CFHS code : MG207
Parish : St Mary the Great
Inscription : open book In Loving Memory of CHARLES LICKFOLD SMOUT b Oct 21 1861 d Feb 19 1942 also of EMMA his beloved wife b May 20 1862 d Nov 16 1943 kerbs In Loving Memory of DAISY ELEANOR SMOUT d Aug 18th 1925 aged 26
Monument : Open Book/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202097, 0.13784191 – click here for location
Monument
Inscription
In Loving Memory of Charles Lickford Smout born Oct 21 1861 died Feb 19 1942
also of Emma his beloved wife born May 20 1862 died Nov 16 1943
kerbs In Loving Memory of DAISY ELEANOR SMOUT died Aug 18th 1925 aged 26
Charles Lickfold Smout (21 October 1861 – 19 February 1942)
Charles was the son of Charles Lickfold Smout and his wife Mary (née Woodward). He was born in Bishopsgate, London and baptised at St. Botolph’s Church on 10 November 1861. He grew up at 28 Libra Street, and his father worked as a commercial traveller. Aged 19 (1881) he was lodging at 582 Mile End Road in London and was a pharmaceutical student. Charles married Emma Coad at St Matthew’s Church in West Kensington on 16 April 1887. The couple had ten children: Charles Woodward (1888-1943), Eric William (1889-1972), Daisy Eleanor (1899-1925), Alwyn George (1890-1972), Donald Trentham (1893-1976), Elsie Winifred (1896-1995), Alice Marjory (1901-1985), Edna Charlotte (1902-1961), Mary Desima (1904-1996) and another child who died as an infant.
After marriage Charles and Emma moved to Hastings where he worked as a druggist/chemist and the couple lived at 40 Braybrook Road in the town. They lived in Hastings from at least 1888-1891 as that is where their first three children were born. They then moved to March in Cambridgeshire, which is where their other five children were born from 1893-1904. In 1901 the family were living on the High Street in March and Charles was working as a commercial traveller for a chemical manufacturer. The Stamford Mercury ran an article in August 1910 entitled ‘Successful Family’ which read ‘considerable success has invariably attended the labours of the family of (Mr and Mrs C.L) Smout in regard to examination results, and the following is a list of awards which have recently fallen to their lot: Elsie W Smout, honours in music at an examination held at Wisbech; Daisy E. Smout, scholarship at March High School (the sixth one of the family to gain such distinction in secondary education in the district)…(also an honour for Donald Smout)’.
But by 1911 the family had left March, and moved to live at 104a Mill Road in Cambridge. Charles continued to work as a commercial traveller for a chemical manufacturer and Emma ran a tobacconist from the address. By 1939 Charles had retired, but Emma was continuing to run a tobacconist from 104a Mill Road. On the records of 1939 he is noted as a retired pharmacist and his daughter Edna was acting as house-keeper for the family. Charles died at home aged 81 years old.
Emma Smout (née Coad) (20 May 1862 – 16 November 1943)
Emma was born in Poplar in London and was the daughter of Samuel George (known as George) Coad and his wife Charlotte (née Daniels).George Coad was a carpenter and joiner, and raised his family at 28 Brunswick Street in Bromley. Emma’s mother died when she was 9 years old, and aged 19 she was living with her brother George who was a school master (1881). George lived at 156 Burdett Street in the Mile End area of London, which is where Charles Smout was also living, so they probably met at this time. Emma married when she was 24 years old.
Emma ran a tobacconist from 104a Mill Road from at lest 1911 onwards, but in April 1939 was summoned before the town magistrates for failing to close her shop for a weekly half holiday. She was one of eight shopkeepers who were prosecuted. The shop also appears to have sold a variety of other items, as Emma often took advertisements in the local newspapers of the time advertising ‘Shaving Brushes – special purchase, exceptional value, 2s and 2s 9d each’ (1920). She also acted as a wholesaler to other tabacconists shops and took out adverts such as ‘Tobacconists supplied at wholesale price; everything required stocked – write or call E. Smout, 104a Mill Road’ (1920). In October 1920 however she was listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy hearing of Wilfred Cole, tobacconist of Little Downham. Wilfred had been discharged from the Army in 1914 as unfit, he had had a series of jobs before opening a tobacconist in 1919. He made no profit from the business, and his household expenses meant he had had to file for bankruptcy. Emma Smout was owed £10 7s and 2d.
Emma died at 104a Mill Road aged 81 years old and her funeral was held at St. Barnabas Church on 20 November.
Daisy Eleanor Smout (1899 – 18 August 1925)
Daisy was the eldest daughter of Charles and Emma Coad. She was born in March, and as detailed above won a scholarship to March High School in 1910, but did not take up the place as the Smout family had moved to Cambridge by April 1911.
From newspaper articles of the time it is known that Daisy was a pupil of singing teacher Madmoiselle Angela Cluzeau, and was awarded a Bronze medal in the December 1920 London Academy of Music for Elocution exams. She was engaged to William (known as Billy) Baillie McPherson (1898-1970), but died of T.B. before they could be married. She died aged 26 years old, most probably at Papworth Tuberculosis Colony.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Many thanks to the descendants of William McPherson for the additional information and photo of Daisy Smout.
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]