Frances Bailey
(1846-1933)

Frances Bailey (also known as Fanny Bailey and later as Fanny Hibbard and Fanny Eliza Hibbard) was the ninth of the eleven children of William Bailey, and the fifth of the seven children he had with his second wife Mary Clarke of Wattisfield and Botesdale in Suffolk, England.

Fanny Hibbard (née Bailey) with daughter Emily, granddaughter Florence Hewitt, and great-granddaughter Mary Beesley. Photo: Ann_Berwickl/Ancestry.co.uk
Above: Fanny Hibbard (née Bailey, seated left) with daughter Emily, granddaughter Florence Hewitt, and great-granddaughter Mary Beesley. Photo: Ann_Berwickl.

Frances was born in Botesdale, Suffolk, England, about five years after her parents' trial and conviction for mistreating Frances' older half-siblings.

When she was just four years old, she appears on the 1851 census with her mother, sister Amelia, and brother Alfred, as living at the Hartismere Union Workhouse in Eye, Suffolk.

By the time of the following census, she is reunited with her parents and younger siblings, and the family are living in Botesdale. However, by January 1870, she is back in the same Workhouse, living with her two illegitimate children - the latter of whom she gives birth to whilst there. Perhaps it was her illegitimate and therefore un-supported pregnancy that led her to the workhouse, where she knew that she could obtain some help.

Fanny married George Hibbard three years later in 1873, this new family moved up to Yorkshire, where George was employed by the mining industry, and eventually as a fireman.

George appears to pre-deceased Fanny in 1912, and she lived as a widow for a further 21 years.

Life Events

Born

  • 11th December 1846 in Botesdale, Suffolk, England.

Married

  • George Hibbard (1853-?) during 1873 in the Sheffield district of South Yorkshire, England.

Children

  • Emily Amelia Bailey (1866-19??) married Thomas Batt Hewitt (1865-?)
  • Jesse Bailey (1870-1953) married Annie Holmes (1873-1907), and later to Mary Anderson (1879-19??)

Census and Residence

  • 1851: 4yrs, Hartismere Union Workhouse, Eye, Suffolk, England.
  • 1861: 13yrs, Botesdale Street, Botesdale, Suffolk, England.
  • 1871: 22yrs, Union Workhouse, Castle Hill, Eye, Suffolk, England.
  • 1881: 32yrs, Gleadless Common, Gleadless, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
  • 1891: 42yrs, 15 Intake Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
  • 1901: 52yrs, 22 Orgreave Road,Attercliffe, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
  • 1911: 62yrs, St. John's Road,Laughton-en-le-Morthen, South Yorkshire, England.

Employment

  • 1851: Pauper at Hartismere Union Workhouse
  • 1871: General Servant at The Union Workhouse

Death

  • During 1933 in the Rotherham district of West Riding of Yorkshire, England, aged 86 years.

Burial

  • Not yet known.

Parents

Grandparents

  • William Bailey (17?-?)
  • Not yet known.
  • William Clarke (17??-18??)
  • Susanna Rolf (17??-18??)

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