Person:Mary Simkins (2)

Mary Simkins was baptised on 5th July 1778 at Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, daughter of Elizabeth Simkins, formerly Hudson, and her husband Thomas Simkins. She was the eldest of their six children, although two of her younger siblings died as babies and another died when only six years old in 1794.

Mary’s next sighting is on 15th April 1799, aged twenty, when she married John Meakins at Marston Moretaine. He was from Woburn, about six miles south of Marston Moretaine, and the couple moved to Woburn after their marriage.

Mary and John had three children baptised at Woburn between 1800 and 1804: Rose, James, and Henry, but all three died under the age of two years old. Mary and John then moved to the neighbouring parish of Eversholt, where they had a daughter called Mary in 1807 who would be their first child to survive to adulthood. A son called John followed around 1810, for whom no baptism record has been found, and finally they had a daughter called Sarah baptised at Eversholt in 1812. Sarah died in 1824, aged eleven, and was buried at Eversholt.

Back in Marston Moretaine, both Mary’s parents died in 1830. Her mother was buried there on 10th March 1830 and her father was buried there five months later on 20th August 1830.

By 1833, Mary and John’s two surviving children had both left Bedfordshire and moved to the London area, living in the southern suburbs. It seems reasonably likely that Mary and John moved with their children, although their first sighting in the London area is not until 1841. Mary’s daughter Mary was married at Lambeth on 9th December 1833 to a chair maker called Daniel Brittain Berry, and the very next day Mary’s son John was married at the church of St John Horsleydown in Southwark to a Hannah Goodge (with Daniel Brittain Berry acting as witness).

Mary’s first known grandchild was born in 1834. In 1837, both Mary’s children are recorded as living at Mint Square in Southwark. Mint Square was at the crossroads of King Street (later renamed Caleb Street) and Queen Street (roughly on the line of modern Quilp Street), in the area of Southwark known as The Mint.

The Mint took its name from a mint which had operated there between 1543 and 1557. This relatively short period happened to include the point at which the City of London took effective control of most of Southwark in 1550. The area of the mint was excluded from the area brought under the City’s control, becoming the ‘Liberty of the Mint’. This liberty status survived long after the mint itself had closed and been redeveloped. As a result, the area became a haven for debtors who would be at risk of imprisonment for debt if they were found outside the liberty. The Mint’s special status was finally revoked in 1722, but its former status as a haven for debtors cast a long shadow, with the area remaining an exceedingly poor part of London through to the late nineteenth century when it was largely cleared to make way for Marshalsea Road. Mary must have found the contrast between rural Bedfordshire and The Mint quite marked.

The 1841 census finds Mary and John living on King Street in Southwark. John was described as a labourer. It appears that there were seven households sharing the house, with Mary’s daughter Mary and her husband and children being one of the other households in the same house. Mary’s son John and his family were living at Mint Square, in a house listed just four houses before Mary and John’s at King Street.

John died on 7th August 1849 at 9 Mint Square, aged 78.

The 1851 census finds Mary living with her widowed daughter Mary at 4 Harrow Street in Southwark (later renamed Sanctuary Street), which was just around the corner from King Street and Mint Square. Her son John lived a short distance away at Fox’s Court, off Kent Street.

Mary and her daughter later moved to 15 Fox’s Buildings, which adjoined Fox’s Court. Mary died there on 24th June 1860, aged about 82. She was buried at the City of London Cemetery at Little Ilford, to the east of London.

1. ↑ Bedfordshire Record Office. Marston Moretaine Parish Register Transcript. (Bedford).

   ch. 5 Jul 1778: Mary daughter of Thomas & Elizabeth Simkins

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 11; Page 17, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: King Street, St George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey
   John Meakins, male, 65 [1771-6], Lab[ourer], not born in county
   Mary Meakins, female, 65 [1771-6], not born in county

   Mary's daughter Mary and her husband and children were listed as a separate household in the same house.

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

   Superintendent Registrar's District St George Southwark / Registrar's District Kent Road
   1860. DEATHS in the District of Kent Road in the County of Surrey
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   380	Twenty fourth June 1860, 15 Foxes Buildings	Mary Neakins [sic]	female	85 years [1774/5]	Widow of John Neakins, Ground Laborer	Malignant disease of Uterus, some years Certified	X The mark of Mary Ann Berry present at death 15 Foxes Buildings, Southwark	Twenty fifth June 1860	F.C. Fitch, Registrar

5. ↑ City of London Cemetery, Little Ilford, Essex: Cemetery Registers (Corporation of London).

   General Register of Interments in The City of London Cemetery, Little Ilford.
   No. 13261
   Date of Burial: 1860 July 4th
   Name of Person Buried: Mary Meakins
   Description, Avocation, and Parochial Residence, of Person Buried: Fox Buildings, Kent Street
   Sex: Fem[ale]
   Age: 85 years [1774/5]
   District in which the Death is registered: Kent Road, Surrey
   From what Parish removed: St George
   Situation of Grave: Square 211, Number 6355
   No. of Grant: 12817
   Description of Interment: 2nd Class Common interment
   Consecrated or Unconsecrated Ground: Consecrated
   If Pauper – The Union: [blank]
   Ceremony performed by: C.J.F. Taylor
   Remarks: John C. Stacey, Registrar