Person:Mary Drake (70)

Mary Drake was baptised on 17th October 1784 at Bere Ferrers in Devon, daughter of Celia Drake, formerly Foot, and her husband John Drake. Mary was the eldest of the couple's five children. In 1797, when Mary was thirteen years old, her mother Celia died.

Mary was married on 11th October 1806, aged about 22, to Matthias Spry, who was 29 and also from Bere Ferrers. They had six children baptised at Bere Ferrers between 1807 and 1816, although their third child died as a baby. The youngest two children's baptisms record that the family lived at Beertown (how Bere Ferrers village was then known) and that Matthias worked as a husbandman.

Matthias died aged about 42 in 1819. Three years later Mary's eldest daughter Elizabeth also died, aged 15.

The 1841 census finds Mary living at Beertown with her daughter Celia. In 1851 she was visiting a Mary Walters in Beertown. In 1861 Mary was working as a nurse for a family living at St Germans in Cornwall who had a two week old son. They appear to have been related to her, quite likely with her being the grandmother of the baby's mother.

In 1871 Mary was living back in Bere Ferrers with her daughter Celia's family. Mary died in 1873, aged 88.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of Bere Ferrers. (Exeter: Devon Heritage Services).

   Baptisms 1784
   October the 17 Mary Daughter of John and Silya Drake

2. ↑ England. 1841 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 HO107; Piece 240; Book 5; Folio 7; Page 8, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Beertown, Beer Ferris, Devon
   Mary Spry, female, 57 [1783/4], Pauper, born in county
   Sillia Spry, female, 26 [1814/5], Pauper, born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1883; Folio 76; Page 13, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 13 Beertown, Beerferris, Devon
   Mary Walters, head, widow, female, 73 [1777/8], Retired Gardner, b. Tamerton Foliott, Devon
   Mary Spry, visitor, widow, female, 62 [1788/9], Widow of Ag Lab, b. Beerferris, Devon

4. ↑ England. 1861 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 RG9; Piece 1524; Folio 26; Page 3, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Quarry Street, St Germans, Cornwall
   William Hosking, head, married, male, 35 [1825/6], Bargeman, b. Markwell, Landrake, Cornwall
   Mary Hosking, wife, married, female, 28 [1832/3], Washerwoman, b. Beer Ferris, Devon
   William Hosking, son, male, 10 [1850/1], Scholar, b. Landrake, Markwell, Cornwall
   Elizabeth Hosking, daughter, female, 2 [1858/9], b. St Germans, Cornwall
   - Hosking, son, male, 2 weeks, b. St Germans, Cornwall
   Mary Spry, mother in law, married, female, 77 [1783/4], Nurse, b. Beer Ferris, Devon
   John Worth, cousin, male, 10 [1850/1], (Visitor) Scholar, b. Beer Ferris, Devon

   Although Mary is described here as mother in law, implying that she was Mary Hosking's mother, she actually appears to have been her grandmother. Mary Hosking (formerly Waycott) was the daughter of Mary's daughter Mary Spry, who had married a John Waycott.

5. ↑ 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 2142; Folio 50; Page 4, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Beer Town, Beerferris, Devon
   Celia Worth, head, married, female, 57 [1813/14], General Worker, b. Devonshire
   Celia, daughter, unmarried, female, 23 [1847/8], Servant, b. Devonshire
   William Matthias, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1851/2], Servant, b. Devonshire
   Robert, son, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Servant, b. Devonshire
   Richard, son, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Servant, b. Devonshire
   Mary Spry, mother in law, widow, female, 89 [1781/2], Formerly Nurse, b. Devonshire

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

   d. Mary SPRY, March Quarter 1873, Tavistock Registration District, Volume 5b, page 264, aged 91 [1781/2]

7. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Registers of Bere Ferrers. (Exeter: Devon Heritage Services).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Bere Ferrers in the County of Devon in the Year 1873
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   	Mary Spry	Bere Town	12th March	91 y[ea]rs	John P. Mayne