Person:Eliza Berridge (1)

Early life

Eliza Berridge was born on 18th June 1862 at Benefield in Northamptonshire. She was the daughter of Mary Berridge, formerly Palmer, and her husband John Berridge, a carpenter. Eliza was the fifth of their ten children, although one of her older brothers had already died before Eliza was born.

Eliza around 1882

By that time Eliza had left home and gone into service, working as a cook at Bathford Manor in Somerset, nearly 120 miles from her parents. She worked there for the family of a magistrate called Charles Sainsbury.

Adulthood

Eliza later returned to Northamptonshire. She was married at Glapthorn on 26th December 1882, aged 20, to Thomas Palmer, a carpenter and general labourer. He appears to have been a close neighbour of Eliza’s parents in Glapthorn – Thomas and his family were listed in the 1881 census immediately after Eliza’s parents.

Eliza and Thomas went on to have thirteen children at Glapthorn between 1883 and 1904. All thirteen lived to adulthood.

Eliza’s mother died in 1896 and her father died in 1903.

After their marriage, Eliza and Thomas are believed to have lived in a small thatched cottage on the village street in Glapthorn, which has since been named The Thatched Cottage, Main Street. This part of Glapthorn was known as Lower Glapthorn at the time. Most, if not all, of their children were born at that house. They later moved to a slightly larger house directly opposite it, which has since been named Melton Cottage. It is believed that this was Eliza’s parents’ old house and it is therefore presumed they moved there around 1903 after Eliza’s father died. The family called one of the outbuildings behind Melton Cottage “the old bakehouse” which was understood to have been previously used by Eliza’s father.

Eliza outside the house now called Melton Cottage

Eliza and Thomas’s son John (Jack) is believed to have served in the army during the First World War, including spending some time at the front in the Somme campaign.

It is also recalled that Eliza used to make homemade wine, with parsnip wine being a particular favourite. Eliza would store the wine in stone jars in the parlour of the cottage. On occasion, Thomas would fancy some of the wine and would sneak into the parlour with a little jug and top the stone jars up with water. He got away with it for a time, but when Eliza found out she was most unimpressed.

Palmer family group

Three of Eliza and Thomas’s sons (Thomas, George and Charles) emigrated to America, although George later returned to live in England again in the 1930s.

In 1935 Eliza’s older sister Mary Ann died. Mary Ann had not married until she was in her forties and did not have any children. She had also owned her house in Upper Glapthorn, which has since been given the name Little Peke. Eliza inherited this house from her sister. Eliza and Thomas decided to move into Little Peke, and wound up their smallholding at Melton Cottage. Eliza also wrote a will in 1936, shortly after inheriting the house. She left all her property to her daughter Nellie, but with the proviso that her husband Thomas should receive all the rents and incomes from it during his lifetime in the event that he outlived Eliza.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Eliza and Thomas were living at Upper Glapthorn with their daughter Nellie.

Thomas died in 1940, aged 80. Eliza survived him by ten years. Eliza saw at least nineteen grandchildren born in her lifetime. She also lived to be a great grandmother. She died at Glapthorn on 3rd June 1950, a couple of weeks short of what would have been her 88th birthday. Her daughter Nellie, who never married, continued to live at Little Peke for the rest of her life; she used to breed Pekinese dogs, and gave the house its name.

1. ↑ Birth certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Oundle
   1862 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Weldon in the County of Northampton
   No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden name of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   464	Eighteenth June 1862 Benefield	Eliza	Girl	John Berridge	Mary Berridge formerly Palmer	Farm Labourer	X The Mark of John Berridge Father Benefield	Thirteenth July 1862	John Clark Registrar

2. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1512; Folio 68; Page 12, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Upper Benefield, Benefield, Northamptonshire
   John Berridge, head, married, male, 37 [1833/4], Laborer, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Mary Berridge, wife, married, female, 38 [1832/3], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   John Berridge, son, male, 15 [1855/6], Laborer, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Sarah J. Berridge, daughter, female, 14 [1856/7], Scholar, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Eliza Berridge, daughter, female, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Ruth Berridge, daughter, female, 7 [1863/4], Scholar, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Eli Berridge, son, male, 4 [1866/7], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Edna Berridge, daughter, female, 6mo [1870], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire

3. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 2444; Folio 70; Page 6, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Manor House, Bathford, Somerset
   Charles H.S. Sainsbury, head, married, male, 51 [1829/30], J.P. for County of Somerset, b. Beckington, Somerset
   Eliza F. Sainsbury, wife, married, female, 51 [1829/30], b. Ceylon, India
   William G.S. Sainsbury, son, unmarried, male, 27 [1853/4], Lieutenant 2nd Som. Militia, b. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
   Charles R.S. Sainsbury, son, unmarried, male, 30 [1850/1], Lieutenant 6th West York Militia, b. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
   Cecil R.B. Sainsbury, son, unmarried, male, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
   Sarah Fox, servant, unmarried, female, 51 [1829/30], Housekeeper Domestic Serv[ant], b. Elham, Kent
   Eliza Hole, servant, unmarried, female, 29 [1851/2], Parlour Maid Domestic Serv[ant], b. Temberscombe, Somerset
   Harriet Horler, servant, unmarried, female, 36 [1844/5], Housemaid Domestic Serv[ant], b. Filton, Somerset
   May Parker, servant, unmarried, female, 29 [1851/2], Dairymaid Domestic Serv[ant], b. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
   Eliza Berridge, servant, unmarried, female, 20 [1860/1], Cook Domestic Serv[ant], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   William Hanlin, servant, unmarried, male, 16 [1864/5], Groom Domestic Serv[ant], b. Redhill, Somerset

4. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1224; Folio 84; Page 7, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Village Street, Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Thomas Palmer, head, married, male, 31 [1859/60], General Labourer, employed, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Eliza Palmer, wife, married, female, 28 [1862/3], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Thomas William Palmer, son, male, 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Annie Eliza Palmer, daughter, female, 6 [1884/5], Scholar, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   George Palmer, son, male, 5 [1885/6], Scholar, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Mary Elizabeth Palmer, daughter, 3 [1887/8], b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Caroline Emma Palmer, daughter, female, 2 [1888/9], b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Agnes Palmer, daughter, female, 8mos [1890], b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire

5. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1456; Folio 74; Page 6, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Lower Street, Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Thomas Palmer, head, married, male, 41 [1859/60], Carpenter (Rough), worker, b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Eliza Palmer, wife, married, female, 38 [1862/3], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Mary E.E. Palmer, daughter, single, female, 13 [1887/8], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Caroline E. Palmer, daughter, single, female, 12 [1888/9], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Agnes Palmer, daughter, single, female, 10 [1890/1], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Nellie Palmer, daughter, single, female, 8 [1892/3], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Effie M. Palmer, daughter, single, female, 7 [1893/4], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   John J. Palmer, son, single, male, 2 [1898/9], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   May Palmer, daughter, single, female, 1 [1899/1900], b. Glapthorn, Northamptonshire

6. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 8633; Schedule 54, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: Lower Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Thomas Palmer, head, male, 51 [1859/60], married, Hawker, own account, working at home, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Eliza Palmer, wife, female, 48 [1862/3], married 28 years, 13 children born, 13 children still living, b. Benefield, Northamptonshire
   Nellie Palmer, daughter, female, 18 [1892/3], single, Housemaid (Domestic), b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Effie Maud Palmer, daughter, female, 17 [1893/4], single, Kitchinmaid (Domestic), b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Charles Edward Palmer, son, male, 15 [1895/6], single, Houseboy Domestic, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   John Joseph Palmer, son, male, 13 [1897/8], single, Farm Labourer, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   May Palmer, daughter, female, 11 [1899/1900], single, School, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Margret Palmer, daughter, female, 8 [1902/3], single, School, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Beatrice Palmer, daughter, female, 7 [1903/4], single, School, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire
   Elizabeth Palmer, mother, female, 81 [1830/1], married 54 years, 7 children born, 6 children still living, b. Glapthorne, Northamptonshire

7. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Oundle & Thrapston Rural District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: Upper Glapthorn, Glapthorn, Northamptonshire
   Palmer, Thomas / male / 9 Feb 1860 / married / Grazier Retired
   Palmer, Eliza / female / 18 Jun 1862 / married / Unpaid Domestic Duties
   Palmer, Nellie / female / 16 Aug 1892 / single / Unpaid Domestic Duties

8. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Eliza PALMER, June Quarter 1950, Oundle Registration District, Volume 3b, page 583, aged 87 [1862/3]

9. ↑ Will and Probate (Her Majesty’s Courts Service, London).

   Grant:
   In His Majesty’s High Court of Justice.
   The District Probate Registry at Peterborough.
   BE IT KNOWN that Eliza Palmer of Upper Glapthorn Northamptonshire widow died there on the 3rd day of June 1950.
   AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the last Will and Testament (a copy whereof is hereunto annexed) of the said deceased was proved and registered in the District Probate Registry of His Majesty’s High Court of Justice at Peterborough and that administration of all the Estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to Nellie Palmer of Upper Glapthorn aforesaid spinster daughter of deceased the sole Executrix named in the said Will
   And it is hereby certified that an Affidavit for Inland Revenue has been delivered wherein it is shewn that the gross value of the said Estate in Great Britain (exclusive of what the said deceased may have been possessed of or entitled to as a Trustee and not beneficially) amounts to £392-4-9.
   Dated the 28th day of June 1950.
   F. Packham
   District Registrar.
   
   Will:
   THIS IS THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of me ELIZA PALMER wife of Thomas Palmer of Upper Glapthorn in the County of Northampton Old Age Pensioner I devise and bequeath all my property to my daughter Nellie Palmer Upon Trust to permit my said husband Thomas Palmer to have the use and enjoyment or receive the rents and income thereof during his life and subject thereto I devise and bequeath the same to my said daughter absolutely and I appoint her to be the sole Executrix of this my Will IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Third day of December One thousand nine hundred and thirty six.
   E. PALMER
   
   SIGNED by the said Eliza Palmer as and for her last Will in the presence of us both being present at the same time who in her presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.
   T.S. Mawdesley Oundle Solicitor
   M.J. Williams Oundle Domestic Servant