George Burnell
(1850-1891)

George Burnell was the sixth of the eleven children of Samuel Burnell and his wife Mary Babbage of Combe Florey, Somerset, England.

George appears with his parents and siblings in the 1851 census, aged just 10 months old, in Combe Florey. By 1861, he's noted as a Farmer's Boy living in the poor houses, perhaps reflecting the poverty of rural Somerset at the time. He remains in Combe Florey for one final census (1871) before he leaves for London.

He turns up in St. John's Wood in 1880, at the point where he marries his wife Mary Ann Barker of Hertfordshire. They are both living at 46 Abbey Road (a road that would become very famous 80 years later).

The couple soon begin their family, with Beatrice born in 1881. By the time of their second and third children, the family are living at Abercorn Lodge Stables, Abercorn Place, London, and George has become a Domestic Coachman (presumably for the Lodge).

With their family growing, George and Mary leave London, and head to Dunstable in Bedfordshire, where George becomes Publican at The Royal Oak public house. However, their stay here was short-lived, when George developed chronic pneumonia and died at the age of 41.

This left his widow Mary with five children under the age of 10 years, and she was about half-way through her pregnancy with their final child.

Mary took the family to Littleport, Cambridgeshire, which was closer to where her sister Louisa Barker lived, and also where the shirt factory of Hope Brothers Ltd was advertising for women to work in their factories.

Mary re-married five years later in 1896 to James Smith, and the couple had one child.

Life Events

Born

• 7th May 1850 at Combe Florey, Somerset, England.

Baptised

• 26th May 1850 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Combe Florey, Somerset, England.

Married

• Mary Ann Barker (1854-1929) on 9th May 1880 at All Saint's Church, Marylebone, London, England.

Children

• Beatrice Annie Burnell (1881-1946) married Francis John Jenner Rolfe (1876-1944)
• William Burnell (1882-188?)
• Lillie Burnell (1884-1933) married David Buckingham (1883-19??)
• Daisy Burnell (1885-1952) married Herbert Martin (1884-1917), and later to Reuben Shelton (1881-1954)
• Rose Ellen Burnell (1888-19??) married John Edward Hawkins (1888-19??)
• William Burnell (1889-1957) married Rachel Elizabeth Emerson (1889-1974)
• Florence Ellen Burnell (1891-1980) married Reuben Harrison (1886-1975)

Census and Residence

• 1851: 10mths, Combe Florey, Somerset, England.
• 1861: 10yrs, Poor Houses, Combe Florey, Somerset, England.
• 1871: 21yrs, Cottage, Combe Florey, Somerset, England.
• 1880: 46 Abbey Road, St. John's Wood, Middlesex, England.
• 1881: 30yrs, 37 Palmerston Road, London, Middlesex, England.
• 1884: Abercorn Lodge Stables, Abercorn Place, St. John's Wood, Middlesex, England.
• 1891: 39yrs, The Royal Oak Public House, Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

Employment

• 1861: Farmer's Boy
• 1884-1885: Domestic Coachman
• 1891: Publican at The Royal Oak (Public House)

Death

• 4th June 1891 at The Royal Oak (Public House), Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, aged 41 years.

Cause of Death

• 1. Chronic Pneumonia for years
  2. Acute Rheumatism

Burial

• June 1891, presumably in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, but this is not yet confirmed.