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Caroline Offer
1859-1929
Caroline, her parents, siblings and early life:
Caroline was born in 1859 in Newbury, Berkshire, the daughter of Samuel and Emma Freeman (nee Sharp) who were married on the 3rd October 1843 in Wolverton, Hampshire.
Her father Samuel was a Millwright, he was born on the 18th April 1817 in Newbury, Berkshire and was baptised on the 14th May at Northcroft Lane Meeting House Newbury, (Baptist) the son of John and Sarah Freeman (nee May) who were married on the 31st August 1800 at St Nicolas Church Newbury.
Her mother Emma was born c1823 in Caversham, Oxfordshire, the daughter of Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Sharp (nee Griffiths) who were married on the 13th September 1819 at St Giles, Reading, Berkshire. ((Mary Elizabeth was recorded as Elizabeth on the marriage record).
Samuel and Emma also had the following children:
Samuel Henry born in Reading
Mary Elizabeth 1846 in Reading
Charlotte 1849 in Reading (died 1849)
Charlotte 1850 in Reading
John 1852 in Reading
Louisa 1855 in Newbury
Fanny c1858 in Newbury
Emily 1861 in Newbury
Richard Thomas c1864 in Newbury (died in 1865, buried in a private grave in the NRC on the 1st December)
Charles Sharp 1867 in Newbury
In 1851 Caroline’s parents Samuel (33) and Emma (26) were living in Kings Road, Reading, Berkshire with their children Samuel Henry (6), Mary Elizabeth (4) and Charlotte (11 months). Also recorded living in the household was Emma’s sister Charlotte Sharp (28).
The 1861 and 1871 census records record Caroline living in West Mills, Newbury, with her parents and siblings.
Caroline in later life:
In 1881 Caroline (21) was working as a Draper’s Assistant, she was living at 9 Norman Road, Hastings, Sussex with her married sister Charlotte Bryant (30), her brother-in-law James Bryant (26), a Draper, her niece, May (3) and her nephew John (2).
Caroline married in 1883
Marriage details:
Place: St Nicolas Church Newbury Berkshire
Date: 14th May 1883
Groom: Frederick George Stevens, full age, bachelor, occupation, Accountant, abode, St Mary, Walthamstow
Bride: Caroline Freeman, full age, spinster, abode, Newbury
Fathers: George Stevens, an Accountant and Samuel Freeman, a Millwright
Witnesses: Samuel Freeman and Fanny Freeman
(Frederick George, was born in 1858 Middlesex (birth registed in Bethnal Green) the son of George and Sarah Stevens (nee Davis) who were married on the 7th May 1843 at St James, Bath, Somerset)
Frederick George and Caroline had the following three children:
George Frederick born c1884
Ethel c1885
Olive Mary 1886
The 1891 census records Caroline (31) as a Draper living at 3 High Road, Chiswick, Middlesex, with Frederick (32), a Draper and their children George (7), Ethel (6) and Olive (4). Also recorded in the household was Caroline’s sister Emily Freeman (29) a Draper’s Show Room Assistant, Rose Reyman (23) a Dressmaker and a Servant Laura Manser (18).
Caroline was widowed later that year, Frederick George died aged 33 on the 11th July 1891 at 443 High Road, Gunnersbury, Middlesex leaving a personal estate of £680 4s
The 1901 census record Caroline (38) as the Manageress of the Guildhall Temperance Hotel, Mansion House Street, Newbury. Also recorded in the hotel was her daughter Olive Mary (14), Nellie Shephard (18,) a Waitress, Annie Cruse (13), a General Domestic Servant and Boarders Francis Henry Offer ((37), a Printer’s Compositor, Maria Edwards (70) a Retired Schoolmistress and Annie Edwards (40), a Schoolmistress.
Caroline remarried in 1902
Marriage details:
Place: St Nicolas Church Newbury
Date: 7th June 1902
Groom: Francis Henry Offer, full age, bachelor, occupation, Compositor, abode, Guildhall (? Illegible possibly the Temperance Hotel)
Bride, Caroline Stevens, full age, widow, abode, Manssion House Street, Newbury
Fathers: Sheba Archard Offer, a Nurseryman and Samuel Freeman, a Millwright
Witnesses; Charlotte Anne Church and Jno Freeman
(Francis Henry was born 1863 in Alton Wiltshire, the son of Sheba Archard and Jane Offer (nee Martin) who were married on the 8th October 1862 in Alton Barnes Wiltshire)
They had a daughter Frances Mary Offer (aka Mary) born 27th March 1904 in Newbury, baptised on the 29th March 1904 at St Nicolas Newbury
The 1911 census records Caroline (50), living at 2 Edinburgh Terrace, West Mills, Newbury with her husband Francis (48), a Compositor, their daughter Mary (7), Caroline’s son George Frederick Stevens (27), a Staff Sergeant in the Royal Engineers, his wife Emily (36), their children George Graham (2), Douglas William (9 months) and two boarders.
The 1921 census records Caroline and Frances Mary living in West Mills, Newbury (surname recorded as Goffer)
Caroline died aged 69 on the 17th May 1929 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, her body was brought to Newbury and she was laid to rest in the Newtown Road Cemetery on the 21st May with her father Samuel Freeman (buried 1906), her mother Emma Freeman (buried 1917), her brothers John Freeman (buried 1879) and Samuel Henry Freeman (buried 1920), her sister-in-law Mary Anna Freeman (wife of Samuel Henry Freeman, buried 1928), her sister Charlotte Bryant (buried 1886) and her niece Fanny Louisa Wood, daughter of his sister Louisa, (buried 1896).
Francis Henry Offer died aged 74 in 1937 in Reading, Berkshire.
Mrs P Page 56 NE39(A)
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