CFHS code : PL163
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Memory of ELIZA ANNE beloved wife of WILLIAM BARTON d [7 November 1887] age 57 also of WILLIAM BARTON husband of the above d [October 29 19[13] age [82]
Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
According to the grave register this headstone stands about 15 rows east of the west path and a few metres north of the south path. We have not been able to find the stone so it may have fallen.
Inscription We know from the grave register that William’s baby son George, his step son and his 2nd wife Eliza are also buried here.
In Memory of ELIZA ANNE beloved wife of WILLIAM BARTON d [7 November 1887] age 57
Also of WILLIAM BARTON husband of the above d [October 29 19[13] age [82]
Eliza Anne Barton (née Clark) (1830- 7 November 1887)
Eliza was the daughter of James and Keziah and was born in Great Chesterford, a village ten miles south of Cambridge. She was baptised at S. Mary’s Church, Little Chesterford on 1 August 1830. James was a maltster, Keziah a laundress and in 1851 the family were living at 13 Mill Lane, Cambridge. Eliza married William Barton on 24 June 1852 at St. Botolph’s Church and they had at least nine children: Eliza Ann (1853-), Susan (1855-1946), Sarah Elizabeth (1857-1939), Mary (1858-), William (1860-), James (1863-1921),Louisa Keziah (1865-1940), George Stedman (1868-1868) Edith (1870-) and Margaret Ellen (1873-1952). William was a fishmonger and the family lived at 95 Russell Street (1861) and then 31 St. Andrew’s Street (at least 1871 onwards), which was referred to on census returns as ‘the fish shop’. It was located next to the Bird Bolt Hotel and opposite Emmanuel College. Newspaper announcements of her death read ‘Eliza Ann, the beloved wife of William Barton, after five weeks of painful suffering, fell asleep, aged 57’.
William Barton (c.1831 – 29 October 1913)
William was the youngest son of Stedman (also sometimes spelt Stidman)(1789-1858) and Elizabeth (1801-) and grew up on Silver Street where his father was a fishmonger. In 1862 whilst trading from Russell Street he was declared bankrupt – the banktruptcy paperwork described him as a ‘fishmonger and dealer in poultry and rabbits’. The order was discharged in August 1862 and he later traded from St. Andrew’s Street.
In January 1889 William and a fellow tradesman (William Delph) were charged with traspassing on land in Hauxton ‘in search of game’. Both men pleaded not guilty. Farmer Mark Warren said he had seen the men enter the meadow carrying guns and had then heard shots and seen smoke. When he approached the men, William Barton had said he was looking for lapwings. At court he asked Mr Warren ‘then why did you as a gentleman, when you saw us with guns, stop us and tell us that we were doing wrong?’ Both men were fined 2s,6d and costs and the chairman commented ‘upon the gravity of offence when committed by men in the social position of defendants’.
In May 1889 William charged his ‘shoplad’ fourteen year old Ernest Betson with stealing a watch valued at £3. Betson was accused of having taken it from a bedroom drawer and subsequently tried to pawn the watch at Messrs. Morley Bros. ‘The Mayor said the bench considered this a very bad case, and the lad was sent to goal for 21 days’.
After the death of Eliza he married widow Eliza French (née Martin) (1841-1921) in 1888. They continued to live at 31 St. Andrew Street and in 1891 he was described as a fishmonger and farmer. His son James married Eliza’s daughter Alice Emmeline French in 1892 and took over the running of the business. William and Eliza retired to live at 6 Royal Albert Almshouses on Hills Road (1901/1911). He died at home aged 82 years old and his funeral took place on 3 November 1913.
George Stedman Barton (1868-1868)
George died at Russel St when he was 7 weeks old and was buried on November 30th
James Barton (1863 – 1921)
James was the 6th child became a fishmonger like his father and eventually took very the shop at 31 St. Andrew Street. He married Alice French on 6 April 1892 at St. Andrew the Great Church.
He died aged 58 at The Albert buildings (a retirement home on Hills Road) and was buried on April 4th.
Eliza Barton (1841 – 1921)
Eliza was baptised in the parish of Andrew the Less on April 4th 1841. She was the daughter of tailor Joseph Ranson Martin (1811-1874) and his wife Eliza (1806 -1880). The family lived at 14 Coronation St(1841), Bentinck St (1851 & 1861). She worked as a milliner.
According to the marriage register she married Edmund William French, a corn dealer from Melbourn, who was the son of builder William French. The wedding took place on January 21st 1864 at St Edwards church, Cambridge.
They had 2 children Alice Emmeline (1865-1935) and Minnie Florence (1868-)
6 years later she and her children were living with her parents at at 57 Coronation Street. In 1881 she was staying with her sister Julia McDowell in Reading. Her occupation was given as milliner. Her daughters were back at home 40 Russell St. Alice was a milliner and Minnie a dressmaker.
Minnie married tailor Alexander Osbourn in 1894
Eliza’s parents and brother Joseph are also buried in this parish south of the south path roughly 25 rows from the notice board. We have not found a monument.
Sources:
Ancestry
Find My Past
Family Search
CHFHS transcripts of parish & Grave records
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]