Easter Gadd

Easter Gadd is an obvious character to research this Easter weekend.

I’ve often paused at this headstone and wondered what the upstanding Mr Gadd might have looked like and what his profession might have been. Something in the legal profession I imagined, or possibly a vicar with such an appropriate name, a character stepped straight out of a Dickens novel.

But Easter Gadd was not a man but a woman.

Easter was born on August 27, 1811, the daughter of Henry and Mary Pascall and baptised at George Street Independent Church, Croydon, Surrey in October.

She married Richard Gadd at St John’s Church, Croydon by licence on April 5, 1833 (which just so happened to be Good Friday that year) and most clearly signed her name as Easter. I mention this as there appears to be a certain amount of confusion as to the spelling of her name on official documents, especially census returns, when she is frequently recorded as Easther or Esther.

But when she was baptised, married and died her name was most definitely recorded as Easter.

Richard and Ophelia Gadd and their five children

When Easter died in 1886, she was living with her son Richard and his family. Richard, it can be assumed, arranged for his mother’s headstone to be erected and had overseen the spelling of her name. Now I have the utmost faith in the accuracy of the spelling on the gravestone and I’ll tell you why – Richard’s immaculate attention to detail.

Richard Gadd was born in Croydon on July 1, 1834. His father died on May 17, 1835 and at the time of the 1841 census Easter was living with her brother-in-law Charles Gadd and his family in Lambeth, South London.

By 1851 she had moved to Hulme, Manchester and was living with her widowed brother William Pascall and his daughter where she is described as ‘housekeeper.’ The enumerator records her name as Esther (because he obviously knew better!)

Easter remains living with William for more than ten years and after that with various nephews and nieces until the census of 1881 when she is living at Lima Terrace, Ashton upon Mersey (today a part of Greater Manchester) with Henry Pascall who is confusingly described as her son (like we need any more confusion in this story). By the way, the census enumerator spells her name as Esther. I’m beginning to wonder if Easter was a bit of a chatterbox and confused these men as they recorded her details.

Sometime after this date Easter moved to Swindon to live with her son Richard and his family. Richard had settled in Swindon in 1853 when he started work as a clerk in the GWR Works.

Richard left the employ of the GWR sometime in the 1860s when he is recorded in Harrod’s Directory as an architectural & mechanical draughtsman living in Prospect Place. However, by 1891 he was back at the Works working as an accountant where he remained until he retired in 1899.

At the time of the 1881 census Richard lived at 35 Prospect with his wife Ophelia, their son William, who was a railway draughtsman, and their two daughters Annie Ophelia and Edna Mary.

Easter died shortly after moving to Swindon. Her funeral took place on March 10, 1886 when she was buried in plot E8427 where she was later joined by Richard and Ophelia.

Now why am I so certain Richard has spelled his mother’s name correctly? Well, it is because of the 1911 census returns. On this document the head of the household completed the form themselves unlike in previous censuses when an enumerator did it for them.

Richard and Ophelia Gadd in old age with their two daughters

As you would hopefully expect of an accountant, Richard completes the form with meticulous accuracy. He states that his age is 76 9/12 (that is 76 years and 9 months). Ophelia was 80 8/12 and their daughter Edna Mary 47 4/12. (The young domestic servant Mary Coxhead is recorded as 15 years old. Perhaps he didn’t know her date of birth or maybe he didn’t ask!) He declared that he and Ophelia have had 5 children, all of whom are living, and that they have been married 56 3/12 years.

Now a man like that will definitely get the spelling of his mother’s name correct on her gravestone.

Three of Richard and Ophelia’s children are buried in the neighbouring grave plot E8428. William who died in 1944 aged 85; Annie Ophelia who died in 1955 aged 86 and Edna Mary who died in 1958 aged 94.

Images of Richard and Ophelia Gadd and their family are published courtesy of an Ancestry public family tree.