Person:Ellen Belcher (1)

Ellen Belcher was born in 1856 and baptised the following year at Hampton, adjoining the town of Evesham in Worcestershire. She was the daughter of a Mary Ann Belcher. By the time of the 1861 census Ellen and Mary were living seven miles from Evesham at Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire, where Mary was described as housekeeper to a widowed cooper named William Walker. In 1863 Mary married William Walker, who thus became Ellen's stepfather.

On 29th August 1880, aged 23, Ellen was married at Bidford to a widower named Jabez William Spire, who was 38 (and known as William). His first wife had died the previous year and his first marriage appears to have been childless. Ellen's stepfather William Walker was one of the witnesses to the marriage. Indeed, it looks like someone has started writing 'William' in the place for Ellen's father's name, before realising William Walker was her stepfather not her father and crossing it out.

Four months after their marriage, Ellen and William had a daughter named Eunice Julia. The 1881 census finds Ellen, William and young Eunice living on the High Street in Bidford, with William working as an agricultural labourer. Eunice was followed by a boy named Albert Edward in 1883, then a boy named William in 1885 who sadly died as a small baby. In 1886 they had another son named Hubert John. Some time between 1886 and 1888 they moved to the nearby village of Broom, where they had another son named William in 1888. They did not stay long in Broom and moved to Alcester, five miles north of Bidford, before their next son, James Ernest, was born in 1890.

The 1891 census finds the family living at The Moors in Alcester, on the west side of the town centre. They then moved to the Malt Mill Lane / Gas House Lane area on the east side of the town centre by the time their daughter Ruth was born in 1892. Ellen was to stay in the Malt Mill Lane / Gas House Lane area for the rest of her life. Ellen's eighth and youngest child Edgar was born in 1895. Although he was born in Alcester he was baptised back at Bidford.

The 1901 census finds the family living at Gas House Lane, with William working as a non-domestic gardener, presumably indicating that he worked in some sort of market gardening.

William died in 1908, aged 66. Ellen survived him by just over two years and died in 1910 aged 53. The 1911 census finds most of their children living together at Malt Mill Lane with their eldest son Albert as head of the household.

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

   b. Ellen BELCHER, December Quarter 1856, Evesham Registration District, Vol. 6, page 316

2. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast).

   ch. 8 Apr 1857, Great and Little Hampton, Worcestershire: Ellen daughter of Mary Anne Belcher

   Needs to be confirmed at Worcestershire Record Office.

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.)
   Class RG9; Piece 2236; Folio 27; Page 4, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 19 High Street, Bidford, Warwickshire
   William Walker, head, widower, male, 41 [1819/20], Cooper, b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Mary A. Walker, daughter, female, 9 [1851/2], Scholar, b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   William Walker, son, male, 7 [1853/4], Scholar, b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   John Walker, son, male, 7 [1853/4], Scholar, b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Jane E. Walker, daughter, female, 5 [1855/6], Scholar, b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Edwin S. Walker, son, male, 3 [1857/8], Scholar, b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Mary A. Belcher, housekeeper, unmarried, female, 24 [1836/7], House keeper, b. Childswickham, Gloucestershire
   Ellen Belcher, boarder, unmarried, female, 4 [1856/7], Scholar, b. Evesham, Worcestershire

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 3109; Folio 20; Page 32, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: High Street, Bidford, Warwickshire
   Jabez W[illia]m Spiers, head, married, male, 40 [1840/1], Ag[ricultural] Lab[oure]r, b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Ellen Spiers, wife, married, female, 36 [1844/5], b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Eunice Julia Spiers, daughter, female, 4 months [1880], b. Bidford, Warwickshire

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 2481; Folio 5; Page 4, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: The Moors, Alcester, Warwickshire
   Three rooms occupied
   Jabez W. Spires, head, married, male, 50 [1840/1], General Laborer, employed, b. Long Marston, Gloucestershire
   Ellen U. Belcher, wife, married, female, 34 [1856/7], b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Eunice J. Spires, daughter, female, 10 [1880/1], b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Albert E. Spires, son, male, 8 [1882/3], b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Hubert J. Spires, son, male, 5 [1885/6], b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   William Spires, son, male, 3 [1887/8], b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   James E. Spires, son, male, 11mo [1890], b. Alcester, Warwickshire

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 2944; Folio 19; Page 29, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Gas House Lane, Alcester, Warwickshire
   Three rooms occupied
   William Spires, head, married, male, 60 [1840/1], Gardener not domestic, worker, b. Long Marston, Gloucestershire
   Ellen Spires, wife, married, female, 42 [1858/9], b. Evesham, Worcestershire
   Albert Spires, son, single, male, 18 [1882/3], Platelayer on Railway, worker, b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Hubert Spires, son, single, male, 15 [1885/6], Spring Maker, worker, b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   William Spires, son, single, male, 13 [1887/8], b. Bidford, Warwickshire
   Ernest Spires, son, single, male, 10 [1890/1], b. Alcester, Warwickshire
   Ruth Spires, daughter, single, female, 8 [1892/3], b. Alcester, Warwickshire
   Edgar Spires, son, single, male, 5 [1895/6], b. Alcester, Warwickshire

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

   d. Ellen SPIRES, September Quarter 1910, Alcester Registration District, Vol. 6d, page 312, aged 49 [1860/1]