George Edgcombe (1838 - 1914)

Born 23 Aug 1838 in South Milton, Devon, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann Edgcombe — married 24 Sep 1859 in South Milton, Devon, England

Descendants

Died 13 Jun 1914 at age 75 in South Milton, Devon, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ros Haywood [send private message]

Biography

George was born on 23 August 1838 to Samuel Edgcombe and Avis (Stumbles) Edgcombe. ^[1] He was christened on 9 September 1838 in South Milton, Devon, England.
1838 Charles Dickens wrote "Oliver Twist"
1839 Chartist Riots
1839 Invention of daguerrotype photography
1840 Penny Post introduced
1841 census: age 3, George is living with his parents in South Milton village. His future bride (his cousin) is living with her parents in the same village. She is 4.^[2]
1841 Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister
1844 Railway comes to Devon
1844 Outdoor Relief Prohibition Order - parish relief had to be in a workhouse
1845-1849 Irish Potato Famine kills more than a million people
1845 Sewing machine invented
1846 Anaesthetic used for the first time in England
1847 Ten Hours Act shortens factory work day to ten hours for women and children
1847 Antiseptics invented 1848 Cholera in Ottery St Mary
1849 Hunt invents the safety pin
1851 Singer invents sewing machine
1851 census: 12, still living with his parents in South Milton but working as an agricultural labourer like his father.^[3]
1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition
1854 Crimean War
1855 Florence Nightingale went to nurse the injured in the Crimean War 1857 The Indian Mutiny
1857 Divorce Courts created
1858 Rotary washing machine patented
1859 The Origin of Species (Darwin)

On 24 September 1859, just after his 21st birthday, George married his cousin, Mary Ann Edgcombe, in South Milton. ^[4] The couple had eight children: James Henry 1860, Bertha Ellen 1861, Noah George 1864, twins Lewis Albert and Augusta Ann 1865, another James Henry 1868, John Samuel 1870, and Amelia Agnes 1874. However, tragedy soon struck the young couple. Their first baby died aged 2 months, Noah died aged 11 months, and little Bertha died of scarlet fever aged 4. Her mother, Mary Ann, was not allowed at her bedside, being seven months pregnant with the twins. The twins survived into adulthood, as did James and John Samuel, but the last baby, Amelia, lived for less than a week.

1861 Prince Albert dies of typhoid
1861 American Civil War begins
1861 census: 23, agricultural labourer still living in South Milton, with his in-laws living next door.^[5]
1862 Gatling patents the machine gun
1865 Slavery abolished in USA
1866 Nobel invents dynamite
1866 Enclosures Act
1866 South Devon Railway Co formed
1868 Traffic lights invented
1868 Gladstone becomes Prime Minister
1868 Small earthquake felt in Ottery St Mary
1870 Primary education becomes compulsory
1871 Census: age 29, (not quite correct!), an agricultural labourer, he is living with his wife and small children in Bowden Cottages, Sherford.^[6]
1871 Electric telegraph opened at Ottery St Mary
1872 17 March - first horse-drawn tram in Plymouth
1873 The typewriter was invented
1873 Joseph Gliddon invents barbed wire
1874 Factory Act introduced
1874 Disraeli becomes Prime Minister for the second time
1875 Submarine invented
1875 Electric lighting introduced to Britain
1876 Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first message by telephone
1876 Edison invents the phonograph
1877 Boer Wars
1878 Edison invents electric lamp.
1880 Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
1881 census: 44, living with wife and children in Nodden Mill, Bigbury.^[7]
1884 Charles Parson patents the steam turbine
1884 Carl Benz builds single-cylinder motor car
1886 Gottleib Daimler builds the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle
1886 Gladstone resigns as British Prime Minister
1887 Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
1887 Berliner invents the gramophone
1887 Hertz invents radar
1888 Dunlop patents pneumatic tyre
1889 Eiffel Tower built
1889 Cordite invented
1890 London's first electric Underground
1890 Forth railway bridge opens
1891 census: George is 53; all the children have either died or moved away, so he and Mary Ann are alone, still in Nodden Mill, Bigbury.^[8]
1892 Electric oven invented
1893 Zip fastener invented
1895 Gillette invents safety razor
1895 Rontgen discovers x-rays
1897 Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
1898 First photograph using artificial light
1899 Johnson patents the bicycle frame
1899 Thurman patents the motor-driven vacuum cleaner
1899 Second Boer War
1899 Aspirin invented
1900 Zeppelin invented
1901 Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII becomes king
1901 First successful radio transmission
1901 census: described as 59, now a farmer, living in South Milton with his wife and daughter's daughter, 14-year-old Alice Prowse.^[9]
1902 Lie detector invented
1902 Neon light invented
1902 Birth of the teddy bear
1903 Crayons invented
1903 Wright Brothers invent first gas-motor and manned airplane
1904 Tractor invented
1904 Teabags invented
1906 Kellogg invents cornflakes
1907 Bakelite invented
1907 Colour photography invented
1908 Cellophane invented
1909 Instant coffee invented
1910 Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture
1910 George V becomes king on the death of his father
1911 Census: now 73, George has made over Collacott farm to his son John Samuel, who is living with him with wife and seven children.^[10]
1911-1912 Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers
1912 SS Titanic sinks
1912 First tank patented by Australian
1913 Panama Canal opened
1913 Crossword puzzle invented
1914-1918 World War One

George died of bronchitis and heart failure on 13 June 1914 in South Milton, age 76,^[11][12] and was buried four days later.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth registration: Kingsbridge, Volume 9, Page 356, September quarter 1838
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQT2-6ZW : 22 May 2019), George Edgecombe in household of Samuel Edgecombe, South Milton, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGJS-NYZ : 9 November 2017), George Edgecombe in household of Samuel Edgecombe, South Milton, Devon, England; citing South Milton, Devon, England, p. 17, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
4. ↑ Marriage certificate held by Ros Haywood
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7TX-9LW : 20 April 2019), George Edgecombe, South Milton, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5YD-6J3 : 25 April 2019), George Edgcombe, 1871.
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27X-MZ95 : 12 December 2017), George Edgecumbe, Bigbury, Devon, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 4, Piece/Folio 2184/31, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,772.
8. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WCTC-QN2 : 4 May 2019), George Edgecumbe, Bigbury, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Devon county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
9. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSWZ-J8Z : 21 May 2019), George Edgcombe, South Milton, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing West Alvington subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
10. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW9Z-C15 : 3 July 2019), George Edgecombe, South Milton, Devon, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey
11. ↑ UK death registration: Kingsbridge, Volume 5b, Page 237, June quarter 1914
12. ↑ Death certificate held by Ros Haywood

Acknowledgments

• new.familysearch
• Entered by Ros Haywood, May 28, 2011, reviewed 2022