Person:Mary Wells (181)

Mary Ann Elizabeth Wells was born on 26th November 1887 at Battersea in the south-western suburbs of London. She was the daughter of Catherine Wells, formerly Egan, and her husband James Wells, a gas stoker and painter. Mary was baptised when she was two months old at the Catholic church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Joseph in Battersea.

The 1891 census finds Mary living with her parents and younger sister living at 103 Wandsworth Road in Lambeth. In 1901 Mary was living with her parents and siblings at 31 Ascalon Street back in Battersea.

On 29th September 1907, aged 19, Mary married Harry (or Henry) Meekins. They married at the same church in which Mary had been baptised.

Mary and Harry went on to have a daughter called Margaret in 1908.

The 1911 census finds Mary and Harry living at 6 Haines Street in Battersea. Harry was working as a commissionaire. He was also a keen boxer, being listed as fighting in numerous matches in the newspapers around that time. Shortly after the 1911 census, Mary and Harry had a daughter called Ivy. In 1914 they had a son called Henry, but he died as a baby.

Electoral rolls show that Mary and Harry lived at 5 Stewarts Road in Battersea from at least 1918 onwards. Some of the electoral registers call her ‘May’ rather than Mary.

In 1932, Mary’s daughter Ivy died, aged 21. The following year, Harry died too, aged 53. The electoral register of 1933 finds May apparently living alone at 5 Stewarts Road.

In 1934, about a year after Harry’s death, Mary remarried. Her second husband was Archibald James Raggett, a locomotive driver. He already lived at 3A Cowthorpe Road in Lambeth, and Mary moved in with him there. That would be her home for the rest of her life.

Archibald died in July 1961, aged 80.

Mary survived Archibald by four years. Shortly before her death she went into a hospice in Hackney, where she died on 6th January 1966, aged 78. She left a will, which was administered by her one surviving daughter, Margaret.

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

   b. Mary Elizabeth WELLS, March Quarter 1888, Wandsworth Registration District, Volume 1d, page 569, mother’s maiden name Egan

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Baptisms register, in Battersea, London: Parish Registers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St Joseph, Battersea Park (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, London).

   [No.] 2274 Mary Ann Wells / Die 26 Novembris 1887 nata, et die 29 Januarii 1888 baptizata est Mary Anna Wells fili[a] Jacobi et Catharinae Wells (olim Egan) conjugum:
   a me Gulielmo Linnett
   Patrinus fuit Gulielmus Egan Matrina fuit Margarita Kearney
   
   Approximate translation:
   No. 2274 Mary Ann Wells / Born 26th November 1887, and baptised 29th January 1888 Mary Ann Wells daughter of James and Catherine Wells (formerly Egan) his wife:
   by me William Linnett
   Godfather William Egan, Godmother Margaret Kearney

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 399; Folio 186; Page 29, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 103 Wandsworth Road, Lambeth, London
   2 rooms occupied
   James Wells, head, married, male, 24 [1866/7], Gas Stoker, b. Battersea, London
   Catherine Wells, wife, married, female, 24 [1866/7], b. Vauxhall, London
   Mary E. Wells, daughter, female, 3 [1887/8], b. Battersea, London
   Catherine Wells, daughter, female, 1 [1889/90], b. Battersea, London

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 444; Folio 15; Page 22, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 31 Ascalon Street, Battersea, London
   4 rooms occupied
   James Wells, head, married, male, 34 [1866/7], Painter, worker, b. Battersea, London
   Catherine Wells, wife, married, female, 34 [1866/7], b. Battersea, London
   Mary A.E. Wells, daughter, single, female, 13 [1887/8], b. Battersea, London
   James Wells, son, single, male, 7 [1893/4], b. Norwood, Surrey
   William A. Wells, son, single, male, 5 [1895/6], b. Battersea, London
   Catherine Wells, daughter, single, female, 3 [1897/8], b. Battersea, London
   Ann N. Wells, daughter, single, female, 1 [1899/1900], b. Battersea, London

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 2166; Schedule 55, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 6 Haines Street, Battersea, London
   2 rooms occupied
   Henry Meekins, head, male, 30 [1880/1], married 3 years, 1 child born to marriage, 1 child still living, Commissionaire, worker, b. Lambeth, London
   Mary Elizabeth Meekins, wife, female, 23 [1887/8], b. Battersea, London
   Margaret Meekins, daughter, female, 2 [1908/9], b. Battersea, London

6.   London Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 (London Metropolitan Archives, London).

   1918, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road, Battersea Park Road, S.W.8
   Meekins, Henry a[bsent]
   Meekins, Mary Elizabeth
   
   1919, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road, Battersea Park Road, S.W.8
   Meekins, Henry a[bsent]
   Meekins, Mary Elizabeth
   
   1920, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, May Elizabeth
   Wells, Florence Maud
   Wells, James
   
   1921, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, May Elizabeth
   
   1925, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, May Elizabeth
   
   1926, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, May Elizabeth
   
   1927, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, May Elizabeth
   
   1930, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, Margaret (Miss)
   Meekins, Mary Elizabeth
   
   1932, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road S.W.8
   Meekins, Henry
   Meekins, Ivy Mary (Miss)
   Meekins, Mary Elizabeth
   
   1933, Battersea
   5 Stewarts Road S.W.8
   Meekins, Mary Elizabeth
   
   1936, Lambeth
   3A Cowthorpe Road, S.W.8
   Raggett, Archibald James
   Raggett, Mary Elizabeth
   Raggett, Stanley William
   
   1960, Lambeth
   3A Cowthorpe Road, S.W.8
   Raggett, Archibald J.
   Raggett, Mary E.
   
   1964, Lambeth
   3A Cowthorpe Road, S.W.8
   Raggett, Mary E.

7. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Lambeth Metropolitan Borough, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 3A Cowthorpe Road, Lambeth, London
   Raggett, Archibald J. / male / b. 12 Mar 1881 / married / Loco[motive] Engine Driver
   Raggett, Mary E. / female / b. 26 Nov 1887 / married / Unpaid Domestic Duties

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

   d. Mary E. RAGGETT, March Quarter 1966, Hackney Registration District, Volume 5b, page 670, aged 78 [1887/8]

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

   1966
   RAGGETT Mary Elizabeth of 3A Cowthorpe Road London S.E.8 [sic] died 6 January 1966 at St. Josephs Hospice Hackney London Probate London 10 March to Margaret Risdon married woman. £3280.