{"id":5078,"date":"2017-09-01T08:15:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T14:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casbonjourney.wordpress.com\/?p=5078"},"modified":"2020-04-28T15:58:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T15:58:05","slug":"two-women-of-folkestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jontest.one-name.blog\/wp\/two-women-of-folkestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Women of Folkestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Had you been reading The Folkestone Herald<\/i> on March 25, 1899, you would have come across this advertisement and article.[1]<\/a><\/sup>,<\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"combined<\/a>(Click on image to enlarge) Newspaper image \u00a9 The British Library Board. All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk<\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n

Who is \u201cMiss Casbon \u2026 Late of Claremont house\u201d? From census records, it is clear that she is Fanny Sanders Casbon. Very few records of her life exist, but I think they are enough to tell us that she was a remarkable woman for her time.<\/p>\n

Fanny was born in Meldreth in 1846, the fourth daughter, and youngest of six children born to James (1806\u20131871) and Susanna Hayden (Sanders; 1806\u20131850) Casbon.[3]<\/a><\/sup> We were introduced to James and Susanna in earlier posts (here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>!). In these posts we learned that James was a landowner \u2013 a step up from his other Meldreth cousins. He wasn\u2019t wealthy by any means, but his status probably allowed his children to pursue careers as tradesmen or to marry into the lower rungs of the middle class.<\/p>\n

For her time Fanny was in a minority among women; she never married, and she achieved independence and success on her own.<\/p>\n

We only have snapshots of her life through census records. In 1861 (age 15), she was living with her father and one brother in Barley, Hertfordshire, and listed as \u201chousekeeper.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup> James\u2019 third wife is not listed in this census, and it\u2019s possible that they were estranged, or that she was already deceased. Both the 1871 and 1881 censuses list Fanny as a \u201cvisitor\u201d in the household of Ebenezer Cayford, in London. This is odd \u2013 how likely is it that she would be visiting the same family during two consecutive censuses? I suspect she was either lodging with or employed by the family. The 1881 census lists her occupation as \u201cdressmaker.\u201d However, her age and birthplace are listed incorrectly, so it\u2019s likely the census enumerator transcribed someone else\u2019s information into her entry.<\/p>\n

So, other than the fact that she was either living or visiting in London in 1871 and 1881, we don\u2019t really know anything about Fanny\u2019s life from the time she lived in Barley until the 1891 census.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Casbon<\/a>
\nDetail from 1891 census, Marylebone, London, England. (Click on image to enlarge)<\/h6>\n

In this census, Fanny\u2019s relation to head of household is listed as \u201cMistress,\u201d and her occupation as \u201cSuperintendent.\u201d The census entry for this address \u2013 12 York Place \u2013 begins on the previous page. Evidently this was a large boarding house or tenement, with 49 occupants \u2013 all female \u2013 listed on the census form. As \u201cmistress,\u201d Fanny must have been something like the apartment manager or “dorm mother” for all of these working women.<\/p>\n

We know from the advertisement and article at the beginning of this post that, by 1899, Fanny had moved to Folkestone. She remained there for the rest of her life. Here is her entry in the 1901 census.[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Casbon<\/a>
\nDetail from 1901 census, Folkestone, Kent. (Click on image to enlarge)<\/h6>\n

I\u2019ve highlighted two entries in this census. The first shows Fanny, age 55, and gives her occupation as “Boardinghousekeeper.” The second has the name \u201cLavinia Do.\u201d “Do.\u201d stands for \u201cditto,\u201d and this entry is for Lavinia Alice Casbon, age 30. Lavinia was Fanny\u2019s niece, the daughter of her brother George S Casbon (~1836\u20131914). Lavinia was born in Barley, Hertfordshire, in 1870.[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Being unmarried and childless, Fanny seems to have \u201cadopted\u201d Lavinia as a favorite niece. Look back at the 1891 London census. Five entries above Fanny’s name, you can see Lavinia, age 20, single, living at the same address, and with the occupation \u201cBookseller.\u201d Fanny probably helped Lavinia to get settled in London. Then, Lavinia either moved to Folkestone at the same time as Fanny, or shortly after the boarding house was established. Like her aunt, Lavinia never married, and remained in Folkestone for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n

What do we know about Folkestone, and the boarding house at 12 Trinity Crescent? Folkestone is located on the southeast coast of England, not far from Dover. At the time Fanny and Lavinia lived there, it was a popular seaside tourist destination.<\/p>\n