CFHS code : AL122
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : In Affectionate Remembrance of SAMUEL GAGE d May 20 1876 aged 56 erected by his beloved and sorrowing wife also ELIZABETH GAGE d March 23 1896 aged 74 EMMA ELLEN GALER their granddaughter d Dec 8 1917 aged –
Monument : Headstone/Stone cross/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
Inscription
Samuel Gage (1820 – 20 May 1876)
Samuel was born in Bourn, Cambridgeshire and was baptised there on 18th October 1820. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Gage.
He married Elizabeth in Bourn on 11th October 1840 when he was 20 years old. In 1851 they were living at New Barn Farm and Samuel was an agricultural labourer.
Samuel and Elizabeth had at least nine children: Edward (1841-), William (1841-), Eliza (1845-1858), Lizzie (1847-1926), Frederick (1849-), Mary Ann (1851-), Walter (1857-1883), Albert (1858-1889), Henry (1861-1891) and Emma (1863-1865).
By 1871 the family had moved to Cambridge and were living at 16 and 17 Wellington Street. Samuel was working as a brewer’s labourer. He died aged 56 years old.
Elizabeth Gage (c.1822 – 23 March 1896)
Elizabeth was also born in Bourn. She died aged 74 years old.
Emma Ellen Galer (nee Matthews) (1867 – 8 December 1917)
Emma was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth’s daughter Lizzie. Lizzie Gage married Samuel Matthews in October 1866 in Bourn. They appear to have only had one daughter: Emma Ellen. Samuel Matthews was a labourer, and in 1871 the family were living at 33 Wellington Street. Samuel died young, and by 1881 Lizzie was a widow and living with Emma at 5 Gifford Place.
Emma married Harry Minns Galer on Christmas Day 1887 at St. Andrew the Less Church. Harry was a print compositor and the family were living at 42 Southgate Row in Hackney in 1891. Their only daughter Annie Elizabeth (1888-1972) was born in Hackney. By 1901 they had returned to live in Cambridge and were living at 6 Malcolm Place – Emma was working as a college servant, and Harry as a print compositor.
In 1911 Harry and Emma were living with her now-widowed mother Lizzie Sparkman at ‘The Crown’ in Wellington Street, where the ever resourceful Lizzie was a ‘licensed victualler’, Harry was working as a printer, and Emma has no occupation on this census record. Emma died aged 50 years old and is buried with her grandparents.
There are other members of the direct and indirect family also buried at Mill road Cemetery, but their graves have not yet been found:
Harry Minns Galer (1866 – 7 October 1927)
Harry is believed to have been the illegitmate son of Annie Galer. He was baptised on 29 December 1867 at St. Andrew the Less Church and in 1871 was living with his mother, who was working as a barmaid and his grandmother/step grandfather. By the age of 15 he was working as a print compositor. He married Emma Matthews in 1887 when he was 21 years old. After he was widowed he married Ada Sarah Paschey (1881-1959) in 1919 and they had one daughter: Florence Ethel (1920-2013). They lived at 64 East Road and he worked as a print compositor for Messrs. Fab and Tyler from 1919 onwards. He died at home after a brief illness and was buried at Mill Road on11 October ‘in the family grave’. The service was held at the chapel and at the graveside by the Vicar of St. Andrew the Less.
Lizzy Sparkman (née Gage) (1846 – 20 March 1926)
Lizzy was born in Bourn and was the second daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Gage. She married Samuel Matthews (1846-1875) on 18 October 1866 in Bourn and they had one daughter: Emma Ellen. She married for a second time to widower William Sparkman (1845-1901) on 19 June 1881 at St. Michael’s Church. William was a tailor and they lived at 33 Wellington Street with William’s two children Clara and Charles.After she was widowed she ran the Crown Inn, Wellington Street (at least 1905-1911). In February 1905 she was taken to court for ‘opening her licensed premises during prohibited hours’. P.C< Leonard Savidge had seen her at 10.20pm one Sunday night at the bar, with a James Day standing with a freshly drawn pint. Lizzie said she had drawn the pint and it was paid for before 10pm and expressed her regret. She was fined 2s, 6d plus costs and the Chairman of the court told her ‘she must be more careful in the future or she might loose her license’. James Day was fined 1s and costs.
She later went to live with son in law Harry Galer and his second wife at East Road (1921). Lizzie died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital aged 78 years having ‘been in failing health for a number of years’. The curate of Christ’s Church held the service on 25 March.
Samuel Matthews (1846 – 6 February 1875)
Samuel was born in Comberton and baptised there on 19 June 1846. He was the eldest son of John (1818-1899) and Ann (née Ellwood)(1822-), His father was an agricultural labourer and the family lived at Swaine Street. Aged 14 he was living in nearby Toft, and as a general assistant to draper/grocer/farmer Alfred Bodge. When he married Lizzie Gage in 1866 his profession was a baker, but he later worked as a general labourer. He died at Gifford Place aged 29 years old and was buried in the St. Michael’s area of the Cemetery on 12 February.
William Sparkman (1845 – September 1901)
William was the son of John and Mary Ann Sparkman and was born in Stoneham, just outside Southampton. He was baptised there on 30 March 1845 and grew up in Binstead, Isle of Wight where his father worked as a gardener for Lord and Lady Downes. Their house Binstead Lodge burned to the ground in February 1851, and Lady Downes was said to have lost £30,000 (over £5m in currrent money) worth of jewellry in the blaze. The Sparkman family moved to Ryde also on the Island, where John was a pier toll collector and Mary ran a lodging house.
William trained as a tailor and by 1871 had moved to Cambridge where he lodged at 6 Saxon Street. He married Annie Galer (1844-1880) in 1874 and then Lizzie Matthews. He died at Wellington Street aged 57 years old and was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 30 September 1901.
Annie Sparkman (née Galer) (1844 – June 1880)
Annie was the daughter of Robert (1816-1864) and Emma (née Scott)(1812-1895) Galer and was baptised at St. Clement’s Church on 1 December 1844. Robert was a labourer, Emma a college servant and Annie grew up at 35 Eden Street. It is believed she conceived Harry Minns Galer out of wedlock, and in 1871 she and Harry were living with her mother and step father George Savidge at Eden Street. She married William Sparkman on 2 April 1874 at St. Andrew the Less Church and they had four children: Clara Rebecca (1875-1933), Mary Ann (1876-1876), Charles Henry (1877-1946) and Fred (1879-1880). Annie died at City Road and was buried on June 14 in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery.
Mary Ann Sparkman (February 1876- July 1876)
Mary Ann was baptised at St. Andrew the Less on 26 March 1876 and died at City road aged 5 months old. She was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 27 July 1876.
Fred Sparkman (c.September 1879 – 11 January 1880)
Fred was the youngest son of William and Annie Sparkman. He died at City Road and was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 16 January 1880.
Emma Savidge (née Scott) (1812- December 1895)
Emma was the mother of Annie Galer, grandmother of Harry Minns Galer. She was born in Cambridge and her father was Thomas Scott. She married Robert Galer (1816-1864) on 8 May 1832 in Layston, near Buntingford Hertfordshire. The couple had at least four children: Emma (1834-1901), Eliza (1838-), Lucy (1841-1925) and Annie. By 1861 the family were living at 35 Eden Street, and Robert was working as a labourer, Emma as a college bedmaker.
She was widowed aged 52 years and then married George Savidge (1825-1875) on 6 February 1866 at St. Andrew the Less Church. George was also a college servant ahd the couple lived at Eden Street with her two daughters, and grandson Harry. After she was widowed for a second time she continued to live at Eden Street with eldest daughter Emma and Harry (1881) and then moved to Ross Street (1891). She died at Ross Street aged 83 years and was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of Mill Road Cemetery on 16 December 1895.
Emma Galer (1834 – June 1904)
Emma was born in Essex, the eldest daughter of Robert and Emma Galer. She was baptised in Chigwell on 23 March 1834. She lived in the family home with her mother and acted as the family housekeeper. Emma died at the Mill Road Workhouse/Infirmary aged 70 years old and was bured in the St Andrew the Less area of the cemetery on 3 June 1904
George Savidge (1825 – September 1875)
George was the sixth of eight boys born to William Briggs Savidge (1794-1850) and Elizabeth (née Rose) (1786-1856). William was a tailor and the family lived at Thompsons Lane. In 1861 he was working as a shoemaker, and living at 12 Albert Street with his brother Joseph and his wife Rachel. He later worked as a college servant and married widow Emma Galer. George died at Eden Street aged 50 and was buried in the St Andrew the Less area of the cemetery on 10 September 1875.
George’s parents are buried in the Holy Sepulchre area of the Cemetery. His brother Joseph and neice Ada are also buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery.
Claire Martinsen
Source: Ancestry/newspaper archives
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