Richardsons from Hounslow Heath - Smith Family of Chelmsford

Smith Family of Chelmsford
by Edna Richardson Barney

Martha Smith, circa 1897
My grandmother, Martha Smith, circa 1897
of Chelmsford, Essex, England

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1. James SMITH "Jimmie" was born in 1841 in Offley or Kingswalden, Hertfordshire, England. He died between 1920 and 1923 in England, most probably at Chelmsford, Essex, England.

James Smith and his wife were living at Offley, Hertfordshire when their first child was born, but shortly after, between 1872 and 1875, they moved to Canada. By 1876 they were living at Walkerton, Bruce County, Ontario, where their daughter Martha was born. They returned to England sometime after 1877 and eventually ended up on a farm which they were said to have owned at a place known as "Cheltenham" in Chelmsford. I believe that the farm, and their stone home, may have come from his wife's family. Perhaps that is the reason they returned to England from Canada, when she inherited the property.

It was always said that one of his daughters married a Mr. Smith who was a blacksmith. He and Sarah raised six children on the farm at Cheltenham, which was about 2 miles from Chelmsford, a small town in Essex where they went to market. On the 1881 census the family's address was "Chalk Street, Runwell, Essex" and his occupation was described as a "labourer renting 4 acres of land growing vegetables and corn".

The Smiths were early and active participants in the Salvation Army, holding meetings at their farmhouse. According to Salvation Army history, Chelmsford Citadel Corps, Number 823, opened on 24th June 1886. Musical sections appear to have been formed almost immediately. Certainly there is evidence of an active songster brigade dating to at least 1890.

Aunt Flo, my grandmother's sister-in-law, recalled that the names of the five daughters were Lizzie, Lucy, Martha, Alice, Ray and the brother was Will. When Lizzie, Lucy and Martha were old enough to leave home they obtained positions in London. Alice also went to London. Ray and Will lived at Cheltenham. Aunt Flo wrote that when he and his wife died they were elderly. Aunt Ivy said that her Grandfather Smith died when she was age 7 to 10, as she remembered her mother receiving the letter from England edged in black.

My father remembered his grandfather Smith as having a long white beard and that the King of England and entourage rode horses on his property.

Aunt Ivy said the names of the children were Rose, Will, Alice, Martha and Rachel. She said that her parents always told her that each of their families had the same number of children.

James married Sarah Ann FELTON in September 1870 at Woolrich, Kent County, England. Sarah was born in 1847 in Woodham Ferris, Essex, England. She is believed to have died about 1920 in England, most probably at her family farm at Cheltenham in Chelmsford, Essex.

On Martha Smith's death certificate her mother's name was given as "Sarah Phelps, the informant being her daughter Myrtle (Richardson) Filbert. Aunt Myrtle told me in about 1980 that her grandmother's name was "Sara Felton". On the marriage record I found her as "Sarah Ann Felton". Sarah lived in Essex and Hertfordshire, England and Ontario, Canada. She was a Salvation Army woman and held meetings twice a week at the side of her farmhouse at Cheltenham.

Martha told her daughter Ivy of a saying that Sarah would use quite often to her husband, Jim. It was "Jimmy - damn your eyes!".

On the 1881 census of England there was a Martha E. Felton, head of household and widow, age 64, born 1817, with an unmarried daughter, Frances Emma Felton, age 27. Both women's place of birth was Chelmsford, Essex, England. They were living at 44 Roman Road. The only other Felton listed was Elizabeth S. Felton, age 30, born 1851, also born at Chelmsford. She was a servant in a household in Chelmsford. There were no "Phelps" listed in Chelmsford, although there were families of that name in Essex.

From correspondence dated 26 June 1957 of Florence (Richardson) Heming "I thought you would like to have this picture of your great grandma’s home & where your Grandma Martha, I think her name was Smith before she married your Granddad Arthur Richardson. She said their was five girls and 1 boy in her family & raised on a farm. The farm is well back of the house quite large & a nice Lawn in front. Your great grandma was a Salvation Army woman & you see the building on the side, well meetings used to be held their twice a week by the Salvation Army members. Your grandad Richardson lived down their for a short time, then left & came to Canada. Your Grandma Martha’s sister Alice gave me the picture. My sister & I was there one day to see them, that is Alice family, 2 daughters & 1 boy. When she married she lived there & had the house all down over again. I believe the property was left to her when the elderly parents died. You will see the date on the back of the picture when I was last in England I was paying my sister a visit. Alice husand was a farmer & she had her daughters trained as nurses."

From correspondence dated 14 August 1957 of Florence (Richardson) Heming "The picture of the house on the farm was your great grandparents home, a place called ‘Cheltenham’ about 2 miles from ‘Chelemsford’ a small town, where they did their shopping. Your grandma Martha Richardson, that is your dads mother; I believe her name was Smith, before marriage. Well your grandma told me their was six in their family & was brought up in that home. Their names was Lizzie, Lucy, Martha being your Grandma, when they were old enough to leave home they got positions in London. Then their was Alice, Ray & a brother Will. Alice to came to London but Ray & Will lived in Cheltenham. Alice came back & was married & lived in the house on the farm & raised 2 daughters & one son. I believe Rachel died. She was married & the youngest and so was the brother married & lived the same place. I only know what your grandma told me. Their whereabouts I know nothing of & I also believe Alice passed away. My sister & I paid a visit there one day. Maybe your GrandPa Richardson could tell you about them for he & your Grandma was staying at Cheltenham for six months before leaving there for Canada."

Aunt Flo wrote that she was elderly when she died. Sarah probably died about 1920, as Aunt Ivy remembered that her parents received letters edged in black when they were living at Pratt Street in Baltimore.

James and Sarah had the following children:

2 F i Annie SMITH was born in 1873 in Offley, Hertford, England.

This child may have been the one known as "Lucy" according to Aunt Flo. It is believed that she was trained as a professional nurse.

3 F ii Eliza SMITH "Lizzie" was born in 1875 in Canada.

It is said that she was trained as a professional nurse.

4 F iii Martha SMITH [scrapbook] was born on 16 Oct 1876 in Walkerton, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. She died on 15 May 1942 in Arbutus, Baltimore County, Maryland. She was buried on 18 May 1942 in Meadowridge Memorial Park, Dorsey, Howard County, Maryland. Martha's Children

Martha was 5' 3" tall with brown eyes, brown hair and a medium complexion. She had no middle name. Florence Richardson Heming, her sister-in-law, wrote that Martha was born in Berlin, Ontario. Aunt Flo wrote that the name Berlin was changed to Kitchener or Walkerton during one of the World Wars. Walkerton is in Bruce County, township of Carrick and Walkerton is the birthplace Martha gave when she immigrated to the United States in 1915. According to the 1881 British Census, her family returned to England between 1877 and 1880, while she was still a baby.

From a letter of Florence (Richardson) Heming to Martha's granddaughter, Edna Richardson, 27 August 1957 "I don’t know who lives at Cheltenham. I only go by what your Grandma Martha ‘as told me. I was their on a visit when your Grandparents were living their a short while before coming to Canada. Your Dad & Uncle Ben were there also just little ones running around. That is quite right - your Grandma Martha was born in Canada from what she told me. The place was called Berlin because so many German immigrants went their & made their homes at that time. The name Berlin was changed to the name of Kitchener after World War II & a nice town it is & some smart buildings. Now I don’t know the date of the year your Grandma’s parents left Canada but it must be a good way back & I don’t know how many in the family their was at that time. Your Grandma told me the journey across from Canada to England was very rough & almost shipwrecked. Her parents lived on a farm at Cheltenham & their family grew up there until old enough to go further for their living."

Between the age of 16 to 18 years she studied nursing at Guy's Hospital in London. She worked as a professional nurse in London at the Saint George Hospital. She was working in the operating room there when she met Arthur. He described her as "a pretty little brown eyed nurse". Her daughter Ivy recalled her mother telling about a model of her arm being cast at Guy's Hospital for a demonstration of a perfect arm.

In 1900, at the time of marriage, she was residing at 48 Shardeloes Road, New Cross. Martha and Arthur stayed with her parents at their large farm at Cheltenham for six months before they emigrated to Canada along with their two sons, Ted and Ben, who were toddlers running around, as Aunt Flo remembered. One of the few items from home that she brought when she emigrated were two very tiny bibles that she highly treasured. I remember my mother, her daughter-in-law, telling about them. Aunt Ivy said that one was about 2 inches by 3 inches and the other was about 1 inch. They had been handed down from her mother's family and had been hidden in the stone walls of the family home during the Reformation. She was sent a large linen table cloth from her family in England that had probably been received as a wedding gift. She passed it on to her daughter Ivy.

She also worked as a nurse when they lived in Toronto, as her son Ted remembered that all heads would turn when his mother walked down the street in her nurse's uniform. At Canada, twins were born, but Martha had a very difficult time with them and it is said that she told the doctor to save the girl as Arthur loved little girls. Fortunately both were saved. She also had a miscarriage which would have been a girl, from the shock of her son, Benjamin, coming home after an accident which sliced off all the fingers of his right hand. This information was obtained from daughter, Ivy and granddaughter Violet (Richardson) Felicio.

She worked as a nurse and midwife in Baltimore and delivered all of the babies on their block on Pratt Street. Her daughter Ivy remembered how upset she was once, after coming home from delivering a stillborn. She assisted the doctor as midwife when her first grandchild, Roy Filbert, was born and was the midwife when her grandson, Donald Richardson, was born. Her daughter, Ivy, remembered when they lived on Pratt Street, and her uncle Dick was there, that her mother made dandelion wine. The incident was remembered because her father and uncle imbibed too much.

Daughter Ivy remembered her mother preparing a big meal every Sunday for her family, their friends and her friends the Whitlows and their daughter. She was said to be a very good cook. On special occasions, such as Easter, she put on a much larger spread, such as a leg of lamb. Sometimes, when they lived on Pratt Street, her mother would pack a picnic lunch and the family would travel in their Model T Ford to Gettysburg Battlefield with son Ted and about 50 of his motorcycle buddies following along. She described it as quite a sight to see!

In her later years she operated a very successful grocery in Relay or Saint Dennis, Maryland with her son Ted's radio repair shop on the other side of the same room. The family lived in the back of the store. It was located on the main street of the village, about a mile north of Elkridge on Route 1, or Washington Boulevard. The building is a private home today, 2001. Granddaughter Violet remembered spending the night there and her grandmother having a child's tea party with candy from the store. Granddaughter Vivian wrote, April 2001, "I can remember living with our grandparents at the store while our house on Lister Rd. was being built, it was a fun time for a little girl in a big store, with a grandfather to take you with him delivering groceries in an old Model T."

These are remembrances of Martha's oldest granddaughter, Violet (Richardson) Felicio in a letter to Edna Barney, 23 June 2001: "I am the only one left who knew my folks well & my grandfolks. Grandmother Richardson died when I was only 13 yrs. old so none of my own family knew her. Grandpa was married to his second wife at the time of my marriage. He came to New York with his wife to attend my wedding and he gave me away. My dad was acting up about my wedding so Grandpa offered to walk me down the aisle & he did. I always felt special to them as I was the first granddaughter and Grandmom was mid-wife at my birth also. I was born with a veil over my face. She knew what it was & ripped it off. She said that it meant I was special & I'd be able to see the future. But I never could.

"I never knew Grandmother's religion was Salvation Army. I was in the Salvation Army Sunday school & active with them until age 13, when we moved from Patterson Park. I spent a lot of my summer vacation time at the store in St. Dennis. I remember the summer that Vivian's family were there while their house was being built. Grandmom & Grandpa took me on vacation with them to Virginia Beach and we stayed at a Spanish style motel there. I recall that Grandma got sick on that trip from a soft crab sandwich and Grandpa took me out to dinner with him. He ordered me a chicken dinner & said I ate like a fly. I guess that was the early stages of her stomach problems.

"She was a good nurse & better than a doctor. She nursed me when ever I got sick. She pulled me through a seige of measles, whooping cough & pneumonia which I got all of them at one time & was sick for so long I had to learn to walk again. Grandma sat up nights & put mustard plasters on my back to save me. She was there when I got mumps & chicken pox too. Mom always called her first whenever I got sick. Mom loved her. She was a good mother, & good mother-in-law and a GREAT grandmother to me. I wish you had known her like I got chance to. You did favor her in looks."

Her husband Arthur spoke of her in a letter to me, 10 August 1964, "she was a sport when she was living". She was fond of reading the bible and read it aloud every night to her husband, Arthur, when they went to bed. Martha died of stomach cancer and her gravestone records her birth year as "1877". She had always said that she was three years older than her husband, Art, so the year 1876 is probably the correct one.

Martha married Arthur James RICHARDSON "Art" [scrapbook]son of Edward RICHARDSON and Emily MILLS on 2 Aug 1900 in Greenwich, London, England. Arthur was born on 24 Nov 1879 in Forest Hill, Kent County, England. He died on 28 Mar 1967 in Catonsville, Baltimore County, Maryland. He was buried on 31 Mar 1967 in Meadowridge Memorial Park, Dorsey, Howard County, Maryland. [Notes]

5 M iv George William SMITH "Will" was born in 1880 in Runwell, Essex, England.

Will married and lived at Cheltenham.

6 F v Alice SMITH was born after 1881 in of Essex, England.

Aunt Flo wrote that she believed that Alice Smith inherited the Smith parents' farm, as she was living there after her marriage. Aunt Flo visited there after Alice had remodeled it, which seems to have been in 1938. She said that Alice's husband was a farmer and that they raised two daughters and one son there. Alice had her daughters trained as nurses, one of whom was named Rachel.

7 F vi Rachel SMITH "Ray" was born after 1881 in of Essex, England.

Ray or Rachel was the youngest child. Aunt Flo gave her name as Ray and Aunt Ivy said there was a Rachel amongst her mother's siblings. She lived at Cheltenham, married and died shortly afterwards.

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The old English tune is "Blow the Wind Southerly"
sequenced by Barry Taylor at Taylor's Traditional Tunes

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~Richardson Genealogy & Scrapbook~

RICHARDSONs from Hounslow Heath - Smith Family of Chelmsford
was created on 17 June 2002 by Edna Richardson Barney, granddaughter of Martha.
Graphic designs from Ritva's Gallery
Copyright 2002-2003, Edna Richardson Barney, All rights Reserved.
www.ednabarney.com
This page was handmade with Notepad and last modified 3:38 PM 6/10/2003.

2	F	i	Annie SMITH was born in 1873 in Offley, Hertford, England. This child may have been the one known as "Lucy" according to Aunt Flo. It is believed that she was trained as a professional nurse.
3	F	ii	Eliza SMITH "Lizzie" was born in 1875 in Canada. It is said that she was trained as a professional nurse.
4	F	iii	Martha SMITH [scrapbook] was born on 16 Oct 1876 in Walkerton, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. She died on 15 May 1942 in Arbutus, Baltimore County, Maryland. She was buried on 18 May 1942 in Meadowridge Memorial Park, Dorsey, Howard County, Maryland. Martha's Children Martha was 5' 3" tall with brown eyes, brown hair and a medium complexion. She had no middle name. Florence Richardson Heming, her sister-in-law, wrote that Martha was born in Berlin, Ontario. Aunt Flo wrote that the name Berlin was changed to Kitchener or Walkerton during one of the World Wars. Walkerton is in Bruce County, township of Carrick and Walkerton is the birthplace Martha gave when she immigrated to the United States in 1915. According to the 1881 British Census, her family returned to England between 1877 and 1880, while she was still a baby. From a letter of Florence (Richardson) Heming to Martha's granddaughter, Edna Richardson, 27 August 1957 "I don’t know who lives at Cheltenham. I only go by what your Grandma Martha ‘as told me. I was their on a visit when your Grandparents were living their a short while before coming to Canada. Your Dad & Uncle Ben were there also just little ones running around. That is quite right - your Grandma Martha was born in Canada from what she told me. The place was called Berlin because so many German immigrants went their & made their homes at that time. The name Berlin was changed to the name of Kitchener after World War II & a nice town it is & some smart buildings. Now I don’t know the date of the year your Grandma’s parents left Canada but it must be a good way back & I don’t know how many in the family their was at that time. Your Grandma told me the journey across from Canada to England was very rough & almost shipwrecked. Her parents lived on a farm at Cheltenham & their family grew up there until old enough to go further for their living." Between the age of 16 to 18 years she studied nursing at Guy's Hospital in London. She worked as a professional nurse in London at the Saint George Hospital. She was working in the operating room there when she met Arthur. He described her as "a pretty little brown eyed nurse". Her daughter Ivy recalled her mother telling about a model of her arm being cast at Guy's Hospital for a demonstration of a perfect arm. In 1900, at the time of marriage, she was residing at 48 Shardeloes Road, New Cross. Martha and Arthur stayed with her parents at their large farm at Cheltenham for six months before they emigrated to Canada along with their two sons, Ted and Ben, who were toddlers running around, as Aunt Flo remembered. One of the few items from home that she brought when she emigrated were two very tiny bibles that she highly treasured. I remember my mother, her daughter-in-law, telling about them. Aunt Ivy said that one was about 2 inches by 3 inches and the other was about 1 inch. They had been handed down from her mother's family and had been hidden in the stone walls of the family home during the Reformation. She was sent a large linen table cloth from her family in England that had probably been received as a wedding gift. She passed it on to her daughter Ivy. She also worked as a nurse when they lived in Toronto, as her son Ted remembered that all heads would turn when his mother walked down the street in her nurse's uniform. At Canada, twins were born, but Martha had a very difficult time with them and it is said that she told the doctor to save the girl as Arthur loved little girls. Fortunately both were saved. She also had a miscarriage which would have been a girl, from the shock of her son, Benjamin, coming home after an accident which sliced off all the fingers of his right hand. This information was obtained from daughter, Ivy and granddaughter Violet (Richardson) Felicio. She worked as a nurse and midwife in Baltimore and delivered all of the babies on their block on Pratt Street. Her daughter Ivy remembered how upset she was once, after coming home from delivering a stillborn. She assisted the doctor as midwife when her first grandchild, Roy Filbert, was born and was the midwife when her grandson, Donald Richardson, was born. Her daughter, Ivy, remembered when they lived on Pratt Street, and her uncle Dick was there, that her mother made dandelion wine. The incident was remembered because her father and uncle imbibed too much. Daughter Ivy remembered her mother preparing a big meal every Sunday for her family, their friends and her friends the Whitlows and their daughter. She was said to be a very good cook. On special occasions, such as Easter, she put on a much larger spread, such as a leg of lamb. Sometimes, when they lived on Pratt Street, her mother would pack a picnic lunch and the family would travel in their Model T Ford to Gettysburg Battlefield with son Ted and about 50 of his motorcycle buddies following along. She described it as quite a sight to see! In her later years she operated a very successful grocery in Relay or Saint Dennis, Maryland with her son Ted's radio repair shop on the other side of the same room. The family lived in the back of the store. It was located on the main street of the village, about a mile north of Elkridge on Route 1, or Washington Boulevard. The building is a private home today, 2001. Granddaughter Violet remembered spending the night there and her grandmother having a child's tea party with candy from the store. Granddaughter Vivian wrote, April 2001, "I can remember living with our grandparents at the store while our house on Lister Rd. was being built, it was a fun time for a little girl in a big store, with a grandfather to take you with him delivering groceries in an old Model T." These are remembrances of Martha's oldest granddaughter, Violet (Richardson) Felicio in a letter to Edna Barney, 23 June 2001: "I am the only one left who knew my folks well & my grandfolks. Grandmother Richardson died when I was only 13 yrs. old so none of my own family knew her. Grandpa was married to his second wife at the time of my marriage. He came to New York with his wife to attend my wedding and he gave me away. My dad was acting up about my wedding so Grandpa offered to walk me down the aisle & he did. I always felt special to them as I was the first granddaughter and Grandmom was mid-wife at my birth also. I was born with a veil over my face. She knew what it was & ripped it off. She said that it meant I was special & I'd be able to see the future. But I never could. "I never knew Grandmother's religion was Salvation Army. I was in the Salvation Army Sunday school & active with them until age 13, when we moved from Patterson Park. I spent a lot of my summer vacation time at the store in St. Dennis. I remember the summer that Vivian's family were there while their house was being built. Grandmom & Grandpa took me on vacation with them to Virginia Beach and we stayed at a Spanish style motel there. I recall that Grandma got sick on that trip from a soft crab sandwich and Grandpa took me out to dinner with him. He ordered me a chicken dinner & said I ate like a fly. I guess that was the early stages of her stomach problems. "She was a good nurse & better than a doctor. She nursed me when ever I got sick. She pulled me through a seige of measles, whooping cough & pneumonia which I got all of them at one time & was sick for so long I had to learn to walk again. Grandma sat up nights & put mustard plasters on my back to save me. She was there when I got mumps & chicken pox too. Mom always called her first whenever I got sick. Mom loved her. She was a good mother, & good mother-in-law and a GREAT grandmother to me. I wish you had known her like I got chance to. You did favor her in looks." Her husband Arthur spoke of her in a letter to me, 10 August 1964, "she was a sport when she was living". She was fond of reading the bible and read it aloud every night to her husband, Arthur, when they went to bed. Martha died of stomach cancer and her gravestone records her birth year as "1877". She had always said that she was three years older than her husband, Art, so the year 1876 is probably the correct one.
			Martha married Arthur James RICHARDSON "Art" [scrapbook]son of Edward RICHARDSON and Emily MILLS on 2 Aug 1900 in Greenwich, London, England. Arthur was born on 24 Nov 1879 in Forest Hill, Kent County, England. He died on 28 Mar 1967 in Catonsville, Baltimore County, Maryland. He was buried on 31 Mar 1967 in Meadowridge Memorial Park, Dorsey, Howard County, Maryland. [Notes]
5	M	iv	George William SMITH "Will" was born in 1880 in Runwell, Essex, England. Will married and lived at Cheltenham.
6	F	v	Alice SMITH was born after 1881 in of Essex, England. Aunt Flo wrote that she believed that Alice Smith inherited the Smith parents' farm, as she was living there after her marriage. Aunt Flo visited there after Alice had remodeled it, which seems to have been in 1938. She said that Alice's husband was a farmer and that they raised two daughters and one son there. Alice had her daughters trained as nurses, one of whom was named Rachel.
7	F	vi	Rachel SMITH "Ray" was born after 1881 in of Essex, England. Ray or Rachel was the youngest child. Aunt Flo gave her name as Ray and Aunt Ivy said there was a Rachel amongst her mother's siblings. She lived at Cheltenham, married and died shortly afterwards.