(Elizabeth) LUCY LARBY nee legg

Subject Name :  (Elizabeth) Lucy Larby née Webb (b 1811 – d 1883)

Researchers :  Mike Brock and Carol Thompson

The first thing to note about Elizabeth Larby is that it is almost certain she was not Elizabeth Larby! All records, other than her being named Elizabeth in the 1881 Census 1, indicate that her name was actually Lucy Larby.  There are no records of an Elizabeth Larby either before or after the 1881 Census that fit with the age and birthplace given on that Census, whereas there are plenty of references for a Lucy Larby, including her death in the Guildford Union Workhouse in 1883 2.  A possible theory to the presumed mistake is that the name the enumerator heard was “Lizzy” instead of “Lucy”, hence Elizabeth being put on the Census.

Lucy was born around 1811 in Albury, about four miles from Guildford, the daughter of John and Mary Legg, being baptised in the village church on 16 November that year 3.

Lucy’s early life was almost certainly difficult.  Her parents’ first child George had died as an infant a year before Lucy’s birth 4,5.  The next recorded family baptism after Lucy was in 1817 of Sarah, which said that she was a ‘base born’ (ie illegitimate) daughter of ‘widow’ Mary Legg 6.  No records have been found to prove that Mary’s husband John had indeed passed away rather than simply disappeared.  It doesn’t seem that Sarah was his child.  No baptisms of any other siblings for Lucy have been found.

Lucy, like many children of that time, reached adulthood unable to write.  This was made clear by her being unable to sign the certificate of her marriage to widower John Larby (a labourer), which took place in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, Godalming, on 28 January 1839 7.

John Larby’s first marriage was in November 1832 to Susanna Portsmouth in Godalming 8.  It had ended in tragedy just three months later, when his wife Susanna died age 27, either in childbirth or shortly after giving birth to their daughter Susanna, clearly named in memory of her mother 9, 10. 

Lucy had come into the marriage with John Larby as a single mother of two, having given birth to her son William Legg in Albury in about 1832 11, and her daughter Ann in the Guildford Union Workhouse in 1836 12.  

Sadly, William died in the Guildford Union Workhouse in July 1837 age six 13.  William’s ‘abode’ on death was given as the Workhouse, which suggests that Lucy might even have been in the Workhouse since before the birth of her daughter.

We can’t trace when Lucy’s mother died – she couldn’t be found in the 1841 Census under the name Mary Legg.  So Lucy may have lost her mother, and had very little support, and was therefore destitute and reliant on the Workhouse.  There was most definitely a stigma attached to unmarried mothers at that time which Lucy would in all likelihood have encountered.

Happily the 1841 Census shows that by now married, Lucy (age 25), John (30) and her daughter Ann (4) were not in the Workhouse, but were living in Church Street, Godalming 14.  John’s eight-year-old daughter Susanna was living a mile or so away with his brother Thomas in Mead Row, Farncombe 15.  There are no records showing Lucy and John had any children of their own. 

Lucy (age 39), John (44) and Ann (14) were still living in Church Street in 1851 16.  John was noted as a ‘grave digger’ on that Census, so he was almost certainly working at the adjacent St. Peter and St. Paul Parish Church, where they had married.   His daughter Susanna was a servant in Clerkenwell in the 1851 census 17, but then emigrated to Melbourne, Australia on an assisted passage, arriving in January 1852 18 – a brave move indeed, but no doubt promising a better life.  She was pregnant with her first child 19, and travelled with the child’s father Edward Andrew 20.  She settled in Australia, passing away in 1907 in New South Wales.  Her death certificate says she was married three times, and had 11 children 21.

In 1861, Lucy, age 49, and John, now a ‘jobbing labourer’, were at the same address, Church Street, Godalming 22.  Living with them were Lucy’s recently married daughter Ann and her husband Thomas Woods 23.  Like his father before him, Thomas was a framework knitter 24, which was a skilled job making top-quality woollen stockings, a long-standing industry in Godalming.  One of the types of machines he would have used is currently to be found in the Godalming Museum 25.

Life for Lucy, though, was about to take a bad turn, as John contracted lung disease and on 12 November 1861 he passed away age 53 26. 

Lucy herself was also not in great health, as she was receiving outdoor relief from the Guildford Union during the following years for ‘infirmity’  27.  From 1864 to 1871 she was given around £3 5 shillings (£3.25) in money every 6 months, and 10 shillings in kind, as well as medical costs. This equates to 5d (old pence) per day, about 2p in today’s money.  To give an idea of the cost of living, in 1870 a staple four-pound in weight loaf cost around 6 ½ d 28.  This small amount of outdoor relief would have been just enough to keep Lucy out of the workhouse.

Lucy’s address changed in 1866 from Church Street to Ockford Road, still in Godalming, which was where her daughter and son-in-law were noted as living in the 1871 Census 29.

It does appear that Lucy did earn a small income for a time, as the 1871 Census shows her age 59 as a ‘cutter of rags for paper’, lodging with another widow in Lower Eashing, Godalming 30.  Lucy would have been working for the Eashing Mill 31. 

Paper-making was a large industry in the Guildford area, and for many years rags were cut up and then beaten to a pulp to produce fibres from which paper was made.  Stoke Mill in Guildford was producing paper as far back as 1653. 

Paper making was a viable concern in Albury, Lucy’s birthplace, in the 1830’s. 

In the early 1870’s there were some five mills located along the River Wey and Godalming Navigations (a 20-mile navigable route from Godalming to the River Thames), including Eashing, although by then the use of rags had mostly been replaced by the more suitable esparto grass and wood pulp.  The last paper mill in Surrey was at Catteshall in Godalming, which remained working until 1928 32.

There are no existing records to show exactly when Lucy entered the Guildford Union Workhouse.  She was not living with her daughter Ann and son-in-law Thomas in Godalming in 1881 33.  There are no Lucy Larby’s listed in the 1881 Census in the area, making the possible Elizabeth/Lucy name confusion referred to earlier highly likely, and that Lucy was in the Workhouse by then.  What is certain is that on 6 March 1883, Lucy Larby died in the Workhouse, age 70, from heart disease 34, and was buried at the Godalming Nightingale Cemetery three days later 35.

Lucy’s daughter Ann died only six months after her mother, age 47 36.  Lucy’s son-in-law Thomas was living as a pauper in the Guildford Union Workhouse in both the 1891 37 and 1901 Censuses 38, and died there on September 1909 age 84 39.  Lucy’s half-sister Sarah Legg, who remained unmarried, also ended up in the Guildford Workhouse in 1891 40 and 1901 41, passing away there in 1908 42.

It’s fair to say that Lucy’s little family went through some extremely tough times, and it would seem that the Guildford Union played its part in keeping them afloat.

 

October 2020, updated November 2023

References

  1. Elizabeth Larby 1881 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Surrey.  Reference RG11; Piece: 778; Folio: 91; Page: 4. Ancestry.co.uk
  2. Lucy Larby 6 March 1883 March Quarter, Guildford, Vol 2a, Page 56, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. Ancestry.co.uk
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  3. Lucy Legg 16 November 1811. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Albury 1728-1812, Reference: ALB/1/3, page 54.  Ancestry.co.uk
  4. George Legg 2 September 1810. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Albury 1728-1812, Reference: ALB/1/3, page 53.  Ancestry.co.uk
  5. George Legg 25 October 1810. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Peter & St Paul Albury 1728-1812, Reference: ALB/1/3, page 63.  Ancestry.co.uk
  6. Sarah Legg 6 April 1817. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Albury 1813-1831, Reference: ALB/3/1-2, page 12.  Ancestry.co.uk
  7. Lucy Legg & John Larby 28 January 1839. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Marriages, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1837-1851, Reference: GOD/2/4, page 25.  Ancestry.co.uk
  8. John Larbey & Susanna Portsmouth 5 November 1832. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Marriages, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1813-1837, Reference: GOD/2/3, page 199.  Ancestry.co.uk
  9. Susanna Larbey 10 February 1833. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1813-1842, Reference: GOD/5/1, page 190.  Ancestry.co.uk
  10. Susanna Larbey 10 March 1833. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1813-1833, Reference: GOD/4/1, page 292.  Ancestry.co.uk
  11. William Legg 23 December 1832. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Albury 1813-1881, Reference: ALB/3/1-2, page 58.  Ancestry.co.uk
  12. Ann Legg 9 October 1836. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Baptisms, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1833-1837, Reference: GOD/4/2, page 46.  Ancestry.co.uk
  13. William Legg 9 July 1837. Surrey History Centre, Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Parish Burials, St Peter & St Paul Godalming 1813-1842, Reference: GOD/5/1, page 244.  Ancestry.co.uk
  14. John, Lucy Larby, Ann Legg 1841 England Census, Godalming, Guildford, Surrey.  Reference HO107; Piece: 1073; Book: 3; Folio: 19; Page: 33.  Ancestry.co.uk
  15. Thomas, Susan Tarby 1841 England Census, Farncombe, Godalming, Guildford, Surrey. Reference HO107; Piece: 1073; Book: 2; Folio: 29; Page: 23. Ancestry.co.uk
  16. John, Lucy, Ann Larby 1851 England Census, Godalming, Guildford, Surrey.  Reference HO107; Piece: 1594; Folio: 725; Page: 37.  Ancestry.co.uk
  17. Susan Larby 1851 England Census, Clerkenwell, Guildford, Surrey.  Reference HO107; Piece: 1519; Folio: 38; Page: 7.  Ancestry.co.uk
  18. Susannah Parby 1852 Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923, Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom. Series: VPRS 14; microform copy VPRS 3502.  Ancestry.com
  19. Elizabeth Andrew Birth 29 May 1852, Baptism, 30 July 1852 in Melbourne.  Victoria, Australia, St. Peter’s Eastern Hill, Baptisms, 1848-1915, Reference Number: 1/1 Ancestry.com
  20. Edward Andrew 1852 Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923, Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom.  Series: VPRS 14; microform copy VPRS 3502.  Ancestry.com
  21. Susannah McKivat   Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985.  Ancestry.com
    Death 28 September 1907, East Orange, New South Wales.  
    Full certificate shared on several public Ancestry Family Trees. 
  22. John, Lucy Larby; Thomas, Ann Woods 1861 England Census, Godalming, Guildford, Surrey.  Reference RG9; Piece: 429; Folio: 74; Page: 23. Ancestry.co.uk
  23. Ann Legg & Thomas Woods 1859 England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915, June Quarter, Guildford, volume 2a, page 90. Ancestry.co.uk
  24. Thomas, Dorothy, Thomas Woods 1851 England Census, Godalming, Guildford, Surrey.  Reference HO107; Piece: 1594; Folio: 719; Page: 24. Ancestry.co.uk
  25. The Framework Knitting Industry, Godalming Museum publication and website. GodalmingMuseum.org.uk
  26. John Larby 12 November 1861 December Quarter Guildford Vol 2a Page 56, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. Ancestry.co.uk
    Copy of original certificate from public Ancestry Family Tree
  27. Lucy Larby Guildford Poor Law Half Yearly Accounts, BG6/33/1.
    Half Year Ended Lady Day 1864 page 16 (Godalming); Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1869 page 16; Half Year Ended Lady Day 1865 page 16; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1865 page 16; Half Year Ended Lady Day 1866 page 16 (Godalming, Church Street); Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1866 page 19 (Godalming, Ockford Road); Half Year Ended Lady Day 1867 page 19; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1867 page 18; Half Year Ended Lady Day 1868 page 18; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1868 page 18; Half Year Ended Lady Day 1869 page 18; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1869 page 17; Half Year Ended Lady Day 1870, page 18; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1870 page 18; Half Year ended Lady Day 1871 page 16; Half Year Ended Michaelmas 1871 page 18. Surrey History Centre, Woking
  28. The Price of Bread West Surrey Times, 7 May 1870, page 2. British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  29. Ann, Thomas Woods 1871 England Census, Godalming, Surrey.  Reference RG10; Piece: 814; Folio: 105; Page: 61.  Ancestry.co.uk
  30. Lucy Larby 1871 England Census, Lower Eashing, Shackleford, Godalming, Surrey.  Reference RG10; Piece: 814; Folio: 5; Page: 4.  Ancestry.co.uk
  31. The 900 Year Old History of Eashing Mill Shackleford.org
  32. Paper Making in the Wey Valley WeyRiver.co.uk
  33. Ann, Thomas Woods 1881 England Census, Godalming, Surrey.  Reference RG11; Piece: 780; Folio: 7; Page: 9.  Ancestry.co.uk
  34. Lucy Larby 6 March 1833 March Quarter, Guildford, Vol 2a, Page 56, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. Ancestry.co.uk
    Copy of original certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  35. Lucy Larby 9 March 1883, Burial Godalming Nightingale Cemetery record book N3/2175, page 7. Godalming-tc.gov.uk
  36. Ann Woods 1883 September Quarter, Guildford Vol 2a Page 49, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915. Ancestry.co.uk
    Ann Woods 7 September 1883, Burial Godalming Nightingale Cemetery record book N3/2228, page 10. Godalming-tc.gov.uk
  37. Thomas Woods 1891 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Surrey.  Reference RG12; Piece: 560; Folio: 201; Page: 6.  Ancestry.co.uk
  38. Thomas Woods 1901 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Surrey.  Reference RG13; Piece: 605; Folio: 67; Page: 10.  Ancestry.co.uk
  39. Thomas Woods 19 September 1909. Surrey Guildford Workhouse deaths 1887-1914; Reference:  BG6/38/2, page 53. Surrey History Centre, Woking  Surreycc.gov.uk
  40. Sarah Legg 1891 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Surrey.  Reference RG12; Piece: 560; Folio: 203; Page: 9.  Ancestry.co.uk
  41. Sarah Legg 1901 England Census, Guildford Union Workhouse, Surrey.  Reference RG13; Piece: 605; Folio: 65; Page: 5.  Ancestry.co.uk
  42. Sarah Legg 14 September 1908. Surrey Guildford Workhouse deaths 1887-1914; Reference:  BG6/38/2, page 43.  Surrey History Centre, Woking  Surreycc.gov.uk