CFHS code : MG219
Parish : St Mary the Great
Inscription : In Memory of FREDERICK JEEVES d 19th April [1953] aged 86
Monument : Headstone (fallen)
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202111, 0.13757915 – click here for location
Monument
This headstone fell many years ago and only the top was found. It is located roughly 11 rows east of the central path and hidden under bushes. We were unable to read much of the epitaph.
Inscription
In Memory of FREDERICK JEEVES who fell asleep 19th April 1953 aged 86 years
” * thy rest in * and calm be * thy toils are ore ………….”
Frederick (Fred) Jeeves (19 March 1867 – 19 April 1953)
Fred was born in Sandy, Bedfordshire and was the son of George and Ann. Aged 14 he was working as an agricultural labourer like his father and married Sarah Ann Cooper (1868-1922) in 1887. The couple had nine children: Agnes Emma (1888-1942), Charles Herbert (1889-1954), Violet (1892-1959), Ethel (1894-), Elsie Maud (1897-1978), Percy (1898-1918), Ernest Frederick (1902-1985), Gladys Sarah (1904-1991) and Frances May (1907-1989. They lived in Northill, six miles south east of Bedford (1891) where Fred worked as a gardener’s labourer and then in Rushden, Northamptonshire (at least 1899-1907) where he worked as a horse drawn omnibus driver for the railway.
By 1911 they had moved to live at 7a Vinery Road and Fred was documented as being a ‘horsekeeper railway’ working for London Northwestern Railway. He later became a green grocer and they went to live at 4 Clarendon Road, off Brooklands Avenue (at least 1918 onwards). Son Percy died in the 1st World War and his name is recorded at Ely Cathedral.
The family report that Fred Jeeves was a well known ostler in Cambridge (he hired out horses) and also enjoyed a pint! When he got home from work a little late, he would always give his family the excuse that he had been “argying with his hoss in Gwydir St” (in a deep fenland accent!) For a couple of generations afterwards this became a generic family way of saying “I’ve been for a cheeky pint”.
After he was widowed in 1922 he married Margaret Susanna Stockman (1885-1969) and they continued to live at Clarendon Road. Fred died aged 86 years old. His widow Margaret returned to live in her native Devon.
From parish burial records it is known that Fred’s first wife Sarah was also buried in the St. Mary the Great area of Mill Road Cemetery and grave records show that she was buried in the same grave plot.
Sarah Ann Jeeves (née Cooper) (1868 – June 1922)
Sarah was born in Northill, Bedfordshire and married Fred Jeeves when she was 19 years old. She died at 2 Clarendon Road and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 20 June 1922 aged 54.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish grave records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]