Person:Ada Singleton (5)

Early life

Ada Jane Singleton was born in the village of Allington, Lincolnshire on 14th August 1871. She was the youngest child of Eliza Worth Singleton, formerly Bonser, and her husband Robert Singleton, a coachman and groom, who appears to have worked at various big houses. Eliza was 45 when Ada was born, and there was a gap of six years between Ada and her closest sibling in age. Shortly after Ada's birth the family moved over thirty miles west to Aston on Trent in Derbyshire, presumably for Robert's work. Whilst living there, when Ada was just fourteen months old, her mother Eliza died, aged 46.

By the 1881 census, Robert and his youngest two daughters, Annie and Ada, had left Aston and moved to Bainton in Northamptonshire. The rest of Robert's children had left home by this time. Ada was about 25 years younger than her eldest brother. Ada lived in Bainton with her father in Bainton for at least 20 years, and worked as a housekeeper there as a young woman. Between at least 1891 and 1901 Ada appears to have lived alone with her father.

Marriage and move to Luton Hoo

56 West Hyde - Ada's home between about 1907 and 1955.

At Barnack, John was a gardener at Burghley House, working under head gardener Arthur William Metcalfe. In 1904, Metcalfe was appointed head gardener at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire. John and Ada also moved from Barnack to the Luton Hoo estate around the same time, suggesting that Metcalfe brought John Henry to work with him at Luton Hoo. By October 1905 Ada and John were living at South Lodge on the Luton Hoo estate, where their son Arthur Edward was born. By 1907 they had moved to the little village of West Hyde, which belonged to the estate, where their daughter Elsie Elizabeth was born in 1907. Both Arthur Edward and Elsie Elizabeth were baptised at St Nicholas's church in the nearby town of Harpenden.

Ada and John, probably in their son Arthur Edward's garden judging by the style of the houses.

Ada's sons both married in the late 1920s, and Ada's first known grandchild was born in 1928. She had five grandchildren born in the 1920s and 1930s, although the eldest died as a boy of six years old in 1934. Ada and John also took in and cared for their granddaughter whilst their eldest son and his wife were sick around the same time.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Ada, John and their daughter Elsie were living at 56 Flint Hyde, and John was described as a foreman gardener. Elsie was described as incapacitated.

Later life

John died in 1955, aged 84. After his death, the Hoo estate transferred Ada a short distance up the road to 58 Flint Hyde. Apparently this house also had an electric stove, which Ada did consent to use, but still insisted on cooking vegetables on the fire.^[10] On 22nd July 1956, Ada wrote her will, leaving all the money in her post office savings account to her daughter Elsie Elizabeth and the rest of her estate to be split equally between her two sons, John Robert and Arthur Edward. The will was witnessed by Ada's two daughters-in-law.

Ada died at 58 Flint Hyde on 6th August 1959, eight days short of what would have been her 88th birthday. She was buried at Holy Trinity Church at East Hyde.

1. ↑ Birth certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Newark
   1871 BIRTH in the Sub-District of Bennington in the Counties of Lincoln and Nottingham
   No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden name of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   56	Fourteenth August 1871 Allington	Ada Jane	Girl	Robert Singleton	Eliza Singleton formerly Bonser	Coachman	Eliza Singleton Mother Allington	Eighth September 1871	E. Kinnington, Registrar

   This birth has been linked to the Ada Jane Singleton who married John Robert Cox on the basis that their marriage certificate gives her father's name as Robert Singleton, coachman. Also, the address Ada was living at when she married was home to Annie Floyd formerly Singleton, who gave her place of birth as Allington. The only census in which Ada appears after her marriage is 1911, in which she gave her place of birth as Aston, Derbyshire, which is clearly not the same as Allington, Lincolnshire. However, this is considered a mistake, which can be easily explained, as the family left Allington shortly after Ada's birth and moved to Aston, where Ada's mother died in 1872, when Ada was still only a baby.

   
2. ↑ 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 3194; Folio 67; Page 16, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Bainton, Northamptonshire
   Robert Singleton, head, widower, male, 61 [1819/20], Coachman Dom[estic] Serv[ant], b. Foston, Lincolnshire
   Annie Singleton, daughter, unmarried, female, 18 [1862/3], Housekeeper, b. Allington, Lincolnshire
   Ada Singleton, daughter, female, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Allington, Lincolnshire

3. ↑ 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 2554; Folio 58; Page 12, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Bainton, Northamptonshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Robert Singleton, head, widower, male, 71 [1819/20], Assisting Gardener, employed, b. Foston, Lincolnshire
   Ada J. Singleton, daughter, single, female, 19 [1871/2], Housekeeper, employed, b. Allington, Lincolnshire

4. ↑ 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 3022; Folio 56; Page 5, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Bainton, Northamptonshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Robert Singleton, head, widower, male, 81 [1819/20], Retired Coachman, b. Foston, Lincolnshire
   Ada Singleton, daughter, single, female, 29 [1871/2], House Keeper (Domestic), Working at Home, b. Allington, Lincolnshire

5. ↑ 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 9025; Schedule 128, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: No. 56 West Hyde N[ea]r Luton, Bedfordshire
   5 rooms occupied
   John Henry Cox, head, male, 40 [1870/1], married, Gardener (Domestic), worker, b. Barnack, Northamptonshire
   Ada Jane Cox, wife, female, 39 [1871/2], married 9 years, 3 children, all still living, b. Aston, Derbyshire
   John Robert Cox, son, male, 8 [1902/3], b. Barnack, Northamptonshire
   Arthur Edward Cox, son, male, 5 [1905/6], b. Hyde, Bedfordshire
   Elsie Elizabeth Cox, daughter, female, 3 [1907/8], b. Hyde, Bedfordshire

6. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Luton Rural District, 29 Sep 1939.

   56 West Hyde, Hyde, Bedfordshire
   Cox, John H. / male / 28 Jun 1870 / married / Foreman Gardener
   Cox, Ada J. / female / 14 Aug 1872 / married / Unpaid domestic duties
   Cox, Elsie E. / female / 22 Aug 1907 / single / Incapacitated

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

   d. Ada J. COX, September Quarter 1959, Luton Registration District, Volume 4a, page 89, aged 87 [1871/2]

8. ↑ Will and Probate, in England. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1858 onwards. (Ancestry.com).

   WILL
   This is the last Will and Testament of me Ada Jane Cox of 58 Flint Hyde N[ea]r Luton Bedfordshire in the County of Bedfordshire made this Twenty Second day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and Fifty-Six
   
   I HEREBY revoke all Wills made by me at any time heretofore. I appoint
   JOHN ROBERT COX 29 NEVILLE ROAD LUTON BEDS
   ARTHUR EDWARD COX 15 CLIFTON ROAD LUTON BEDS
   to be my Executor , and direct that all my Debts and Funeral Expenses shall be paid as soon as conveniently may be after my decease.
   
   I GIVE AND BEQUEATH unto My daughter Elsie Elizabeth Cox, all the
   savings in my Post Office Savings Bank Book. The rest of my possessions I bequeath between my two sons, namely John Robert Cox of 29 Neville Road Luton Bedfordshire and Arthur Edward Cox of 15 Clifton Road Luton Bedfordshire
   
   Signed by the said TESTATOR in the presence of us, present at the same time, who at h[er] request, in h[er] presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses.
   Ada Jane Cox
   Bethia Cox, 29 Neville Road Luton
   Dorothy May Cox, 15 Clifton Road, Luton Beds
   
   PROBATE
   In the High Court of Justice The Principal Probate Registry
   
   BE IT KNOWN that ADA JANE COX of 58 Flint Hyde near Luton Bedfordshire widow died there on the 6th day of August 1959 AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the last Will and Testament (a copy whereof is hereunto annexed) of the said deceased was proved and registered in the Principal Probate Registry of the High Court of Justice and that Administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to JOHN ROBERT COX of 29 Neville Road Luton aforesaid Material Handler Motor Works son of deceased one of the Executors named in the said Will Power reserved to the other Executor
   And it is hereby certified that an Inland Revenue affidavit has been delivered wherein it is shown that the gross value of the said estate in Great Britain
   (exclusive of what the said deceased may have been possessed of or entitled to as a trustee and not beneficially) amounts to £274:5:2
   
   Dated the 11th day of September 1959 C.H. Fosker Registrar
   Extracted by the acting Executor

9. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. East Hyde Parish Registers.

   bur. 11 Aug 1959 / Ada Jane Cox / 58 Flint Hyde / 87 [1871/2]

10. ↑ ^10.0 10.1 Letter to author from Ada's granddaughter, 17 May 2011