Likely . . Front row: left to right seated[ my assumptions 2009!]: - Alfred Mead, William Mead, Walter Mead, Benjamin Mead. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . Back row, left to right: - prob. Thomas Mead & maybe George Goodey who had married Susannah Mead in 1888.
The above photo, plus the one below, are from Keri Jones, descendant of Benjamin Mead,1873. It could have been taken at the funeral of either their father, Thomas Mead, in1887, or of their mother in 1893; the most likely date as Benjamin looks older than 16!. William is holding a cider keg! . Seated left is probably Alfred, with Benjamin seated right.. I think my ggrandfather Walter,1862, is seated 2nd from right,since he appears to be the younger of the rest. Abner,1856,having died in 1883 & George 1852, having died in 1884, I think it is Thomas,1855 standing back left & that the other person standing could be George Goodey.
Alfred, Walter & Benjamin. As early as 1887?
As Alfred ,Walter, & Benjamin also exist in the above photo,with a sign for Walter Mead above the pub door, thus 1887 or later, and look considerably younger than in the group of 6, I would date the group of 6 photo as 1893.
William Mead 1849 -1924 . Only child of Thomas Mead & his first wife Sarah Wood, born 1/11/1849 , Maltings Yard, Dunmow. b.c. B.M2. Thomas is given as a groom. He was baptised on 13/1/1850, in G. D. church, his father a servant . Details of the maltings on his father's page
His mother died a year later, buried 24/10/1850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1851. Census does not exist for Dunmow. His father remarries Elizabeth Savill, 24/10/1851.
1861C. William Mead, 11, was living at the Wheatsheaf with his father, a beer Retailer, stepmother Elizabeth, and 4 younger half-siblings . The continuation page of this census viewable on his father's page
1871C. William Mead ,aged 20, shoemaker, living at home with parents in the Causeway[ the Wheatsheaf, but not so described in the census].
1881C, William Mead,stated age 39 [a misread of 30], a postman, lodging with the Pearmans next door to the Wheatsheaf.
1882. Married Elizabeth Annie French in 'Sep' 1882 in Burnley. She had obviously left Essex for the north in her teens, and was working as a cotton weaver in Burnley in 1871, aged 20, and in 1881, aged 29. When they decided to get married they must have thought prospects were better up north than back in Dunmow; since he was not down as a shoemaker in the 1881C Dunmow census - maybe there was too much competition there to succeed
1891C,William Mead, living 57 Belgrave Street, Burnley , aged 46,[actually 41],shoemaker, with wife, Eliz.Annie, 37, b.Bleshey[ Pleshey: but looked for her in 1861 C but could find no coherent trace of her life], Essex, no children. IMAGE on FMP/Ancestry
I think William returned to Dunmow on the death of his mother,1893: see above photo of the prob. just 5 sons remaining - Abner having died 1883 & George in 1884- Mead brothers outside the Wheat Sheaf..
1901C, William Mead, aged 50, a cloggey, married but no wife listed, in Record Street, Barnoldswick,Yorkshire.
A long search for an Elizabeth Mead, b.~1852 Essex, in the 1901C, eventually led me to, Annie Mead, 60 [wrong, actually looks like 50!], b. Pleshey, in Star Lane,Dunmow[ just 4 doors away from the Star Inn - see Florence Helena Mead]. She is living in Star Lane as the daughter of Samuel Pye, 78, tailor, b. Halesworth, Suffolk & Mary Ann Pye, 82, b.Pleshey [ obviously a remarriage here- Mary Ann French would have been her mother], & there is a grandaughter, Minnie Mead , 6, b. Sheffield, Yorkshire. But I couldnot find a suitable birth for 'Minnie' 1893-1895 in Yorkshire or Lancs and she is shown to be adopted in the next census.!.
1911C William Mead , aged 61, Boot repairer, b. Dunmow, with wife, Elizabeth Annie, 60, married 28 years, no children, b.Pleshey, Minnie Mead, 16, adopted daughter, cotton weaver, b. Sheffield & Mary Gray, 45, boarder, widow,. Married 25 years ,no children. . Living at 55 Lower Park Street, Barnoldswick in 4 rooms. A 1911 postcard - below - exists from this address , written by him, probably to his sister Sarah in Dunmow.
| William | Mead | Head | Married | Male | 61 | 1850 | Boot Repairer | Essex Dunnow |
| Elizabeth Annie | Mead | Wife | Married | Female | 60 | 1851 | - | Essex Pleshey |
| Minnie | Mead | Adopted Daughter | Single | Female | 16 | 1895 | Cotton Weaver | Yorkshire Sheffield |
| Mary | Gray | Boarder | Widow | Female | 45 | 1866 | Cotton Winder | Lanarkshire Glasgow |
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Postcard from William in June 1911, from Park Street Barnoldswick, Lancs/Yorks, maybe to sister Sarah, found in Benjamin's papers in 1997[ Keri Jones has these]. William ~61, Minnie would be 16/17. Mamma must be a prematurely aged Elizabeth Annie, ~60.
1918 Could Minnie have got married back in Dunmow: Dec 1918 Mead Minnie Vine Dunmow 4a 1765 ?Vine Alfred J .? No marriage in G.D. church- but odd as no marriages April - Oct that year!
1924 William Mead, 74, probably died Jun 1924: Mead William 74 Skipton 9a 36 : there was no probate. His wife probably died Sep 1929 : Mead Elizabeth A 78 Skipton 9a 31: no probate.