CFHS code : PL114
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Loving Memory of SARAH PRESTON HEADDEY b 28 Feb 1818 wife of THOMAS HEADLEY HEADDEY d 28 Oct 1898 also [HERVEY PARRY] HEADDEY reverse In Loving Memory of MARY GAGE 2nd daughter of the late THOMAS PARRY of Thetford d Aug 19 1886 age 72
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
The grave register places Thomas Headley Headdey in this grave with his wife Sarah and sister in law Mary. The name of their son Hervey Parry Headdey does not appear although in the grave register and as he died abroad he may not be buried here. As part of the inscription is no longer legible it has been amended to include Thomas’s name.
Inscription
west face
In Loving Memory of SARAH PRESTON HEADDEY born 28 February 1818
wife of THOMAS HEADLEY HEADDEY died 28 Oct 1898
Also HERVEY PARRY HEADDEY
[THOMAS HEADLY HEADDEY died 18 January 1908]
east face
In Loving Memory of MARY GAGE. Second daughter of the late THOMAS PARRY
of Thetford. Died Aug. 19. 1886. Aged 72.
Relationship: Husband, wife, son and wife’s sister
Sarah Preston Headdey (née Parry) (28 February 1818-1898)
Sarah was born in Thetford the youngest daughter of vetinary surgeon Thomas Parry and his wife Mary Ann (née Preston). She was baptised in Thetford on 19 August 1818 In 1841 she was staying with the Preston family who lived on Hills Road, Cambridge – Ann was her sister. Sarah married Thomas Headdey in 1845, in Thetford.
After the marriage they moved to Flintshire where Ellen Parry (1846) and Clara Maria (1850) were born. Lucy Flora (1852-1855) was baptised in King’s Lynn. They then moved to Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Lucy died here and Laura Parry (b 1856) was born (although she was baptised on September 14th 1856, in the parish of All Saints, Cambridge) The youngest child Hervey Parry (b 1859) was born in Worksop. Thomas worked for the Inland Revenue so it is possible that his work caused the several moves. By 1871 the family were living in Oxfordshire. They later lived in Headington, Oxford (1891) until 1897 when he and Sarah returned to live at Norwich Street, Cambridge. Sarah died at home aged 80 years old.
Thomas Headley Headdey (26 September 1821 – 18 January 1908)
Thomas was the second of the six children born to William Watson Headdey and Elizabeth Chess Headdey née Headley. His father was a butler at Clare Hall and he was baptised in the church of All Saints on October 14th 1821. He was educated at Mr Smyth’s School, Maid’s Causeway and in his younger years ‘had a business and was a Sunday school teacher’ His obituary later noted ‘in 1843 he entered the Inland Revenue department, through the influence of Lord John Manners, a friend of the family. He was in a short time promoted to a Ride at St. Asaph, thence to a division at Worksop, and next (in 1870) to Oxford’.
After Sarah’s death he lived at 20 Hills Road with his two unmarried daughters Ellen and Clara and his brother William Watson Headdey. He died ‘peacefully’ at home aged 86 leaving an estate of £1,371 4s. 11d and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 22 January. The Cheltenham Examiner reported after his death that ‘at Oxford his geniality won for him many friends and a considerable number of young men were there coached by him for the examinations’.
Hervey Parry Headdey (1859 – 1903)
Hervey was the youngest child of Thomas and Sarah and was born in Worksop. He had trained as a dentist by 1878 and practised in Madrid from at least 1885 onwards. Hervey married Maria Maud Vernon (1868-1952) on 18 September 1889 at Trinity Church, Paddington, but the couple are not thought to have had any children. In Spain he anglicised his surname to ‘Heddy’ and died as a result of a car accident on a trip to the races in Biarritz, France. He was driving with his wife, another lady (Mrs Shephard) and a chauffeur ‘when the vehicle collided with a cart and was upset. Mr Headdey was crushed by the wheels of the cart, his back broken and he died in only a few moments. Mrs Headdey was bruised only and the other occupants of the car sustained no injuries whatever’.
His death was reported in the Cambridge Daily News where it was mentioned that he had often been consulted by the Spanish royal family and had recently been given a knighthood for civil & state services. The newspaper noted ‘where ever he went he was very kind to the poor and frequently gave his services gratuitously. He had been a great traveller and wherever he went he made many friends, to whom his sudden and violent death came as a most painful shock’. His remains were interred at the new cemetery in Biarritz, where the service was conducted by the English chaplain, and he was remembered on the family grave in Cambridge.
His widow remained in Spain, and married the well known jockey Herbert Thomas Woodland (1875-) on 8 October 1909.
Mary Gage (née Parry) (5 February 1813 – 19 August 1886)
Mary was the sister of Sarah and was baptised in Thetford on 21 May 1813. She married Thomas Hastings Gage (1826 -1899) on 26 October 1848 at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Thetford. Thomas was an accountant/manufacturer’s clerk and they lived in Norwich (1851), South Lynn (1861) and later in Great Yarmouth, where he was a commercial traveller and tabacconist (1871). When Mary died she was living at 54 Hills Road, Cambridge, the home of her sister Ann Preston. She was 73 years old when she died, although the grave monument reads 72 years and the death registration documents gave her age as 71 years.
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]
Sources:
CFHS transcripts of Parish Records and Census
Familysearch.org
British Newspaper Archive
This post is being researched by Mary Naylor