Mary Edwards (1788 - 1861)

Born Feb 1788 in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England

Wife of Joseph Short — married 14 Oct 1811 in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 5 Jun 1861 at age 73 in Grahamstown, Cape Colony

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Biography

Mary was born in 1788 in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England; she was the daughter of Aaron Edwards and Ann (?) Edwards.

She married Joseph Short on 14 November 1811; there were four children by the time they joined the Sephton Party of 1820 Settlers to the Cape Colony:

Short, Joseph 33. Gardener. w Mary 30. c John 7, Mary 5, Penelope 3, Frederick William.

The party embarked at Deptford in two divisions, the larger one of 66 families in the Aurora under Hezekiah Sephton, and the remaining 35 families in the Brilliant under Richard Gush. They sailed from Gravesend on 15 February 1820. The Brilliant anchored in Simon's Bay on 30 April 1820, and the Aurora a day later. Both ships reached Algoa Bay on 15 May. The two sections of the party were reunited on disembarking at Algoa Bay, and located at Rietfontein, but orders were soon received for their removal to a new location on the Assegai Bush River. The new location was named Salem, meaning 'peace'; here an attractive village arose (the only village founded by a settler party that still exists today) with a community notable among the settlers for 'the order with which its affairs were conducted, both spiritual and temporal'.^[1] More children were born in the Cape Colony and the family eventually comprised:^[2]

John Short, 1820 Settler, b 24 May 1812, d 1861 (Age 48 years)

Mary Short, 1820 Settler, b 1814, d 2 Sep 1872 (Age 58 years)

Penelope Short, 1820 Settler, b 15 Jan 1817, d 17 Sep 1889 (Age 72 years)

Frederick William Short, 1820 Settler, b 13 Nov 1819, d 11 Jan 1851 (Age 31 years)

Selina Short, b 8 Jun 1822, d 29 Feb 1892 (Age 69 years)

Joseph Short, b 20 Jun 1825, d 3 Jul 1844 (Age 19 years)

Francis Edward Short, b Est 1826

Isaac Short, b 1830, d 1902 (Age 72 years)

Her death was reported in the 1 August 1861 edition of the Cape and Natal News:^[3]

Deaths: June 5, at Graham's Town, the wife of Mr. Joseph Short, of Salem, aged 73 years and 4 months

She is buried in the Grahamstown Old Cemetery:^[4][5]

Short, Mary

Born:

Died: 5 Jun 1861

Buried: Old Cemetery, Grahamstown, District Albany, Eastern Cape, RSA

Note: Mary Short. Died 05-06-1861. Aged 73 years and 4 months. Wife of Joseph Short

Sources

1. ↑ Nash, M.D, The Settler Handbook, Chameleon Press, Diep River, Cape Town, 1987
2. ↑ https://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I50378&tree=master
3. ↑ Cape and Natal News 1861 2 May - August, 1 August 1861, Written by Trisha McLeod. Posted in Cape and Natal News from 1858
4. ↑ SA Genealogical Society Graveyard Project, Revision: 17 and before
5. ↑ Added by Des Lynch on 24 December 2020

• Lindsey Goslin