Person:Emma Kempson (1)

Emma Kempson was born on 24th March 1850 in the hamlet of Billington in the parish of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, daughter of Celia Kempson, formerly Jones, and her husband George Kempson, a straw dealer and road labourer. Emma was the youngest of George's twenty children; he was seventy when she was born.

Emma appears in the 1851 census living in Billington with her parents and siblings. In 1853, when Emma was only three years old, her father died.

By 1858 Emma's mother had moved the family to nearby Eggington, where Celia married again to an agricultural labourer called James White, who thus became Emma's stepfather. The 1861 census finds Emma living with her mother, stepfather and sister in Eggington. Emma and her mother and sister were all working as straw plaiters.

On 8th August 1869, aged 19, Emma married John Smith at Eggington. It appears to have been a double wedding, as Emma's older sister Mary married on the same day in the same church.

For the first few years after their marriage Emma and John stayed in Eggington, appearing there in the 1871 census. Emma's mother died in 1873. Shortly afterwards, Emma and John left Eggington and moved into the neighbouring town of Leighton Buzzard, which is where John was from. The 1881 census finds them living at Alford Place, which was a row of cottages off Vandyke Road. Emma was again described as a straw plaiter.

In 1884 the family left the Leighton Buzzard area altogether and moved to London, where they settled on Elderton Road in the Sydenham area of Lewisham.

Between 1869 and 1893 Emma and John had fifteen children: ten born in the Leighton Buzzard area and five in the Lewisham area. Their first child died as a baby, and of their last nine children only one made it past five years old.

Emma died at home at 61 Elderton Road, and was buried at Lewisham's Ladywell Cemetery on 18th April 1908. She was 58 years old. John survived her by four years.

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

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Leighton Buzzard
   1850 BIRTHS in the District of Leighton Buzzard in the Counties of Bedford and Buckingham
   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
   234	Twenty Fourth March 1850 Billington	Emma	Girl	George Kempson	Celia Kempson formerly Fox	Labourer	X the mark of George Kempson Father Billington	Twentieth April 1850	Richard Doggett, Registrar

   Although Emma's mother's maiden name is given as Fox, this is believed to have been Celia's stepfather's name. Celia married as Celia Jones and her other children's birth certificates give her maiden name as Jones. When Celia married for a second time in 1858 she reported that she did not know her father's name. Celia's daughter Rebecca Kempson went to live with grandparents called William and Sophia Fox, who are therefore presumed to be Celia's mother and stepfather.

2. ↑ 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 1756; Folio 214; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: North Leighton Road, Billington, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   George Kempson, head, married, male, 77 [1773/4], Labourer on the road, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Celia Kempson, wife, married, female, 36 [1814/5], Labourer on the road wife, b. Barnet, Hertfordshire
   Enoch Kempson, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1835/6], Labourer on the road, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Sophia Kempson, daughter, female, 12 [1838/9], Plaiter, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   John Kempson, son, male, 6 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Mary Kempson, daughter, female, 3 [1847/8], b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter, female, 1 [1849/50], b. Billington, Bedfordshire

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 1005; Folio 24; Page 13, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Egginton, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   James White, head, married, male, 50 [1810/11], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Clipton Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Celia White, wife, married, female, 45 [1815/6], Straw Plaiter, b. Barnet, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Kempson, daughter in law, 14 [1846/7], Straw Plaiter, b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter in law, 12 [1848/9], Straw Plaiter, b. Billington, Bedfordshire

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 1560; Folio 81; Page 13, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Eggington, Bedfordshire
   John Smith, head, married, male, 22 [1848/9], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Leighton
   Emma Smith, wife, married, female, 21 [1849/50], b. Billington
   Arthur J. Smith, so, male, 6mo [1870], b. Egginton, Bedfordshire

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 1641; Folio 65; Page 26, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Alford Place, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   John Smith, head, married, male, 33 [1847/8], Laborer Ag[ricultura]l, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Emma Smith, wife, married, female, 31 [1849/50], Straw Plaitter, b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Arthur Smith, son, male, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Frederick Smith, son, male, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   George Smith, son, male, 7 [1873/4], Scholar, b. Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Henry Smith, son, male, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Ernest Smith, son, male, 3 [1877/8], Scholar, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Alice Smith, daughter, female, 1mo [1881], Scholar, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire

6. ↑ 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 523; Folio 61; Page 26, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 67 Elderton Road, Lower Sydenham, Lewisham, London
   John Smith, head, married, male, 41 [1849/50], Carman, employed, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Emma Smith, wife, married, female, 41 [1849/50], b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Arthur J. Smith, son, single, male, 20 [1870/1], Carman, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Frederick C. Smith, son, single, male, 18 [1872/3], Carman, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   George Smith, son, single, male, 17 [1873/4], Groom, b. Eggington, Bedfordshire
   Henry Smith, son, male, 15 [1875/6], Errand boy, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Ernest Smith, son, male, 13 [1877/8], Errand boy, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

7. ↑ 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 556; Folio 80; Page 38, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 61 Elderton Road, Lewisham, London
   John Smith, head, married, male, 52 [1848/9], Laborer General, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Emma Smith, wife, married, female, 51 [1849/50], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Fred Smith, son, single, male, 28 [1872/3], Laborer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   George Smith, son, single, male, 27 [1872/3], Laborer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Henry Smith, son, single, male, 25 [1875/6], Laborer, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Ernest Smith, son, single, male, 23 [1877/8], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Alfred Smith, son, male, 9 [1891/2], b. Sydenham

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

   d. Emma SMITH, June Quarter 1908, Lewisham Registration District, Volume 1d, page 557, aged 58 [1849/50]

9. ↑ Lewisham, London, England. Burial Register of Ladywell Cemetery (Lewisham Borough Council / deceasedonline.com).

   Register of Burials in the Burial Ground of the Parish of Lewisham, in the County of London
   No. 37407
   Name: Smith, Emma
   Description: Wife of John Smith, a Carman
   Age: 58
   Place where the Death occurred: 61 Elderton Road, Sydenham
   Date of Interment: 18 Apr 1908
   Grave: E1197