Susan Ann Milton Carpenter (1837 – 1900)

Susan was my 2nd great grandmother on my paternal side. She was born on Monday 26th June 1837 in Edmonton to Henry Carpenter an agricultural labourer and Susan Wright Jackman. Milton is unusual middle name and may be the surname of one of her ancestors, but as yet I have not found the origin.

She was baptised the month after her birth, on the 23rd July 1837 at the Weld Chapel in Southgate, and the family are recorded as living at Bows Farm. Weld Chapel no longer exists. It was replaced by Christ Church Southgate opposite the Walker Cricket ground & near the Cherry Tree pub.

Weld Chapel was built around 1615, it was a wooden structure, enlarged and altered several times to accommodate the growing population of Southgate and it lasted until 1862 by which time there were several imposing houses and estates in the area owned by wealthy merchants and they wanted a more imposing church more suitable to the population. The Weld Chapel was demolished in 1863 and its site remains marked in the old churchyard outside the West Door of the church.

Coincidently, the new church was consecrated on 17th July 1862 by the Lord Bishop of London, Dr. Tait ( later Archbishop of Canterbury), who we believe is possibly a distant relation to my mother in law’s Tait family of Langrigg in Scotland, although I have yet to prove the connection.

Although Susan was recorded aged 24 on 1861 census as an adult, there is no occupation listed. Her father is a labourer and the family are now living at 2 St John’s Cottages in Wood Green. Three years later on 26 October 1863 Susan marries Angeline Harry Smith at St Peters in Stepney. Angeline is a farrier and goes on to own two workshops in the Tottenham area. Susan’s sister Margaret is one of the witnesses and they state they are both living at 39 Follet Street, which is in Poplar.

Susan & Angeline set up home at Rose Cottages, West Green Road in Tottenham and have 6 children. Their second child was my great grandmother Elizabeth Charlotte Smith, born 1870. As with many women of this era, not much is recorded about her till her death aged 63 on 6th July 1900, she was living at 266 High Road Tottenham and left an estate worth £855 to her husband.