Station Road in Teynham
The parish records note the birth of Frances CHILVERS to father Samuel CHILVERS, a carter, on the Sunday 29 May 1831, and she was baptised on 5 August 1831. She is listed in the 1841 census at home as a 9-year-old.
In the 1851 census Frances is living in London, in the household of a 60 year old widow, Ann BARKER, who originated in Lawton (?Lowton) in Cheshire. Frances was a kitchen maid in a household of 4 staff at number 19 Hanover Terrace in St Marylebone.
With a little bit of detective work, and a fair wind we find the wedding of Frances CHILVERS in the March quarter of 1858 in Poplar to William BENNETT (Vol 1c Page 816).
For the 1861 census we find them in number 17 Roman Road, Bow St Mary in London. William is 22 and a carman. He was born in Barking in Essex. Frances' name is incorrectly recorded as "Francis", and she is 27 years old and from Old Buckenham.
By 1871 the couple have moved to Teynham in Kent. William is 32, again recorded as from Barking in Essex, now a labourer. Frances is recorded once more as "Francis", 36 years old, and noted as being from Buckinghamshire, Norfolk. The enumerator's geography was obviously rather poor. But also in the household is another William BENNETT, an 11-year-old scholar from Barking also who is stated to be William's nephew.
We then track the family on into the 1881 census. They are still in Teynham, in Station Row Cottages. The age-gap appears to have miraculously narrowed as both are 48. At least this time they manage to spell Frances' name correctly, although she is shown purely as being from Norfolk. William is now listed as a Brick Burners Labourer. Young nephew William is still with them at 20, and he too is shown as a Brick Burners Labourer. There is no sign of any children for William and Frances.
Of all the Old Buckenham family Frances appears to have the most stable life, as in 1891 the couple are still in Station Cottages in Teynham. Interestingly the column on the census form headed "number of rooms occupied if less than five" has been completed with the number 4. Both are recorded as being 58, and William is shown as brickmaker. His birthplace has now subtly altered to Ilford, and Frances is shown under the common mistake of Old Buckingham. Young William, the nephew, has now left.
Click here for a description of the cottages from Teynham Parish's website.
1901 provides a slight variation though. There is Frances BENNETT at 17 Station Row, Teynham in Kent. She is recorded as being 68 and from Old Buckenham. But she is the only entry. Normally that would mean she was widowed, but in the column for Relation to Head of Family she is shown as "wife", although someone has added the word "Head" below. But she is also shown as "M" for married, rather than "W" for widowed.
The mystery is a simple one to solve as we find William in hospital. In the 1901 census record for St Bartholomew's Hospital in Rochester on 31 March 1901 we find a 62-year-old William BENNETT from Barking, a labourer in the brickfield, noted as a patient.
Page last updated 29 May 2007
