in 1825 in Newbury to Thomas Gough, a house painter and Mary Ann Purdue, a descendant of John and Frances West who set up the West Charities to pay for the education of poor children from amongst other places Newbury.
Mary Ann was registered at Christ Hospital School as were Maria and her siblings.
Maria’s brother Henry was apprenticed to a coach builder and was probably financed by the West Charities at the rate of £10 per year plus £20 for being placed in work if they completed their apprenticeship.
Maria married John Hunt in 1847. John was an agricultural labourer who changed
jobs almost annually. daughters were born daughter and three Hampstead, and yet
son were born in moved to Newbury
working at the Gas On the 1881
new Gas Works gas stoker. Their
Their two eldest in Speen, another
sons were born in
another daughter and Newbury. They had
when John started Works as a gas stoker.
census just after the opened he was still a
children were either
labourers or domestic servants so they were not a wealthy family and Maria supplemented the family income by taking in washing. On the 1891 census John was still working at the gas works, Maria was no longer a laundress but instead they had three lodgers.
John and Maria celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary 14th October 1897. They had a family get together at which a photograph of the whole family was taken. There were three sons, four daughters, their spouses, seventeen grandchildren and eight other relatives.

This photograph was advertised on Ebay and was purchased by Sylvia Sellwood, GGGranddaughter of John and Maria.

Maria died on 28th August 1908 from stomach cancer aged 83 years, at 6, King John’s Alms houses in the presence of her daughter, Elizabeth, Sylvia Sellwood’s GGGrandmother.

She was buried in Newtown Road Cemetery on September 1st.

John died 7th June 1910, a yard foreman at the Gas Works, and was buried with his wife.

There isn’t a gravestone for the grave.