Eliza Ann Irving Richardson

BIRTH Born Sep 22 1793 in Dallington, Sussex, christened Nov 8 1793 in Dallington. Name: Eliza Ann Irving Richardson Gender: Female Christening Date: 08 Nov 1793 Christening Date (Original): 08 NOV 1793 Christening Place: DALLINGTON,SUSSEX,ENGLAND Birth Date: 22 Sep 1793 Father's Name: Thos. Richardson Mother's Name: Elizth. Ashburnham

Eliza Ann Irving Last name Richardson Gender Female Birth year 1793 Birth place - Baptism year 1793 Baptism date 08 Nov 1793 Place Dallington County Sussex Country England Father's first name(s) Thos. Father's last name Richardson Mother's first name(s) Elizth. Ashburnham

- 1793 Sussex OPC database, baptism: St Giles, Dallington 08 Nov 1793 Richardson Eliza Ann Irving

Also suggested Eliza born 1787 at Brede. I think my information is good! So many Richardsons baptised at Brede it is easy to confuse. I have chased this reference and found a complete absence of evidence for it

MARRIAGE Married in Dallington on April 5 1815.

- 1815 Extract from the Sussex FHG Marriage Index: Place: Brede, East Sussex, Date: 5 Apr 1815: Subject: Eliza Ann Irving RICHARDSON, sp Spouse: James RICHARDSON, bach botp (lic)

- 1815 Married her cousin, James, the son of Henry and Martha Richardson. - marriage date of James R and Eliza Ann Irving - 05 04 1815

1815 listed as granddaughter and heir Eliza Anne Irvine nee Richardson, wife of James Richardson of Brede, farmer, in a conveyance document associated with the will of her grandfather Rev William North (who died 1800). [The dates might be a coincidence, but leave open the possibility that the family arranged this marriage to keep Rev. North's bequest to Eliza in the Richardson family.]

CENSUS Eliza Richardson England and Wales Census, 1841 Name: Eliza Richardson Event Type: Census Event Date: 1841 Event Place: Brede, Sussex, England Residence Note: Sheerfold House Gender: Female Age: 45-49 Age (Original): 45 Birth Year (Estimated): 1792-1796 Birthplace: Sussex Registration District: Rye Parish: Brede County: Sussex Page Number: 15 Registration Number: HO107 Piece/Folio: 1106/11 Affiliate Record Type: Household Household Role Sex Age Birthplace James Richardson Male 50-54 Sussex Eliza Richardson Female 45-49 Sussex Jane Richardson Female 20-24 Sussex Jack Richardson Male 15-19 Sussex Lewis Richardson Male 15-19 Sussex Hannah Gain Female 20-24 Sussex [Shearfold House is/was a substantial farm house on Stubb Lane Brede, and is a "listed building". L-shaped timber-framed house, C15 and C17 addition. Two storeys. Three windows to each wing. Faced with weatherboarding. Tiled roof. Casement windows. The east wing is of higher elevation. The west wing has a C18 doorway with projecting cornice on brackets.]

1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription Meadow Cottage, Little Udimore, Rye, Sussex, England James Richardson Head Married Male 60 1791 Farmer Brede, Sussex, England Eliza Ann Jane Richardson Wife Married Female 57 1794 - Brede, Sussex, England Jane Elizabeth Richardson Daughter Unmarried Female 28 1823 - Brede, Sussex, England John Gladwish Richardson Son Widower Male 25 1826 - Brede, Sussex, England Mary Ann Sargent Visitor Unmarried Female 17 1834 - Rye, Sussex, England Sarah Foster Servant Unmarried Female 17 1834 - Rye, Sussex, England George Venner Servant Unmarried Male 19 1832 Ag Lab Northiam, Sussex, England

1861 census for Park Street Rye, Sussex, shows Eliza Ann Irving Richardson, widow, as a visitor in the household of George Austin, a hotel keeper

COMMENTARY After James death, and probably after the sons left home, Eliza seems to have lived at Winchelsea, Sussex, then at Tenterden in Kent, where she died in 1876. [See the probate record below] The 1861 census also shows her at Rye. Eliza never moved far from home since all these locations are within a very few miles of Rye and Brede. James seems to have liquidated his assets before retiring to Hastings, where he died in 1856. Eliza seems not to have been a significant beneficiary of his will, since she took employment as a housekeeper at abt. age 64 yrs. Alternatively, she and James might have agreed that their sons would share the remaining estate to assist them to settle in Australia.

Eliza seems to have escaped the 1871 census collection, but the 1861 census for Park Street Rye, Sussex, shows Eliza Ann Irving Richardson, widow, as a visitor in the household of George Austin, a hotel keeper, which suggests that Eliza is a resident of the hotel, but two other persons, Lucy Ellis, cook, 54 yrs born Ninfield, and Margaret Curd, servant, 15 yrs born Rye, are recorded as boarders. Perhaps Eliza is a personal friend of the Austins, George and Judith, although they are considerably younger than her, but she might also be living there as a tenant. Eliza Ann Irving is described as a widow, 60 yrs [actually 68 yrs] born Dallington C1801, occupation housekeeper. Perhaps she put her age down to get work. See docs

Married her cousin James, the son of Richard and Martha Richardson, and outlived him by over 20 years. Eliza's mother, Elizabeth Ashburnham North, is named for her father, Rev William North, and Ashburnham is probably in honour of William's patron, the Earl of Ashburnham.

When James died, Eliza would be left alone in Sussex after the last of her sons migrated to Victoria, Australia. Both of her daughters predeceased her, and all the sons migrated to Victoria between 1841 and 1857. She took work in Rye as a housekeeper at abt. age 64yrs.

Her father was Thomas Richardson, brother of Henry, mother was Elizabeth Ashburnham North.

DEATH ELIZABETH ANN IRVING Last name RICHARDSON Gender Female Birth day - Birth month - Birth year 1795 Age 82 Death quarter 1 Death year 1877 District Tenterden County Kent Volume 2A Page 423

Born Sep 22 1793 in Dallington, Sussex, christened Nov 8 1793 in Dallington, died in Tenterden District, Kent, in 1876, age 83 yrs. The death record has her born 1795 and dying Q1 1877. These might represent the reporting of events, rather than the events themselves. A late December death might well be reported in the following January and thus appear as 1877, rather than 1876. I trust the Probate Office. This death record also supports a birth date in 1793, rather than 1787.

From FamilySearch: Elizabeth Ann Irwin Richardson buried 29 December 1876 at Tenterden, Kent, 82 years old, born C1794. They have an image of the burial record available to see at one of their centres. Either a transcriber botched the name, or the Vicar did.

From Probate records, London, 1877: "Eliza Ann Irving Richardson 23 January 1877. The will of Eliza Ann Irving Richardson formerly of Winchelsea in the County of Sussex but late of Tenterden in the County of Kent Widow who died 22 December 1876 at Tenterden was proved at the Principal Registry by Thomas Herbert Hanne [ a solicitor] of Worthing in the County of Sussex Gentleman the sole executor." Eliza Ann left effects valued at less than 100 pounds, and no property. I haven't bought the will to see who she left her possessions to, since her husband, children and brothers, have all died or emigrated.

From Claudia Boorman: On 5 Apr 1815 when James was 26, he married Eliza Ann Irving RICHARDSON (32) , daughter of Thomas RICHARDSON (11) (~1757-1823) & Elizabeth Ashburnham NORTH (1762-1798), in Brede, East Sussex, England. Born on 22 Sep 1793 in Dallington, Sussex, England. Christened on 8 Nov 1793 in St Giles, Dallington, Sussex, England. Eliza Ann Irving died in Tenterden District, Kent, England, in 1877; she was 83.

- 1793 Sussex OPC database, baptism: St Giles, Dallington 08 Nov 1793 Richardson Eliza Ann Irving

- 1815 Extract from the Sussex FHG Marriage Index: Place: Brede, East Sussex, Date: 5 Apr 1815: Subject: Eliza Ann Irving RICHARDSON, sp Spouse: James RICHARDSON, bach botp (lic)

From other researchers: - 1815 Married her cousin, James, the son of Henry and Martha Richardson. James [Richardson], the son of Henry and Martha and his wife, who was also his cousin, Eliza Ann Erving Richardson. Eliza Ann was born in Dallington, Sussex on 22/09/1793 to Thomas (brother of Henry) and Elizabeth Ashburnham North. She was christened in Dallington on 08/11/1793. - marriage date of James R and Eliza Ann Irving - 05 04 1815

- 1815 listed as granddaughter and heir Eliza Anne Irvine nee Richardson, wife of James Richardson of Brede, farmer, in a conveyance document associated with the will of her grandfather Rev William North (who died 1800).