CFHS code : AG307
Parish : St Andrew the Great
Inscription : In Loving Memory of JANE SOPHIA the beloved wife of JOHN ROBERT BENNETT b Oct 15 1843 d July 6 1911 also JOHN ROBERT BENNETT d Jan 18 1930 in his 90th year also their eldest daughter VIOLET MARY BENNETT d Dec 24 1929 aged 58 also ANNIE NAOMI BENNETT d March 19th 1951 aged 76
Monument : Stone cross (broken)/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.203083, 0.13657206 – click here for location
Monument
This cross is located five rows from the west wall and two rows west of the west path, towards the north of the parish of St Andrew the Great. This is an area that is usually left to grow wild.
Inscription
‘In loving Memory of Jane Sophia
The beloved wife of John Robert Bennett
Born October 15 1843 died July 6 1911′
‘Also John Robert Bennett died Jan 18 1930
In His 90th year’
“until the day break
and the shadows fly away.”
‘Also their eldest daughter Violet Mary Bennett
Died Dec 24 1929 aged 58′
‘Also Annie Naomi Bennett Died March 19 1951 aged 76’
Jane Sophia Bennett (née Meeks) (1843-1911)
Jane was born to Elizabeth (née Sheldrick) and Robert Meeks. Robert was a cordwainer (master shoemaker) in Chesterton. The family lived on the High Street and in 1851 seem to have run a pub as well.
Jane married John Bennett on January 16th 1867 at Christ Church. They moved into 3 Gwydir Street where they raised their nine children: John Robert Percival (1869-1873), Violet Mary (1871-1929), Edward Malcolm (1872-1943), Annie Naomi (1874-1951), John (Jack) Robert Lancelot (1876-1927), Jenny Lavinia (1877-1949), Gilbert Alfred (1879-1958), Arthur Elliot (1882-1943) and Harry Keemish (1885-1973). Their youngest son John died in January 1873 in Tydd St. Giles, near Wisbech where the family had been visiting Jane’s sister Emily and her family. He was 3 years and 9 months old.
Jane died aged 67 years old ‘after a painful ilness’ and her funeral was held on 8 July at St. Matthew’s Church, where the hymn ‘Hush, blessed are the dead’ was sung. The grave was ‘beautifully lined with flowers and moss’. John Bennett left a wreath at the graveside which read: ‘in ever loving memory of my dearly-loved wife, from her sorrowing husband’.
John Robert Bennett (1840-1930)
John Robert was born to Susanna and John Bennett a bricklayer living in James Street. By the 1861 census he was himself a bricklayer and went on to form the building firm that he ran from 3 Gwydir Street. It is thought that he built many properties in and around Romsey Town. In October 1889 John advertised for sale ‘two newly erected houses, with Bay Windows, known as ‘Myrtle’ Villas, situate on the Mill Road, Romsey Town, Cambridge; pleasant position; healthy neighbourhood’. In July 1913 ‘modern freehold’ houses on Rock Road with hot and cold water baths were advertised for sale or let. The company also build houses in Magrath Avenue and Oxford Road.
Two of his sons joined the company in January 1903 (Jack and Arthur) and the firm was renamed: J.R. Bennett & Sons. It is thought that younger son Harry joined later. Adverts placed in local newspapers in February 1919 offered building, contracting and undertaking and described the company as ‘contractors to H.M. Office of Works and the War Office’. John was very involved with St. Matthew’s Church and served several times as churchwarden.
John retired from the partnership at the age of 79, and continued to live at 3 Gwydir Street, where he died after a very short illness’. His funeral was hed at St. Matthew’s Church on 21 January and many of the employees of Messrs J.R. Bennett & Sons ‘formed a cortege at the cemetery. The grave was lined with evergreens and flowers’.
Violet Mary Bennett (1871 – 1929)
Baptised in the parish of St Andrew the Less, Violet became a teacher. In 1901 she was teaching in Stanground, Peterborough, but by 1911 had returned to the family home in Gwydir Street and was working in a council primary school. She died at home on Christmas Eve 1929. Violet’s funeral was held on 29 December at St. Matthew’s Church, where ‘Jesu, Lover of my soul’ was sung.
Annie Naomi (Nance) Bennett (17 August 1874 – 19 March 1951)
Nance was born in Abington, and also trained to be a teacher. In 1911 she was doucmented as being a ‘certified elementary school teacher’ and was living at Gwydir Street with her parents and siblings. She continued to live at 3 Gwydir Street for the rest of her life.
In 1939 she was visiting her brother Edward and sister-in-law Helena at 5 Clare Road, and the records of that year described her as being a retired school mistress. She died at home aged 76 years old.
Sources:
Bennett and Thompson family archives
CFHS parish & census records
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
By Mary Naylor and a descendant of the above. Further information added by Claire Martinsen
This sampler was sent to us by a relative who has been helping with the research.