There are at least four members of the Beaumont family buried in Mill Road Cemetery – their graves have not yet been identified and are now believed to be unable to find.
Parishes: Holy Trinity/ St Pauls
Colour Sergeant James Henry Beaumont (29 October 1838 – 21 August 1886)
James was born in Swavesey, the son of William and Sarah. His father was an agricultural labourer, and aged 14 James was working as the same. He married Sophia Webb and the couple had at least six children: Adelaide (1864-1941), Emily A (1870-), Charles William (1872-1917), Christina (1876-1949), Emma (1877-) and Frederick James (1881-1882).
James was a soldier, serving with the 11th Foot Regiment, 2nd Batallion. The first five children were born whilst he was a serving soldier, and were born in Grahamstown South Africa, aboard the HMS Orinta, Ireland, Aldershot and Exeter. He retired from the army on 4 November 1879 aged 41 years with the rank of Col Sergeant and the family moved to live at 28 Shelley Row, Cambridge. James died at Addenbrookes Hospital aged 47 years old and was bured in the St. Paul’s area of the Cemetery on 26 August.
Sophia Beaumont (née Webb) (1845 – 20 August 1889)
Sophia was born in Mildenhall, the daughter of agricultural labourer Charles and his wife Esther. After she was widowed she moved to live at Argyle Street and died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital aged 44 years old. She was buried in the St. Paul’s area of the cemetery three days later.
Charles William Beaumont (7 March 1872 – 22 December 1917)
Charles was born in Newbridge, County Kildare, home of the Curragh race course. Both his parents had died by the time he was 17 years old and he then went to live with his sister Adelaide and her family at Argyle Street. Aged 19 he was working as a printers apprentice. He married Ellen Cook on 6 May 1897 at St. Matthew’s Church, by which time he was workng as a photographer working for Cambridge photographer Ralph Starr. The couple lived at 10 Abbey Road (1901), 50 City Road (1904), 73 Abbey Road (1911) and 2 Brunswick Terrace and had two children: Leslie Bernard (1902-1982) and Gladys May (1901-1988).
On 5 December 1900 Charles was appointed as a Relieving Officer with the Cambridge Board of Guardians on the salary of £80 per year, replacing the incumbent Mr G.G .Walker, who was moved to an alternative area of the city on a salary of £125 per year. The following year he was awarded a pay increase of £10, and an annual increment of £10 per year until his salary reached £130. A Relieving Officer was responsible for managing relief for the poor, investigating case of poverty, arranging workhouse admissions and providing emergency relief for the poor within a certain area. The duties of the Relieving Officer was discussed by the Guardians in June 1901 and it was expected that everyone in receipt of parish relief would be visited once a month, and that the Relieving Officers were to keep themselves fully ‘conversant with the existing circumstances of each out-relief case in his district’.
In December 1901 Charles was given authorisation by the Board of Guardians to supply extra amounts of coal if severe weather rendered it neccessary. In June 1902 he was called to give evidence in a case against Arthur Noakes, landlord of the Alhambra pub, East Road. Arthur was being prosecuted by the Board of Guardians for not contributing towards his mother’s upkeep. The parish were paying 3s, 6d per week, and Charles had increased this from 2s. Arthur Noakes was ordered to pay 1s, 6d per week. In February 1906 a complaint was made against Charles of not attending an old man, lodging at the Golden Fleece, Ram Yard – the man was not seen for two days, and was then moved to the Workhouse Infirmary. Charles was asked to give an explanation and said ‘that he had a case at Castle End….and thought he could see to them both at the same time’. the Board of Guardians cautioned him to take more case in the future.
In February 1909 the Board of Guardians heard that Charles ‘was seriously ill with pleurisy and pneumonia’ and he did not return to work until May. Mr and Mrs Hosegood ran the Mill Road Workhouse for 42 years, but after Emma died in March 1913 Luke Hosegood decided to retire in the September of that year. Charles and Ellen Beaumont were one of six couples who applied to be the new Master and Mistress of the Workhouse. However the role was given to Mr and Mrs Foden, who were running the South Molton workhouse, and came with ‘excellent testimonials’. Discussions at the apointment meeting suggested that Ellen did not have ‘the essential training in a workhouse to fit…(her)..for the work of organisation and so on and that was necessary’.
Throughout 1909 Charles’ health continued to be poor. Mr Jaggard the other Relieving Officer was given exemption from the Army on the basis that ‘Mr Beaumont…was not in good health, and if he had a breakdown they could get no successor to take his place’. Charles went to Brighton for a month ‘for the benefit of his health’ and a temporary appointment was made to cover his workload. He returned to work in December and was reported to be feeling ‘much better’.
He died at home aged 45 years old and was buried in the Holy Trinity area of the Cemetery on 27 December. His funeral was held at St. Andrew’s Baptist Church and the pastor remarked that ‘the last part of Mr Beaumont’s life was lived under circumstances under which he was exposed to not a few difficulties and dangers. On the one hand the ever-ready sympathies of his heart made him always liable to the temptation fo reckless disregard of public responsiblities and on the other hand there was the temptation of hardening the heart against the deep, pitiful cries of distress – sheltering himself behind the cold letter of the law. The pastor also praised his hard work, his devotion to religion and to the Salvation Army in particular He noted ‘those who knew him knew how deep extended his power of feeling, and they weer grateful to think that he was able to win to himself as much love as he gave. The last years of his life were clouded by constant weakness, illness and disease, borne with a ready fortitude and cheerful courage’.
Ellen Beaumont (née Cook) (April 1875 – 1 November 1931)
Ellen was the third daughter of Arthur and Mahala Cook and grew up at 8 Burleigh Place. She worked as a dressmaker before marrying Charles Beaumont, and after his death lived at Gwydir Street with her two children. She died at 88 Gwydir Street ‘after a long and painful illness’ aged 56 years old and was buried in the same grave as her husband two days later.
Ellen’s parents Arthur Cook (1845-1899) and Mahala (née Brown) (1842-1919) are buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery. Their grave has also not yet been found.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]