CFHS code : AL327
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : In Affectionate Remembrance of WILLIAM COWLES d May 28th 1878 aged 31 also of GEORGIANNA COWLES d Dec 7th 1872 aged 21 interred in Reading Cemetery and of ARTHUR GEORGE son of the above d Aug 12th 1875 aged 6 interred in Falkirk Cemetery and of WILLIAM CHARLES COWLES d —————– aged [38] and of MARTHA KATE wife of WILLIAM CHARLES COWLES d April 26th 1933 aged 57
Monument : Headstone
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
Inscription
Relationship: Husband, wife, two sons, daughter-in-law
William Cowles (1847 – 28 May 1878)
William was born in Tyrella, Northern Ireland and was the son of Charles and Eliza Cowles. By 1850 the family had moved to live at 21 Hobson Street where Charles was a groom. Aged 14 (1861) William was living at home and working as a French polisher. He married Georgina Cowell on 1 November 1868 at Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone and the couple had two sons: Arthur George (1869-1875) and William Charles (1870-1908). They went to live in Worcester and then Reading where Georgianna died in 1872.
William married Georgianna’s sister Martha Kate Cowell (1853-1933) in 1875 in Reading and the couple had two daughters: Eleanor Maud (1876-1953) and Mary Grace (1878-1944). Both girls were born in Falkirk, Scotland so they must have lived in Scotland until at least early 1878 before returning to Cambridge. William died at the Fulbourn Asylum in May 1878 aged 31 years old.
Georgianna Cowles (née Cowell) (1851 – 7 December 1872)
Georgianna was the daughter of Daniel and Ann Cowell and grew up at 17 Burleigh Street where her father was a shoe and bootmaker. She married William Cowles when she was 17 years old and died in Reading aged 21 years.
Arthur George Cowles (1869 – 12 August 1875)
Arthur was the eldest son of William and Georgianna. He died in Falkirk aged 6 years old.
William Charles Cowles (18 January 1871 – 24 March 1908)
William was the second son of William and Georgiana and was born in Reading. Both his parents and brother had died by the time he was eight years old and aged 10 (1871) he was living with his maternal aunt and uncle in Islington.
He joined the Royal Navy in January 1888 for a an initial 12 year commission. When he joined up he was 17 years old, 5ft 2 inches tall with light blue eyes, fair hair and a fresh complexion. His Navy service records document the many ships he served on, and his conduct was mostly rated as being very good. His final sailing was on the Black Prince from March 1906 to December 1907. He was invalided out of the Navy due to tuberculosis.
William had married Martha Clark in 1897 in Cambridge and they had four children: Frederick Charles (1900-1948), Leonard William (1904-1968), Gertrude Grace (1907-1917) and one further child who died as an infant. Frederick was born in Cambridge, and the other two children in Sheerness, Kent where the family were presumably stationed.
William died in Cambridge aged 37 years old (although both his death registration documentation and grave monument read 38 years old).
Martha Kate Cowles (née Clark) (1876 – 26 April 1933)
Martha was the daughter of Thomas and Kate Clark and grew up at 34 York Street. Aged 15 she was living at home and working as a bookbinder’s apprentice before marrying William Cowles. After she was widowed she ran a Lodging House at 53 City Road (1911) and was still living at City Road in 1930. She died aged 57 years old.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
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