HENRY EDE
Subject Name: Henry Ede (b1816 – d1884)
Researcher: Deborah Mandelli
Henry Ede was the first child of labourer George Eades and his wife Henrietta, his baptism in December 1816 taking place at St Peter’s Church, Woking (1, 2). They were at that time living in Pilehill (Pyle Hill) some two miles south of Woking. Henry’s sister, Rebecca, was baptised in the same church in 1821 (3). The spelling of the family surname varied, but Henry’s surname was mostly recorded as Ede in official records.
The family did not remain in Pyle Hill, as Henry’s siblings George, Harriet, Eliza and Caroline were baptised between 1823 and 1830 at St John’s The Evangelist Church, Stoke, then a village neighbouring Guildford (4, 5, 6, 7).
It was at Stoke parish church on 16 November 1844 that Henry Edes married Harriet Cobb, from 
West Dean, Sussex (8, 9). Harriet’s father, like Henry’s, was a labourer. At the time of their marriage, they were living on Joseph’s Lane, Stoke, now known as Joseph’s Road (10). The marriage entry shows that neither Henry or Harriet could read or write as they both marked their names with an ‘X’, which probably accounts for the variations in spelling recorded by officials.
Henry had followed in the footsteps of his father George, working as an agricultural labourer to support his family, which by 1851, had expanded to include three children, Eliza (age 5), George (3) and Mary (1), at their home in Chertsey St, Stoke (9). The household included a visitor, George Cobb, Harriet’s younger brother (11).
Henry’s family remained in Stoke, and by 1861, the number of children had grown to six. The
census of this year showed that Henry was working as a labourer in a flour mill, by now age 45, and the family had moved to a house on Stoke Road (12). The surname was recorded by the enumerator as Edes. Also at home were 13-year-old George who was working as an errand boy, Mary (11), Henry (9), Thomas (6), and Fanny (4). Mary, Henry and Fanny were all scholars. Thomas was not listed as a scholar, but was noted as ‘nearly blind’. Henry’s oldest child, Eliza, age 15, had left home and was employed as a domestic servant for a ‘sheriff’s officer’ nearby (13).
Still living on Stoke Road with Harriet and his family in 1871, Henry was now engaged as a corn porter (14). Also at home were his children George (23) a cordwainer (shoemaker), Mary (21) a dressmaker, Henry (19) an unemployed chemist’s porter, and Thomas (17) a newsagent’s messenger. There was no mention on this census of Thomas being blind, so maybe his sight had been improved with glasses, or the previous census was wrong. Fanny, age 14, had moved out to work as a domestic servant for a farmer/miller living at a corn mill in Stoke Next Guildford (15).
However, the census of 1881 showed Henry no longer living at the family home but as an ‘inmate’ at Guildford Union Workhouse (16), while his wife Harriet (63) and son Henry (27, a porter) remained in the family home on Stoke Road (17).
Henry senior was transferred from the workhouse a year later on 23 September 1882, at the age of 66, to Brookwood Mental Asylum (18).
On his admission to Brookwood, Henry’s ‘form of mental disorder’ was noted as ‘epilepsy’. He had been ‘insane’ and at the Union Workhouse for five years. The cause of Henry’s insanity was noted as ‘Drink’. His next of kin was his wife Harriet, of ‘nr the Hospital, Stoke Rd, Guildford’.
Described as being dangerous to others, but not suicidal, his Medical Certificate told how, in the 
Workhouse, Henry had been generally ‘violent for some hours’ following an epilepsy attack, refusing to comply with requests or answer any questions. After these attacks Henry frequently at night ‘gets out of bed and pulls the bedclothes off the other patients and tries to pull them out of bed’.
Further admission notes advised that Henry had suffered from epilepsy for 20 years, ie from around 1862. He became ‘very violent’ after the fits, which occurred ‘nearly daily’, so his family must have had a very tough time and been unable to cope with the violence prior to his admittance to the workhouse in about 1877.
Little was understood about epilepsy at that time and how to treat it (19). On 28th September, five days after Henry’s admission, records state that the staff had noticed ‘symptoms of his fits coming on’ and ‘ordered a purge’, that is an emetic or laxative thought to clear ‘impurities’ from the body (20). Further entries mentioned several more epileptic episodes, but that Henry was no longer violent after them.
Sadly, over time Henry’s health worsened. By July 1883 his epileptic attacks had become much more severe and he was ‘getting more demented’. A year later, in July 1884, Henry’s health was ‘failing’, he was having ‘very severe’ attacks, and was ‘able to do very little work’.
Two months later, Henry took a further turn for the worse, and passed away on 7 September 1884, age 68. The Coroner gave the cause of death as ‘disease of brain with epilepsy’, and ‘heart disease’.
Henry’s wife, Harriet, outlived him by many years. In 1891, age 75 she was living ‘on her own means’ at 183 Fullers Rd, Croydon with her widowed daughter, Mary Upton (40), a ‘plain needlewoman shirt’ (21). By 1901 Harriet, now 85, had moved to 1 Nettles Terrace, Guildford, to live with her son George, 53, a grocer and beer retailer ‘on his own account’ (22). Harriet died in early 1911 in Guildford at the grand old age of 95 (23).
July 2022
References
1) Henry Eades Baptism 1 December 1816. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey; Surrey Church of England Parish registers, St Peter Woking 1813-1887, reference WOKP/2/2, page 27. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
2) George Ede and Henrietta Downs Marriage 24 October 1815. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey; Surrey Church of England Parish registers, St John The Evangelist, Stoke next Guildford 1813-1887, reference STK/2/4, page 8. Available at Ancestry.co.uk.
3) Rebecca Ead Baptism 14 January 1821. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey; Surrey Church of England Parish registers, St Peter Woking 1813-1887, reference WOKP/2/2, page 54. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
4) George Ede Baptism 5 January 1823. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey; Surrey Church of England Parish registers, St John The Evangelist, Stoke next Guildford 1813-1860, reference STK/1/5. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
5) Harriet Ede Baptism 4 July 1825. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers, St John The Evangelist, Stoke Next Guildford, reference STK/1/5. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
6) Eliza Ede Baptism 27 January 1828. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers, St John The Evangelist, Stoke Next Guildford, reference STK/1/5. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
7) Caroline Ede Baptism 6 June 1830. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers, St John The Evangelist, Stoke Next Guildford, reference STK/1/5. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
8) Henry Ede, Harriet Cobb Marriage 16 November 1844, Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; St John The Evangelist, Stoke Next Guildford, reference STK/2/5, page 39. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
9) Henry, Harriet, Eliza, George, Mary Ede. George Cobb 1851 England Census, Chertsey St, Stoke Next Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: HO107; Piece: 1594; Folio: 434; Page: 13; GSU roll: 193491/2. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
10) Plan of Nettle’s Charity Estates, Guildford, 1861. Joseph’s Lane now Joseph’s Road. Held by Surrey History Centre, Goldsworth Road, Woking.
11) Harriet Cobb Baptism 27 August 1815, daughter of James and Maria. West Sussex Record Office, Brighton; Sussex Parish Registers, West Dean 1813-1847, reference Par 65/1/2/1, page 9. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
George Cobb Baptism 1 February 1825, son of James and Maria. West Sussex Record Office, Brighton; Sussex Parish Registers, West Dean 1813-1847, reference Par 65/1/2/1, page 38. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
12) Henry, Harriet, George, Mary, Henry, Thomas, Fanny Edes 1861 England Census, Stoke Road, Stoke Next Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG9; Piece: 427; Folio: 29; Page: 7; GSU roll: 542636. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
13) Eliza Edes 1861 England Census, Haydon Place, Rays Lane, Stoke Next Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG9; Piece: 427; Folio: 73; Page: 23; GSU roll: 542636. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
14) Henry, Harriet, George, Mary, Henry, Thomas Ede 1871 England Census, Stoke Road, Stoke Next Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 811; Folio: 36; Page: 19-20; GSU roll: 838696. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
15) Fanny Ede 1871 England Census, Corn Mill, Stoke Next Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Reference The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 811; Folio: 19; Page: 31; GSU roll: 838696. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
16) Henry Ede 1881 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG11; Piece: 778; Folio: 93; Page: 7; GSU roll: 13411 83 . Available at Ancestry.co.uk
17) Harriett, Henry Ede 1881 England Census, Stoke Road, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG11; Piece: 776; Folio: 43; Page: 3; GSU roll: 13411 82. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
18) Henry Ede 23 September 1882 Surrey History Centre; Woking, Surrey, England; Brookwood Hospital Woking, Male Case Books 1867-1900, Reference 3043/5/9/1/13, page 90. Available at Surrey History Centre.
19) Late 1800s The History of Epilepsy Society. Epilepsysociety.org.uk/what-we-do/about-epilepsy-society/history-epilepsy-society
20) Health & Medicine in the 19th Century Victoria & Albert Museum. vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/health-and-medicine-in-the-19th-century
21) Mary Upton, Harriet Ede 1891 England Census, 183 Queen’s Road, Croydon, Surrey. Reference Class: RG12; Piece: 591; Folio: 147; Page: 40; GSU roll: 609571. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
22) George, Harriet Ede 1901 England Census, 1 Nettles Terrace, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey. Reference Class: RG13; Piece: 603; Folio: 21; Page: 34. Available at Ancestry.co.uk
23) Harriet Ede 1911, England & Wales Death Index 1837-1945, Jan-Feb-Mar Quarter 1911, Guildford, volume 2a, page 84. Available at Ancestry.co.uk and Gro.gov.uk.