Biography:
Mary Ann Mead
05/03/1860 –26/06/1951
Mary Ann Mead
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MARY ANN MEAD; 1860 – 1951
Mary was born in Hudnall, Buckinghamshire on 5th March 1860. Her father, William Mead was an agricultural labourer and her mother, Elizabeth, a straw plaiter. Like many poor, rural families, the Mead family was large. Mary was the fifth child to be born to William and Elizabeth, but the couple were to have ten children in all.
The need to support and feed such a large family meant that the Mead children were put to work at an early age to supplement the family’s income. At the time of the 1861 census, when Mary was but one year old, her two older sisters, Fanny, 9 years old and Emily, 7, were, like their mother also plaiting straw, an occupation which by 1871, Mary, then aged 11 years, was also to be engaged upon. It was not until the introduction of the Elementary Education Act of 1870, known as the “Forster Act” after its sponsor, William Forster, that education for children between the ages of 5 years and 10 years, became compulsory. Many poorer parents were opposed to compulsory education, as it meant that children who otherwise might have been in gainful employment earning an income for their families had to attend school.
Supplying plaited straw to the hat makers of Luton and Dunstable was a profitable cottage industry for women and girls in Victorian times. The craft was passed on from generation to generation and children were sent to dame schools to learn the craft. Children started straw plaiting at the age of 5. The work was well paid, “...it was a profitable occupation and in the first half of the 19th century many women and children earned more than men who laboured in the fields. A good hand at Berkhamsted could earn about 15s a week-then a handsome wage-...Farmers complained that straw plaiting “did mischief, making the poor saucy, rendering the women adverse to husbandry and causing a dearth of indoor servants and field labourers.” (Birtchnell - “A Short History of Berkhamsted.”)
By the time of the 1881 census, Mary had moved away from the family home in Hudnall to Hemel Hempstead, where she had entered domestic service, another occupation that was common amongst poorer women of that time. Mary was servant to William White and his family. William had a draper’s business on Hemel Hempstead High Street.
As standards of social decorum increased in later Victorian times, so too did the need for servants increase. By the time of the 1891 census 1.3 million women and girls were working as domestic servants. That is one in three women between the ages of 15 and 20. They were usually recruited between the ages of 10 and 13. There was a tax on indoor male servants whose pay was also greater. Women were cheaper and more easily dominated and kept in their place. A servant working for a middleclass family would usually live in the family’s house (as Mary did). Hours were long and the pay was poor, £6 -£12 per annum. Servants were under the constant scrutiny and whilst living closely with the family were kept rigidly apart from it. Most employers felt they had a right to look through their servant’s belongings and it was not until 1860 that it became illegal to beat a servant. It was legal for employers to order servants to accompany them to church, but the servants had to sit at the back in a segregated section. There was no job security if a servant fell ill or committed some misdemeanour. Being a servant did have some advantages; a servant probably lived in better surroundings than her original home and some families were very good to their servants.
Mary married on 7th December 1860 and following her marriage she gave up domestic service to run her own home. She married her first cousin, Alfred Charles Mead. Alfred worked as a stablehand. The wedding was celebrated at the parish church at Edlesborough.
By the time of the 1891 census, Mary and Alfred had moved to River Terrace, Northchurch where they set up home. Mary had given birth to four children, Margaret, born about 1885, Emily, 1887 and twins, William and Beatrice in 1890. Her youngest child, Herbert, was born in 1901. William did not survive infancy; he died in 1892 and the census of 1911 confirms that Mary gave birth to five children, of whom one had died.
By 1901 the family had moved from Northchurch and were then living in Castle Hill Cottage in Berkhamsted. Alfred, who in 1891 was recorded as being a labourer, had returned to working with horses as a groom, an occupation which he followed until retirement. The Mead family were still living in Castle Hill in 1911, but by 1919, Alfred and Mary had moved to 16 Cross Oak Road, where both Alfred and Mary were to live for the rest of their lives.
At the date of the 1939 Register, Alfred was 60 years of age. He was no longer working and is noted in the Register as being “incapacitated.” Living with Alfred and Mary in 1939 was their oldest daughter Margaret, who had not married, and 20 year old Grace Camroux. (Grace was Alfred and Mary’s granddaughter).
Alfred died on 4th January 1941 at the age of 80. Mary survived him by ten years before dying on 26th June 1951. Mary’s estate was worth £305 6s 7d. She was buried with Alfred in the grave in Rectory Lane cemetery in which he had been buried.
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MARY ANN MEAD; 1860 – 1951
Mary was born in Hudnall, Buckinghamshire on 5th March 1860. Her father, William Mead was an agricultural labourer and her mother, Elizabeth, a straw plaiter. Like many poor, rural families, the Mead family was large. Mary was the fifth child to be born to William and Elizabeth, but the couple were to have ten children in all.
The need to support and feed such a large family meant that the Mead children were put to work at an early age to supplement the family’s income. At the time of the 1861 census, when Mary was but one year old, her two older sisters, Fanny, 9 years old and Emily, 7, were, like their mother also plaiting straw, an occupation which by 1871, Mary, then aged 11 years, was also to be engaged upon. It was not until the introduction of the Elementary Education Act of 1870, known as the “Forster Act” after its sponsor, William Forster, that education for children between the ages of 5 years and 10 years, became compulsory. Many poorer parents were opposed to compulsory education, as it meant that children who otherwise might have been in gainful employment earning an income for their families had to attend school.
Supplying plaited straw to the hat makers of Luton and Dunstable was a profitable cottage industry for women and girls in Victorian times. The craft was passed on from generation to generation and children were sent to dame schools to learn the craft. Children started straw plaiting at the age of 5. The work was well paid, “…it was a profitable occupation and in the first half of the 19th century many women and children earned more than men who laboured in the fields. A good hand at Berkhamsted could earn about 15s a week-then a handsome wage-…Farmers complained that straw plaiting “did mischief, making the poor saucy, rendering the women adverse to husbandry and causing a dearth of indoor servants and field labourers.” (Birtchnell – “A Short History of Berkhamsted.”)
By the time of the 1881 census, Mary had moved away from the family home in Hudnall to Hemel Hempstead, where she had entered domestic service, another occupation that was common amongst poorer women of that time. Mary was servant to William White and his family. William had a draper’s business on Hemel Hempstead High Street.
As standards of social decorum increased in later Victorian times, so too did the need for servants increase. By the time of the 1891 census 1.3 million women and girls were working as domestic servants. That is one in three women between the ages of 15 and 20. They were usually recruited between the ages of 10 and 13. There was a tax on indoor male servants whose pay was also greater. Women were cheaper and more easily dominated and kept in their place. A servant working for a middleclass family would usually live in the family’s house (as Mary did). Hours were long and the pay was poor, £6 -£12 per annum. Servants were under the constant scrutiny and whilst living closely with the family were kept rigidly apart from it. Most employers felt they had a right to look through their servant’s belongings and it was not until 1860 that it became illegal to beat a servant. It was legal for employers to order servants to accompany them to church, but the servants had to sit at the back in a segregated section. There was no job security if a servant fell ill or committed some misdemeanour. Being a servant did have some advantages; a servant probably lived in better surroundings than her original home and some families were very good to their servants.
Mary married on 7th December 1860 and following her marriage she gave up domestic service to run her own home. She married her first cousin, Alfred Charles Mead. Alfred worked as a stablehand. The wedding was celebrated at the parish church at Edlesborough.
By the time of the 1891 census, Mary and Alfred had moved to River Terrace, Northchurch where they set up home. Mary had given birth to four children, Margaret, born about 1885, Emily, 1887 and twins, William and Beatrice in 1890. Her youngest child, Herbert, was born in 1901. William did not survive infancy; he died in 1892 and the census of 1911 confirms that Mary gave birth to five children, of whom one had died.
By 1901 the family had moved from Northchurch and were then living in Castle Hill Cottage in Berkhamsted. Alfred, who in 1891 was recorded as being a labourer, had returned to working with horses as a groom, an occupation which he followed until retirement. The Mead family were still living in Castle Hill in 1911, but by 1919, Alfred and Mary had moved to 16 Cross Oak Road, where both Alfred and Mary were to live for the rest of their lives.
At the date of the 1939 Register, Alfred was 60 years of age. He was no longer working and is noted in the Register as being “incapacitated.” Living with Alfred and Mary in 1939 was their oldest daughter Margaret, who had not married, and 20 year old Grace Camroux. (Grace was Alfred and Mary’s granddaughter).
Alfred died on 4th January 1941 at the age of 80. Mary survived him by ten years before dying on 26th June 1951. Mary’s estate was worth £305 6s 7d. She was buried with Alfred in the grave in Rectory Lane cemetery in which he had been buried.
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