Person:Harriet Bastock (1)

Childhood

Harriet Charlotte Bastock was born on 4th September 1866 on Saltisford in Warwick, which was the main street leading out of the town to the north-west. She was the youngest of twelve children of a laundress named Elizabeth Bastock, formerly Reynolds, and her husband William Bastock, a plasterer and bricklayer. The 1871 census finds Harriet living with her parents and siblings at West Rock, which was at the southern end of Saltisford near where it joined Theatre Street and Market Hill on the edge of the town centre.

By the time of the 1881 census, when she was fourteen, Harriet had left home and was working as a domestic servant for a chemist in Burton upon Trent, over forty miles to the north of Warwick. In 1883, a few days before Harriet's seventeenth birthday, her mother Elizabeth died aged about 63.

Marriage to Alfred Mitchell

By December 1884 Harriet was living back in Warwick, when banns of marriage were read there at St Mary's Church for her and an Alfred Mitchell. They were both described as being of the parish. Both had been born and brought up on Saltisford, but they had not been direct contemporaries of each other as children; there was an eleven year age gap between them. Harriet was eighteen years old at this time, whereas Alfred was 29 years old. She was already pregnant when their banns were read in December 1884. Even so, they did not marry immediately after the banns being read, but waited until 8th March 1885 before getting married, by which time Harriet must have been very heavily pregnant. Harriet signed her name on the marriage register (which she spelt 'Harriett'), showing that she was literate, whereas Alfred marked the register with an 'X'.

Shortly after their marriage, Harriet gave birth to a son, whom they named Samuel. The following year they had another son, George William, who was born on Boxing Day 1886 at 9 Wallace Street, a side street off Saltisford. In late 1888, when Harriet was 22 years old, her father William died aged 81. A couple of months later, early in 1889 Harriet and Alfred were still living at 9 Wallace Street when they had their third son, Alfred Thomas.

Sometime between 1889 and 1891, Alfred, Harriet and the three boys left Warwick and moved ten miles north to the city of Coventry. The 1891 census finds them living at house 2 in Court 3 on Sherbourne Street in Coventry. Alfred was now working as a bricklayer's labourer. Court housing was a very tightly packed form of housing clustered around small courtyards. The family's home had just two rooms. Sherbourne Street is to the west of the city centre, between Spon Street and the River Sherbourne. Court 3 was at the southern end of the street and comprised two rows of back-to-back houses, with the River Sherbourne on one side and the Wagon and Horses public house on the other.^[8]

A few days after the 1891 census Harriet gave birth again, to a fourth son named Henry Arthur. Sadly he died as a small baby. Late in 1893 Alfred and Harriet had a fifth son, Charles Frederick, who was generally known by his middle name.

Sometime between 1893 and 1901 something happened to Alfred. By the time of the 1901 census he was living in Coventry Union Workhouse. No occupation is quoted for him, unlike most of the other inmates. He was, however, described as an imbecile. This was a legally defined term at the time rather than the term of abuse it later became, essentially meaning that he was unable to care for himself. A clue as to why he might have been unable to look after himself comes from his death certificate, where one of the causes of death is given as "paraplegia", indicating that he had lost the use of two of his limbs. This could have perhaps been caused by either a spinal injury leading to the loss of use of the legs, or a stroke leading to loss of use of one side of his body. Either way, he appears to have spent the rest of his life in Coventry Union Workhouse.

Harriet was therefore left with four young boys to look after. With her husband still alive she was unable to remarry, but Alfred was unable to support himself, let alone his family. The principal form of poor relief from the authorities would have been for the whole family to go into the workhouse.

Relationship with Edward Scholes Feary

Harriet started a relationship with a motor engineer named Edward Scholes Feary, who was originally from Lincoln and was eight years younger than her. They moved to Rugby, twelve miles east of Coventry, where they lived at 19 Rileys Court, another small courtyard house similar to those in Sherbourne Street in Coventry. Rileys Court stood on Dunchurch Road near the corner with Warwick Street, but directly opposite the grand chapel of Rugby School.^[9] The contrast between the wealth of the school and the poverty of Rileys Court must have been marked. Whilst living there, on 11th April 1899, Harriet had a daughter named Rose May. Rose's birth certificate and her baptism at St Matthew's Church in Rugby both say she was the daughter of Harriet and Alfred, but this is contradicted by her death certificate.

By August 1900 the family had moved back to Coventry, living at house 11 in Court 2, Thomas Street. Thomas Street was an old lane that had been developed in the 1820s and 1830s with many courts of small houses and back-to-back houses behind the frontage houses. Court 2 contained eleven houses, all of which were accessed through a single narrow arch between 16 Thomas Street and The Compasses public house at 17 Thomas Street. House 11 within Court 2 appears to have adjoined the back of the pub.^[10][11]

At house 11 in Court 2, Thomas Street, on 14th August 1900, Harriet had a son named Edward. Edward's birth certificate says his parents were Edward Mitchell and Harriet Mitchell formerly Bastock. Similarly on young Edward's baptism record Edward Feary pretended to be called Edward Mitchell to give the impression that he was Harriet's husband. In the same house, just seven days after Edward's birth, Harriet's daughter Rose died of diarrhoea, aged sixteen months. Rose's death certificate describes her as the daughter of "Edward Scholes Mitchell". It seems that at Rose's birth and baptism Edward Feary had pretended to be Alfred Mitchell, but when Rose died he used his own forenames but Alfred's surname.

The 1901 census finds Harriet living with Edward Feary, the four surviving boys from her marriage to Alfred and baby Edward. They were living in two rooms at house 11 in Court 2, Thomas Street. Edward Feary was described as a boarder. Sadly, baby Edward died a few weeks later on 17th May 1901 of bronchitis and pneumonia aged just nine months.

Some time between 1901 and 1902 the family moved just across the road, confusingly moving from 'house 11 in Court 2' to 'house 2 in Court 11'. Court 11 was a smaller courtyard, having just two houses in it, accessed through a narrow arch between 82 and 83 Thomas Street. House 2 in Court 11 appears to have been back to back with 83 Thomas Street, only having windows on one wall facing into the small courtyard.

In 1902, Harriet and Edward had another son, whose birth was registered as "Levi Feary Mitchell", but on his baptism Edward again pretended to be Edward Mitchell. In 1903, Harriet had a daughter, whose birth was registered as "Florence Maud Feary Mitchell". On her baptism though, this time they used Feary as the surname, with Harriet pretending to be Harriet Feary so as to give the impression that she was Edward Feary's wife. In 1904 Harriet had twins, Lily Emma and Percy Henry. This time, both were registered and baptised under the name Feary. Therefore between 1899 and 1904 Harriet and Edward had gradually gone from calling their children Mitchell to calling them Feary. The twins were Harriet's last children. She had now had eleven children altogether: five with Alfred Mitchell and six with Edward Feary. In 1905, Lily, one of the twins, died aged less than a year.

In summer 1909, Harriet's son George William Mitchell was married to an Ellen Wale. Shortly after, they had a son, Alfred John Mitchell, born on 30th August 1909. Alfred John would be the only grandchild that Harriet would meet.

On 8th October 1909, Harriet died. She was only 43 years old, but she had contracted tuberculosis. She left Edward Feary living with three of her four surviving sons from her marriage to Alfred and the three surviving children she and Edward had had together, the youngest of whom was only four years old.

Over in the workhouse, Alfred Mitchell did not long outlive his wife. He died less than three months later, on 26th December 1909, aged 54.

The 1911 census finds Edward Feary still living at house 2 in 11 Court, Thomas Street. He was now described as the head of the household, and called himself a widower. Three of Harriet's sons from her marriage to Alfred Mitchell were still living with Edward Feary, as were two of the children Edward and Harriet had had together. Edward later returned to Lincoln, where he died in 1943 having outlived Harriet by 33 years.

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

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Warwick
   1866 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Warwick in the County of Warwick
   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
   204	Fourth September 1866 Saltisford	Harriett	girl	William Bastock	Elizabeth Bastock formerly Reynolds	Journeyman Bricklayer	X The Mark of William Bastock, Father, Saltsiford, Warwick	Twenty seventh September 1866	E. Shepherd Registrar

   
2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Parish registers of St Paul, Warwick, 1845-1920. (Warwick: Warwickshire County Record Office).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of S. Paul, Warwick in the County of Warwick in the Year 1866
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parent's Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   1202	1866 Dec[embe]r 9	Harriet Charlotte	William & Elizabeth	Barstock	Saltisford Rock	Bricklayer	S.C. Hamerton

3. ↑ 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 3200; Folio 54; Page 16, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 14 West Rock, Warwick, Warwickshire
   William Bastock, head, married, male, 64 [1806/7], Plasterer, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Elizabeth Bastock, wife, married, female, 54 [1816/7], b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Samuel Bastock, son, unmarried, male, 26 [1844/5], Labourer, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   John Bastock, son, unmarried, male, 18 [1852/3], Labourer, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   William Bastock, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1855/6], Lab[oure]r, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Maria Bastock, daughter, female, 13 [1857/8], Gen[eral] Servant, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Eliza Bastock, daughter, female, 10 [1860/1], School, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Mary Bastock, daughter, female, 8 [1862/3], School, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Hariett Bastock, daughter, female, 4 [1866/7], b. Warwick, Warwickshire

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 2762; Folio 142; Page 22, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: New Street, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire
   Walter Plimsaul, head, man, male, 39 [1841/2], Chemist Drugist, b. Norfolk
   Kate Alice Plimsaul, wife, wife, female, 34 [1846/7], b. Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
   H.C. Bastock, servant, unmarried, female, 15 [1865/6], Domestic Servant, b. Warwick
   Henry Higgott, apprentice, unmarried, male, 15 [1865/6], Aprentice Chemist, b. Staffordshire

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 2450; Folio 107; Page 23, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 3C2H Sherbourne Street, Coventry, Warwickshire
   2 rooms occupied
   Alfred Mitchell, head, married, male, 30 [1861/2], Bricklayers Labourer, employed, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Harriett Mitchell, wife, married, female, 25 [1865/6], b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Samuel Mitchell, son, single, male, 6 [1884/5], Scholar, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   George Mitchell, son, single, male, 4 [1886/7], Scholar, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Alfred Mitchell, son, single, male, 2 [1888/9], b. Warwick, 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 2907; Folio 116; Page 4, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 2 Court 11 House, Thomas Street, Coventry, Warwickshire
   2 rooms occupied
   Harriet Mitchell, wife, married, female, 34 [1866/7], b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Samuel Mitchell, son, single, male, 15 [1885/6], Brazier: Cycle work, worker, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   George Mitchell, son, single, male, 14 [1886/7], Automatic Machine Turner Cycle Trade, worker, b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Alfred Mitchell, son, single, male, 12 [1888/9], b. Warwick, Warwickshire
   Fred Mitchell, son, male, 5 [1895/6], b. Coventry, Warwickshire
   Edward Mitchell, son, male, 7 mo [1900], b. Coventry, Warwickshire
   Edward S. Feary, Boarder, single, male, 25 [1875/6], Engine Making; Turner / Fitter, worker, b. St Swithun, Lincolnshire

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

   Registration District Coventry
   1909 DEATH in the Sub-district of St John in the Counties of Coventry and Warwick
   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
   60	Eighth October 1909 2 Court 11 Thomas Street Coventry U.D.	Harriet Mitchell	Female	42 years	Wife of Alfred Mitchell a General Labourer	Acute Miliary Tuberculosis Certified by Ernest H. Kenerdine M.R.C.S.	George W. Mitchell Son Present at Death 12, Court 10, Spon Street Coventry	Eight October 1909	Edwin Rainbow Registrar

8. ↑ 1:500 Towns Plans of Coventry (Ordnance Survey, 1888) at Old-maps.co.uk, accessed 5 Jan 2014 (for co-ordinates 432510, 278970).
9. ↑ 1:500 Town Plans of Rugby (Ordnance Survey, 1887) at Old-maps.co.uk, accessed 5 Jan 2014 (for co-ordinates 450150, 274962).
10. ↑ The City of Coventry - List of streets, A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8 (Stephens, 1969) pp.24-33, accessed 5 Jan 2014
11. ↑ 1:500 Town Plans of Coventry (Ordnance Survey, 1888) at Old-maps.co.uk, accessed 5 Jan 2014 (for co-ordinates 432637, 278747). Detailed street numbers deduced from comparison between this map and the 1901 and 1911 censuses.