CFHS code : MG189
Parish : St Mary the Great
Inscription : ELIZA COLLINGS d 14 Jul 1871 aged 79 also MARY ANN COLLINGS d 10 Aug 1879 aged 75 and [MARY ANNE ELIZA] JOHNSON —–9 Oct 1879
Monument : Headstone (broken)
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
This headstone has been covered by grass for some time and the carved inscription is barely visible now. It is located to the east of the east path on the southern border of the parish of Mary the Great. All that could be seen in 2023 was the stump.
Inscription
ELIZA COLLINGS d 14 Jul 1871 aged 79
Also MARY ANN COLLINGS d 10 Aug 1879 aged 75
And MARY ANNE ELIZA JOHNSON —–9 Oct1879
Elizabeth (Eliza) Collings (c.1792 – 14 July 1871)
Eliza was born in Dublin, and in 1871 was living with her sister Mary Ann at 20 Market Hill. She died at Market Hill aged 79 years old and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 20 July 1871.
Mary Ann Collings (1804 – 10 August 1879)
Mary was born in Hastings and by at least 1861 had moved to live in Cambridge where she ran a ‘fancy goods’ and haberdasher at 20 Market Hill. In August 1861 she appeared as a witness in the trial of Jacob and Esther Julian, who had been accused of presenting counterfeit sovereign coins to various shops within the town. Mary’s shop was said to be a ‘Berlin wool shop’ ( a type of tapestry wool) and Esther Julian had bought a hairnet for 1s and 6d, and been given 8s and 6d in change. In May 1863 she placed an advert in the Cambridge Independent Press for ‘two good housemaids – must understand cleaning plate and waiting at table’. Mary died at Market Hill aged 75 years old.
Mary Anne Eliza Johnson (1830 – 9 October 1879)
A Mary Ann Eliza was born in Cambridge on 21st February 1830. She was the 6th of 11 children born to John and Elizabeth Johnson. John was a cooper. The family lived in Wheeler St and she was baptised in St Edwards church. The family were probably quite well off as in 1851 – 3 sons were coopers, 1 son a school assistant, I son a cook and 1 son a school master and undergraduate at Caius College. Meanwhile Mary who was living visiting friends at 5 Maids Causeway was described as a lady.
By 1861 she was working as an assistant in Mary Collings’ haberdashery store and this was likely to have been her home. She was an executor of Mary’s will and took over the running of the store after Mary’s death. She died at Market Hill aged 48 years old two months after Mary Collings and was buried with her former boss.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
CFHS transcriptions of parish & grave records
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about these persons, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]