Person:Maria Hornet (1)

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Childhood

Maria Hornet was born at Batford Mill on the River Lea in the parish of Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, although the river at that point was the boundary with the neighbouring parish of Harpenden ^[10]. She was the fourth child of a labourer called Joseph Hornet and his wife Mary Swallow, although the couple's first two children (both boys named John) had died as infants, such that Maria's only surviving older sibling was her brother William, who was just under three years older than her.

A few days after Maria's first birthday, her father Joseph died, aged just 32. Her mother Mary was left with the two children to look after. Less than a year after Joseph's death, Mary married again to a widower named Francis Warner. It appears that Mary and Francis Warner had three daughters, although no baptism has been found for their daughter Susan ^[11]. At the time of the 1841 census the family was living at Cold Harbour - part of Harpenden on the banks of the River Lea, very close to Batford Mill where Maria had been born.

When Maria was eleven her stepfather Francis died, followed shortly by her youngest half-sister Sophia Warner. Her mother Mary was left with four of her own children to look after - and possibly some of Francis's children from his first marriage to look after too. By 1851, Mary and her children were living at Upper Top Street^[12] in Harpenden.

In 1854, when Maria was 22 years old, her mother Mary died, aged 51.

Adulthood

In 1857, aged 24, Maria had a son named William. However, he died aged about 3 years old in 1860.

In 1861, Maria was working at Piggots Hill in Wheathampstead as a house servant for a farmer of 450 acres named William Bates and his wife Jane.

In 1862, Maria had another illegitimate child, Sophia, who was born in the nearby town of St Albans but baptised back at Wheathampstead in 1863. Later on in 1863, at the age of 31, Maria was married to a Charles Wright, who was exactly four years older than her and from the Marshalls Heath area of Wheathampstead. They had two children together, but after only five years of marriage, Charles died, aged 40, in 1868. Maria was left with her daughter Sophia and her two Wright children, Frederick and Sarah. The 1871 census finds Maria, Sophia, Frederick and Sarah living at The Folly in Wheathampstead, with Maria working as a straw plaiter.

In 1871, Maria's half sister Susan Warner died, aged 36. Susan had been living with a man named Daniel Nicholls, with whom she had had seven children, but (for reasons that are not clear) had not married. On Christmas Eve 1871, Maria and Daniel Nicholls were married, bringing together their children as step-siblings who were already half-cousins. Particularly confusing must have been the fact that they both had daughters called Sarah - Sarah Wright having been born in 1867 and Sarah Nicholls in 1868.

Maria had a further three children with Daniel Nicholls: Clara, George and James, although James died as a baby. In 1881 the family was living at Brewhouse Hill in Wheathampstead - the only sighting of the family actually living in the village rather than in the more remote hamlets. By 1891 they were living back at Nomansland (where Clara and George and Daniel's children with Susan Warner had been born). The cottage they lived in in 1891 was described as having four rooms. Come 1901, all the children had left home and Daniel and Maria were living in a two roomed cottage on West Common in Harpenden, which appears to have been at a place called Soapsud Alley, just north of Pimlico Cottages^[13].

Daniel died in 1901, aged 70. Maria outlived him by just over five years and died in 1906, aged 74, at the infirmary of the Union Workhouse in St Albans.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Church of England. Wheathampstead Parish Registers, Primary quality.

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Wheathampstead in the County of Hertford in the Year 1832
   No.889 / Born April 28th Baptized Jun 10th / Maria Daughter of / Joseph & Mary / HORNET / In the Bottoms, Wheathampstead / Laborer

2. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) HO 107/1-1465 Census Returns: 1841 Census Schedules, HO 107/441, book 4, f 32, p 17, 6 Jun 1841, Primary quality.

   Address: Cold Harbour, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   Francis Warner, male, 45 [1791-6], Ag Lab, b. Hertfordshire
   Mary Warner, female, 35 [1801-6], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire
   Mary Warner jun., female, 15 [1821-6], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire
   Elizabeth Warner, female, 15 [1821-6], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire
   Susan Warner, female, 5 [1835/6], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire
   Sarah Warner, female, 3 [1837/8], b. Hertfordshire
   William Hornet, male, 10 [1830/1], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire
   Maria Hornet, female, 9 [1831/2], Pl[aiter], b. Hertfordshire

3. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) HO 107/1466-2531 Census Returns: 1851 Census Schedules, HO 107/1713, f 73, p 10, 30 Mar 1851, Primary quality.

   Address: Upper Top Street, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   Mary Warner, head, widow, female, 46 [1804/5], Pl[aiter], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Susan Warner, dau, unmarried, female, 16 [1834/5], Pl[aiter], b. Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   William Hornet, son, unmarried, male, 21 [1829/30], Ag Lab, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Maria Hornet, daur, unmarried, female, 18 [1832/3], Pl[aiter], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   William Innance?, lodger, married, male, 41 [1809/10], Carpenter, b. Harpenden, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 9 General Register Office: 1861 Census Schedules, RG 9/827, f 47, p 18, 7 Apr 1861, Primary quality.

   Address: Piggots Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   William Bates, head, married, male, 63 [1797/8], Farmer 450 acres employing 12 men, b. Offley, Hertfordshire
   Jane Bates, wife, married, female, 56 [1804/5], Farmers wife, b. Flamstead, Hertfordshire
   Charlotte Bates, daughter, unmarried, female, 25 [1835/6], Farmers daughter, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Jane Bates, daughter, unmarried, female, 23 [1837/8], Farmers daughter, b. Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire
   Edmund Bates, son, unmarried, male, 21 [1839/40], Farmer's son, b. Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire
   George Bates, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1841/2], Farmer's son, b. Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire
   John Bates, son, male, 13 [1847/8], Scholar, b. Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire
   Maria Hornet, servant, unmarried, female, 28 [1832/3], House servant, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   John Lodge, servant, widower, male, 60 [1800/1], Labourer, b. Willyan, Hertfordshire
   Thomas Smith, servant, unmarried, male, 19 [1841/2], Labourer, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Daniel Cain, servant, unmarried, male, 20 [1840/1], Labourer, b. Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 10 General Register Office: 1871 Census Schedules, RG 10/1376, f 36, p 34, 2 Apr 1871, Primary quality.

   Address: The Folly, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Maria Wright, head, widow, female, 39 [1831/2], Straw plaitter, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Sophia Hornet, daughter, female, 9 [1861/2], Straw plaitter, b. St Albans, Hertfordshire
   Frederic Wright, son, male, 6 [1864/5], Scholar, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Wright, daughter, female, 3 [1867/8], Scholar, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

6. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 11 General Register Office: 1881 Census Schedules, RG 11/1429, f 48, p 7, 3 Apr 1881, Primary quality.

   Address: Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Daniel Nichols, head, married, male, 47 [1833/4], Farm labourer, b. Gustard Wood, Hertfordshire
   Maria Nichols, wife, married, female, 48 [1832/3], Straw plaiter, b. Batford Mills, Hertfordshire
   Frederick Nichols, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1861/2], Farm labourer, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   Mary Ann Nichols, daughter, unmarried, female, 17 [1863/4], Straw plaiter, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Nichols, daughter, unmarried, female, 12 [1868/9], Scholar, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Nichols, son, male, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   Clara Nichols, daughter, female, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   George Nichols, son, male, 6 [1874/5], Scholar, b. Nomansland, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Wright, daughter, female, 13 [1867/8], Scholar (2nd family), b. Folly, Hertfordshire

7. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 12 General Register Office: 1891 Census Schedules, RG 12/1114, f 47, p 15, 5 Apr 1891, Primary quality.

   Address: Hamwell Cottage, Nomansland, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Daniel Nicholls, head, married, male, 57 [1833/4], Agric[ultura]l Labourer, employed, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Maria Nicholls, wife, married, female, 58 [1832/3], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Charlotte Nicholls, daughter, single, female, 18 [1872/3], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   George Nicholls, son, single, male, 16 [1874/5], Agric[ultura]l Labourer, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

8. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 13 General Register Office: 1901 Census Schedules, RG 13/1310, f 20, p 32, 31 Mar 1901, Primary quality.

   Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   2 rooms occupied
   Daniel Nichols, head, married, male, 70 [1830/1], General farm labourer, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Maria Nichols, wife, married, female, 69 [1831/2], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

9. ↑ Death Certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office), Primary quality.

   1906 DEATH in the Sub-district of St Albans in the County Hertford
   No.317
   When and where died: Twenty fourth November 1906, The Infirmary, Union Workhouse, St Albans UD
   Name: Maria Nicholls
   Sex: Female
   Age: 74 years [1831/2]
   Occupation: Widow of Daniel Nicholls, Farm Labourer, Wheathampstead Road Harpenden UD
   Cause of death: Senile Decay, Morbus Cordis, Certified by J.P. Grosant Wells LRCP
   Informant: George Nicholls, son, In attendance, Wheathampstead Road, Harpenden
   Registered: Twenty Sixth November 1906

   
10. ↑ The boundary has subsequently changed, transferring the mill to Harpenden
11. ↑ Susan appears living with Francis and Mary in the 1841 census and is described as Mary's daughter in the 1851 census, but no plausible baptism has been found for her at either Harpenden or Wheathampstead.
12. ↑ Upper Top Street Farm was on what is now called Crabtree Lane, on the site now occupied by Gilpin Green.
13. ↑ The Vale of the Nightingale, Molly Andrews, 1996 - this book includes a description of the home the author's family lived in at Soapsud Alley, including reference to neighbours on either side, from which it is clear that the author's family must have moved into the cottage that Daniel and Maria were living in at the time of the 1901 census. The name Soapsud Alley has fallen out of use, but the buildings still stand - now known as Nos. 15-20 West Common.