Mary (Pope) Gregor (1861 - 1949)

Born 19 Feb 1861 in Trevone, Padstow, Cornwall, England

Ancestors

Wife of Joseph Gregor — married 20 Oct 1892 in Padstow Parish Church, Padstow, Cornwall, England

Descendants

Died 1 Jul 1949 at age 88 in Trevone, Padstow, Cornwall, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jessie Gregor [send private message]

Biography

Mary (Pope) Gregor was born in England.

Mary (Pope) Gregor has English ancestors.

Written from viewpoint of Jessie Gregor

My great-grandmother, Mary Pope, was the youngest of three children born to the couple, Henry Pope and Johanna Brenton. According to her birth certificate, she was born on the 19th February 1861 at Trevone, Padstow, Cornwall, England. Her father registered her birth on the 23rd February 1861^[1] and recorded his details as Henry Pope, shoemaker journeyman, residing in Trevone, and his wife as Joanna Pope formerly Brenton.

Mary was two months old in her first census in 1861.^[2] She was listed as a cordwinder's daughter, born in Padstow. Along with her parents and her older brother, William Pope, they were living in the Trevone Farm Labour House. In the same building but recorded as a different household, her older sister, Anna Pope, was aged five and living with their grandmother, Dorothea, a laundress.

In the next census of 1871,^[3] the family of five are living in Trevone Cottage, Trevone, Padstow. Henry, 43, is still working as a cordwinder, 'Hannah' is now 41, and the three children are all listed as scholars: Annie (15), William (12), and Mary (10). This beautiful cottage, still standing, is where Mary would live for the rest of her life (see photo).

By the next census in 1881,^[4] Mary's sister Anna had married Mark Bate but was still living with her parents as her husband was a master mariner and often away at sea. Mary herself was now aged 20 and working as a laundress. The census of 1891^[5] was Mary's last one as a single woman. She was now temporarily staying at Church Street, Padstow, with her married sister, Anna, and Mary's niece, Muriel Bate, who was just nine months old. For whatever reason, the ages of the sisters were false: Anna was listed as 27 when she would have been closer to 35 or 36, and Mary was down as 25 when she was 29 or 30!

Life was certainly changing for Mary because a young agricultural labourer from St Merryn had moved into the village of Trevone to help out his widowed sister. Mary married Joseph Gregor on the 20th October 1892 at Padstow Parish Church.^[6] According to their marriage certificate, Joseph 'Grigor' was now a mason, and Mary was 31, with no occupation. They were married after banns and the witnesses were sister Annie Bate, and Henry Harding.

Three years after they married, Joe and Mary had their first and only child, Hubert Henry Gregor. They were determined not to spoil him but Mary was a very good cook and son Hubert enjoyed his food. Even when he married later in life, he would have a Sunday roast dinner with his wife and then go down and have another one with his parents! In the 1901 Census,^[7] the happy little family were in the same cottage and had enough room for a lodger, Fred Stidoon, a stone mason born in Plymouth.

1907 must have been a tough year for Mary. Her father died in June and then her mother two days before Christmas. The 1911 Census[1] confirmed that the couple had been married for 18 years and had one child. Son Hubert was now 15 and working as a mason's assistant in the family business. A visiting wireless operator, Alfred Henry Harris, was also staying with the family.

In 1925, son Hubert married a war widow who worked at Padstow Post Office and soon Mary was blessed with two wonderful grandsons who would pop in and out of her cottage all day! Mary and Joe were still living at that cottage when the 1939 Register was taken.[2] Sadly, Joe was to die there six years later on the 15th April 1945 and Mary was to follow on the 1st July 1949.^[8] According to her death certificate, she had reached the grand old age of 88 but had died of Chronic Senile Myocarditis and General Senile Arterio Sclerosis. Joseph and Mary are buried at the peaceful churchyard at St Merryn, near to their son, Hubert (see photos of the cemetery and their headstone, along with the photo of Mary with her first great-grandchild).

Sources

1. ↑ UK birth registration: St Columb, Vol 5c, Page 110, March quarter 1861, mother's maiden name BRENTON.
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7HR-BQY : 20 April 2019), Mary Pope in household of Henry Pope, Padstow, Cornwall, 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.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZG-K76 : 25 April 2019), Mary Pope in entry for Henry Pope, 1871.
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27H-NSP1 : 11 December 2017), Mary Pope in household of Henry Pope, Padstow, Cornwall, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 6, Piece/Folio 2294/49, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,197.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W6FK-BW2 : 4 May 2019), Mary Pope in household of Anna Bate, Padstow, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Cornwall county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ UK marriage registration: St. Columb, Vol 5c, Page 165, December quarter 1892 (Joseph Grigor/Mary Pope).
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSHD-GPG : 21 May 2019), Mary Gregor in household of Joseph Gregor, Padstow, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Padstow subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
8. ↑ UK death registration: Bodmin, Vol 71, Page 1, September quarter 1949 (age given 88).

• Birth, marriage and death certificates held by Jessie Gregor
• "Windows on Modernism: Selected Letters of Dorothy Richardson", edited by Gloria G. Fromm. For anybody interested in the daily life in Trevone when Mary Pope was living there, these letters were written by an author who lodged there for decades and lived there during World War II.
• Padstow Parish Register of Marriages also seen at Cornwall Record Office and on microfiche at Wadebridge Library.