Martha Harriett HELSDON née INKSON, b: reg. Q2 1861 Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Her Story
Martha Harriett was the fourth child of Thomas Harborow b. 16 Dec 1834 and Martha and the last child to be born in Kings Lynn before the family moved from station to station as Thomas Harborow was promoted. She was the 'weather anchor' of the family, never moving far from the family's roots in north west Norfolk - as distinct from her siblings.
Her birth was registered in Q2 1861 and Mormon records state that she was baptised in All Saints church, Kings Lynn, on 25 Apr 1861, the same day that he older brother, William Alfred, was baptised. She appears in the 1861 census data, said to be aged 1 month on the night of April 7th, so she was probably born in late March that year.
Ten years later, at the time of the 1871 census, she was recorded as 10 years old and living with her parents and six siblings in Burnham Sutton where her father was the station master. On the night of the 1881 census, aged 20 and a governess, she was a visitor at the butcher's shop in the village of Thornham, some 10km west of Burnham. The butchers were Mary Helsdon and - significantly - her 19 year old son Henry. We don't know how Martha Harriett met Henry, perhaps she was a governess to some children in Thornham? Alternatively, Henry seems to have come from a long line of butchers in Thornham. It is possible that his family knew the Inkson family who were also from a long line of butchers in Kings Lynn, the big town 26 km sou'-sou'-east of Thornham.
Martha Harriett married Henry William Helsdon a year later. The marriage was registered in Q3 of 1882 but in Depwade registration district which is about 25 km south of Norwich and therefore about 70km from Burnham and Thornham. Mormon records indicate that they were married in the village of Burston [which is in Depwade registration districton] on 27 Aug 1882 but that doesn't explain why they married so far from 'home'.
At the time of the 1891 census the Helsdons were living on 'The Street' in Thornham with four children and Mrs Helsdon senior, Henry William being the village butcher. The children's ages ranged from 8 to 1. Ten years later, in 1901, the family were still living on The Street but Henry William had progressed a bit to being butcher and farmer. He was 39 years old and Martha Harriett was 40. The two oldest children had left home [or, at least, were not there on the night of the census] but four more had been born - including a set of twins. Mrs Helsdon senior, then aged 75, was still living with them.
The 1911 census record finds the family were still in Thornham but the postal address is simply Henry Helsdon, Thornham [the joys of living in a small village!] with the youngest three children. Mrs Helsdon senior was not with them and had presumably died between 1901 and 1911. In the record Martha Harriett declared that they had been married 29 years and that they had had 8 children all still living.
Another ten years on, at the time of the 1921 census the family was still at the same postal address and three of the children, all still being single although in their 20's and 30's. The twin boys are described as butchers working from home and as Henry William was more or less 60 years old they presumably ran the shop by that time. One of Martha Harriett's nieces was staying there too but Martha Harriett herself was not there on the night of the census, she was visiting one of her married daughters in Cardiff.
Henry William died on 6 May 1924 and Martha Harriett died just five months later on 20 Oct.