CFHS code : AG114
Parish : St Andrew the Great
Inscription : In Loving Memory of SARAH ANN beloved wife of WILLIAM BENTON and daughter of B & A PORTER of Bourn d Dec 14 [1869] age 23 reverse In Loving Memory of WILLIAM RICHARD BENTON d [Jan 6] 1923 age 76
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202682, 0.13681629 – click here for location
Monument
Inscription
east face
‘In Loving Memory of SARAH ANN beloved wife of WILLIAM BENTON and daughter of B & A PORTER of Bourn died Dec 14 1869 age 23’
reverse In Loving Memory of WILLIAM RICHARD BENTON d Jan [6] 1923 age 76
Sarah Ann Benton (née Porter) (1846 – 16 December 1869)
Sarah was born in Bourn, eight miles south of Cambridge and baptised there on 27 September 1846. She was the eldest daughter of Bird Porter (1818-1881) and his wife Ann (née Kidman) (1819-1883) and grew up in Bourn, where her father was the reliefing officer (an early form of social work: evaluating the case of people applying for relief, and to allocate funds or authorise entry to the workhouse). She married postman William Benton on 4 May 1869 at St. Andrew the Great Church and they lived at Panton Street. She died suddenly at home a few months later ‘from effusion on the brain’.
William Richard Benton (1846 – 6 January 1923)
William was the son of Richard (1817-1893) and Rebecca and grew up Burleigh Street (1851) and St. Andrew’s Street (1861). His father was a shoemaker, and by 1861 William was working as the same. However by 1871 both William and his father were postmen. After he was widowed he returned to live with his parents at 39 St. Andrew’s Street, and married Sarah Elizabeth Hill (1848-1883) in 1872. The couple lived at St. Andrew’s Street and had one son: Arthur Richard (1873-) and by 1881 William was once more working as a bootmaker. The family later moved to 45 Norwich Street, where Sarah Elizabeth died in November 1883 aged 35 years old.
William married for a third time to Susannah Rivett (1847-1928) at Stepney Baptist Chapel, King’s Lynn on 20 October 1884 and they continued to live at 45 Norwich Street. In 1891 William was working as a rural postman, but after he retired they moved to 11 Parade, Willesden (1901). Son Arthur was also working for the post office by this time, which is why they perhaps moved to London. By 1911 William and Susannah had moved back to Cambridge and lived at 78 Kimberley Road, they later returned to Norwich Street, living at 91 from at least 1913 onwards.
He died in Cambridge aged 76. His widow died in King’s Lynn aged 80 years old.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
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