Elizabeth Savill 1830 - 1893

Born 1830 Dunmow. Parents William Savill & Susannah Morrell. Baptised 4 Apr 1830 in Great Dunmow (ERO. DP 11/1/7). Father given as a farmer. She was the 4th of 9 children born 1824 -1842: her father, a widower, re married, late in life, aged 42, her mother, Susannah Morrell, aged 18, after she had given birth to their eldest child, John, in 1824.[see tree on William Savill page]

1841 Census the family is living at Onslow Green, Great Dunmow. District 1. All born Essex.. Most ages, apart from her mother's, 2 or more years too young.

Mary Rolfe is the much younger sister of her paternal grandmother, Frances Rolfe: - this lady probably died when her father, William Savill, was still under 6. Thus Mary probably acted as mother to him and his 2 siblings. . Mary is the only Rolfe in the Dunmow area in 1841C, 105 others in Essex- Witham, Bocking, Chelmsford & further afield.

1843. Her father dies, leaving a will, and enough money, ~£600, for her mother to look after 8 surviving children, aged 1-19.

1849. Her great aunt Mary Rolfe dies, leaving a Will. She , Elizabeth, would have received £50 from this on reaching 21, thus in early 1851.

From hereon her life mirrors that of her husband Thomas Mead until 1887.

1851 24/10/1851
Aged 21, marries widower, Thomas Mead (although he is given as bachelor on m.c.) in Great Dunmow Parish Church.. Both are given as servants and of full age. Fathers are George Mead and William Savill, both labourers[ William Savill certainly was not - a farmer with~£600 when he died in 1843]. Witnesses Abnay/Henry Joyce and Susannah Savill, Elizabeth’s younger (by 2 years) sister. Have m.c.MM1

It is slightly surprising that she was a servant as her father was given as a Farmer on her b.c. and was the only 'farmer' in Onslow Green in the 1841C. He left~£600 in 1843, and Elizabeth would have received a sum of £50 on becoming 21 earlier in 1851. And really surprising that William Savill is just recorded as labourer on this m.c., and has indeed been dead for 8 years!.

Thomas Mead and his wife Elizabeth[Savill]

She inherits a stepson, William Mead ,born 1849, with this marriage

1852 ‘Sep’ 1852 George Mead born. Baptised in G.D. Church, 10 Oct., father a Servant.

1855 ‘Mar’ 1855 Thomas Mead born. Baptised in G.D. Church, 14 Jan. , father a Servant. [Ancestor of Rachel Meade].

1856 ‘Dec’ 1856 Abner Mead born .Baptised in G.D. Church, 9 Oct. , father a Servant.

1859 ‘Jun’ 1859 Elizabeth Mead born. Did not find a baptism.

1861. Arthur Mead baptised in G.D. Church 2/2/1861, father a Publican. Both his birth and his death were registered as Mar 1861 . He was buried on 8/2/1861, just 9 days old.

1861 Census

1862 2/06/1862 Walter Mead born. Have b.c. Thomas given as Innkeeper. Address Causeway, Gt. Dunmow. He was baptised in G.D. Church on 15/7/1862, his father a Beer Retailer

1863 Entry in Great Dunmow National school book: she writes to the school about her 4 eldest sons having to sweep the school (Dorothy Dowsett book in Great Dunmow Library). Obviously a strong minded lady! Copy of this and photo of children on Walter, 1862, page. She herself had been educated, her father William Savill stipulating in his 1843 Will that she and her 7 siblings be educated.

1864 ‘Sep’ 1864 Susannah Mead born. Baptised in G.D. Church, July, father a Publican.

1866 ‘Dec’ 1866 Alfred Mead born. Baptised in G.D. Church , 26 Oct., father a Publican

1870 Sarah Mead baptised on 5/1/1870 but her birth was not registered until .‘Mar’ 1871 .

1871 Census. In Causeway ( King’s Head is 3 doors away - no mention of The Wheatsheaf here)

1872. Charly Mead was baptised in G.D. Church on 21/2/1872 . Charles Mead was both registered as born and died Mar 1872 , He was buried on 2/3/1872, 1 month old.

1873 ‘Jun’ 1873 Benjamin Mead born. Baptised in G.D. Church, April 13, father a brewer . Karen Thomas & Keri Jones? are descended through his daughter, Annie Mead.

Family now complete with 10 children, 7 boys- one a stepchild - & 3 girls, having been born Also 2 more sons who died at under a month.

1880. Her mother, Susannah Savill , dies, 22/03/1880, and leaves a Personal Estate under £200. Will . Elizabeth would only get any of this after the death of her sister, Louisa, - this was not until 1890 and then no probate for her - she being infirm, subject to fits

1881 Census. North Street WheatSheaf Inn (3 doors away from Kings Head Yard - Causeway now called North St)

Thomas is listed as a Beer Retailer in 1861,1871&1881C. & in Post Office in 1871, 1874 & 1878, & in Kelly’s in 1882,1886. But there is also a Post Office listing for 1862 & 1867 for George Mead. Who is this George? Is he the George perhaps born as Thomas’ elder brother in 1815? I can find no conf. of him in 1861 & 1871C. (There is a George,46, living in Chelmsford in 1861 as a bricklayer, so maybe he is a possibility, as Thomas’s son,George, is also a bricklayer in 1871).

1887. The licence of the Wheatsheaf is transferred from her husband to their son Walter at the end of September. Husband is down as of ‘no occupation’ on son’s (Walter’s) marriage cert. so probably in ill health then (8/10/1887). .Thomas dies 17 /11/1887, aged 66. . Info. in Family Bible. Rachel Meade has this d.c. and Thomas dies of Paralysis in Church End, Dunmow.. Son, Alfred, of 19? North Street, was informant of the death.. No probate. He was buried in G.D, church, aged 66, on 23/11/1887.

Photo of her 5 surviving sons,{ Abner having died in 1883, George in 1884}, probably taken at her funeral in 1893, on some of her children's pages.

1891Census. Living at Church End, Dunmow.

Elizabeth Goodey is the daughter of her daughter, Susannah 1864

1893 Dies age 63. D.c.DM6 : Widow of Thomas Mead a publican, on 25/4/1893, at Church End Great Dunmow. Informant was A Mead, son, present at the death, of North Street G.D. Cause of death: pneumonia. Informant was Alfred Mead. No will on Seax. No Probate . Did she still have any of the £50 she received from her father's estate in 1851?? and the approx. £50 received at the same time from her greataunt, Mary Rolfe

Buried in Great Dunmow churchyard on 29/4/1893, aged 63. No known headstone was erected/survived.

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Church End Cottages 2011. Her great, great granddaughter, Chris Lyons, in the photos.

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