Alice (Wright) Hall (1868 - 1953)

Born 2 Jun 1868 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Samson Samuel Hall — married 1888 in Priors Dean, Hampshire

Wife of George Andrews — married 1918 in Froxfield, Eastleigh, Hampshire

Descendants

Died 1953 at about age 84 in Croydon, Surrey

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Biography

ALICE HALL (nee WRIGHT) b. c. 1868 d. 1953 Alice's birth was registered in the June quarter of 1868 in Aylesbury (Aylesbury 3a 509). In the 1871 census the family were living at 20 Bottom Road, Chartridge, Chesham, Bucks so it's a safe bet that she was born there. Abel, her father, came from Chesham. He was said to have been brought to Hampshire by his employer in 1887, to be a Gamekeeper at Hill Farm, Froxfield. Abel was then 66 years of age. He was given a tied cottage in Honeycritch Lane called Honeycritch Cottage. It is a matter for conjecture as to why Abel's employer left Chesham, for the Chesham Branch of the Metropolitan & Great Central Railway Co. was opened to traffic on July 8th, 1889 after a period of construction. and may well have used land bought from him for railway purposes. On the other hand, the reason may be more prosaic. Since there is no evidence that Abel's wife Caroline ever came to Froxfield, perhaps he brought his two remaining daughters at home with him to Froxfield, after Caroline's death at Chesham. But what brought him to Froxfield? It may well be that his employer did offer him a position here for at 66 years of age he would not have had a retirement pension available and needed to keep on working for a few years yet. However, Alice was reputed to be 18 years of age at the time and her sister Sarah a few years younger. Sarah married James Gammon at Froxfield on 30th September 1893, when she was 2l {b.02108/1872) and James was 22. They lived at Bordean and had a daughter called Mary who herself gave birth to a girl called Kit (or Kate), living in Langrish Kit was brought up by her grandmother Sarah, sometimes known to Alice's children as "Aunt Sally". A copy of Sarah's Birth Certificate shows the informant for the registration to be her mother. Caroline Wright (nee Riddle) and on the certificate made her mark since she evidently could not write. This is not unusual for people born earlier than about 1860 when the Education Acts were passed requiring ail children to go to school and be educated. We do not know what Caroline's age was at the time of Sarah's birth but Abel would have been about 51 years. Caroline may well have been younger. They are alleged to have had eight children, ai1 of who seemed to have been girls and went into service in Chesham and around, except Lydia who went with a family in their service when they emigrated to Brisbane in Australia. The younger two, Alice and Sarah came to Froxfield with their father. Alice met Samson Samuel Hall, whose parents then lived at Church Farm Cottage but after the death of William, his father in 1900 his mother Fanny moved for a short time into Hall Place. near Claypits Farm until she moved on into Old House. Alice and Samson were married at Priors Dean Church on 20th October 1888. Alice's age was then shown in the register as "Over 21" which means that she might have been born in 1867. or earlier. Samson secured employment with horses as a carter at Claypits Farm and they lived at Alexanders until about 1905 when they moved into Hail Place themselves, Fanny having by then moved out. Of this marriage, Alice and Samson had seven children. The first was Agnes Kate (known thereafter as Kit) b. 1889; secondly Robert Alfred b. 1890; Bessie (whose first name was actually Caroline after her grandmother) b.1892, Samuel William b. 1893; Olive Alice b.1898; Eva May b.1902 and finally Jack, b.1908. By a fortunate coincidence. there exists a picture postcard of High Cross Church addressed to Miss Bessie Hall at Basing Park Home Farm. It is stamped and postmarked "Petersfield - 22 Oct" but the year is indistinct and is either "97", being 1897, or "07", being 1907. Since Bessie was born in 1892. the card, written in slightly amorous terms, is unlikely to have been addressed to her at her age of 5 years, so one may assume the date to be 1907. However, the matter is not in dispute since the card bears a postage stamp with the head of King Edward the Seventh. If the card had been posted in 1897 it would have borne the head of Queen Victoria, who was on the throne until 1901 Bessie was 15 years of age in 1907 and, having left school at 12 or 13 years, she undoubtedly was living at the time at Basing Home Farm- in service there. Bessie is believed later to have left the area altogether. During the 1891 census, which was taken at about the end of April that year, Alice was listed as aged 22 years. She would have been in her 23rd year if her day of birth was July 2nd. This indicates her year of birth as 1868 and, at the time of the census in 1891, they were living at Hermitage Farm Cottage which does not exist today but was then part of the Tichborne Estates. Moving to Claypits was probably a change of job for Samson and for a short time they had lived at Alexanders while Hall Place was renovated for them which meant that he was employed by the Nicholson Estates, owned by W G Nicholson, distiller of gin in London, but who lived at Basing Park, Privett. The family seemed very happy at Hall Place with Jack being born there. until 1917 when Samson took ill with, he thought, influenza. He walked the four miles or so to Petersfield on Saturday 5th May to get himself some medication but when he returned he was reprimanded by Nice for buying two very attractive pictures from a market stall when they were not particularly well off They were of Highland Reindeer and until recently were in the possession of Evie. They are probably with one of her daughters now. However, Samson's condition worsened and he died two days later of Meningitis on Monday 7th May, 1917. He was buried at High Cross churchyard on Monday 14th May 1917. Alice still had some income from her children but she would clearly have been in some difficulty. Her eldest daughter Kit had married in 1910, her eldest son Robert was away in France fighting in the First World War He too had married in 1911. had responsibilities of his own and, at the time of Samson's death, would himself be killed in France about a year later. Bessie (Caroline) had left the district and Sam too was away in France. Alice had only the support of Olive who at 19 years was living away in service at Guildford, Evie who was fifteen and Jack who was 9 years of age. At that time there was no Poor Law or income support and a woman widowed almost always had to find a supportive man, or widower to keep the family together. More than a year after Samson died she married George Andrews, a widower, at High Cross on September 28th. 1918. She had received news of her son's death a month before when Robert was killed in France. George had been married to Agnes Adams who had died at the age of 24 in 1909, giving birth to a child. The infant had also died. It is interesting to note that George's age is given in the marriage resister as 46 and Alice's age as 51. Since she was said to be 18 when she first came to Froxfield in 1887 she thus had a year of birth as 1869 to be 51 in 1918 makes her year of birth 1867. Her age of "over 21" when marrying Samson in 1888 gives 1867 or earlier and to be in her 23rd year at the time of the census in 1891 gives 1868. So we have several years when she may have been born. Very close examination of the registers for 1867, 1868 and 1869 does not reveal an entry for her birth and it can only be assumed that her birth was never actually registered by her parents. But they did for Sarah, so why didn't they for Alice? Correspondence with the Office of Census and Population Statistics has not resolved this problem. Incidentally, after she reached the proud age of eighty years, she sent Kathleen a photograph of herself feeding some chickens and endorsed it "Eighty years and four months" This was just before Christmas in 1947 which rather confirms that she thought she was born in July and in 1867. Just after her marriage with George he obtained employment at Claypits too (See Hall Children - Samuel William). Two years later Alice and George moved to a cottage at Warren Corner now known as Holly Cottage. In the late twenties they moved to Ragmore where they stayed until 1936 when they moved into a newly-built Council house at No 6 Woodfield Cottages in Honeycritch Lane no more than a hundred yards or so from the first house that Alice had ever lived in at Froxfield. Ragmore, incidentally, was where her father was living when the 1891 census was conducted and he is shown as living there on his own. But. where was Sarah? She was not resident at the Ragmore address and does not seem to have had another address in Froxfield at that time. She did nor marry James Gammon until 1893 when they then became residents of Froxfield at Bordean. Abel died in 1908, aged 87 years and was buried at High Cross churchyard but we are unable to say where. for the name Wright does not appear on the churchyard plan. His date of burial has been taken from the register, but it is known that the plan is not accurate. George died at Woodfield Cottages in 1938 and is buried at High Cross also. Almost seven years later, in 1945, Alice was invited to move to Washington in Sussex to live at No 5 Montpelier Cottages on the London Road. while Evie, her daughter lived at No 6, next door. Later, Evie wanted No 5 for her own daughter Dimps and Alice moved up to Coulsdon Surrey to live with her son Samuel and his wife who was also called Evie. Alice died there and was reputed to be in her 86th year. Her death is registered in the records as having occurred in the March quarter of 1953 at Surrey Mid East Vol. 5e, page 483. aged 85 years.

Alice is buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery, Wallington, Surrey.

Alice Wright. ^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Hall. ^[6] E Wright. ^[7] Found multiple versions of name. Using Alice Wright.

Born June qtr Aylesbury 3a 509. 1868 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^{[8][9][10][11]} 02 JUL 1867. Chesham, Buckinghamshire. 1868 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[12] 1868 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[13] Found multiple copies of birth date. Using 1868

Died 1953 Croydon, Surrey. MAR 1951. Wandsworth, Greater London, England. ^[14] Found multiple copies of death date. Using 1953

Residence 02 APR 1911. Froxfield, Hampshire, England. ^[15][16] 1881 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[17] 1871 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[18] 1871 Charteridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[19] 1871 Charteridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ^[20]

External Files

• File M281. File: F:\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Mead(1) Media71 England Census - Alice Wright.jpg. Alice Wright - 1871 England Census.

• File M282. File: F:\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Mead(1) Media\England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2006 - Alice Wright(1).jpg. Alice Wright - England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2006.

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S25 Database online. Class: RG11; Piece: 1451; Folio: 82; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341351. Record for Abel Wright
2. ↑ Source: #S17 Database online. Record for Abel Wright
3. ↑ Source: #S32 Database online. Class: RG10; Piece: 1393; Folio: 94; Page: 5; GSU roll: 828501. Record for Alice Wright File @M281@
4. ↑ Source: #S56 Database online. Class: RG11; Piece: 1451; Folio: 82; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341351. Record for Abel Wright
5. ↑ Source: #S17 Database online. Record for Abel Wright http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=77
6. ↑ Source: #S9 Database online. Record for Caroline Elizabeth Hall
7. ↑ Source: #S2 Database online. Record for Alice E Wright File @M282@
8. ↑ Source: #S17 Database online. Record for Abel Wright
9. ↑ Source: #S32 Database online. Class: RG10; Piece: 1393; Folio: 94; Page: 5; GSU roll: 828501. Record for Alice Wright File @M281@
10. ↑ Source: #S2 Database online. Record for Alice E Wright File @M282@
11. ↑ Source: #S17 Database online. Record for Abel Wright http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=77
12. ↑ Source: #S9 Database online. Record for Caroline Elizabeth Hall
13. ↑ Source: #S25 Database online. Class: RG11; Piece: 1451; Folio: 82; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341351. Record for Abel Wright
14. ↑ Source: #S2 Database online. Record for Alice E Wright File @M282@
15. ↑ Source: #S9 Database online. Record for Caroline Elizabeth Hall
16. ↑ Source: #S58 Database online. Record for Caroline Elizabeth Hall
17. ↑ Source: #S25 Database online. Class: RG11; Piece: 1451; Folio: 82; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341351. Record for Abel Wright
18. ↑ Source: #S17 Database online. Record for Abel Wright
19. ↑ Source: #S32 Database online. Class: RG10; Piece: 1393; Folio: 94; Page: 5; GSU roll: 828501. Record for Alice Wright File @M281@
20. ↑ Source: #S32 Database online. Class: RG10; Piece: 1393; Folio: 94; Page: 5; GSU roll: 828501. Record for Alice Wright File @M281@

• Source: S17 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; Repository: #R3 NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
• Repository: R3 Ancestry.co.uk
• Source: S2 Ancestry.com England & Wales, Death Index 1916-2005 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2007; Repository: #R1 NOTEGeneral Register Office, England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, London, England: General Register Office
• Repository: R1 www.ancestry.co.uk
• Source: S25 Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1881 England Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004; Repository: #R1 NOTECensus Returns of England and Wales, 1881, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1881
• Source: S32 Ancestry.com 1871 England Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871. Data imaged from the National A; Repository: #R3
• Source: S56 Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1881 England Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Repository: #R1 NOTECensus Returns of England and Wales, 1881, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1881
• Source: S58 Ancestry.com 1911 England Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Repository: #R1 NOTECensus Returns of England and Wales, 1911, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911
• Source: S9 Ancestry.com 1911 England Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011; Repository: #R1 NOTECensus Returns of England and Wales, 1911, Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911