I try to remember to tread carefully when I am researching other people’s family histories. It is not always immediately obvious what the relationships might be nor what tragedy could be lying in wait.
When I first stopped at this headstone I suspected the two women buried here were mother and daughter, but their relationship was not as it might at first appear.
Fanny Dyer was born in about 1861 in Woodchester, Gloucestershire, the daughter of David Dyer, a train examiner, and his wife Emily. On December 26, 1881 she married William Henry Harris in All Saints Church, Gloucester. The couple had one son, William Henry David. Sadly, by the time of the 1891 census Fanny was widowed and living with her eight year old son William and her parents David and Emily Dyer at 47 Gooch Street. She was 29 and worked as a dressmaker.
On October 19, 1907 Fanny’s son William Harris married Nellie Maud Wakelin at the church of St. Mary & St John in Cowley, Oxford. Nellie’s father George Wakelin and Fanny Harris signed the register as witnesses. Some four weeks later the young couple’s daughter Nellie was born.
At the time of the 1911 census William and Nellie were living at 91 Cardiff Road, Reading. They had been married 3 years and had two children but only their son, William Henry aged 1 was living with them. Back in Swindon Fanny was living with her widowed father David at 4 Islington Street and little Nellie Harris aged 3 was living with her.
As we can see from this headstone Fanny died on March 2, 1936 when she was living at an address in Commercial Road, Swindon. Nellie would have been approximately 29 years old at the time of her grandmother’s death.
The next time I can find Nellie is on the 1939 List when she is a resident at the Wilton Certified Institution, Kingsway House, Wilton, Wiltshire classified as a Certified Mental Defective. One of the most shocking aspects of family history research is discovering the terminology once given to people with physical or mental disabilities.
Nellie Maud died on December 12, 1967. The burial registers record that she died at Cotshill Hospital, Chipping Norton, although a home address of 18 Northern Road, Swindon is also included. Formerly a workhouse, Cotshill Hospital had various classifications across the years and is described post 1948 as an Acute, Mental Hospital.
This is only a snapshot of Fanny and Nellie’s life, the reality was probably more nuanced. Perhaps Nellie spent long periods living with her family. Perhaps it was only the death of Fanny that necessitated her move into an institution.
This stylish headstone memorialises these two women, and so do I.
Radnor Street Cemetery 