Here I am back after 9 months and still researching the Hutchings family – there are an awful lot of them! Have finally sorted out the question of the mother of Elizabeth Ann Barton (see previous post) and the answer is – Elizabeth Gardner.
So, one problem solved, now on to the next i.e. whatever happened to Elizabeth, daughter of Elizabeth Ann Barton and William Hutchings?
She appears in the 1841 census as a 2 month old, living with the Hutchings family and born at Stoke, Kent. Now the 1841 census does not actually state the relationships of the people living in one house, but it is a fair assumption that she was their daughter.
This assumption is born out by her appearance in the 1891 census, living with her mother at Cobham College Kent – a sort of almshouse. The name, age and place of birth all fit. In the 1901 census she is still living there, though her mother has died in the meantime.
The problem is – whatever happened to her in the intervening 50 years – I can find absolutely no trace of her. There are all sorts of possibilities and I have explored quite a few of them, but she remains elusive! Fascinating stuff 🙂