Maria Stevenson (buried 1906)

At a glance

At a glance
Surname: 
Stevenson
First name: 
Maria
Other Christian names: 
Lucy
Gender: 
Female
Burial number: 
492
Born: 
7/3/1827
Died: 
08/03/1906
Buried: 
13/03/1906
Heene Hallmark: 
No
Commonwealth War Grave: 
No

The Grave

The grave
Cemetery area: 
SWS
Cemetery row: 
5
Cemetery plot: 
20
what3words location: 
https://what3words.com/hints.units.cabin
Burial remains: 
Unknown
The headstone
Headstone inscription: 
"And hath made us kings...unto God" Sacred to Maria Lucy the beloved wife of Revd. John Gilchrist Stevenson who entered into eternal rest March 8th 1906 aged 79. "I am He that liveth and was dead: and behold I am alive for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hell and of death" "With Christ"

Life story

Life story

Maria Lucy Keene was born to William, a farmer, and Mary Ann, nee Swallow, on 7th March 1827, Hambledon, Buckinghamshire. She was baptised on 10th July 1827, at Maidenhead, Berkshire, in a Non-Conformist/Non-Parochial ceremony at New Chapel 'Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion'. The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. In 1847 she married Thomas Deverell, 40yrs., of Henley, Oxford; he was a farmer, 20yrs her senior. Although he was born in1807 he was baptised in the Non-Conformist Church in 1826, aged 19yrs. Thomas farmed 290 acres and employed17 labourers at Upcott Farm, Sydenham, Oxfordshire. Maria and Thomas had 4 children, Louis Keene Deverell, born 1852, Jessie M. born 1854, Mary Caroline Deverell, born 1856, and Thomas, 1863. They continued to live at Upcott Farm until Thomas's death, aged 66yrs. on 19th August 1873. He left estate under £20k value £2.1m -2020. Maria Lucy Deverell, nee Keene, widow, 47yrs, married Rev. John Gilchrist Stevenson, 42yrs, in 1874, Lambeth. John Gilchrist Stevenson was born in 1832 in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, to Alexander (1891) and Elizabeth (1896), he was I of 5 children. In 1871 he was an Assistant School Master, 39yrs, living at Woodcock Hill, Pannal, Yorkshire. In 1881 John and Maria were living at Oakdean Lodge, Thornton Heath, Croydon, with her son, Louis K. Deverell, 18yrs, clerk; they employed a housemaid. John Gilchrist Stevenson is a Congregational Minister without Pastoral Charge. In 1891 they had moved to Hastings, Sussex, where John, 59yrs, was a Congregational Minister at St. Mary in the Castle. By 1901, the family had moved to Worthing, and were living at Grasmere, Manor Road. Maria Lucy was now 74yrs old and suffering from serious ill health; a night nurse, Elizabeth R. K. Francis, had been employed to turn her at night for the last three years. They also employed a Cook and a Housemaid. In February,1905, the night nurse died suddenly (Worthing Gazette report attached.) Maria Lucy Stevenson died, aged 79yrs, on 8th March 1906, Worthing. Grasmere was sold in May 1906 and John Gilchrist Stevenson, now retired from Ministry, returned to Yorkshire where he died in 1911.

Further information

Birth
Date born: 
07/03/1827
Marriage
Maiden name: 
Keene
Marriage 1
Spouse one first names: 
Thomas
Spouse one last name: 
Deverell
Marriage one date: 
00/00/1847

Death

Death (details)
Date of death: 
08/03/1906
Age (at time of death): 
79
Cause of death: 
Unknown
Address at time of death: 
Grasemere, Manor Road, Worthing, Sussex, England

Census and miscellaneous information

Census information
1841 census: 

Hambledon, Buckinghamshire - William Keene, 50yrs, Farmer, wife, Mary Ann, 45yrs, 4 children, Alfred 20, Caroline 20, Richard 15, and Maria 14.

1851 census: 

Upcott Farm, Oxfordshire, Thomas Deverell, 40yrs, Farmer, wife, Maria, 24yrs, plus 1 domestic servant.

1861 census: 

Upcott Farm, Oxfordshire, Thomas Deverell, 53yrs, Farmer of 292 acres, wife, Maria, 34yrs, daughter, Mary Caroline, 5yrs, plus 1 domestic servant.

1871 census: 

Upcott Farm, Oxfordshire, Thomas Deverell, 63yrs, Farmer of 285 acres, employing 12 men and 2 boys, wife, Maria, 44yrs, Louis K. Deverell, 18yrs, Jessie M. Deverell, 16yrs, Thomas Deverell, 8yrs, plus 1 servant.

1881 census: 

Oakdene Lodge, Croydon, John G. Stevenson, 49yrs, Congregational Minister without Pastoral Care, wife, Maria L. Stevenson, 54yrs, Thomas A. 18yrs, Stepson, Surveyors Clerk, plus 1 domestic servant.

1891 census: 

9, Pelham Crescent, St. Mary in the Castle, Hastings. John G. Stevenson, 59yrs, Congregational Minister, Boarder, wife, Maria L. 64yrs, plus 1 domestic servant.

1901 census: 

Grasmere, Manor Road, Worthing. John G. Stevenson, 69yrs, Congregational Minister, wife, Maria L. 74yrs, Louis K. Deverell, 48yrs, living on own means, plus a Housemaid, Cook, and Night Nurse.

Miscellaneous information

"Worthing Gazette" Wednesday, 08 February 1905

A WEAK HEART SUDDEN DEATH OF NIGHT NURSE The sudden death of Mrs. Elizabeth Rowe Kind Francis, a nurse, aged seventy four of 2,Western Terrace, West Street, necessitated a Coroner’s inquiry, which was held at the Rose and Crown Inn yesterday afternoon, being conducted by Mr. A. W. Rawlinson, the Deputy Coroner for West Sussex. Mrs. Florence Upperton, of 2, Western Terrace, daughter of the deceased, stated that her mother was living with her; her husband, John Ray Francis, a traveller, living at Horsham. For some time past her mother had been acting as night nurse at the Rev. J. G. Stevenson’s. Up till Sunday last she appeared in good health, but Mr. Stevenson brought her home on that morning, as she was complaining of not feeling well. She lay down, and witness brought her a cup of cocoa, and then left her, deceased remarking that she should not want anything more until dinner-time. Witness went up at one o’clock, and thought she had then fainted, but when a doctor was fetched he pronounced her dead. A Fainting Fit. The Rev. John Gilchrist Stevenson, of Grasmere, Manor Road, a retired Congregational Minister, deposed that deceased had been attending Mrs. Stevenson as night nurse for eight years and a half. She told him on Sunday morning when he came down to breakfast that she had a kind of a fainting fit just before she had turned Mrs. Stevenson, and she felt something move in her throat, causing her acute pain, and soon afterwards the fainting fit came on. He subsequently accompanied her home. Cause of Death. Mr. Philip John Le Riche, of 96, Marine Parade, said he was called to Mrs. Francis about half past one on Sunday, and found her lying on the bed, dead. He had since made a post-mortem examination, and found the muscular tissue of the heart extremely thin, and the heart was dilated. The brain was in a very anaemic condition. He attributed death to syncope caused by the weak state of the heart, which was probably accelerated by the strain of turning Mrs. Stevenson. Verdict. The Jury, of which Mr. A. A. Frazer was foreman, returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes."