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Richard Clements SMITH (c.1832–1916)
His wife Mrs Eliza SMITH née Honour (1830–1897)
His mother-in-law Mrs Jane HONOUR, née Ratford (c.1792–1859)
Their daughter Miss Clara Annie SMITH (c.1863–1944)
and their infant children Richard Henry Honour (Henry or Harry) SMITH (1865–1865)
and Kate Eliza SMITH (1870–1874)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 26, Grave L56½

Richard Clements Smith was born in St Pancras, London in c.1832. He was deaf and dumb from birth, and became a cabinet maker.

Eliza Honour was born at Friars Entry in Oxford in 1830 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 12 December. She was the the youngest child of the baker Henry Honour (born c.1788) and Jane Ratford (born in Cirencester in c.1790), who were married at St Mary the Virgin Church, Oxford on 23 March 1812: Jane, who was living in Headington at the time of her marriage, signed her name with a cross. Their first child Henry was baptised at St Martin’s Church on 8 January 1813. They had moved to Griffin Yard opposite St Mary Magdalen Church by 1814, and to Friars Entry by 1828, so next nine children were baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church: Anne (1814), Jane (1816), Thomas (1818), Charles (1820), John (1821), James (1824), Rachel (1826), Amelia Rachel (1828), and finally Eliza herself (1830).

Eliza's father Henry Honour died at Friar’s Entry age of 52 and was buried in St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 11 October 1840.

At the time of the 1851 census his widow Mrs Jane Honour (60) was working as a charwoman. She was still living in Friars Entry with her two youngest daughters Amelia (22), who was a schoolmistress, and Eliza (20), who was a sempstress.

Eliza's mother Jane Honour died in 1859, and was the first to be buried in this grave:

† Mrs Jane Honour née Ratford died at Friars Entry at the age of 67 on 14 September 1859 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 19 September (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Three months later, on 26 December 1859 at St Mary’s Church in Lambeth, Richard Clements Smith married Eliza Honour. They were both then living at Lambeth Walk, but they returned to Oxford and had the following children:

• Frances Smith (born at 24 Union Street, Jericho in 1860 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 18 November)
• Clara Annie Smith (born in Albert Street, St Ebbe’s in 1862 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 17 August)
• Richard Henry Honour Smith (born in Albert Street, St Ebbe’s in 1864 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 21 February); died aged 13 months
• Harriet Maria Smith (born at Albert Street, St Ebbe's in 1865/6 and baptised at St Peter-le-Bailey Church on 17 January 1866)
• Maud Mary Smith (born at Albert Street, St Ebbe’s in 1868 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 29 April)
• Kate Eliza Smith (born at 24 Observatory Street in 1870 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 22 January 1871); died aged three in 1874

The family initially lived at 24 Union Street in Jericho, and Richard and Eliza can be seen there at the time of the 1861 census with their eldest daughter Frances, aged six months.

By 1862 the family was living in Albert Street, St Ebbe’s. Their baby son Richard Henry died there in 1865 at the age of 13 months and as his burial on 8 February is recorded in the register of St Mary Magdalen church, it suggests that he was actually buried in this grave with his grandmother and not just remembered on the headstone.

By 1870 the family had moved to 24 Observatory Street in St Paul’s parish and can be seen there in the 1871 census with their five daughters: Frances, now ten (10), Clara (8), Harriet (5), Maud (3), and Kate (four months). Kate died there in 1874 and was buried on 20 May, again with the burial recorded in the St Mary Magdalen register.

At the time of the 1881 census Richard and Eliza Smith were still living at 24 Observatory Street with their daughters Harriet (15) and Maud (13). Eliza was now working as a shirt-maker, and her daughter Harriet as a dressmaker. Frances (20) is hard to find in this census, while her sister Clara (18) was an assistant to a draper in Hackney, working as a milliner and dressmaker.

Richard and Eliza Smith were still in the same house in 1891, this time with their daughter Clara (28), who was a dressmaker, and Maud (23), who was a shop assistant. Frances (30) was a lady’s companion, living in part of 33 Woodstock Road with Miss Elizabeth Viner (80); and Harriet (25) was a ladies’ maid living as the head of the household in part of 61 Cambridge Terrace, Paddington with one boarder.

Their daughter Maud was married in 1895:

• On 27 April 1895 at St Paul’s Church, Oxford, Maud Mary Smith (27) married Edward Tyrrell Walker (27), a compositor who lived in Cranham Street.

Mrs Smith died in 1897:

† Mrs Eliza Smith née Honour died at 24 Observatory Street at the age of 66 on 22 April 1897 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her daughter Harriett was married the following year:

• On 10 September 1898 at St Paul's Church, Oxford Harriett Maria Smith (32) married Graham Walter Speedy (32), a carpenter of St Pancras in London.

At the time of the 1901 census Richard Smith, a widower of 68, was still working as a cabinet maker, and was living at 50 New High Street, Headington. Living with him were his two eldest daughters, who never married: Frances (40), who had started her own drapery business downstairs, and Clara (39), who was a dressmaker.

At the time of the 1911 census Frances Smith (50) was a draper & milliner, living over her shop, the Headington Cash Drapery Stores at 50 New High Street. She was now the head of the household, and living with her were her widower father, Richard Smith, who was still working as a journeyman cabinet maker at the age of 80, and her widowed sister Mrs Maud Walker (43) and her three young children. Frances died the following year, and was buried alone in the St Paul’s section of St Sepulchre’s Cemetery: see separate grave.

Her father appears to have gone to live at 75 Divinity Road, where he died four years later. He was buried with his wife in St Sepulchre’s:

† Richard Clement Smith died at 75 Divinity Road at the age of 84 on 18 December 1916 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

His second daughter Clara Ann Smith never married. She died in Woodstock in 1944 and was buried with her parents:

† Clara Ann Smith died at Woodstock at the age of 81 on 19 February 1944 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 22 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

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The two other surviving daughters of Richard Clements Smith and his wife Eliza

• Harriet Maria Smith, Mrs Graham Walter Speedy (born 1865/6) was a dressmaker aged 33 in 1901, living with her husband Graham (44), who was a carpenter, at 33 Bruce Street, Willesden. They had no children. In 1911 her husband was a woodwork instructor and they were living at 13 Eastbury Road, Barking. She died in Oxfordshire in 1937 at the age of 72 (reg. Ploughley district).
• Maud Mary Smith, Mrs Edward Tyrrell  Walker (born 1868): see separate grave