Susannah Elizabeth Woodroffe (1850-1919)
Mini Biography by Chris Phillips
Susannah Elizabeth Woodroffe who died in March 1919 lies in grave D202 alongside her son Sergeant-Major Thomas Woodroffe (see below). His story is well-known to local historians but Susannah's life is interesting in its own right and her story well-worth recounting – even though to some questions there do not seem to be readily available answers.
Susannah, or Susan as she was often known, first appeared in Ely records when the notice of her marriage to Albert Merrells Woodroffe was published in the Cambridgeshire press. It read: “April 10 1878 A.M.Woodroffe to Susannah Elizabeth daughter of the late Captain Crutchley 37th Regiment Ceylon.” Her maiden name, then, was Crutchley and all subsequent census returns affirm that she was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Her father was William Crutchley who had joined the 37th Foot (the North Hampshires) in 1841 as a private soldier – he was 18 - and had first been stationed in Limerick in Ireland. His regiment was sent to Ceylon in 1846 and records show that by 1851 he was a Colour Sergeant before being promoted to Quartermaster in 1853 and given the rank of Captain. When the Mutiny broke out in India in 1857 William's regiment was sent there and his service earned him the Indian Mutiny Medal. He died aged 37 in India in 1860. Of a wife there is no mention in any on-line records but surviving military documents show that Susannah was born on 19th February 1850 and was, therefore, about 10 when her father died. She had at least one sibling - a brother, Thomas Charles William five years her junior.
It may well be that Susannah's mother had died before her husband since during William's final illness the Army began to pay a Compassionate Allowance of £8 a year to both his children and this continued to be paid in Susannah's case until the end of March 1871 and in the case of her brother until 1874. What happened to them after they were orphaned can only be guessed at and requires detailed research into British India records but there were orphanages for the children of soldiers who died in India. To all intents and purposes Thomas disappeared from official documents after the 1874 reference to his allowance and in any case his fate is beyond the scope of this study – but surely he was the Thomas Charles William Crutchley mentioned in the will of Henry Crutchley, a waiter who lived in Cambridge and who died in 1903? Susannah is next to be found on the 1871 England and Wales census aged 21 and living in Broad Street, a commercial area of Birmingham with a brother and sister named only as R. and C. Hollingshead. The Hollingsheads were unmarried and in their sixties and owned a boot and shoe business. Significantly Susannah is described on the return as an 'apprentice' and perhaps this position had been found for her as she left the care of the military authorities. The only question mark regarding this information is that the census enumerator has written the word 'query' against the entry 'apprentice' but there is no knowing what was in his mind at the time.
Susannah, or Susan as she was often known, first appeared in Ely records when the notice of her marriage to Albert Merrells Woodroffe was published in the Cambridgeshire press. It read: “April 10 1878 A.M.Woodroffe to Susannah Elizabeth daughter of the late Captain Crutchley 37th Regiment Ceylon.” Her maiden name, then, was Crutchley and all subsequent census returns affirm that she was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Her father was William Crutchley who had joined the 37th Foot (the North Hampshires) in 1841 as a private soldier – he was 18 - and had first been stationed in Limerick in Ireland. His regiment was sent to Ceylon in 1846 and records show that by 1851 he was a Colour Sergeant before being promoted to Quartermaster in 1853 and given the rank of Captain. When the Mutiny broke out in India in 1857 William's regiment was sent there and his service earned him the Indian Mutiny Medal. He died aged 37 in India in 1860. Of a wife there is no mention in any on-line records but surviving military documents show that Susannah was born on 19th February 1850 and was, therefore, about 10 when her father died. She had at least one sibling - a brother, Thomas Charles William five years her junior.
It may well be that Susannah's mother had died before her husband since during William's final illness the Army began to pay a Compassionate Allowance of £8 a year to both his children and this continued to be paid in Susannah's case until the end of March 1871 and in the case of her brother until 1874. What happened to them after they were orphaned can only be guessed at and requires detailed research into British India records but there were orphanages for the children of soldiers who died in India. To all intents and purposes Thomas disappeared from official documents after the 1874 reference to his allowance and in any case his fate is beyond the scope of this study – but surely he was the Thomas Charles William Crutchley mentioned in the will of Henry Crutchley, a waiter who lived in Cambridge and who died in 1903? Susannah is next to be found on the 1871 England and Wales census aged 21 and living in Broad Street, a commercial area of Birmingham with a brother and sister named only as R. and C. Hollingshead. The Hollingsheads were unmarried and in their sixties and owned a boot and shoe business. Significantly Susannah is described on the return as an 'apprentice' and perhaps this position had been found for her as she left the care of the military authorities. The only question mark regarding this information is that the census enumerator has written the word 'query' against the entry 'apprentice' but there is no knowing what was in his mind at the time.
Susan and Albert's home on Fore Hill, Ely
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Then from 1871 there is a jump of seven years to Susannah's April 1878 marriage to Albert Merrells Woodroffe in Holy Trinity, Ely. How long she had stayed in Birmingham or how or when she first met her husband-to-be are all unknowns and the couple's marriage banns record only that she was 'Of This Parish' and say nothing of her occupation or actual place of abode. But that the couple married is certain as is the fact that Albert at 18 or 19 was some 9 years Susannah's junior. She however, on this occasion and at subsequent censuses in 1881 and 1891 was 'economical with the truth' and knocked five years off her age! Only much later in 1901 did she reveal her actual age to the enumerator.
Susannah's husband, Albert Merrells Woodroffe was the son of Albert Woodroffe and his wife Emily May (née Goate). Albert snr was a painter and grainer, a skilled tradesman therefore, and an Ely man who had married a girl from Mildenhall who worked before her marriage as a milliner. The family lived in Waterside and Albert jnr worked with his father both before and after his marriage. As a young man he was occasionally in trouble. A few weeks before his wedding he was involved in a fracas in Ely which resulted in two men, William Barker and Thomas Sindall, being charged with assaulting him. They were found guilty and both were fined 2s 6d and ordered to pay 11s 3d costs. The local press reported the case but gave no indication of what had led up to the attack. Then eighteen months after he married he was himself in court charged with being the owner of a dangerous dog which was not kept under proper control. The court ordered that the dog be put down and Albert paid 16s 6d costs. Dogs, from various press references to the family, were an important part of their life and much later on, in 1917, Albert made an ill-tempered appearance in court charged with feeding three dogs with bread and so breaking the strict laws in force at a time when food was scarce because of the War. The local press reported the case in detail stating that Albert was fined £5 and warned that any further infringement of the regulations would result in a more serious punishment. |
Between 1879 and 1891 Albert and Susannah had five children – but only two, Thomas Edward Tasman born in 1880 and Ida Blanche Irene born eleven years later in 1891 survived infancy. Gertrude Emily Rose, Ethel Maud Beatrice and Eva May born in 1879, 1885 and 1889 died aged 4 months, 16 months, and 5 days respectively. When Gertrude died the family placed the briefest of notices in the Obituary column of the local newspapers: 'WOODROFFE, June 1 at Ely, Gertrude E.R. aged 4 months'.
Despite the sadness that these deaths must have inevitably brought the Woodroffes, Susannah and Albert seem to have been active in the social life of the city throughout their marriage. For many years they lived in Waterside - the 1891 census gave their address as 2 Crown Point, Waterside - before moving up to Fore Hill most likely after the death of Albert's father in 1909. The local newspapers of this period are full of detailed accounts of their triumphs as horticulturists, poultry breeders and in Susannah's case, rabbit breeders too. The Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 21st August 1891 reported that at the Ely Horticultural Society's show Albert jnr had carried off first prize for “groups of plants arranged for effect, three stove and greenhouse ferns, six tuberous-rooted pelargoniums, six gloxinias, twelve tomatoes, twelve plums, six peaches, six apricots and a brace of cucumbers.” Plus second and third prizes for other produce and the special prize awarded by seed merchants Messrs Sutton and Sons! Other newspapers detailed the same sort of success at Fanciers' shows with poultry, greyhounds, rabbits and even stuffed birds.
Despite the sadness that these deaths must have inevitably brought the Woodroffes, Susannah and Albert seem to have been active in the social life of the city throughout their marriage. For many years they lived in Waterside - the 1891 census gave their address as 2 Crown Point, Waterside - before moving up to Fore Hill most likely after the death of Albert's father in 1909. The local newspapers of this period are full of detailed accounts of their triumphs as horticulturists, poultry breeders and in Susannah's case, rabbit breeders too. The Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 21st August 1891 reported that at the Ely Horticultural Society's show Albert jnr had carried off first prize for “groups of plants arranged for effect, three stove and greenhouse ferns, six tuberous-rooted pelargoniums, six gloxinias, twelve tomatoes, twelve plums, six peaches, six apricots and a brace of cucumbers.” Plus second and third prizes for other produce and the special prize awarded by seed merchants Messrs Sutton and Sons! Other newspapers detailed the same sort of success at Fanciers' shows with poultry, greyhounds, rabbits and even stuffed birds.
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Amidst all this activity which must have brought Susannah and Albert much satisfaction their two surviving children were growing up. Thomas went to the Cathedral Choir School and was leading soloist for two years before moving on to Soham Grammar School. His interest was very much military and he joined the local Territorials at 17 and was promoted quickly to corporal and then in 1906 to sergeant. By all accounts he was a crack shot and led his Section to victory in the competition for Col. Launcelot Reed's Challenge Cup. He was a sportsman too – a cricketer, footballer and fisherman and a breeder of dogs who won prizes at the Royal Show in London.
When war came in 1914 Thomas was immediately called up but just before leaving for France was found to be medically unfit for service overseas but at once threw himself into the training of the Cambridgeshire Volunteer Force becoming its Sergeant-Major in 1915. His health, however, declined and he died in the autumn of 1917. His funeral at the Cathedral was an impressive occasion but for Susannah and Albert the loss must have been felt very deeply, as it must have been by Olive Clark, daughter of the Mayor and Mayoress of Bury St Edmunds to whom Thomas was engaged. Ida Woodroffe, Susannah and Albert's surviving child, after serving in the Women's Royal Air Force in 1918 married William Hurst the following year and it was they who carried on the family business. The 1939 Register shows them living at 31 Fore Hill and states that William was 'Plumber, Decorator (Master) and Shopkeeper - but their story should be told separately. Susannah died on 5th March 1919. She had not quite made her 'three score years and ten' but her life had been a full one and she had known both joy and sorrow. She was buried in the grave which already contained her son – the inscription read “God called them home”. |
Grave D202 - Co. Serg. Major Thomas E. T. Woodroffe and his mother, Susan Elizabeth Woodroffe
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