CFHS code : AS162
Parish : All Saints
Inscription : CHARLOTTE LOOKER line illegible d March 11 1886 aged [-9] Treasured Memories of NELLIE LOUISA wife of [ALFRED A COULSON] May 3 1921 aged 53
Monument : Celtic cross/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.20329, 0.13765
Monument
Very little remains visible of this monument which has been covered by ivy for many years. Recorded by CFHS as being a Celtic cross only the lower section remains with the carved inscription “Nellie Louisa”. Located in the parish area All Saints it stands 1 row west of the central path not far from the north path.
Inscription
CHARLOTTE LOOKER line illegible d March 11 1886 aged [-9]
Treasured Memories of NELLIE LOUISA wife of [ALFRED A COULSON] May 3 1921 aged 53
Relationship: Grandmother and granddaughter.
Charlotte Looker [nee Backler] (c.1807 – 11 March 1886)
Charlotte was the daughter of Stephen and Sarah Backler – Stephen was a farmer/small holder. She was baptised in Withersfield in Suffolk on 28th February 1808. Aged 21 she married Charles Kemp on 19th September 1828 at Horseheath. They had four children together: James [1829], Betsy [1830-], Henry Josiah [1831-1832] and Jane Emma [1833-]. Charles Kemp died in 1833 and left Charlotte with three small children to care for.
On 3rd June 1844 she married for a second time to Abraham Loker [also spelt Looker] at St Andrew the Less Church. Abraham was a widower with two small children and worked as a bricklayer. They had at least two children: Louisa Susannah [1846-1919] (mother of Nellie Louisa Coulson) and Charlotte [1850-1914]. Abraham died in 1852 and Charlotte was left a widow for the second time.
In 1851 Charlotte was living with her mother Sarah Backler and three of her children at 4 Bradmore Street. Her occupation is noted as pauper-charwoman [sic]. In 1861 she was living at 4 Dover Strreet, with her son and two youngest daughters and working as a launderess. By 1871 she was back living at 4 Bradmore Street and working as a launderess. In 1881 she was back at 4 Dover Street and working as a charwoman again. She died in March 1886 aged 79 years old.
Nellie Louisa Coulson [nee Dodd] (1867 – 3 May 1921)
Nellie was the daughter of Walter and Louisa Dodd [nee Looker]. She grew up at 7 Elm Street and her father was a cabinet maker [1871], later they moved to 31 Trumpington Street [1881/1891]. Walter Dodd died in 1889, and his widow Louisa took over the business making cabinets. In 1901 Nellie was 33 years old and living with her mother and three sisters at 1 Wheeler Street. Louisa Dodd was a cabinet maker and upholsterer, and each sister had an occupation, but there is no occupation listed for Nellie Dodd.
Nellie married Arthur Alfred Joseph Coulson [1860-1938] in 1905 when she was 38 years old. Arthur Coulson was a gents outfitter, and they lived at 180/181 East Road. The Coulsons had two children, who died young and are buried in Mill Road Cemetery Arthur Charles [1906-1924] and Olive Louise [1908-1922]. Nellie Coulson died in May 1921 aged 54 years old.
Arthur Coulson must have been devastated to have lost his wife, and both children within a three year window. He died on 23rd June 1938 aged 78, at the Mill Road Infirmary, and is believed to have been buried at Mill Road Cemetery. Prior to his death he had been living at 7 Royal Albert Almshouses on Hills Road. Newspaper articles at the time said that he had subscribed to the home for 34 years, and had moved there in December 1936. Although his death was registered in Cambridge we have not found a record of his burial. This maybe because he was buried in the parish of Andrew the Less for which we have no burial record after 1913.
Claire Martinsen
Source: Ancestry/Newspaper archives
[If you have any further information about this family please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]