Harriett jelly

Subject Name :  Harriett Jelly (Jelley)
(b1821 – d 1898)

Researcher : Margaret Rose

 

Harriett Jelly, after helping her family care for her elder brother, became a domestic servant before she was forced into the Guildford Union Workhouse.  After a spell in Guildford’s Abbot’s Hospital alongside her mother, Harriett was readmitted to the Workhouse where she remained for many years. She never married.

Harriett was born in Guildford in 1821, the daughter of James and Sarah Jelly née Jones and was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 29th July 1, 2. She was the fifth of nine children for cordwainer (shoemaker) James and Sarah, all baptised at St Mary’s 3.

Like many families of that time, they suffered from dreadful infant mortality. Two of Harriett’s older brothers, James and Stephen, died in July 1818 age 4 and 1 respectively and were buried at St Mary’s on the same day 4. Her sister Ellen, born in 1826, only lived for two years before she too passed away 5. 

In the 1841 Census Harriett, age 21, her parents James and Sarah, and her siblings Thomas, Eliza and Maria, were living in Swan Lane, Guildford 6. This was, and still is, a narrow lane between the High Street and North Street.

Harriett, although not in employment, was most likely fully involved in the care of her elder brother Thomas. According to later Census records, he was an ‘idiot’, a shockingly blunt – but then acceptable – term used at the time 7, 8.

Eight years after this census, in October 1849, at the age of 30, Thomas was admitted into the Guildford Union Workhouse 9.  

In the Workhouse around the same time as Thomas was their father James.  He passed away there from pneumonia in May 1850, aged 66 and was buried at St Mary’s Church 10, 11.

By the time of the 1851 Census Harriett, aged 30, had left the family home and moved a few minutes’ walk down the road to work as a servant for widow Mary Bell at 10 Chertsey Street 12.    Harriett’s mother Sarah, 62, was living on her own in Swan Lane and working as a nurse 13. Her brother Thomas remained in the Workhouse, and had been joined at some stage by their youngest sibling Maria, noted there as a 19-year-old pauper servant in 1851 14, 15.  Maria passed away in the Workhouse in March 1859, age 27, and she too was buried at St Mary’s Church 16, 17. It’s not known if she had been in the Workhouse continuously during those eight years.

In the same year as Maria’s death, Harriett’s brother Thomas was transferred from the Guildford Union Workhouse to the Springfield Surrey County Asylum in Wandsworth following a report on his behaviour in the Workhouse 18, 9.  Life was often difficult for inmates like Thomas, with the report saying ‘if annoyed or teased, as such unfortunates too frequently are, he becomes violent …. has occasionally struck at men with any tool which he might have in his hand’. In mid-1867 Thomas was among the first patients transferred to the second Surrey County Asylum at Brookwood when it opened 19.  He passed away there in 1871 20. 

By 1861, Harriett had also entered the Guildford Union Workhouse 21.  Erroneously noted on the Census as age 30 – she was at least ten years older – Harriett was an unmarried domestic servant. There are no records available to show the date or the reasons for her admission.

Harriett’s mother Sarah, age 74, was also described as an inmate in 1861, but of the Archbishop Abbot’s Hospital in Guildford High Street 22. This was not a hospital as such, but ‘a shelter for the elderly poor of the town’ founded in 1619 23.  The building continues to provide independent living in Guildford today.

Normally, a person in Sarah’s situation with no income would have been forced into the Workhouse, but it seems probable that she was given help known as alms due to the respect in which her late husband was held, having been a cordwainer in the centre of town for over 35 years.  Sarah had the benefit of her 27-year-old daughter Eliza for company in the hospital for a time as she was a live-in ‘nurse/domestic servt.’ but Eliza moved on having married in 1863 24.  

Sometime after 1861, Harriett left the Workhouse and also became an inmate of the Abbot’s Hospital.  Like her mother, she too benefited from a little financial support. In 1870, she received 12 shillings (£0.60) from the Poyle Charity, with a similar donation coming the following year 25, 26.  This was a charity set up in 1628 to help vulnerable people in need or distress in Guildford, and continues its work today 27.

The 1871 Census showed Harriett, 49, and her 82-year-old mother Sarah living at the Abbot’s Hospital 28.  Sarah was noted as an ‘almswoman’. 

In October 1875, Harriett had an accident, slipping over when leaving a Guildford chemist’s shop, and breaking her leg 29.  Harriet was able to recover, but two months later her mother fractured her femur in an accident, and passed away aged 88 30.

It appears that Harriet was not able to stay at Abbot’s Hospital after her mother’s death, as she was once again a Guildford Union Workhouse inmate by the time of the 1881 Census 31. 

She probably remained in the Workhouse for the rest of her life, dying there on 9th May 1898 aged 77 after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage 32, 33.  Harriet was buried at the family church of St Mary’s 34.

August 2023, updated July 2024

References

The source for references is FindMyPast.co.uk, unless otherwise stated

The spelling of the surname varies over the years between Jelly and Jelley. References give the spelling as documented.

  1. James Jelly & Sarah Jones 7 May 1811 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Marriages; Guildford, St Mary 1754-1813; GUM/2/1
  2. Harriett Jelly 29 July 1821 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 37
  3. Sarah Goodwyn Jelley 5 April 1812 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1755-1812; GUM/1/4
    James Jelley 3 April 1814 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 7
    Stephen Jones Jelly 15 January 1817 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 17
    Jelley 18 July 1819 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 29
    Mary Anne Jelley 20 June 1824 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 50
    Ellen Jelley 26 November 1826 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 59
    Eliza Jelly 17 January 1830 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 76
    Maria Jelly 10 June 1832 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Baptisms; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1855; GUM/4/1; page 76
  4. Stephen Jelly, James Jelly 27 July 1818 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Burials; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1865; GUM/5/1; page 18
  5. Ellen Jelly 12 November 1828 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Burials; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1865; GUM/5/1; page 54
  6. James, Sarah, Thomas, Harriett, Eliza, Maria Jelly 1841 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Swan Lane, St Mary, Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1082; Folio 41; Page 25; Schedule 464
  7. Thomas Jelly 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1594; Folio 466; Page 1
  8. The Language of Madness: Understanding Terminology Restoring Perspective, Life and Treatment at the London Asylum, project of the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
    lib.uwo.ca/archives/virtualexhibits/londonasylum/terminology
    The Clinical History of ‘Moron’, ‘Idiot’, and ‘Imbecile’ The words have a less-than-savory past.  Word history.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary
    Merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history
    Social Stigma, 19th Century Insanity Register of Qualified Genealogists blog
    Qualifiedgenealogists.org/RQGNews/blog/insanity
  9. Guildford Board of Guardian, Pauper Lunatics in the Union 10 September 1859 West Surrey Times, page 2
    Thomas Jelly 3 September 1859 Guildford Poor Law Union Minute Books 1836-1918; reference BG6/11/23; page 209. Available at Surrey History Centre, Woking   SurreyCC.gov.uk
  10. James Jelly 16 May 1850 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007; Apr-May-Jun 1850; Guildford, Surrey; Volume 4; Page 118
    Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  11. James Jelley 22 May 1850 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Burials; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1865; GUM/5/1; page 139
  12. Harriett Jelley 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; 10 Chertsey St, Stoke Next Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1594; Folio 429; Page 2; Schedule 9
  13. Sarah Jelly 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; 3 Swan Lane, St Mary, Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1594; Folio 522; Page 31; Schedule 143
  14. Thomas Jelly 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1594; Folio 466; Page 1; Schedule 0
  15. Maria Jelly 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; HO107; Piece number 1594; Folio 470; Page 8
  16. Maria Jelly Jan-Feb-Mar 1859 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007; Guildford, Surrey; Volume 2A; Page 40
  17. Maria Jelly 24 March 1859 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Burials; Guildford, St Mary 1813-1865; GUM/5/1; page 179
  18. Thomas Jelly 24 September 1859 The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; Commissioners in Lunacy 1845-1913; Lunacy Patients Admission Registers; Series MH 94; Piece 17
    Available at Ancestry.co.uk
  19. Thomas Jelly 19 July 1867 Surrey History Centre; Mental Health Admissions;  Brookwood Asylum 1867-1871; Reference 3043/5/1/1/1;  Register 1; Admission numbers 1-1250. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
    Thomas Jelly 19 July 1867 Brookwood Hospital Woking, Male Case Books 1867-1900; reference 3043/5/9/1/1; page 33. Available at Surrey History Centre, Woking  SurreyCC.gov.uk
  20. Thomas Jelly 17 March 1871 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007; Jan-Feb-Mar 1871; Guildford, Surrey; Volume 2A; Page 31
  21. Harriett Jelly 1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; RG09; Piece number 427; Folio 88A; Page 1; Schedule 9
  22. Sarah Jelley, Eliza Jelley 1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Archbishop Abbott’s Hospital, High St, Guildford; RG09; Piece number 428; Folio 87; Page 19; Schedule 91
  23. Abbot’s Hospital Abbotshospital.org
  24. Eliza Jelley & James Deadman 25 April 1863 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Marriages; Merrow, St John 1838-1930; MER/3/2
  25. Distribution of the Poyle Charity 3 December 1870 West Surrey Times, page 2
  26. Distribution of the Poyle Charity 2 December 1871 West Surrey Times, page 3
  27. Guildford Poyle Charities, About Us GuildfordPoyleCharities.org
  28. Sarah Jelley, Harriet Jelley 1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Abbott’s Hospital, High St, Guildford; RG10; Piece number 812; Folio 82; Page 16; Schedule 73
  29. Accident 9 October 1875 Surrey Advertiser, page 5
  30. Sarah Jelly 3 February 1876 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007; Jan-Feb-Mar 1850; Guildford, Surrey; Volume 2A; Page 54
    Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  31. Harriet Jelley 1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; RG11; Piece number 778; Folio 92; Page 5; Schedule 3
  32. Harriet Jelley 1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census; Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford; RG12; Piece number 560; Folio 203; Page 10; Schedule 4
  33. Harriett Jelly 9 May 1898 Surrey History Centre; Surrey Institutional Records 1788-1939; Guildford Workhouse Deaths 1887-1914; BG6/38/1; Record 524; Page 60
    Harriet Jelly 9 May 1898 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007; Apr-May-Jun1898; Guildford, Surrey; Volume 2A; Page 50
    Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  34. Harriett Jelly 1898 (actual date not recorded) Surrey History Centre; Surrey Burials; Guildford, St Mary 1892-1971; GUM/5/3; page 17