen.
The family became quite a large one - Grace was the second of the seven children and by the time she was 14, she was employed as a kitchen-maid, probably with one of the wealthy families nearby. In 1912 the family were living at 14 Kenway Road, near Earls Court.
But by that time Grace had left London and was working as a cook in the wealthy household of the Kelsey family who lived in a large house called Bourne Lodge on the edge of Bourne End. Arthur KELSEY had been born in South Africa but was a naturalised British citizen. He described himself as a professional company secretary and maintained a London home as well as a country one in Bourne End. I think we can assume Grace was recruited to the household in London but met her future husband whilst working at Bourne End.
Up until this point all her records are consistent in the view that Grace was born in March 1887.
On 12th June 1912, when Grace was 25, she married a clerk called George Henry STUBBINGTON. The wedding took place back near her old home, at the Parish Church of St Matthias in Earls Court. George was only 22 so Grace seems to have felt that she had to take a couple of years off her age and reported that she was 23. Edith Lily GREEN, Grace’s sister, was a witness at the marriage. From this point in her life, she consistently lied about her date of birth, reporting it as 7th March 1889. One wonders whether George ever knew.
Grace and George set up home in Hemel Hempstead. Nine years into their marriage, at the 1921 census, they were living at 85 Wood Lane, Hemel Hempstead with their three children, all born in Hemel Hempstead. George Thomas Ernest was born in early 1914, John Henry was born on 2nd June 1916, and Beryl Irene was born on 20th March 1919. A later addition to their family was Grace Georgina born on 19th May 1924.
The 1939 Register shows that, by the outbreak of WWII, the family had moved to 6 High Street, Berkhamsted. Their eldest son George was no longer with them, having left home a year earlier but the other children were now working and still living at home. John was now a fishmonger shopkeeper, Beryl was a shorthand typist, and Grace was an office clerk working in a laundry. Also living with them was Grace’s widowed mother Elizabeth GREEN, an 80-year-old pensioner.
Grace Maud STUBBINGTON died on 8th April 1946 at the County Hospital, Hemel Hempstead. She is buried in Plot 1163 at the cemetery where her age is recorded as 57 although we now know that she was actually 59. Probate was granted to her husband George Henry STUBBINGTON, commercial traveller and her effects amounted to £167 18/4.
View this burial in the cemetery
Plot 1163
In loving memory of a devoted wife and mother Grace Maud STUBBINGTON passed away April 8th 1946 aged 57 years
Also George Henry STUBBINGTON her beloved husband passed away July 9th 1950,
aged 59
Grace Maud STUBBINGTON
Grace Maud GREEN was born on 7th March 1887 in Kensington, London and was baptised a month later on10th April at St Peter’s Church in Cranley Gardens. Her parents were Ralph, a coachman from Yorkshire, and Elizabeth. In Grace’s early years they lived at No 1, Cranley Mews, a street of 3 room stable-house accommodation for the horses and carriages of wealthy families living in Cranley Gardens, just off Old Brompton Road. Their neighbours were all grooms and coachmen.
The family became quite a large one – Grace was the second of the seven children and by the time she was 14, she was employed as a kitchen-maid, probably with one of the wealthy families nearby. In 1912 the family were living at 14 Kenway Road, near Earls Court.
But by that time Grace had left London and was working as a cook in the wealthy household of the Kelsey family who lived in a large house called Bourne Lodge on the edge of Bourne End. Arthur KELSEY had been born in South Africa but was a naturalised British citizen. He described himself as a professional company secretary and maintained a London home as well as a country one in Bourne End. I think we can assume Grace was recruited to the household in London but met her future husband whilst working at Bourne End.
Up until this point all her records are consistent in the view that Grace was born in March 1887.
On 12th June 1912, when Grace was 25, she married a clerk called George Henry STUBBINGTON. The wedding took place back near her old home, at the Parish Church of St Matthias in Earls Court. George was only 22 so Grace seems to have felt that she had to take a couple of years off her age and reported that she was 23. Edith Lily GREEN, Grace’s sister, was a witness at the marriage. From this point in her life, she consistently lied about her date of birth, reporting it as 7th March 1889. One wonders whether George ever knew.
Grace and George set up home in Hemel Hempstead. Nine years into their marriage, at the 1921 census, they were living at 85 Wood Lane, Hemel Hempstead with their three children, all born in Hemel Hempstead. George Thomas Ernest was born in early 1914, John Henry was born on 2nd June 1916, and Beryl Irene was born on 20th March 1919. A later addition to their family was Grace Georgina born on 19th May 1924.
The 1939 Register shows that, by the outbreak of WWII, the family had moved to 6 High Street, Berkhamsted. Their eldest son George was no longer with them, having left home a year earlier but the other children were now working and still living at home. John was now a fishmonger shopkeeper, Beryl was a shorthand typist, and Grace was an office clerk working in a laundry. Also living with them was Grace’s widowed mother Elizabeth GREEN, an 80-year-old pensioner.
Grace Maud STUBBINGTON died on 8th April 1946 at the County Hospital, Hemel Hempstead. She is buried in Plot 1163 at the cemetery where her age is recorded as 57 although we now know that she was actually 59. Probate was granted to her husband George Henry STUBBINGTON, commercial traveller and her effects amounted to £167 18/4.
Military graves