CFHS code : ML52
Parish : St Mary the Less
Inscription : JAMES PRIME d aged — July 18 1869 also ELIZABETH ANN PRIME daughter d Jan 9 1916 aged 82 also SARAH ANN PRIME d Jan 28 1882 aged 70
Monument : Stone cross (broken)
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202787, 0.13797747 – click here for location
Monument
Tis small plinth with part of the cross balanced on top is located in the parish area of Mary the Less. It stands in open ground 5 rows east of the east border towards the north of the parish.
Inscription The inscription is now illegible and as James’ name does not appear in the burial register he may be buried elsewhere. There is only 1 death registration for a James Prime in Cambridgeshire between 1869 and 1890 and that was in Chesterton.
JAMES PRIME d aged [68] July 18 1869
Also SARAH ANN PRIME d Jan 28 1882 aged 70
Also ELIZABETH ANN PRIME daughter d Jan 9 1916 aged 82
James Prime (c.1809 – 18 July 1869)
James was born in Kingston, a village seven miles west of Cambridge and was the illegitimate son of Catherine. He was baptised on 30 October 1814 in Kingston and married Sarah Smith on 7 October 1832 at St. Giles’ Church, Cambridge. James was a boatwright (1841) and later worked as a boat builder. He and Sarah had at least five children: Elizabeth Ann (1833-1916), Ann (1835-), Thomas James (known as James) (1840-1918), Sarah Jane (known as Jane) (1844-1917) and Mary Louisa (1847-1932). The family lived at Victoria Road (1841), Ely Road (1851) and 5 Milton Road (at least 1861 onwards).
James worked in partnership with Isaac Strange from Chesterton Road and the men also rented out boats on the Cam. In March 1861 some of their boats were fastened near Garrett Hostel Bridge and were ‘let loose’ by Alfred Rutt and Martin Johnson. At court Rutt and Johnson said that they had broken the chains because James and Isaac were ‘infringing upon the privileges of Mr Rutt, sen. which he had enjoyed for upwards of 39 years and that the complainants were endevouring to get his customers away’. In July 1866 James Prime and Isaac Strange were charged with taking fish of of the Cam ‘the private property of Mr. R.P. Clayton, fishmonger’. The police had seen the two men in a boat with a net ready to cast and an ‘eel gleave’. They had been observed taking a can out of the boat and putting a fish into it. At court Isaac Strange said he had been taking a piece of wood out of the water and that the can was actually full of mud rather than fish. However the magistrates accepted the police statements and the two men were fined 1s each plus costs.
James died at Milton Road ‘after a few hours illness’. His son James Prime, jun took over the running of the business.
Sarah Ann Prime (née Smith) (1812 – 28 January 1882)
Sarah was born in Balsham, nine miles south east of Cambridge. It is believed she was the daughter of John, an agricultural labourer, his wife Mary. Sarah married James Prime when she was 20 years old. After she was widowed she lived at 5 Milton Road (1871) and then 13 Mill Lane with son James and his family (1881).
Elizabeth Ann Prime (1833 – 9 January 1916)
Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of James and Sarah Smith. She did not marry and became a domestic servant working as cook for the Cookson Family in 1861 – Henry Cookson was Master of St Peter’s college. In 1871 she was working as cook for the Raynes Family at 12 Scrope Terrace. William Raynes was a clergyman. By 1891 she was living with her brother James Prime and his family at 23 Silver Street, and then ran a University Lodging House from 2 Silver Street (at least 1894 onwards). Elizabeth died at 2 Silver Street and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 13 January. According to a report in the Cambridge Independent Press the funeral service took place at St Botolph’s church.
Sarah Jane Prime (Jane) (1844 – December 1917) The burial register show that Sarah Jane is also buried in this parish so probably here.
She did not marry and by 1861 had become a domestic servant, joining her elder sister Elizabeth as a housemaid for the Cookson Family. Henry Cookson was Master of St Peter’s college.
She also become a cook and worked for many wealthy families – 1871, Hailstone family – 6 Scroope Terrace, 1881, Wade family in London, and In 1901 she was a cook for the Charles Family living in Sevenoaks, Kent. In 1891 she was staying with her brother James and sister Elizabeth in Silver St Cambridge. In the 1911 census she was in Drinkstone, Suffolk. Her age was given as 55 when she would have been 67 perhaps the had taken 12 years off her age to convince retired army major Priolean that she was fit enough for the job as cook in his household. She attended her sister Elizabeth’s funeral in 1916.
She died in the Mill Road workhouse Infirmary in December 2017 aged 73 and was buried on January 4th 1918..
Thomas James (James) and his wife Eliza are buried in the neighbouring parish of St Botolph but with no known monument. Eliza died in May 1894 and Thomas in December 1918
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
CFHS transcripts of parish records
by Claire Martinsen and Mary Naylor
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]