Wilkins Mercy

Wilkins Mercy

Female 1810 - 1893  (~ 83 years)

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  • Name Wilkins Mercy 
    Birth c. 1810  Chaffcombe, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Death 15 Feb 1893  Ealing, London Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I184  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 28 Oct 2023 

    Father Wilkins Thomas,   b. 5th Apr 1766 ?, Chaffcombe, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 7th Oct 1831 
    Mother Dommony / Dominey? Elizabeth,   b. 19th Feb 1766 ?, Crewkerne Find all individuals with events at this locationbur. 11th Sept 1837, Chaffcombe Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 18th Jul 1792  Chaffcombe, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F98  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Summerhayes John,   b. 1809, Buckland St Mary Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1863, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Marriage 19 Mar 1831  Chard, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Summerhayes Rev Julius,   b. 1832, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Apr 1903, Isle of Wight Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 71 years)
     2. Summerhayes Harry   d. 1920, Ealing, London Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Summerhayes Mercy,   b. 1838, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1920, Limpsfield Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years)
     4. Summerhayes Thomas,   b. 1833, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1875, South Africa Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 42 years)
    +5. Summerhayes William,   b. 1835, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1912, Thame Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
     6. Summerhayes John,   b. 1837, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1837, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
     7. Summerhayes John,   b. 1840, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1863, Seaton Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 23 years)
     8. Summerhayes Mary,   b. 1846, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1849, Crewkerne, Somerset Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 3 years)
    Family ID F78  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Nov 2012 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 19 Mar 1831 - Chard, Somerset Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 15 Feb 1893 - Ealing, London Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    view from Mendip Hills looking south, Somerset
    view from Mendip Hills looking south, Somerset
    7 Mattock Lane, Ealing.
    7 Mattock Lane, Ealing.
    This is the house where Mercy ran a school during her later years as a widow. It's along the road from where her son Julius was the Vicar of St John's church, Ealing, and would have been almost new when she moved into it.
    Poples Well street sign, Crewkerne
    Poples Well street sign, Crewkerne
    Poples Well cottages, Crewkerne, where the Summerhayes family would have lived, with the church in the background up the hill. It lies on the edge of fields.
    Poples Well cottages, Crewkerne, where the Summerhayes family would have lived, with the church in the background up the hill. It lies on the edge of fields.
    Crewkerne town centre today
    Crewkerne town centre today
    1851 census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    1851 census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    1841 Census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    1841 Census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    19th Mar 1831, Marriage record of Mercy Wilkins to John Summerhayes at Chard in Somerset.
    19th Mar 1831, Marriage record of Mercy Wilkins to John Summerhayes at Chard in Somerset.
    one of the witnesses is Thomas Wilkins, Mercy's father
    21st Feb 1893 record of burial for Mercy Summerhayes in Hanwell cemetery, in London, at th age of 83
    21st Feb 1893 record of burial for Mercy Summerhayes in Hanwell cemetery, in London, at th age of 83
    Her address when she died is given as Beresford House, Mattock Lane, Ealing
    Marriage Bann between John Summerhayes and Mercy Wilkins, 18th March 1831
    Marriage Bann between John Summerhayes and Mercy Wilkins, 18th March 1831
    1861 census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    1861 census record for John and Mercy Summerhayes
    1871 census record for Mercy Summerhayes (wrongly called Mary in census), living in London
    1871 census record for Mercy Summerhayes (wrongly called Mary in census), living in London
    1881 Mercy Summerhayes census record
    1881 Mercy Summerhayes census record
    1891 Mercy Summerhayes census record
    1891 Mercy Summerhayes census record
    1861 probate record of Virtue Wilkins, sister of Mercy
    1861 probate record of Virtue Wilkins, sister of Mercy
    Virtue died 26th July 1861 at Heavitree in Devon.
    Mercy Summerhayes, her sister and wife of John Summerhayes proved the will.
    Her effects were 'under £600'
    (Which in 2017 money is about £35,000 according to the National Archives currency converter)

  • Notes 
    • SUMMARY
      Mercy was born in 1810 to Thomas Wilkins, a cider maker in Chard in Somerset and Elizabeth Dommony.

      She lived about 3 miles away from her future husband John Summerhayes, a music teacher. Family history says she is supposed to have been one of his music pupils, even though she was only a couple of years younger, which shows both that her family must have been able to afford music lessons and also that she was musical herself. After they got married in 1831, they went on to have 8 children together, of whom Julius is the significant one to continue this family tree. They lived in Pople's Well in Crewkerne, which is a set of cottages in a dip below the school where he taught, on the edge of town.

      After John died in 1863, Mercy moved to London, and showed both determination and some financial stability in setting up a small school. It was on the same road in Ealing where her son Julius was the Vicar, and had 10 students and 4 staff a couple of years before she died.

      Mercy died in 1893, aged 83 years old and is buried in Hanwell cemetery in London.

      (She is sometimes mistakenly called 'Mary' Summerhayes in census records)
      ++++++

      19th March 1831 marriage record for Mercy Wilkins and John Summerhayes, in Chard, Somerset. (see image above)
      John Summerhayes of the parish of Crewkerne, Mercy Wilkins of the borough of Chard. They both sign their names, showing literacy.
      Thomas Wilkins is one of the witnesses (probably her father)

      The Banns of marriage (see image above) say that both John Summerhayes and Mercy Wilkins are 21 years of age in 1831.

      1841 Census:
      The Summerhayes family are living in Popes Well, Crekerne.
      John Summerhayes is head, aged 30, a 'professor of music'
      Mercy is also aged 30. Children;
      Julius aged 9
      Thomas aged 7
      William aged 6
      Mercy Eliza aged 3
      John aged 1

      1851 Census:
      John Summerhayes, age 42, Professor of Music (born Buckland St Mary) lives at Popes Well in Crewkerne, with his wife Mary [sic] age 41 (born Chaffcombe). Children;
      Thomas age 17, occupation Sailor
      William age 15
      Mercy Eliza age 12
      John Henry age 10
      Virtue Wilkins a visitor aged 33, born Chaffcombe.
      [Virtue must be Mercy's sister, as described in 1861 census, so they must have been close for Virtue to be with them for 2 census records]

      1861 Census:
      John Summerhayes, age 52, Professor of Music (born Buckland St Mary) lives at Popes Well in Crewkerne, with his wife Mary [sic] age 50 (born Chaffcombe). Children;
      Mary E age 22
      John age 20, student
      Henry age 18, medical student
      Virtue Wilkins, sister-in-law [of John Summerhayes, so sister of Mercy], age 40, landowner, born Chaffcombe
      Harriet Lombard, age 27, house servant

      1871 Census:
      Mercy Summerhayes is the head of the household at No.3 Victoria Terrace , Ealing, London. She is a widow, aged 62, and described as a 'landowner', born in Chaffcombe, Somerset.
      Also in the house are two others;
      Mercy E Summerhayes, her daughter, unmarried, age 32, a Professor of languages
      Sarah Dowling, a servant aged 24, unmarried

      1881 Census:
      Mercy Summerhayes is head of a household in Mattock Lane, Percival Place, Ealing. She's an Annuitant widow age 69, born in Chard, Somerset.
      With her lives Mercy Summerhayes her daughter, unmarried, age 42 and a schoolmistress born in Crewkerne.
      Also there are a French governess, 3 scholars age 12-16, a cook and a housemaid.
      So Mercy seems to be running a small school.

      * Mattock Lane is right beside St Johns church in Ealing, where her son is the vicar in the 1881 Census, so the family are together.

      1891 Census:
      Mercy Summerhayes is head of the household as a widow, 'living on own means' in No 7 Mattock Lane, Ealing, age 81, born Chard in Somerset.
      Also there is Mary Eliza, age 52, schoolmistress. Its a very large household with a total of 17 people, and looks like a school. There are 2 governesses in their 20s - one a teacher of English, one of French - and 10 students from age 10 to 17, including 'granddaughter Minnie(something?) Summerhayes age 15. There are also 3 domestic servants.

      ++++++++++

      Record of burial, Mercy Summerhayes
      Death Age: 83
      Birth Date: abt 1810
      Death Date: abt 1893
      Burial Date: 21 Feb 1893
      Burial Place: London, England
      Burial Cemetery: Hanwell Cemetery
      (see image above)

      Death notice in the Argus, Melbourne, Australia (Friday Apr 14th 1893):
      'SUMMERHAYES.'On the 15th February, at Beresford-house, Ealing, Middlesex, Mercy, widow of John Summerhayes, of Crewkerne, aged 83 years. Deeply loved by all who knew her.'


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