George Dennis DUDLEY (1787/8–1863)
His wife Mrs Ann DUDLEY, formerly Hemmings (1777/8–1862)
His adopted daughter Miss Susan/Susanna WELLER (1825–1859)
His niece Miss Eliza DUDLEY (1800/1–1875)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 10, Grave D68
GEORGE DENNIS DUDLEY
DIED FEBRUARY 16, 1863
ANN DUDLEY
DIED FEBRUARY 24, 1862
AGED 63 YEARS
SUSAN WHELLER [sic]
DIED MAY 13 1859
ELIZA DUDLEY
NEICE [SIC] OF THE ABOVE G. D. DUDLEY
DIED FEB 24, 1875
George Dennis Dudley was born in Bicester in 1787/8, and became a successful plumber & glazier in Broad Street.
At the time of his marriage in Oxford in 1819 he was said to be living at Chapel House, Oxfordshire (a small hamlet one mile north of Over Norton, near Chipping Norton); but he already had connections with Oxford and Broad Street, as his brother was Crews Dudley (the Broad Street solicitor and father of John Crews Dudley who was also born in Bicester).
George’s future wife, Ann Hemmings, was born in Long Hanborough in 1777/8 and was described of being of St Mary Magdalen parish at the time of her marriage. She appears to have been a widow.
On 24 July 1819 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, George Dennis Dudley married Ann Hemmings were married at St Mary Magdalen Church on 24 July 1819. The marriage announcement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal stated: “On Saturday last was married Mr. Dudley, of Chapel House, in this county, to Mrs. Hemming, of this city”.
Ann, who was ten years older than George, was already 42 at the time of their marriage, and there were no children.
The couple lived at 43 Broad Street (right) for the rest of their lives. (This is one of the houses demolished to make way for the New Bodleian Library.)
Dudley & Bowler, plumbers & glaziers, are listed as being based in Broad Street in Pigot’s Directory for 1823/4, and a Mrs Dudley (possibly George’s mother) was the private occupier of this house in 1829.
Susanna(h) or Susan Weller
Susanna, whom George Dennis Dudley adopted, and described (presumably loosely) as his niece at the time of the 1851 census, was born in Eynsham on 17 February 1825. Her parents were John Weller of Eynsham and Elizabeth Baylis of Begbroke (baptised there on 4 August 1890, the daughter of Edward & Martha Weller), who were married at Begbroke on 19 November 1812. They had the following children:
- Martha Weller (born at Eynsham on 5 September 1813 and baptised there on 19 September 1813)
- Edward Weller (born at Eynsham on 26 May 1815 and baptised there on 25 June)
- Elizabeth Weller (born at Eynsham on 4 July 1816 and baptised there on 29 September)
- John Weller (born at Eynsham on 24 January 1818 and baptised there on 10 February)
- George Weller (born at Eynsham on 19 July 1819 and baptised there on 7 August);
died aged 16 and buried there on 20 October 1836 - Charles Weller (born at Eynsham on 28 December 1821 and baptised there on 20 January 1822)
- Mary Ann Weller (born at Eynsham on 28 June 1823 and baptised there on 27 July);
died aged one and buried there on 13 August 1824 - Susanna Weller (born at Eynsham on 17 February 1825 and baptised there on 23 February)
- Ann Weller (born at Eynsham on 19 March 1826 and baptised there on 9 April)
- William Weller (born at Eynsham on 3 June 1828 and baptised there on 24 June);
died aged eight months and buried there on 3 February 1829) - James Weller (born at Eynsham on 8 November 1829 and baptised there on 6 December).
Susanna’s father was described as a carpenter up to 1818, and then as a victualler from 1819. He died at the age of 55 and was buried at Eynsham on 17 May 1830; and her mother died at the age of 46 and was buried with him on 5 January 1835, leaving the eight surviving children, the youngest aged only six, as orphans.
Elizabeth (18), Susan (10), and Ann (8) were evidently taken in by George Dennis Dudley, their childless relation in Oxford.
George & Ann Dudley, and Susan Weller
At the time of the 1841 census George Dudley (55) and his wife Ann (64) were at 43 Broad Street with Elizabeth Weller (24), Susan Weller (16), and Ann Weller (14) described as his servants: they presumably earned their keep by assisting the Wellers’ proper servant, Hannah Badcock (20).
George was still working as a plumber and glazier in 1851 when he was 65. Susan Weller (26) was the only one of the three sisters still living with him and his wife at 43 Broad Street, and she was now described as his niece: she may have been a great-niece. They now had two proper servants.
Susannah died eight years after that census:
† Susannah Weller died at 43 Broad Street at the age of 34 on 13 May 1859 and was the first member of the household to be buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
By 1861 George (74), now a retired plumber, and his wife Ann (83) were living on their own at 43 Broad Street with two servants (a cook and a housemaid). Ann died the following year:
† Mrs Ann Dudley died at 43 Broad Street at the age of 85 in on 24 February 1862 and was buried with Susannah Weller in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 28 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
George only outlived his wife by two years:
† George Dennis Dudley died at 43 Broad Street at the age of 76 on 16 February 1863 and was buried with his wife and Susannah in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 20 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
Miss Eliza Dudley (1800/1–1875)
Miss Eliza Dudley was born in London at some point between 1800 and 1809 (the age given for her varies). As she was described as George Dennis Dudley’s niece and was an appropriate age, she was presumably the daughter of his brother.
She was a woman of means, and did not live with the Dudleys, at least after 1841.
At the time of the 1861 census Eliza Dudley (52) was lodging in St Giles’s Street, Oxford. She was described as being deaf, and as an annuitant.
By 1871 she was lodging at Museum Terrace, and again the age recorded (62) does not correspond with her age as given at death. Four years later she died:
† Eliza Dudley died at Wellington Villa on 24 February 1875, with her age recorded as 74 (which matches the age at the General Register Office, but not her age in the censuses). She was buried with her uncle and his wife at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 1 March (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).
Her will was proved at Oxford by the Revd Samuel George Dudley of 22 Kingsgate Street, Winchester, and her effects came to nearly £3,000.
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