Person:Mary Hornet (1)

Mary Ann Hornet was born around 1825 at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, daughter of a straw plaiter called Mary Hornet, formerly Swallow, and her husband Joseph Hornet, a labourer.^[9] Mary Ann's father died in 1833, and the following year Mary Ann's mother married again, with a Francis Warner thus becoming Mary Ann's stepfather. Francis Warner died in 1844.

On 28th November 1846, Mary Ann married an agricultural labourer called Joshua Wheeler at Wheathampstead. The 1851 census finds Joshua and Mary Ann living at Marshalls Heath with two lodgers. Joshua was working as an agricultural labourer.

Joshua and Mary Ann went on to have two daughters: Mary Ann in 1851 and Clara in 1853.

Mary Ann's mother died in 1857.

The 1861 census finds Joshua, Mary Ann and their daughters still living at Marshalls Heath. Joshua's brother Isaac and his family lived in the neighbouring house on one side, whilst Mary Ann's aunt Maria Fensom and her husband lived on the neighbouring house on the other side.

By 1871, Joshua and Mary Ann had moved to the nearby hamlet of The Folly. Their daughter Clara had left home to work as a servant in London, whilst their daughter Mary Ann was still living at home.

Joshua and Mary Ann were still living at The Folly in 1881, with their grandson George Wheatley and Mary Ann's niece Sophia Wright living with them. Joshua died in 1887, aged 70.

Mary Ann continued to live at The Folly for some time after Joshua's death, appearing there in the 1891 census with a lodger. By 1901 she had moved in with her daughter Mary Ann, who lived with her husband and children at the Gate House at Old Marford, a level-crossing keeper's cottage on the Great Northern Railway's Hatfield, Luton and Dunstable branch line. This was just east of Wheathampstead village, but in the neighbouring parish of Sandridge.

Mary Ann appears to have lived there until her death in 1903, when she was probably in her late seventies. She was buried at Wheathampstead on 16th July 1903.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 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 1713; Folio 39; Page 32, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Marshalls Heath, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Joshua Wheeler, head, married, male, 37 [1813/4], Ag Lab, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, wife, married, female, 27 [1823/4], Ag Lab Wife, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Warner, lodger, unmarried, female, 12 [1838/9], Straw Platter, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Sales, lodger, unmarried, female, 20 [1830/1], Straw Platter, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire

2. ↑ 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 827; Folio 31; Page 26, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Marshalls Heath, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Isaac Wheeler, head, married, male, 48 [1812/3], Labourer Ag, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Emma Wheeler, wife, married, female, 49 [1811/2], b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Wheeler, daughter, female, 11 [1849/50], Scholar, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   ~next household~
   Joshua Wheeler, head, married, male, 41 [1819/20], Labourer Ag, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, wife, married, female, 36 [1824/5], b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, daughter, female, 9 [1851/2], Scholar, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   Clara Wheeler, daughter, female, 6 [1854/5], Scholar, b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire
   ~next household~
   James Fensom, head, married, male, 61 [1799/1800], Labourer Ag, b. Kimpton, Hertfordshire
   Maria Fensom, wife, married, female, 62 [1798/9], b. Wheathamstead, Hertfordshire

3. ↑ 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 1376; Folio 38; Page 37, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: The Folly, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Joshua Wheeler, head, married, male, 50 [1820/1], Farm Laborer, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, wife, married, female, 44 [1826/7], Laborer's Wife, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Ann Wheeler, daughter, unmarried, female, 20 [1850/1], Straw Hat Sewer, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ 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 1429; Folio 40; Page 38, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: The Folly, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Joshua Wheeler, head, married, male, 67 [1813/4], Laborer, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, wife, married, female, 56 [1824/5], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Sophia Wright, niece, unmarried, 19 [1861/2], Domestic servant, b. St Albans, Hertfordshire
   George Wheatley, grandson, male, 8 [1872/3], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ 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 1114; Folio 32; Page 21, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: The Folly, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Mary A. Wheeler, head, widow, female, 65 [1825/6], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Edward Minall, lodger, single, male, 21 [1869/70], Plate Layer, employed, b. St Albans, Hertfordshire

6. ↑ 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 1309; Folio 22; Page 35, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Gate House, Old Marford, Sandridge, Hertfordshire
   George Wheatley, head, married, male, 51 [1849/50], Foreman Platelayer GNR, worker, b. St Pancras, London
   Mary A. Wheatley, wife, married, female, 49 [1851/2], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Lizzie Wheatley, daughter, single, female, 17 [1883/4], Dressmakers apprentice, worker, b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
   Nellie Wheatley, daughter, single, female, 12 [1888/9], b. Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   Laura L. Wheatley, daughter, single, female, 10 [1890/1], b. Harpenden, Hertfordshire
   Albert F. Wheatley, son, single, male, 8 [1892/3], b. Welwyn, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Wheeler, mother, widow, female, 76 [1824/5], b. Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

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

   d. Mary Ann WHEELER, September Quarter 1903, St Albans Registration District, Volume 3a, page 319, aged 82 [1820/1]

8. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Wheathampstead Parish Registers. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Wheathampstead in the County of Hertford in the Year One thousand eight hundred and three
   No. 276
   Name: Mary Ann Wheeler
   Abode: The Gate House, Sandridge
   When Buried: July 16
   Age: 82 years [1820/1]
   By whom the Ceremony was Performed: R.T.M. Lindesay

9. ↑ No baptism has been found for Mary Ann Hornet, but her parentage can be deduced from other records. Her marriage records that she was daughter of Joseph Hornet, whilst she has a niece Sophia Wright living with her in the 1881 census. Sophia was daughter of Maria Hornet, who was daughter of Joseph Hornet and Mary Swallow. In the 1851 census Mary Ann also had another of Mary Swallow's children, Sarah Warner, living with her. The ages Mary Ann gave for herself in the censuses were not always consistent, but appear to point to a birth in the mid 1820s. As Mary Swallow and Joseph Hornet had children born in 1823 and 1827 it seems reasonably likely that Mary Ann was born around 1825.