Ferry

This page was last revised on 2009-02-02.

G1. ALICE JANE BAGGS born FERRY

Alice Jane Ferry was born on the 24^th August 1846 in Burton Bradstock, Dorset. She was baptised in the parish church of Burton Bradstock on the 3^rd September, and on the 17^th was received into the church.¹

In 1851 'Jane' was a scholar, living with her parents at 4 St Mary's, Southampton. In 1861 'Alace' was still a scholar, now living, with her parents, at 12 Amoy Street, Southampton. In 1871, now with no occupation shown, she was still living with her parents, now at 15 Liverpool Street, Southampton.²

On the 31^st October 1877 she married [E2] Walter Baggs at St Luke's parish church, Southampton, at which time she was living at 2 Upper Dover Street, Southampton. Their children were: Walter William (1879), Alice Margaret (1881), [E1] Ruth Elizabeth (1882), and Frank Henry John (1888); all except John were born in Southampton, John being born in Tavistock, Devon.³

By 1879 she was living at 15 Lower Dover Street, Bevois Town, Southampton. She is found there, with her family, in the 1881 census.⁴

In 1888 she was living in Princetown, Lydford, in the district of Tavistock, Devon.⁵

In 1891 she was living with her family in prison quarters, at H.M. Convict Prison, Gillingham, Kent.⁶

In 1901 she was living with her husband and three children at 2, H. Quarters, Portland Prison, Dorset.^6A

She died of pneumonia on the 20^th April 1918, at 31 Marlborough Road, Gillingham.⁷

Alice Jane Ferry was the eldest child of [G2] Richard and [H1] Ann Ferry.⁸

1 birth certificate; parish register; 1891 census returns give place of birth as Southampton.

2 letters to me from Maurice Ferry; census returns

3 marriage certificate; information from Sidney Beck - John; 1881 & 1891 census returns

4 census returns; children's birth certificates

5 son's birth certificate

6 PRO RG 12/665 f. 121v

6A PRO RG13/1997

7 death certificate

8 birth certificate, 1861 census returns

G2. RICHARD FERRY

Richard Ferry was born about 1821, in Burton Bradstock, Dorset, and baptised there on the 6^th December 1821.¹

In 1841 he was a rope maker's apprentice, living in Southover, Burton Bradstock, with a 55-year old Elizabeth Ferry, as well as his ?aunt, and ? brother. In 1841 there were only two ropemakers in Burton, but many Burton men worked at various trades, including rope making, at Bridport Harbour (now known as West Bay). It seems probable that his experience was very similar to that of another Burton boy, known to have been apprenticed, as a ropemaker, in 1840, to Ephraim Matthams and Co., Ropemakers, of Bridport Harbour - a seven year apprenticeship, in which he received 3/- a week in his first year, rising to 7/- a week in his final year.²

He married, first, [H1] Ann Trevett, on the 29^th December 1845, at Burton Bradstock parish church, at which time he was a ropemaker in Burton; he signed his name. He was still a ropemaker there in the following year. Their children were: [G1] Alice Jane (1846), John (1849), Amelia (1852), Harry (1855), Annie (1857), and Catherine (1860). Alice Jane was born in Burton Bradstock, the others in Southampton.³

Shortly after 1846 the Ferrys moved to Southampton. In 1849 Richard was still a ropemaker, living with his family at St Mary’s Street, Southampton. He continued working as a ropemaker until at least 1852, but by May 1854 he had become a railway porter.⁴

By May 1857 he had moved to 23 Amoy-street, Bedford Place, Southampton, and by February 1860 to 12 Amoy Street (though possibly the street was simply renumbered) – where he is found in the 1861 census, living with his wife and five children. The 1861 Post Office Directory records ‘Richard Ferry, S.W.R.’ at 1 Dover Street, Bevois Town, Southampton; and Cox’s 1871 Directory gives him the same ascription, but at 15 Liverpool Street, Bevois Town. This is where the census also found the household, unchanged from 1861. The initials ‘S.W.R.’ confirm that his employer was, as might be expected for the location, the London & South-Western Railway. Richard’s wife Ann died in August that year. At the time of his daughter’s marriage in 1877 Richard was still a railway porter.⁵

On the 22^nd December 1878 Richard married Harriett Lavington, at the East Street Wesleyan Chapel, Southampton, following the rites and ceremonies of the Wesleyan Methodists. His bride was a 45 year old widow, of 41 Rockstone Lane, Southampton, daughter of Charles Bell, carrier. He was described as a railway servant, now of 15 Dover Street, Southampton.⁶

Clearly he moved in with his new wife, as the 1881 census finds him living at 41 Bevois Place, Rockstone Lane, Southampton. He was again described as a railway servant, living with his and Ann's daughter Catherine, his second wife, and her two children. At the marriage of his daughter Annie, in June 1881, he is still described as a railway porter, though by December, when his son Harry married, he is described as a writer, which I take to mean a clerk.⁷

By 1884 41 Rockstone Lane had been named 'Rockstone Cottage'. Richard died at home there on the 1^st July 1884, having suffered from a cerebral tumour for two months, culminating in four days effusion. Though his death certificate (and his daughter’s marriage certificate from two months earlier) described him merely as a railway servant, it is clear by a delayed entry in the local directory that by the time of his death he had become superintendent of the railway coal department in Southampton.⁸

Richard Ferry was the sixth child, and fifth son, of [G3] John and [G4] Elizabeth Ferry (John's tenth child and eighth son).

1 census, letters to me from Maurice Ferry. 1841 census returns suggests birth year 1821-6, 1861 census returns suggests 1820-1, 1881 suggests 1822-3.

2 census returns, Elizabeth Buckler Gale (1984) Farmers, Fishermen & Flax Spinners: The Story of the People of Burton Bradstock (2e) 77, 111. Elizabeth Ferry can't be his mother, as might at first appear, unless the burial in 1825 was of another individual of the same name.

3 marriage certificate; daughter's birth certificate; parish register; letters to me from Maurice Ferry

4 letters to me from Maurice Ferry, census returns, 1853 and 1855 Post Office Directories, children's birth certificates, daughter's death certificate

5 1859 and 1863 Post Office Directory; Cox’s 1871 Directory; census returns; wife’s death certificate; daughters’ birth and marriage certificates

6 2^nd marriage certificate

7 census returns; daughter’s and son’s marriage certificates (in 1890 his son John gave his late father’s occupation as railway clerk

8 death certificate; daughter’s marriage certificate; Stevens's Directory of Southampton (1884 & 1887)

9 letters to me from Maurice Ferry

G3. JOHN FERRY

John Ferry was probably born about 1771-2.¹

He married, first, Elizabeth Bridle, on the 28^th August 1797, after banns, at Burton Bradstock, where he then lived; he marked his name. They had three children: Ann (1798), Joseph (1800), and George (1802), all born at Burton Bradstock.²

His wife died in 1802³; and he married, secondly, [G4] Elizabeth Trevett , on the 26^th February 1805, after banns, at Bothenhampton, Dorset. He was said to be a resident of Burton Bradstock. Their children were: William (1806), James (1808), Jane Trevett (1810), Joseph (1812), Robert (1815), Charles (1818), [G2] Richard (1821), and Sarah (1825); all were baptised at Burton Bradstock.⁴

According to his sons, he worked as a labourer.⁵

John Ferry was buried in the churchyard at Burton Bradstock on the 1^st April 1836.⁶