Person:Mary Meekins (7)

Mary Ann Meakins (or Meekins) was born in 1862 in Southwark in the southern suburbs of London, daughter of a hawker called Ann Meakins, formerly Walter, and her husband John Meakins, a costermonger and general dealer. When Mary was baptised in 1863 the family’s address was given as 4 Fox’s Court.

The 1871 census finds Mary living with her parents and siblings at 5 Fox’s Buildings.

Mary’s father died in February 1880.

Later that year, on 6th September 1880, Mary married a general dealer called Joseph Pyman at St Mary’s Church in Lambeth.

Joseph has not been found in the 1881 census. Mary was living at Fox’s Buildings in Southwark with her mother (listed under her maiden name). She was described as a rabbit skinner.

Mary and Joseph went on to have a large number of children, but also saw the majority of them die young. Mary reported in the 1911 census that she had had sixteen children, only four of whom were still alive. Birth or baptism records have been found for fourteen children between 1887 and 1903.

Mary’s mother died in December 1890.

The 1891 census finds Mary and Joseph living at 9 St Andrew’s Place in Lambeth. By 1901 they had moved to 37 Tanswell Street.

When Mary’s younger brother John joined the army in 1893 he gave Mary’s name as one of his next of kin, but described her as “Mary Ann Palmer”. It would seem that the family used the names Palmer and Pyman at different times, with Mary’s son John calling himself John Palmer as an adult.

Joseph died early in 1908, aged 45.

A few months later, Mary married again. Her second husband was a widower called Arthur Henry Pain, and they married on 15th December 1908 at Christ Church in Southwark. He worked as a lithographer and glass blower.

The 1911 census finds Mary living at 37 Tanswell Street in Lambeth with two of her sons, working as a charwoman. Arthur was not at home on census night; he was staying with his sister at 5 Willington Road in the Stockwell area of Lambeth, a couple of miles away.

Mary died early in 1912, aged 49. She was buried at Lambeth Cemetery on 5th March 1912. Arthur survived her by about 31 years.

1. ↑ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office)
   Births index.

   b. Mary Ann MEAKINS, December Quarter 1862, St George Southwark Registration District, Volume 1d, page 127, mother’s maiden name Walters

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Southwark, Surrey: Parish Registers of St Stephen, Southwark (London Metropolitan Archives, London).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of St Stephen's Southwark in the County of Surrey in the Year 1863
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   945	1863 June 3rd	Mary Ann	John & Nancy	Meekings	4 Foxes Court, Foxes Buil[ding]s, Kent St.	Hawker	D.J. Drakeford, Curate

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 598; Folio 117; Page 37, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 5 Foxes Buildings, Southwark (St George), Surrey
   John Meakins, head, married, male, 33 [1837/8], General Dealer, b. Mint St[reet] Boro[ugh]
   Ann Meakins, wife, married, female, 29 [1841/2], Hawker, b. Boro[ugh]
   Henry Meakins, son, male, 10 [1860/1], Scholar, b. Kent St[reet]
   Mary A. Meakins, daughter, female, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Kent St[reet]
   Hanah Meakins, daughter, female, 4 [1866/7], b. Kent St[reet]
   Ellen Meakins, daughter, female, 1 [1869/70], b. Kent St[reet]
   Matilda Walters, sister, female, 17 [1853/4], Hawker, b. Kent St[reet]

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 521; Folio 130; Page 33, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 14 Foxes Buildings, Southwark (St George the Martyr), Surrey
   Ann Meekings, mother, widow, female, 39 [1841/2], Hawker, b. London
   Mary Ann Meekings, daughter, female, 18 [1862/3], Rabbit Skinner, b. London
   John Meekings, son, male, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. London
   Hannah Meekings, daughter, female, 14 [1866/7], Scholar, b. London

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 388; Folio 29; Page 57, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 9 St Andrews Place, Lambeth, London
   2 rooms occupied
   Joseph Pyman, head, married, male, 30 [1860/1], General Dealer, neither employer nor employed, b. Tunbridge Wells, Kent
   Mary A. Pyman, wife, married, female, 29 [1861/2], b. Southwark, London
   Mary A. Pyman, daughter, female, 9 [1881/2], Scholar, b. Lambeth, London
   John Pyman, son, male, 2 [1888/9], b. Lambeth, London

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 402; Folio 63; Page 25, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 37 Tanswell Street, Lambeth, London
   Joseph Pyman, head, married, male, 40 [1860/1], General Dealer, own account, b. London
   Mary A. Pyman, wife, married, female, 36 [1864/5], b. London
   Mary Pyman, daughter, single, female, 19 [1881/2], b. Lambeth, London
   John Pyman, son, single, male, 12 [1888/9], b. Lambeth, London
   Joseph Pyman, son, single, male, 6 [1894/5], b. Lambeth, London
   Alfred Pyman, son, single, male, 3 [1897/8], b. Lambeth, London

7. ↑ 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 1953; Schedule 179, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 37 Tanswell Street, Lambeth, London
   3 rooms occupied
   Mary Ann Pain, head, female, 47 [1863/4], married 30 years, 16 children born alive, 4 children still living, Charwoman, worker, b. Boro[ugh], London
   John Pain, son, male, 21 [1889/90], Coster Monger, worker, b. Lambeth, London
   Joseph Pain, son, male, 17 [1893/4], Bottle Worker - George Beer Maker, worker, b. Lambeth, London

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

   d. Mary Ann PAIN, March Quarter 1912, Lambeth Registration District, Volume 1d, page 297, aged 48 [1863/4]

9. ↑ Lambeth Cemetery Registers (London Borough of Lambeth, London).

   BURIALS in the Burial Ground of the Lambeth Borough Council, in the Parish of Tooting, in the County of London, in the year 1912
   No. 2039
   NAME: Mary Ann Pain
   Age: 48 y[ea]rs [1863/4]
   Place or Parish where death occurred: 37 Tanswell Street
   Consecrated Ground and No. 1433 A 3
   Date of Burial: 5 March

   Although run by Lambeth council, Lambeth Cemetery was not in the council's administrative area. The civil parish of Tooting Graveney had been administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth since 1900.