Person:Alice Gurney (2)

Alice Gurney claimed to have been born around 1815 at Whipsnade in Bedfordshire, although no birth or baptism record has been found for her. Her first confirmed sighting is in 1835, when she was married in the neighbouring village of Studham to a straw dealer called David Kempson. He was from another local village, Totternhoe, and they appear to have lived there for the first few years after their marriage, having two children there in the late 1830s. They would have five children together in total, although one died young.

By 1841 they had moved to the village of Kensworth, which at that time was part of Hertfordshire. Alice was described as a straw plaiter. The 1851 and 1861 censuses similarly find Alice, David and their children living in Kensworth.

In 1868, David was convicted of assaulting a man, for which he had to pay a fine of thirteen shillings and six pence. The following year, David was admitted to the Three Counties Lunatic Asylum at Stotfold, nearly twenty miles north-east of Kensworth. He stayed there for almost eight years. Whilst he was there, the 1871 census finds Alice, her youngest two children and a granddaughter still living in Kensworth.

During the 1870s, Alice appears to have left Kensworth and moved to Basford in Nottinghamshire with her son Charles.^[7] Charles died in that area as a young man of 25 in 1877. Later that year Alice's husband David was transferred from the Three Counties Asylum to the Northamptonshire County Lunatic Asylum, where he died in February 1879 at the age of 67.

Alice appears in the 1881 census as an inmate of the Basford Union Workhouse in Nottingham. She died there two weeks later, on 17th April 1881. She was said to be 68 years old.

1. ↑ 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 441; Book 11; Folio 9; Page 13, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Drury, Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   David Kempson, male, 25 [1811-16], Straw dealer, not born in county
   Alice Kempson, female, 25 [1811-16], not born in county
   Eliza Kempson, female, 4 [1836/7], not born in county
   Sarah Kempson, female, 2 [1838/9], not born in county
   Abagail Cooper, female, 15 [1821-6], Straw Plaiter, born in county

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 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 1757; Folio 279; Page 9, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Village Road, Kensworth, Bedfordshire
   David Kempson, head, married, male, 37 [1813/14], Dealer in Straws, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Alice Kempson, wife, married, female, 35 [1815/16], Straw Plaiter, b. Whipsnade, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Kempson, daughter, female, 14 [1836/7], Scholar, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Sarah A. Kempson, daughter, female, 12 [1838/9], Scholar, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter, female, 5 [1845/6], Scholar, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire

3. ↑ 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.)
   RG9; Piece 1011; Folio 120; Page 7, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: North side, Kensworth Road, Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   David Kempson, head, married, male, 37 [1823/4], Lab[ourer], b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Alice Kempson, wife, married, female, 36 [1824/5], Straw Plaitter, b. Whipsnade, Bedfordshire
   Sarah A. Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 22 [1838/9], Straw Plaitter, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 14 [1846/7], Straw Plaitter, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   Charles Kempson, son, male, 9 [1851/2], Straw Plaitter, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ 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 1566; Folio 15; Page 5, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: High Road, Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   Alice Kempson, head, married, female, 56 [1814/15], Straw Plaiter, b. Whipsnade, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 24 [1846/7], Straw Plaiter, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   Charles Kempson, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1851/2], Straw Plaiter, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire
   Elizabeth Smith, granddaughter, female, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Kensworth, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ 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 3331; Folio 155; Page 5, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Basford Union Workhouse, Basford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
   [many inmates, including:]
   Alice Kempson, inmate, widow, female, 68 [1812/13], Nurse, b. Hants Kingsworthy

   It is presumed that Alice's place of birth of "Hants Kingsworthy" is either a mis-hearing or mistranscription of "Herts Kensworth", where she had lived for most of her adult life. There is no trace of an Alice Kempson from Kings Worthy in Hampshire in any previous census.

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

   1881 Deaths in the Sub-district of Basford in the County of Nottingham
   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
   291	Seventeenth April 1881 Union Workhouse Basford (Municipal) USD	Alice Kempson	female	68 years	Widow of David Kempson / Laborer / (of Bulwell)	Heart Disease Certified by W. Maltby MRCS	W[illia]m Dean Master Union Workhouse Basford	Twenty Eighth April 1881	C. Forth Registrar

7. ↑ Basford was absorbed into the borough of Nottingham in 1877, whilst Alice was living there.