A beloved grandchild
For my family, the most significant character has been Benjamin Lucraft born 1809 in Broadclyst, Devon, who became a chairmaker and radical leader in London in the 1860s and 70s. I have stacks of papers about him, but every now and then something new emerges, after all this time. This edition I look back at a grandchild of Benjamin’s; Emily Lucraft, born in 1877, 20 years before he died, and who was laid in his grave when she died in 1911 aged 33, having died on pulmonary tuberculosis and exhaustion. It took many years until Gary Rutland found the website in 2004/5 and we pieced things together.
At first I had found Emily living at the home of Benjamin’s son, Henry Lucraft, and his wife Ann (nee Clarke). She was listed as their daughter in the 1881 census, and a niece, as yet unidentified, called Jane, was also there. But when Gary obtained the certificates for Emily’s birth and death, we found that Emily had been born to a Mary Lucraft, at 67 Canonbury Road. Benjamin is recorded as living at this address in his Election Address at this time, and we believe that Mary Bartell Lucraft, his last daughter, lived with him to his death. Mary Bartell Lucraft would have been about 30 when Emily was born. There is a reference to Mary being deaf, and we have no idea of any partner.
When Emily was a little older, she was living with Mary at the census, but she was still recorded as niece. We may never know if she knew that Mary was her mother. When Emily married Henry Goddard in 1907, when she was about 30, she was not able to name a father nor an occupation for a father. So presumably by this time she knew, if she ever had thought, that her father was not Henry Lucraft. A year later a daughter was born in 1908 to Emily and Henry. This was Gladys Mary May Goddard who later married and was the ancestor of Gary Rutland which led to the contact with our study.
But sadly, just three years after Gladys birth, Emily died, and was the second body buried in Benjamin’s Grave, where she is recorded as the beloved wife of Henry Goddard and grand-daughter of Benjamin. No mention of either of her parents. But the final burial in the grave, nearly 30 years later, is Mary Bartell Lucraft herself.
Mary was known in the family as “Auntie Pollie” and that’s how she is recorded on the gravestone, where she joins her daughter in death.
At first I had found Emily living at the home of Benjamin’s son, Henry Lucraft, and his wife Ann (nee Clarke). She was listed as their daughter in the 1881 census, and a niece, as yet unidentified, called Jane, was also there. But when Gary obtained the certificates for Emily’s birth and death, we found that Emily had been born to a Mary Lucraft, at 67 Canonbury Road. Benjamin is recorded as living at this address in his Election Address at this time, and we believe that Mary Bartell Lucraft, his last daughter, lived with him to his death. Mary Bartell Lucraft would have been about 30 when Emily was born. There is a reference to Mary being deaf, and we have no idea of any partner.
When Emily was a little older, she was living with Mary at the census, but she was still recorded as niece. We may never know if she knew that Mary was her mother. When Emily married Henry Goddard in 1907, when she was about 30, she was not able to name a father nor an occupation for a father. So presumably by this time she knew, if she ever had thought, that her father was not Henry Lucraft. A year later a daughter was born in 1908 to Emily and Henry. This was Gladys Mary May Goddard who later married and was the ancestor of Gary Rutland which led to the contact with our study.
But sadly, just three years after Gladys birth, Emily died, and was the second body buried in Benjamin’s Grave, where she is recorded as the beloved wife of Henry Goddard and grand-daughter of Benjamin. No mention of either of her parents. But the final burial in the grave, nearly 30 years later, is Mary Bartell Lucraft herself.
Mary was known in the family as “Auntie Pollie” and that’s how she is recorded on the gravestone, where she joins her daughter in death.
posted by Ian Lucraft at
6:05 pm
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