See also
- Mary COOK-ABBOTT's parents: Edmund Cook ABBOT (1835-1929) and Mary Ann Long HARRISON (1834?-1919)
- Mary COOK-ABBOTT's siblings: Edmund C ABBOTT (1851-1871), John Robert Cook ABBOTT (1854- ), Walter Cook ABBOT (1856- ), Arthur Cook ABBOTT (1857- ), Richard Henry Cook ABBOTT (1860?-1919), Abraham Cook ABBOTT (1865- ), Thomas ABBOT (1867?- ), Rebecca Cook ABBOTT (1872- ) and Edward Cook ABBOTT (1874- )
Mary Ann COOK-ABBOTT (1862-1958)
Grave Monument details
| RiD No.: | 560 |
Personal Details
| Birth | Q4 1862 | Brentwood, Essex |
| Mary Ann's birth is registered in December quarter 1862 in Billericay registration district. From census returns it is likely that she was actually born in Brentwood, Essex, which fell within Billericay registration district at that time. Interestingly, Mary Ann was the only child of Edmund and Mary Ann to be born in Essex. The rest were born in Ipswich or Bermondsey and it is still unclear wether Edmund and Mary Ann lived in Essex for a while, or whether Mary Ann only went to Essex for the birth of her daughter |
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| Census | 1871 (age 8-9) | |
| Mary Ann appears with her parents and siblings in Bermondsey in the 1871 census - see the notes of her father Edmund for a transcript. Mary Ann is shown as 9 years old, and born in Brentwood, wheras her birth registration was in Billericay. This is entirely consistant as in 1862, Brentwood, Essex fell within the Billericay, Essex registration district and the two towns are only about 5 miles apart. In 1939, the Billericay registration district was abolished and became parts of Brentwood and Chelmsford districts. |
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| Census | 1901 (age 38-39) | |
| Northchurch House, Northchurch, Hertfordshire The 1901 census reveals a Mary Abbott working as a Parlour Maid in Northchurch House for Herbert Barnett, his wife and daughter., Northchurch. Although this is not the correct (full) name, her age (38) is right and her birthplace is given as Brentwood, Essex. |
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| Death | 13 March 1958 (age 95) | Chelsea, London |
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Mary's death was registered in Chelsea in March quarter 1958.
Her address at the time of her death was 13 Redesdale Street, Chelsea SW3, Probate was granted to Rebecca Mary Cook-Abbott (spinster). This is the daughter of Mary and Thomas, but Rebecca had died in 1946, some 12 years before, and Rebecca's probate showed Mary Ann as executor so clearly Mary Ann had not changed her will following Rebecca's death?. Although Mary had died in Chelsea, she was buried in Ipswich Municipal Cemetry in the same grave as Thomas and their daughter Alice, who had died in 1917 (see image above). At the time of Mary's death, she is shown as a widow living at 13 Redesdale Street, Chelsea SW3. This property is currently divided into flats, and it is likely that this was the case during Mary's occupation and she occupied one of these flats. As at October 2019, one of these flats, a 2 bedroom property, had a value estimated at £1,742,000. How times have changed.... |
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Marriage and Family Details
| Spouse | Walter Thomas Cook ABBOTT (1860-1929) | |
| Children | Rebecca Mary COOK-ABBOTT (1906-1946) | |
| Marriage | Q4 1905 (age 42-43) | Berkhamsted |
| Banns read at Northchurch, Hertfordshire in October 1905. Marriage registered Q4 1905 in Berkhamstead, | ||
| Census (family) | 1911 (age 48-49) | |
| The Royal Oak, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, Suffolk In the 1911 census, Mary was living at the Royal Oak Pub with her husband Thomas, who was the publican. They are shown married for 5 and a half years (i.e. married 1905). |
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Other Details
Although Mary Ann was born in Brentwood, Essex, by the time she was 9 in 1871, her parents were living in Bermondsey. Although her parents can be found in Bermondsey in the 1881 census, Mary Ann is not with them on census night, and as yet, I have not been able to find her in either the 1881 or 1891 census. My guess is that she had gone into service either locally or further afield, However, she re-appears in the 1901 census employed as a Parlour Maid in Northchurch, Berkamstead, Hertfordshire.
Sometime between 1901 and 1911, Mary Ann's parents, Edmund and Mary, retired to Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire where they appear in the 1911 census and my guess is that Edmund and Mary retired to the area to be near their unmarried daughter, so she could look after them in their old age? However in 1905 Mary marries her cousin Thomas and moves to Ipswich where she appears in the 1911 census.
Quite how and when the events unfolded which lead to her parents moving to Berkhamstead, and her marrying Thomas and then moving to Ipswich, we may never know. Interestingly the Church of England laws on marriage at that time did not appear to specifically forbid the marriage of 1st cousins, but if I am right, this still must have caused some consternation in the family?
Mary's husband, Thomas died in 1929, but Mary lived on for a further 29 years, dying in Chelsea in 1958