Person:Mary Meekins (6)

Mary Ann Meakins was baptised on 27th September 1807 at Eversholt in Bedfordshire, daughter of Mary Meakins, formerly Simkins, and her husband John Meakins, a labourer.

Mary seems to have been the fourth of six children, although her three elder siblings had all died young, such that Mary was effectively the eldest of three children. Mary’s youngest sister, Sarah died aged eleven in 1824, and was buried at Eversholt. That is the last sighting of the family in Bedfordshire; it appears that sometime between 1824 and 1833 the family left Bedfordshire and moved to the London area.

On 9th December 1833, aged 26, Mary married Daniel Brittain Berry at the church of St John the Evangelist in the Waterloo area of Lambeth, in the southern suburbs of London. The next day Mary’s younger brother John married in nearby Southwark, and Mary’s new husband Daniel was one of the witnesses to Mary’s brother’s marriage.

Mary and Daniel went on to have five children between 1834 and 1844, although one died young in 1841.

From at least 1837 the family lived in The Mint area of Southwark, being listed at Mint Square that year when their elder two children were baptised. Daniel was described as a chair maker. The 1841 census finds Mary, Daniel, and their children living at neighbouring King Street. Mary’s parents were listed as a separate household in the same house.

Daniel died in 1844, around the same time that their youngest daughter was born. Her birth was registered between January and March 1844, whilst Daniel was buried at the church of St George the Martyr in Southwark on 16th February 1844. He was 35 years old.

Mary’s father died in August 1849 at 9 Mint Square in Southwark. Mary was there when he died and acted as the informant for his death.

Mary and her mother later moved to Fox’s Buildings, off Kent Street in Southwark. Her brother John had already been living at neighbouring Fox’s Court in 1851. Mary’s mother died at 15 Fox’s Buildings in June 1860. Mary was present when her mother died and acted as informant for her death.

Mary appears at Fox’s Buildings in each census from 1871 to 1901. In 1881 she was described as a lace maker. In both the 1891 and 1901 censuses she was living with her married granddaughter Priscilla Welsh, daughter of Mary’s son George Brittain Berry.

Mary lived to be 95 years old. She died in 1903 in Southwark.

1. ↑ Bedfordshire Family History Society. Eversholt Parish Register Transcript. (Bedford).

   Baptisms / 27 Sep 1807: Mary Ann d Wm & Mary Meekins

   Although this baptism record gives Mary’s parents’ names as William and Mary, not John and Mary, this is considered to be an error. Mary appears in the 1841 census living in the same house as John and Mary Meakins, she was the informant for John’s death in 1849, and in the 1851 census she was living with Mary, described as her daughter, and gave her place of birth as Eversholt. Conversely, there does not appear to have been a couple called William and Mary Meakins having children in this area around 1807; there had been William Meakins and Mary Sinfield who married in 1788 at Woburn, but that Mary had died in 1799.

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 1084; Book 9; Folio 12; Page 18, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: King Street, St George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
   Daniel Berry, male, 30 [1806-11], Chair M[aker] J[ourneyman], born in county
   Mary Berry, female, 30 [1806-11], not born in county
   James Berry, male, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   Jane Berry, female, 5 [1835/6], born in county

   Mary’s parents are listed as a separate household in the same house in this census.

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 1564; Folio 5; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 4 Harrow Street, St George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
   Mary Meakins, head, widow, female, 76 [1774/5], Domestic concerns, b. Marson, Bedfordshire
   Mary Berry, daughter, widow, female, 43 [1807/8], Charing, b. Eversholt, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Cox, lodger, married, male, 65 [1785/6], Blacksmith, b. N[ot] K[nown]
   Samuel Mortimer, lodger, unmarried, male, 64 [1786/7], Broker's Porter, b. Plymouth, Devonshire
   George Berry, lodger, male, 9 [1841/2], At home, b. Mint Sq[ua]re, Southwark
   Emma Berry, lodger, female, 7 [1843/4], At home, b. Mint Sq[ua]re, Southwark

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.).

   Mary has not been found in the 1861 census. The 1861 returns for Fox’s Buildings are known to be lost, and it is known that Mary was living at 15 Fox's Buildings in 1860 when her mother died, and she was still at 15 Fox's Buildings in the 1871 census.

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 598; Folio 144; Page 31, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 15 Foxes Buildings, St George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
   Mary A. Berry, head, widow, female, 62 [1808/9], b. Bedfordshire
   William Aldridge, nephew, unmarried, male, 20 [1850/1], Costermonger, b. Kent Street, Southwark
   Edward Jones, nephew, unmarried, male, 24 [1846/7], Costermonger, b. Kent Street, Southwark

   The two nephews listed here have not been successfully identified in any other documents, making it hard to verify the relationship.

6. ↑ 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 521; Folio 131; Page 36, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 28 Foxes Buildings, St George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
   Mary Ann Berry, widow, 72 [1808/9], Lace maker, b. Bedford [crossed out in different hand and replaced with Leeds, Yorks]
   Henry Goodspeed, lodger, male, 25 [1855/6], Carman, b. Barnett, Hertfordshire
   Alex[ande]r Gale, lodger, 40 [1840/1], Carman, b. London
   Francis Chambers, lodger, 20 [1860/1], Carman, b. Cornwall

7. ↑ 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 344; Folio 86; Page 57, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 28 Foxes Buildings, St George the Martyr, Southwark, London
   4 rooms occupied
   Mary Ann Berry, head, widow, female, 82 [1808/9], b. Woburn, Bedfordshire
   James Welch, grandson in law, married, male, 36 [1854/5], G[eneral] Laborer, employed, b. Southwark, London
   Priscilla Welch, granddaughter, married, female, 20 [1870/1], Farriers Ass[istan]t, employed, b. Southwark, London
   Richard Hobbs, boarder, single, male, 54 [1836/7], G[eneral] Laborer, employed, b. Southwark, London

8. ↑ 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 363; Folio 65; Page 22, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 19 Foxes Buildings, Southwark, London
   5 or more rooms occupied
   James Welsh, head, married, male, 42 [1858/9], Bricklayers Labourer, worker, b. Southwark
   Priscilla Welsh, wife, married, female, 39 [1861/2], b. Southwark
   Mary A. Berry, grandmother, widow, female, 92 [1808/9], b. Bedfordshire, N[ot] K[nown]
   Elizabeth Bradford, niece, single, female, 13 [1887/8], b. Southwark
   Jane Bradford, niece, single, female, 12 [1888/9], b. Southwark
   Emma Bradford, niece, single, female, 6 [1894/5], b. Southwark

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

   d. Mary Ann BERRY, September Quarter 1903, Southwark Registration District, Volume 1d, page 33, aged 95 [1807/8]