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George FERRIS (1802–1876)
His wife Mrs Sarah FERRIS, née Puffett (1802–1881)
Their son Edwin FERRIS (1841–1865)
Their daughter Mrs Eliza Elliott HARRIS, née Ferris (1836/7–1925)
St Giles section: Row 5, Grave B29

George Ferris was born in Standlake in 1802 and baptised there on 1 June. He was the son of Thomas & Ann Ferris and his wife Anne, who had six other children baptised at the same church: William (1800), Alfred (1804), Rebecca (1807), Harriet (1810), Stephen (1813), and Thomas (1816). His father was described as a labourer in 1813, and as a butcher in 1816.

Sarah Puffett was born in Oxford in 1802 and baptised at St Martin’s Church, Carfax on 8 August. She was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Puffett, who had two other children baptised at that church: Elizabeth (1807) and Daniel (1810).

On 28 September 1826 at St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, George Ferris married Sarah Puffett: they were both then living in that parish. They had the following children:

• Amelia Ferris (born at Friar’s Entry in 1827 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 2 September);
  died aged three and buried in that churchyard on 13 September1830
• Frederick Ferris (born 1831 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 31 March);
  died aged 11 and buried at that churchyard on 16 February 1842
• George Ferris junior (born at Gloucester Green in 1834 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 9 July)
• Eliza Elliott Ferris (born at Gloucester Green in 1836/7 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 4 January)
• William Ferris (born at St John Street in 1839 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 3 April)
• Edwin Ferris (born at St John Street in 1841 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 29 December)
• Frederick Ferris (born 1845/6); died at St John Street in 1849 at the age of 3½ and buried on 11 June

George Ferris was a college servant, and at the start of their marriage he and Sarah lived at Friar’s Entry. By 1834 they had moved to Gloucester Green, and between 1837 and early 1839 they moved to the more upmarket St John Street.

At the time of the 1851 census George Ferris (58) was a college servant, living at St John Street: Gardiner’s Directory the following year reveals that he worked for Balliol College. With him were his wife Sarah (58) and three of their four surviving children: George junior (26), who was an attorney’s clerk; Eliza (23); and Edwin (19), who was a cook’s apprentice. The fourth, William (11), is hard to locate.

At the time of the 1861 census George & Sarah were both aged 58 and living at 46 St John Street with George (26), Eliza (23), and Edwin (19). William (22) was a solicitor’s clerk boarding in Islington.

Two of their sons were married in 1864:

• On 30 March 1864 at St Giles’s Church, William Ferris (25), who was now a law clerk at Clerkenwell, married Ellen Collcutt (22), the daughter of a college servant of St Giles Street.
• On 27 July 1864 at St Peter-in-the-East Church, George Ferris junior, an attorney’s clerk of St Giles’ parish, married Georgina Walker, daughter of a builder of St Peter-in-the-East parish.

In 1865 Edwin Ferris, the youngest surviving son of George & Sarah, died:

† Edwin Ferris died at St John Street at the age of 24 on 19 September 1865 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 September (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

His son William Ferris remained in London with his wife Ellen, but their son Herbert William Ferris (born at Stoke Newington) was baptised at St Giles’s Church on 16 April 1865.

George Ferris senior and his wife Sarah were living alone at 46 St John Street in 1871, and George now described himself as a retired college servant. Their only unmarried child Eliza, an annuitant of 33, was paying a visit to the Collcutt family in Hammersmith.

George Ferris junior’s wife Georgina Ferris died at St John Street at the age of 30 in 1869 and was buried on 18 June, probably in Holywell Cemetery, as her burial is recorded in the St Peter-in-the-East register. At the time of the 1871 census George junior was a widower of 36, working as a solicitor’s clerk and the head of the household at 39 St John Street, seven doors away from his parents, where he lived with his children George H. Ferris (4) and Mabel Lilian Ferris (2), plus a servant.

George Ferris senior died in 1876:

† George Ferris died at 46 St John Street at the age of 74 on 9 February 1876 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 11 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

His personal estate came to under £450, and probate was granted to his son George Ferris junior, who was now living at 131 Walton Street.

In 1877 George Ferris junior married his second wife:

• On 4 April 1877 George Ferris junior married Mrs Sophia Walker, a widow of Walton Street, the daughter of another college servant, Timothy Miller.

The only surviving daughter of George Ferris senior and his wife Sarah was married in 1880 at the age of 43:

• On 24 April 1880 at Ss Philip & James’s Church, Eliza Elliott Ferris married Frederic Harris, a secretary of Kingston Road, son of Charles Hawkins Harris, the Clerk at the Probate Court.

At the time of the 1881 census Mrs Sarah Ferris, a widow of 79, was lodging with the Tyrrell family at Margaret House, Kingston Road. She died later that year:

† Mrs Sarah Ferris née Puffett died at Kingston Road at the age of 78 on 22 September 1881 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 27 September (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

Her effects came to £65, and her son George was her executor.

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Mrs Eliza Elliott Harris née Ferris

Mrs Harris is hard to find in the 1881, 1891, and 1901 censuses. By the time of the 1911 census her husband was dead and Eliza (74) was described as a lodging-house keeper and living alone at 10 St Bernard’s Road (then called St John’s Road).

Eliza died at that address in 1925 and was buried in the family grave sixty years after it was first used for her brother:

† Mrs Eliza Elliott Harris née Ferris died at 10 St Bernard’s Road at the age of 88 on 29 August 1925 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 2 September (burial recorded in the parish register of St Giles’s Church).

Her effects came to £207 10s.

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The two remaining children of George & Sarah Ferris

• George Ferris junior (born 1834) was still a solicitor’ clerk in 1881 and 1891, living at 131 Walton Street with his wife Sophia and the two children of his first marriage. He was a widower by 1901, and his daughter Mabel and her husband Cottrell Stephen Frederick Horser (son of Cottrell William & Annie Horser) was living with him. He died at 131 Walton Street on 11 June 1910.
• William Ferris (born 1839) was a solicitor’ managing clerk in 1871, living in Acton with his wife Ellen and their first three daughters. In 1881 he described himself as a solicitor, and he and his wife had nine children: Herbert (16), Ethel (14), Nora (12), Maud (11), Kate (9), Percival (8), Herbert (7), Emily (5), and Bertha (4). The family appear to have emigrated to Canada by the late 1880s.