In 1901 among the many inmates of
Guildford Union Workhouse were the Standing family, Priscilla, aged
39 and her three sons, Harry, aged 5, Thomas, 4 and Edwin, 2.
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| Priscilla Standing |
Priscilla Cinderalla Cooper was
born in Lurgashall, Sussex, the daughter of a travelling farm labourer.
The 1881 census tells us that she was deaf, although this is not mentioned when
she was at the Workhouse. At the age of 22, she was working as a servant,
probably a housemaid, for the Standing family. Thirty eight year old, James
Standing and his wife Emma were living in Copse Green, Northchapel, Sussex with
their four children. James was Under Bailey for the Petworth
Estate. But three years later, his wife Emma died and in 1895 Priscilla
married James Standing in Petworth. James moved on to greater responsibility
as the Bailiff of a farm in Surrey. By 1899 their third child, Edwin, had
been born but James died in the same year.
As a deaf widow with three very
young children, Priscilla was probably no longer able to stay in the tied
cottage provided by her husband’s work and inevitably ended up in a
workhouse. Perhaps she had walked to Guildford to look for housekeeping
work. Although the 3 brothers had each other, they were taken from their mother
at a very young age and she must have missed them terribly. Priscilla’s
stepson, William Standing, was 21 in 1901 when she and her young sons entered
the workhouse, so he was able to earn a living as a carman lodging in Angel
Gate, Guildford. Her other stepchildren were also old enough to make
their own way in the world.
Priscilla was still living at
Guildford Union Workhouse ten years later when the 1911 census was compiled,
but her sons had all moved to other accommodation. Edwin, aged 12, now
lived at the Scattered Home for Boys at 37 Recreation Road, Guildford, with
eleven other boys 5-13 years old and a foster mother appointed by the Guildford
Board of Guardians. Thomas, now 14, was still in Warren Road, near to the Workhouse, but in the
Children’s Receiving Home where John William Sowers, the Superintendent, was
aided by a Matron and two foster mothers in looking after 12 children aged 3 to
15.
Henry (Harry) Standing was now 16,
so he had been sent to the Training Ship, Exmouth, at Grays in Essex. He
later married Gertrude Brown and they had eleven grandchildren before he died
in Liverpool in 1972. Thomas served in the Army Service Corps in the
First World War and in 1923 he married Agnes Smallbone in Hambledon. He
died in south west Surrey in 1952.
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| The Sunset Home in Merrow House |
Despite their earlier separation, Priscilla and her sons kept in close contact throughout their lives until her death in Surrey in 1953. She was described by one of her grandchildren as, “a lovely grandmother,” who was able to lip read and communicate well. She spent her last years living happily at the Sunset Home in Merrow House.
With thanks to Dorothy Lauder for the photo of Priscilla.
