Biography:
Eliza Jane Lane
1829 –1889
Eliza Jane Lane
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ELIZA JANE LANE; 1829 – 1889
We know from the cemetery burial records that Eliza was 59 years old when she died. She died on 21st Februar1889. Whilst there is no apparent record of her birth, given her age at the date of death, she must have been born on a date between 22nd February 1829 and 21st February 1830. The censuses of 1851 and 1881 give her place of birth as Bristol (albeit there is some confusion as to the county; the 1851 census reads “Gloucestershire, Bristol” whereas the 1881 census has “Wilts, Bristol.”) Her marriage certificate tells us that her father was James Banning, a farmer.
We discover Eliza in the 1841 census and 12 years old, living not with her parents, but with Thomas Date (possibly Tate; the writing on the census is difficult to decipher) and his wife, Elizabeth, and their family. Thomas was an hotelkeeper in Chippenham and judging by the number of staff he employed, his hotel must have been large. The 1841 census provides little information, but in the 1851 census Eliza was still living with the Date family. She was then 21 and working as a barmaid in the hotel. The 1851 census also provides us with the further information that Eliza was the niece of Thomas and Elizabeth Date. Whereas Eliza was simply named as “Eliza Banning” in the 1841 census, her first names are given in the 1851 census as “Eliza Jane Bendry,” followed by the surname “Banning” (and it is under the name Eliza Jane Bendry Banning that we find the record of her baptism in Chippenham on 8th August 1833).
Intriguingly, there is a notice in 1858 in the London Gazette of an Eliza Jane Banning of Bath, a Berlin wool dealer, being made bankrupt. (Berlin wool work was a style of embroidery similar to needlepoint popular in the 19th century.) Although we cannot say with certainty that the Eliza Jane Banning referred to in the bankruptcy notice is the same Eliza Banning with whom we are concerned, Bath is not far from Chippenham and it does raise the possibility that Eliza moved on from bar work to try her hand at earning a living, albeit unsuccessfully, by other means.
There is no apparent trace of Eliza in the census of 1861 but we do know that on 21st May 1866 she married Hervey Lane at St Stephen’s Church, Paddington. Eliza was either 36 or 37 and her marriage certificate also reveals that whilst Hervey was a widower, Eliza was a spinster and she had therefore not been married before her wedding to Hervey. Hervey had been married twice before. His first wife, Sarah, had died in 1845 leaving him with three children to care for. Hervey married his second wife, Emma, two years later in 1847, but she was to die in Paris in 1851. In 1852 Hervey became the landlord of the King’s Arms Hotel on Berkhamsted’s High Street and Eliza’s own association with the hotel trade may explain how the two met.
By 1867 Eliza and Hervey had left Berkhamsted and the King’s Arms. An advertisement in the London Evening Standard in 1867 reveals that Hervey and Eliza had taken on the Belle Vue Hotel in Hastings, and that same year Eliza gave birth to a son, also called Hervey. The family evidently did not stay at the Belle Vue Hotel for long, as by the time of the 1871 census Hervey and Eliza are not to be found at the Belle Vue. In 1871 it was occupied by one Louisa Longhurst, Hotel Keeper. There is no evident trace of either Hervey or Eliza in the 1871 census; their whereabouts are elusive.
Wherever Eliza and Hervey were in 1871, we do know that in 1876 they were back in Berkhamsted and that Hervey was once more the licensee of the King’s Arms.
Hervey died on 21st February 1879. Notice of his death described him as “…well known for many years as the genial proprietor of the King’s Arms Family Hotel…many of the shopkeepers put up shutters and lowered their window blinds during the time of the funeral.”
Following his death, Eliza continued to run the King’s Arms. In 1881 she was at the Hotel with Hervey, then 14 years old and a scholar. Also on the premises were a barmaid, three servants, a waiter and coachman.
Eliza died on 21st February 1889. She. like Hervey, was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. The cemetery records record that she was buried on 23rd February. (There is also a reference in the burial records to “Lizzie Lane” – presumably this is Eliza.) Her memorial was still standing at the beginning of the 20th century when W. Gerish recorded the monumental inscriptions in the cemetery, but it has since been lost.
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ELIZA JANE LANE; 1829 – 1889
We know from the cemetery burial records that Eliza was 59 years old when she died. She died on 21st Februar1889. Whilst there is no apparent record of her birth, given her age at the date of death, she must have been born on a date between 22nd February 1829 and 21st February 1830. The censuses of 1851 and 1881 give her place of birth as Bristol (albeit there is some confusion as to the county; the 1851 census reads “Gloucestershire, Bristol” whereas the 1881 census has “Wilts, Bristol.”) Her marriage certificate tells us that her father was James Banning, a farmer.
We discover Eliza in the 1841 census and 12 years old, living not with her parents, but with Thomas Date (possibly Tate; the writing on the census is difficult to decipher) and his wife, Elizabeth, and their family. Thomas was an hotelkeeper in Chippenham and judging by the number of staff he employed, his hotel must have been large. The 1841 census provides little information, but in the 1851 census Eliza was still living with the Date family. She was then 21 and working as a barmaid in the hotel. The 1851 census also provides us with the further information that Eliza was the niece of Thomas and Elizabeth Date. Whereas Eliza was simply named as “Eliza Banning” in the 1841 census, her first names are given in the 1851 census as “Eliza Jane Bendry,” followed by the surname “Banning” (and it is under the name Eliza Jane Bendry Banning that we find the record of her baptism in Chippenham on 8th August 1833).
Intriguingly, there is a notice in 1858 in the London Gazette of an Eliza Jane Banning of Bath, a Berlin wool dealer, being made bankrupt. (Berlin wool work was a style of embroidery similar to needlepoint popular in the 19th century.) Although we cannot say with certainty that the Eliza Jane Banning referred to in the bankruptcy notice is the same Eliza Banning with whom we are concerned, Bath is not far from Chippenham and it does raise the possibility that Eliza moved on from bar work to try her hand at earning a living, albeit unsuccessfully, by other means.
There is no apparent trace of Eliza in the census of 1861 but we do know that on 21st May 1866 she married Hervey Lane at St Stephen’s Church, Paddington. Eliza was either 36 or 37 and her marriage certificate also reveals that whilst Hervey was a widower, Eliza was a spinster and she had therefore not been married before her wedding to Hervey. Hervey had been married twice before. His first wife, Sarah, had died in 1845 leaving him with three children to care for. Hervey married his second wife, Emma, two years later in 1847, but she was to die in Paris in 1851. In 1852 Hervey became the landlord of the King’s Arms Hotel on Berkhamsted’s High Street and Eliza’s own association with the hotel trade may explain how the two met.
By 1867 Eliza and Hervey had left Berkhamsted and the King’s Arms. An advertisement in the London Evening Standard in 1867 reveals that Hervey and Eliza had taken on the Belle Vue Hotel in Hastings, and that same year Eliza gave birth to a son, also called Hervey. The family evidently did not stay at the Belle Vue Hotel for long, as by the time of the 1871 census Hervey and Eliza are not to be found at the Belle Vue. In 1871 it was occupied by one Louisa Longhurst, Hotel Keeper. There is no evident trace of either Hervey or Eliza in the 1871 census; their whereabouts are elusive.
Wherever Eliza and Hervey were in 1871, we do know that in 1876 they were back in Berkhamsted and that Hervey was once more the licensee of the King’s Arms.
Hervey died on 21st February 1879. Notice of his death described him as “…well known for many years as the genial proprietor of the King’s Arms Family Hotel…many of the shopkeepers put up shutters and lowered their window blinds during the time of the funeral.”
Following his death, Eliza continued to run the King’s Arms. In 1881 she was at the Hotel with Hervey, then 14 years old and a scholar. Also on the premises were a barmaid, three servants, a waiter and coachman.
Eliza died on 21st February 1889. She. like Hervey, was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery. The cemetery records record that she was buried on 23rd February. (There is also a reference in the burial records to “Lizzie Lane” – presumably this is Eliza.) Her memorial was still standing at the beginning of the 20th century when W. Gerish recorded the monumental inscriptions in the cemetery, but it has since been lost.
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