Story

Maude was born into a family of school teachers, her mother, father and aunt were teachers and Maude and her sisters, Mabel and Gertrude became teachers. Mabel was born in Holborn on 15^th May 1942 and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, London, Westminster, on 17^th June 1942. Maude was the first child of Charles Emilius Johnstone, 36, and Eliza Johnstone, nee Hitchcock, 31. Her sister Mabel was born the following year and her sister Gertrude was born 3 years later. Her brothers Charles and Edward were born in 1849 and 1853 respectively.

By 1851, Maude and her sister Mabel were living with their aunt, Anne Bigg, a governess, in Clifton, Bristol while their cousin Alfred was living with her parents in Beaconsfield as a pupil at their school. Her father died in 1860 in Woodspeen, Newbury, Berkshire and the family moved to Worthing in Sussex.

Her mother, Eliza, was a working widow and set up a school for young ladies in 1860 at Marlborough House, Marine Parade, Worthing.  It was a family affair with cousins joining them at the school, Maude was a qualified teacher and Mabel and Gertrude became teachers at Marlborough on Marine Parade where their pupils boarded. Their landlord was widower, John Forbes Hardy, a landscape painter and property owner. He lived next door to them at Marlborough Terrace where their brother Edward lodged.

John courted Maude and they married on 12^th February 1877 at Christ Church Worthing. They bought a house on Manor Road Worthing and named it ‘Beaconsfield’ after the town where their parents were teachers when Maude was little. They had a housemaid and a cook and Maude’s maternal aunt Julia came to visit. By 1891 her sister Gertrude who had retired from teaching, moved in with her sister and brother-in-law. In 1892, Eliza, Maude’s mother died.

Maude’s husband, John, died in 1906 and he was buried in a grand plot at Heene Cemetery. Maude sold her home after inheriting John’s estate and bought a nearby house on Wordsworth Road, Worthing. She named it ‘Woodspeen’ after the place where her father died near Newbury. Her sisters; Mabel and Gertrude joined her and they lived together for their final years at ‘Woodspeen’.

Maude died on 16^th December 1920 at Woodspeen, Wordsworth Road, Worthing. She was buried at Heene Cemetery on 20^th December 1920. She left her estate of £10903 4s 11d to her sisters; Gertrude and Mabel and her nephew, Reverend Rupert Johnstone, a clerk in holy orders.

Researcher: Pat Brownbill

Date of Death: 16/12/1920

Cause of death: Unknown

Address line 1: Woodspeen

Address line 3: Wordsworth Road

Town: Worthing

County: Sussex

Country: England

Obituary

Worthing Gazette – 22nd Dec 1920

Deaths – Hardy – On the 16th inst., at Woodspeen, Wordsworth Road, Maude Anne, wife of the late John Forbes Hardy, of Beaconsfield, Heene, age 78.

Personal Effects

Money left to others: £10903 4 s 11 d

Current value of effects: Not calculated

1851

Living at 16 Richmond Hill, Clifton, Bristol Alfred Bigg, 39, Stationer and Bookseller, wife Anne Bigg, 39, Governess, niece & pupil Maude A Johnstone, 8, niece & pupil Mabel E Johnstone, 9, pupil Theresa E K Bere, 10, servant Caroline Juan, 25, housekeeper.

1861

Living at Marlborough House, Broadwater, Worthing, Eliza Johnstone, 50, Schoolmistress, daughter Maude A Johnstone,18, teacher, daughter Mabel E Johnstone, 17, daughter Gertrude M Johnstone, 15, two boarders, two servants (housemaid and cook) and 14 pupils.

1871

Living at Marlborough House, Worthing, Eliza Johnstone, 60, school mistress, daughter Maude A Johnstone, 28, daughter Gertrude M Johnstone, 25, Helene O’Tooley, 21, teacher, and 15 pupils and sisters: Mary Higgins, 19, and Mary Greetham.

1881

Living at Beaconsfield, Manor Road, Worthing, John Forbes Hardy,64, House Property, wife Maude Ann Hardy, 38, visitor (Maude’s maternal aunt) Julia Corbould, 58, wife of a clergyman, servant Ann Standing, 26, Housemaid, servant Mary Standing, 19, Cook.

1891

Living at Beaconsfield, Manor Road, Worthing,  John F Hardy, 74, living on owns means wife Maude A Hardy, 48, sister-in-law Gertrude M Johnstone, 45, living on own means servants: Emily M Easley, 41, cook and Alice L Packham, 25, housemaid.

1901

Living at Beaconsfield, Manor Road, Worthing,  John F Hardy, 84, living on own means, wife Maude Hardy,            58, sister-in law Gertrude M Johnstone, 55, living on own means and servants: Emily Easley, 51, cook and Sarah Green, 42, housemaid.

1911

Living at Woodspeen, 7 Wordsworth Road, Worthing, Maude Hardy, 68, private means

Sister Mabel Johnson, 67, private means, sister Gertrude Johnson, 65, private means, niece

Isabel Johnson, 17, and servants: Annie Talmey, 25, cook, Gertrude Ovenden, 25, house maid.