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William Yeo was born at Bishop’s Tawton in 1838 [note 1] to parents Henry Yeo and Elizabeth Vicary. Annie was born as Ann Maria Cooper at West Molesey in 1865.
The 1871 records William as an indoor servant in the household of Thomas Yeo at Dennington Barton, Swimbridge, but within ten years he had moved to Surrey, where he married Mary Ann Conibear in 1873. The 1881 census records him in Bridge Road, East Molesey, the other side of the River Thames from Hampton Court. He is the head of the household, a gardener aged 44, and is living with his wife Mary Yeo, also 44. According to research by Sheila, William was a gardener at Hampton Court Palace. William’s wife Mary Ann Yeo died in 1890.
In 1881, Annie M. Cooper is living with her parents William and Ann Cooper in Spreighton Road, West Molesey. She, her sister Jane and her mother are all shown with the occupation laundress. She has younger siblings Alice, Clara and Edward. Her father is described as a labourer.
In the 1891 census return, William Yeo and Annie Cooper are living at the same address, with William recorded as the head of the household and Annie as his housekeeper. The address is still Bridge Road. William is described as a 51-year-old widower, occupation gardener, place of birth at Bishops Tawton, Devon. Annie is a 26-year-old spinster, born at West Molesey.
William Yeo and Annie Cooper married shortly afterwards [note 2]. They had four children:
– William Yeo (1891–1946, married Joyce Clara Treasure)
– Nellie Yeo (1893–1974)
– Herbert Yeo
– Dorothy Yeo (1898–1903).
William died in 1896 at the age of 56. In the 1901 census return for Thames Ditton, Annie is shown as Annie M. Yeo, widow and head of household, occupation laundress. Living with her are William Yeo (age 9), Herbert Yeo (age 5) and Dorothy Yeo (age 2). The address is 4 Ivy Cottage, Queens Road, Thames Ditton, only a few hundred yards from Bridge Road.
Annie emigrated to New Zealand, where she married James Morris Smith. Her son Herbert Yeo emigrated with her.
Dorothy Yeo’s place of birth is shown as Hampton Court and her birth was registered at Kingston in the third quarter of 1898. She died in 1903 at the age of 5 [note 3], which suggests that the family were still in the area then.
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Notes
1. Birth registered at Barnstaple in the third quarter of the year.
2. Marriage registered at Kingston in the second quarter of 1891.
3. Death registered Kingston in the second quarter of the year.