Ethel Rebecca (Hawker) Woodeson (1874 - 1938)

Born 1874 in Chard, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Wife of George Sydney Woodeson — married 1921 in Chard, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Died 12 Feb 1938 at about age 64 in Cornwall, England

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Biography

Ethel was born in 1874. She is the daughter of James Hawker and Anna Edwards. Ethel Rebecca established a successful career with drapery firms, including Hatchers of Taunton, and positions in London and Edinburgh taking her out of Chard where she had played a part in her family’s building and undertaking business. Ethel was ‘dismissed’ to Taunton Baptist church in 1895; transferred back from Scotland in 1919. Holyrood Street Baptist Church in Chard was her spiritual home since birth and she became heart and soul of its work as a Ministers wife. Malcolm Bonnington describes her renewed zeal as throwing herself into various parts of the Church’s life, her clothes and “startling hats” becoming the topic of conversation. She became assistant organist, went back to being Sunday school teacher, and started up the Baptist Women's League ( ladies meeting group). She is described as a tall dignified lady who was an ‘admirable mistress of the Manse who shared a simple faith, a sympathetic heart and an unforgettable smile.’

Sources

• England & Wales,Civil Registration Birth index,1837-1915,Birth 1874
• 1881Census,living with parents and siblings at 33 High st,Chard,Somerset
• 1891Census,living with parents and siblings at 31 Montrose terrace,Chard
• 1901Census,living/working as drapers assistant in Cheltenham,Glos
• 1911Census,living/working as a mantle buyer in Woodmancote,Glos

FreeBMD Death reg MarQtr 1838

• Chard Baptists’ By Malcolm Bonnington
• Probate"England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPLN-MQDX : 17 September 2018), Ethel Rebecca Woodeson, 27 Apr 1938; citing Probate, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .