CFHS code : AL316
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : side 1 In Loving Memory of LILY SOPHIA BRANCH d Aug 5th 1875 aged 10 months also ERNEST BRANCH d Jan 24th 1897 aged 19 also HANNAH BRANCH mother of the above d Jan 19th 1905 aged 59 side 2 In Loving Memory of JAMES BRANCH d March 1st 1906 aged 59 also GERTRUDE MARY second daughter of the above d Jan 27th 1917 aged 37
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
This headstone located roughly 8 rows to the west of the east path, in the parish of St Andrew the Less, fell sometime ago and has broken across the centre. The inscription on the upper face is very eroded.
Inscription
side 1
In Loving Memory of LILY SOPHIA BRANCH died Aug 5th 1875 aged 10 months
Also ERNEST BRANCH died Jan 24th 1897 aged 19 years
Also HANNAH BRANCH mother of the above died Jan 19th 1905 aged 59 years
side 2
In Loving Memory of JAMES BRANCH d March 1st 1906 aged 59
Also GERTRUDE MARY second daughter of the above d Jan 27th 1917 aged 37
There is a small plaque that lies 3 rows to the east but may have been moved from this grave set or mark the placement of ashes.
In loving Memory of
Beatrice Branch daughter of ……. James and Hannah
Died 9. June 1974 aged 91 years
Relationship; Mother, father and four children
Lily Sophia Branch (c. October 1874 – 5 August 1875)
Lily was the eldest daughter of James and Hannah Branch. She died at 15 Melbourne Place and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 11 August.
Ernest Branch (1877 – 24 January 1897)
Ernest was the fourth son of James and Hannah. He worked as a stable lad for Mrs Porcheron, livery yard keeper and was found dead ‘under somewhat remarkable circumstances’ at 19a Trinity Street. Ernest had been staying with his immediate boss Thomas Nightingale, who was the foreman at the livery yard. He had gone to bed at 10.40pm in good spirits but was found just after midnight dead in his bedroom. There was some uncertainty as whether he had hung himself or died due to heart disease. The jury recorded a verdict of ‘death from heart disease’ and his funeral was held on 29 January.
Hannah Branch (née Burling) (1845 – 19 January 1905)
Hannah was born in Fen Ditton, the daughter of William and Sophia Burling. She grew up at Green End in the village and her father worked as an agricultural labourer. Hannah married James Branch in 1869 and they had at least ten children: John William (1869-1945), Albert Edward (1871-1950), Sidney James (1873-1945), Lily Sophia, Edith Sophia (1876-), Ernest, Gertrude Mary (1879-1917), Alfred Cecil (1881-1947), Beatrice (1883-1974) and Victoria Annie (1887-). James worked as a post office clerk and the family lived at 15 Melbourne Place. Hannah died at home aged 59 years old and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 23 January.
James Thomas Medbury Branch (1846 – 1 March 1906)
James was the son of John and Sophia Branch and lived at 15 Melbourne Place his entire life. His father was a bricklayer and James worked as a post office clerk, starting employment in 1868. In February 1906 bricklayer Frederick Rockett was charged with breaking a pane of glass at 15 Melbourne Place by throwing a stone at the window. At court James said the damaged caused amounted to 1s. ‘The prisoner said he threw the stone intending to remind his sweetheart, who resided at Mr. Branch’s that he was waiting for her. He mentioned that he was growing ‘wonderful aggravated’ because he had not been able to get a definitive answer from the girl’. Detective Sergeant Marsh testified that ‘the prisoner was a regular thief and a perfect pest’ and Frederick was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour. James died in Addenbrooke’s Hospital and his funeral was held on 6 March.
Gertrude Mary Williams (née Branch) (1879 – 27 January 1917)
Gertrude married butcher Frank Williams (1879-) in 1900 and they had two sons: Cecil Ivan Victor (1900-1967) and James Thomas (known as Jimmy) (1906-1990). The family lived at 31 Eden Street, and Gertrude died in bed aged 37 years old. The subsequent inquest heard that she had gone to bed as usual at 11pm the previous night. Frank had woken in the night and asked her the time ‘and she had said it was twenty minutes to five. Soon after that she gave three or four gasps and was gone’. He told the court that she had not made any mention of being ill, but she must have got up in the night to get the watch and turn the light on, as the light was on when he asked her the time. Dr George Roper performed the postmortem and ‘found evidence of acute bronchitis, and the heart was considerably enlarged. He was of the opinion that death was due to heart failure, following on acute bronchitis. She had been a chronic sufferer with a ‘winter cough’ every winter, and had been short of breath as long as he had known her. He supposed that on this occasion she took no more notice than before of not feeling well, and probably the getting out of bed on a cold morning with acute bronchitis just finished her…..She was a woman who would work when she was not fit. That was the trouble with her – she would never give in. Her body was extremely well nourished. The jury returned a verdict of ‘death from natural causes’ in accordance with the medical evidence’. The funeral service was held on 29 January and one of the wreaths was marked ‘from her heartbroken husband and boys, Cecil and Jimmy’.
Beatrice Branch (21 May 1883 – 9 June 1974)
Beatrice was the third daughter of James and Hannah. In 1911 she was lodging at 24 Cockburn Street and was working as a book keeper for a house decorator. In 1939 she was a patient at the Fulbourn Asylum, and was documented as having been a commercial clerk. She died in Cambridge aged 91 years old.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]