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This page draws partly upon material from documents supplied by Mr. John Bathurst of Quebec from his Collection of Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Records of the Family of Bathurst, and appears here by his kind permission. The John Bathurst Collection [JBC] assigns to each individual Bathurst a unique four-digit reference number prefixed by a #.
Matilda (2) Bathurst [JBC: #4991] was born at Holywell Lane in Shoreditch on December 25th 1817 to parents Robert (1) Bathurst and his wife Sarah (nee Hitchins). She was baptized at St. Leonard, Shoreditch on January 19th 1818.
In 1840 she married William (1) Freshwater [Marriage Index: Bethnal Green 2 15, 1840 (Dec)]. The GRO index misrenders her surname as "Balhurst".
The 1841 Census finds them living, with no children yet, in Portman Street, St. James Clerkenwell where William (1) was occupied as a victualler.
The 1851 Census finds them with their first three children and two servants living at 13, Hawkins Street in St. Dunstan, Stepney. William (1), born around 1811-12 in Ware, Hertfordshire, was occupied as a licensed victualler.
The 1861 Census finds them with three children - not including James - and one servant living at London Place in Romford, Essex. William (1) is described as a retired victualler. Their son James was meanwhile boarding at Kelvedon School in Kelvedon, Essex.
The 1871 Census finds Matilda (2) aged "53" visiting her widowed sister-in-law Emma Tindall at 46, Canonbury Park North in Islington. Her birthplace is given here as Spitalfields, as it was also in 1851 and 1861. It appears that her husband William (1) was meanwhile a lunatic inmate in Hoxton House Lunatic Asylum, named in the census schedule simply as "W. F." and described as a retired publican aged 59 and born in Ware, Hertfordshire. He evidently died aged "61" in 1873 [Death Index: Shoreditch 1c 66, 1873 (March)].
The 1881 Census finds her aged "63" and widowed living at 94, Mildmay Grove in Islington with her daughter Matilda and a boarder Frank Talbot occupied as a solicitor's general clerk. He was born in Staffordshire around 1850. Also present was a servant Sophia Brokensha who had been born in Truro, Cornwall [Birth Index: Truro 5c 171, 1860 (Sept)].
The 1891 Census finds Matilda (2) aged "73" living at 31, Alkham Road in Stamford Hill, Hackney in the household of Frank Talbot, now the husband of her daughter Matilda. He was now the secretary of a public company.
The 1901 Census finds her aged "83" living at 86, High Street in St. Clements Hastings, Sussex, again in the household of Frank Talbot who was still occupied as a secretary.
She died on May 7th 1905 at Linton in Cambridgeshire [Death Index: Linton 3b 277, 1905 (June)], but with cited residential address of 31, Alkham Road. Probate was granted to her daughter Matilda, to Rev. Joseph Johnson (clerk) and to Joseph Craddock Perkin (gentleman and neighbour at 25, Alkham Road).
William (2) Freshwater may have died in Romford [Death Index: Romford 4a 63, 1863 (March)] or in Hackney aged "27" [Death Index: Hackney 1b 269, 1872 (Sept)].
James Freshwater's GRO birth reference is probably [Birth Index: Stepney 2 484, 1848 (Sept)]. He may have died aged "19" [Death Index: Hackney 1b 256, 1867 (Sept)].
Elizabeth Freshwater may have married in 1872 [Marriage Index: Hackney 1b 682, 1872 (Sept)].
Matilda Freshwater married Frank Talbot in Hackney in the 4th quarter of 1881, and by him produced at least three children all born in Stoke Newington - Stanley F. Talbot (born about 1885), Irene (born about 1887) and Percy Frederick (born 2nd quarter of 1891).