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Emily Woodhurst was born in 1885 to parents Richard William (3) Woodhurst and his second wife Jane Ann (nee Stanford) Wright. The GRO reference is [Birth Index: W. Ham 4a 248, 1885 (June)]. She was born in Walthamstow, Essex [UK 1891 Census] and was christened at St. Mary's, Walthamstow on July 1st 1885 [IGI: Batch C395665].
The 1891 Census finds her at age 6 living with her parents at 8, Clark's Terrace in Hackney.
The 1901 Census her at age 16 living with her parents at 56, Chatham Place in Hackney and occupied in their laundry business.
A family anecdote concerning Emily and her sister Susannah May relates that when they were young and still single they often went out together. One day, when returning home on a tram from a day out in Chingford, two men began talking to them and asked them out. Being shy, the girls refused. But two or three weeks later, while reading a local newspaper (perhaps the Hackney Gazette), they saw an advertisment from the men asking that the two girls 'who had been wearing white dresses and hats with blue sashes' should meet them at a certain place. The meeting did not happen, but the girls still laughed about the incident for years afterwards [descendant's report].
Emily married in 1915 to Walter George Cobbold. The marriage certificate [Marriage Index: Hackney 1b 1332, 1915 (Sept)] states that they married on August 1st 1915 at St. Paul's Parish Church in Lower Homerton, Hackney. She is described as a spinster aged "26" and he as a bachelor aged 25 and occupied as a journeyman baker. She was actually aged 30. Her father is described as a carman and his, John Cobbold, as a fitter's mate. Their place of residence is jointly cited as 157, Glyn Road. Her father had actually died a few months previously. The witnesses were John Cobbold - presumably the groom's father - and George Joseph Spencer, the husband of Emily's half-sister Ruth (1).
Walter George was born in Lower Clapton, Hackney in 1889. His birth certificate [Birth Index: Hackney 1b 506, 1890 (March)] states that he was born on December 7th 1889 at his parents' address 1, Tilia Road (associated with Clarence Road). His father John Cobbold was then occupied as a private coachman and his mother Mary (nee Hobbs) was the informant. The 1891 Census finds him at age 1 living with his parents and 4-year-old sister Mary Eliza at 1, Tylia Road, together with his mother's parents John Hobbs and wife Eliza, both aged 75. He served during 1914-20 in the Northamptonshire Regiment with Service Registration No. 38603, then with the Labour Corps with No. 90120 [PRO Ref: WO 372/4].
Descendants report that Emily and Walter George lived in London E5 at 31, Lesbia Road (which no longer exists) during the period in which their children were born, then at 1, Willow Farm Cottages, Lea Bridge Road in Clapton; and that Walter George drove firstly a horse-and-cart and then a lorry in which he used to travel daily to Smithfield Market, having given up his earlier occupation as a baker. Their children attended the Parochial School in Chatham Place, Hackney. Emily maintained regular contact in later life with her half-siblings Ruth (1) and James ("Jim") Wright.
Emily died in 1958. Her death certificate states that she died aged 72 at Hackney Hospital on April 29th 1958. She is described as the wife of Walter George Cobbold, a nightwatchman, and residing at 26, Detmold Road in Hackney. The informant was Walter George of the same address. The cause of death is given as "Right ventricular failure, due to pulmonary heart disease due to chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Certified by A.S. Davies Deputy Coroner for County of London. After Post Mortem without Inquest." A relative reports that Emily had gone into the hospital after a fall inside her home.
Walter George also died at 26, Detmold Road (which has since been demolished) and from essentially the same cause. His death certificate states that he died aged 74 on April 14th 1964 and gives the cause of death as "(a) congestive cardiac failure, (b) hypertension and (c) chronic bronchitis and emphysema". The informant was his son Walter Richard John. He and Emily are buried - though not together - in Chingford Mount Cemetery.
The GRO birth reference to Leslie G. misspells his mother's maiden name as Woodhouse. This child died in infancy [Death Index: Hackney 1b 659, 1920 (March)].
A relative reports that Albert Victor Cobbold married Joan Knowles in 1948 and produced two daughters - Carol born about 1958 and Julie born about 1964-65. Albert Victor worked as a printer. Doris Emily Cobbold married Thomas Joseph Davies in 1948 and produced a daughter Christine born in 1952. Joan Mary married into the Moriarty surname and produced two children - Kim Elaine born in 1958 and Michael.