Mary Ann Edgcombe (1836 - 1912)

Born 19 Jun 1836 in South Milton, Devon, England

Ancestors

Wife of George Edgcombe — married 24 Sep 1859 in South Milton, Devon, England

Descendants

Died 27 Jan 1912 at age 75 in South Milton, Devon, England

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

Biography

Mary Ann Edgcombe was born to John Edgcombe and Agnes (Beer) Edgcombe, and christened in 1836 in South Milton, Devon, England.
1836 Births must be registered (but not mandatory until 1875)
1836 First Potato Famine in Ireland (lasts until 1842)
1836 Samuel Colt invents the first revolver
1837 Invention of the postage stamp
1837 Morse invents the telegraph
1837 Kingsbridge Union workhouse opened
1837 William IV dies, accession to throne of Queen Victoria
1838 Charles Dickens wrote "Oliver Twist"
1839 Chartist Riots
1839 Invention of daguerrotype photography
1840 Penny Post introduced
1841 census: age 4, Mary Ann is living with her parents and sisters in South Milton village. One of the sisters, Elizabeth, is enumerated as also being 4. Could they be twins? ^[1]
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 Walter Hunt invents the safety pin
1851 Isaac Singer invents sewing machine
1851 census: 14, still living with her parents in South Milton. The mysterious twin, Elizabeth, is now working away as a house servant for Henry and Honor Murch^[2]
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 the groom's 21st birthday, Mary Ann married her cousin, George Edgcombe, in South Milton. ^[3] 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. 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: 26, still living in South Milton, with her parents living next door.^[4]
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 31, she is living with her husband and small children in Bowden Cottages, Sherford.^[5]
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: 46, living with husband and children in Nodden Mill, Bigbury.^[6]
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: Mary Ann is 55; all the children have either died or moved away, so she and George are alone, still in Nodden Mill, Bigbury.^[7]
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 62, her husband now a farmer, living in South Milton with him and daughter's daughter, 14-year-old Alice Prowse.^[8]
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 74, husband George has made over Collacott farm to his son John Samuel, who is living with him with wife and seven children. Interestingly, Mary Ann states that she has had 9 children, so there must be another missing from my records!^[9]
1911-1912 Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers
1912 SS Titanic sinks

Mary Ann died from "senile decay" and exhaustion on 27 January 1912 and was buried four days later in South Milton.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQT2-8Q2 : 13 December 2017), Mary Edgecombe in household of John Edgecombe, South Milton, Devon, England; 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.
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGJS-N1F : 9 November 2017), Mary Egcombe in household of John Egcombe, South Milton, Devon, England; citing South Milton, Devon, England, p. 21, 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.
3. ↑ Marriage certificate held by Ros Haywood
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7TX-9L4 : 1 September 2020), Mary A Edgecombe in household of 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.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5YD-6JQ : 28 September 2019), Mary Ann Edgcombe in entry for George Edgcombe, 1871.
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27X-MZSV : 12 December 2017), Mary A Edgecumbe in household of 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
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WCTC-CT2 : 4 May 2019), Mary A Edgecumbe in household of 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.
8. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSWZ-J88 : 21 May 2019), Mary A Edgcombe in household of 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.
9. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW9Z-C1R : 3 July 2019), Mary Edgecombe in household of 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
10. ↑ UK death certificate held by Ros Haywood

Acknowledgments

Entered by Ros Haywood, May 28, 2011, reviewed 2022