Grocer John Meabry and his wife Elizabeth Rishforth had a family of eleven children after their marriage in 1793- eight daughters and three sons. The family was raised at the family home in Broad Street, Bloomsbury, where the Meabrys conducted a grocery business.
1. MARY ELIZA MEABRY. Mary Eliza Meabry was born on July 15, 1794, the first child born to John Meabry and his wife Elizabeth Rishforth. She was baptised on July 17, 1794, at St. George, Bloomsbury. Mary was the first of the Meabry children to marry. On May 16,1820, at the church of St. George, Bloomsbury, she married grocer George Maber. The publication ‘European & London Review’ noted the occasion: “ May 16. Mr George Maber of Chiswell Street Finsbury-Square, to Mary Eliza, eldest daughter of Mr Meabry of Broad Street, Bloomsbury.” I can locate only three children born to Mary and George Maber, only one of whom survived to adulthood:
1.George Patchett Maber: born September 9, 1824, at Chiswell Street, Finsbury Square. Baptised St. Lukes, Finsbury, on January 28, 1825. George Patchett Maber died in the December quarter of 1838, aged only 14 years. By this time his family had moved from London and were living at Fareham in Hampshire.
2. Eliza Maber was born at High Street, Aldgate, on June 16, 1827. Her baptismal record is the only definite record that I have of her existence, but she must have died in childhood as she does not appear in marriage records, or in census returns. There is a burial for a Maber, first name not stated, who was buried at St. Botolph, Aldgate, on November 7, 1827, and the abode was given as Aldgate High Street. This is very likely the burial of Eliza Maber, who would have been aged almost five months.
3. Alfred Maber was born at High Street, Aldgate, on November 22, 1829, the only surviving son of George Maber and his 35 year old wife Mary Meabry Maber. As a young boy he moved with his parents to Hampshire where his father took up farming. In 1841 they were farming at Havant , but by 1851 George Maber was farming 561 acres at Gliddin Farm near Hambledon. A decade later found them farming over 700 acres at Titchfield Park, Titchfield, a location about 13 miles from Havant and about ten miles from Hambledon. As an only child, Alfred stood to inherit quite a fortune when his parents died. His father George died in 1866, followed by his mother Mary Eliza in 1877. Alfred was still unmarried at this stage, but on October 11, 1882, he married Amelia Sarah "Minnie" Miles in the Havant district of Hampshire. Minnie was the youngest daughter of William Miles of Gosseling House, Bedhampton, Havant, Hampshire. Although Alfred Maber had not married until the age of 50 in 1882, he had fathered an illegitimate child in 1878. Given the name of Frederick John Maber Thick, the baby was born at Southampton, the child of Mary Ann Thick and Alfred Maber. Alfred was in his late forties when his son was born, and Mary Ann was 24 years old. Mary Ann Thick was the daughter of shepherd Frederick Thick and his wife Mary Elizabeth Hurst, who had married in 1853 after several years of working together as servants in the household of farmer William Baker at Christchurch, Hampshire. Frederick John Maber Thick seems to have been raised by his grandparents. His mother Mary Ann was a domestic servant...in the census return for 1881 she was working as a general servant in Tonbridge, Kent, for John and Hannah Murrell, while her 2 year old son Frederick lived at Titchfield with his grandparents Frederick and Mary Thick. His father, Alfred Maber, was living 24 miles away in Petersfield. Frederick remained with his grandparents...in 1891 he was living with them in Stoughton, Sussex, while his father Alfred and wife Amelia were living seven miles away at Havant, Hampshire. I can’t find any sign of Frederick’s mother Mary Ann Thick. When Alfred Maber wrote his will on May 10, 1893, he was 63 years old, and his son Frederick was 15. While leaving his wife Amelia the sum of 800 pounds per annum, he was also very generous to Frederick, and requested that he be made an executor and trustee of the will when he turned 21. When he died in November of 1893, Alfred left an estate worth more than 36 thousand pounds. A court case resulted involving his other executor, Thomas Armsby, ensued and was in the courts for some years. I am yet to discover what happened to Frederick John Maber Thick in his adult years. Alfred Maber's wife Amelia remarried: "OLIVE-MABER: On the 6th July, 1895, at St. George's Hanover Square, by the Reverend R.B. Jamieson, curate of St. Georges, William Olive, Fleet Engineer R.N., to Amelia, widow of Alfred Maber Esq, the youngest daughter of William Miles Esq of Claremont, Havant, Herts." - Morning Post, July 10, 1895. In 1866, George Maber, husband of Mary Eliza Meabry, died at the age of 76 years, leaving a substantial estate worth over 24 thousand pounds. The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle published the following death notice on Wednesday, January 31, 1866 : "MABER- On the 27th inst., after a lingering illness, borne with Christian resignation, George Maber of Ticthfield Park, aged 76 years." Mary Eliza Meabry Maber died in 1877 at Fareham, Hampshire, aged 83 years.
2. MARTHA MEABRY was the second child and daughter born to John Meabry and Elizabeth Rishforth. She arrived on June 30, 1795, and was baptised two days later in the church of St. George, Bloomsbury. Martha married Richard Keysell on January 5, 1822, at St. Georges, Bloomsbury. Richard was one of eleven children born to Francis Keysell ( 1749-1804, son of Francis Keysell, shopkeeper of Putney and his wife Bethiah)) and his second wife, Mary Keysell. Francis Keysell's first marriage to Christian Tedd lasted just over 2 months- they were married on September 9, 1777, and Christian died on November 13, 1777. He married Mary Keysell, a minor, the daughter of John Keysell, on 17 April, 1782, at St. George the Martyr, Middlesex. The Keysell family were neighbours of the Meabrys, conducting a cheesemongers business at Broad Street, Bloomsbury, close to the Meabry's grocery premises at 1 Broad Street. Like the Meabrys, Francis Keysell and his wife had eleven children- William Shakespear Keysell ( 1784-1813); Francis (1785-1849); John (1787-1850); Thomas (1788-1825); Henry (1789- ); Richard; Edward; Mary Ann; twin daughters Bethiah and Catherine Eleanor born in 1794(Catherine died 1816); and Elizabeth (1796- ). Martha Meabry married Richard Keysell in January 1822, and in August of the same year her sister Sarah, two years her junior, married Henry Keysell, one of Richard's brothers. Richard was involved in his family's cheesemonger business, and with his wife and children continued to resided at Broad Street. He had five children with Martha- four daughters and one son:
Louisa Jane Keysell: born November 9, 1822, Broad Street, Bloomsbury. Died 1903, Fulham, aged 80 years. Did not marry.
Martha Keysell: born January 9, 1824, Broad Street, Bloomsbury.Died 1848. Did not marry. Elizabeth Sarah Keysell: born April 9, 1825, Broad Street, Bloomsbury. Died at 5 George Street, St. Peters Square, Hammersmith, aged 33 years, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery on April 24, 1858. Did not marry.
Richard Keysell: born February 7, 1828, Broad Street, Bloomsbury.
Ellen Keysell: born June 25, 1830, Broad Street, Bloomsbury. Buried November 21, 1830, St. Georges, Bloomsbury, aged 4 months.
There may also have been another son named Richard born between Elizabeth in 1825 and Richard in 1828...a 10 month old baby named Richard Keysell was buried at St. Georges, Bloomsbury, on May 18, 1827. I can't find a baptism for this child, but the location and timing of his birth suggests very strongly that he was the son of Richard and Martha Keysell.
Richard Keysell died before his wife, but I just cannot find a death record for him. I located an entry for him in the London Consistory Will Index for "Keysell, Richard, Broad Street, Bloomsbury, St. George, Proved May 1831 ." I will be sending away for a copy of this will, and will post the document when it arrives. The eldest two daughters, Louisa and Martha Keysell, in 1841 were amongst seven apprentice dressmakers living at Pall Mall, St James Square, and working for dressmaker Harriet Ollivier. I can find no trace of their mother Martha or siblings Elizabeth and Richard. By the 1851 census, daughter Martha had died. The other three remaining children were living in George Street, Hammersmith, with their widowed mother Martha Keysell, whose occupation was described as 'fundholder'. Daughters Louisa and Elizabeth were aged 28 and 25 respectively, and son Richard was 23 and a 'master printer'. In the 1861 census, 66 year old widow Martha Keysell and her eldest daughter Louisa, aged 38, were still at 5 George Street, Hammersmith. Both Martha's and Louisa's occupations were given as 'gentlewoman'. Son Richard was no longer with them because on June 3, 1856, he had married Hannah Jane Wilson, the daughter of Richard Wilson, wine merchant, of Paddington. Richard's occupation was given as 'auctioneer', and his father Richard's as 'provision merchant'.
In 1871, matriarch Martha Keysell and her spinster daughter Louisa were still at Hammersmith, living off 'funded property'. Also living in the household was a ladies' maid and a general servant. Richard Keysell, his wife Hannah and their children were living at Putney, Surrey, where Richard was still working as an auctioneer. Their children were named as being Edith and Agnes, aged 13 and 11. Edith had been baptised on January 16, 1858, when her parents were living at Boundary Road, St. Johns Wood. Agnes was born at the same place, and baptised on July 30, 1859.
Martha Keysell died on January 5, 1876, at 5 George Street, St. Peters Square, Hammersmith. Her effects were valued as less than two hundred pounds, and her nephew John Jeffryes Oakley was named as sole executor of her will. Her daughter Louisa Keysell continued to live in their house in George Street, and was residing there at the time of the 1881 census, with a 66 year old widow boarder named Jane Smalley and a servant. Louisa's brother Richard Keysell had retired from auctioneering and moved with his family to Brighton. Daughters Edith and Agnes were aged 23 and 21 respectively.
The 1891 census proved a real test in finding Richard and Louisa, because Richard's family was transcribed incorrectly on Ancestry.com as 'Kerpell', and Louisa as "Neysell". Louisa was still at 5 George Street, Hammersmith, living 'on her own means' and alone. Her brother Richard and his family had also moved to Hammersmith, with his two daughters still unmarried at the ages of 33 and 31. By 1901 Richard Keysell had moved one final time...he was residing at 62 Hotham Road, Putney, which is where he was living when he died just after the census was conducted. He died on July 1, 1901, leaving effects worth just over one hundred pounds. His wife and daughter Agnes were still living at home. I can't locate daughter Edith, but in 1908 she can be found, aged 50, on a ship returning to England from Montreal, Canada. Richard's sister Louisa in 1901 was still living at 5 George Street, Hammersmith. Aged 78 and living on her own means, Louisa had living with her a 25 year old domestic servant, Minnie Smith.
The sole remaining child of Martha Meabry and Richard Keysell, Louisa Jane Keysell, died at her home at 5 George Street, Hammersmith, on July 29, 1903. Her effects were valued as being under 1,583 pounds. As none of Martha Meabry Keysell's daughters married or had children, and the two daughters of her son Richard decided to do likewise, there are no living descendants of Martha alive today. The last trace I have of her family is in the 1911 census, where granddaughter Edith Keysell was living by herself in Chapel Road, Epping, a church worker with the Church of England; and her other granddaughter Agnes was living at 62 Hotham Road Putney with her 74 year old mother Hannah Jane Keysell, acting as her housekeeper.
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