Mary Alice Sellers was born on Saturday 28th December 1844, in Middle Rasen, Lincolnshire, England, to Thomas Sellers a cordwainer and Margaret Ormerod. She was baptised on 28th January 1846 at St Peter and St Paul Church in Middle Rasen. Mary had one sibling a sister named Jessie Frances Sellers, born in December 1847 in Leeds, Yorkshire. Sadly, their father, Thomas Sellers, passed away aged just 24, on 24th April 1849, when Mary was just four years old. The family continued to live in Middle Rasen, Lincolnshire, where Mary spent her early years. Her mother married William Doughty another cordwainer in 1870, they were both widows.
On 23rd August 1865, Mary married Joseph Arthur Pinchbeck at Horncastle Congregational Chapel in Lincolnshire. Together, they had eight children:
William Herbert Pinchbeck (1866-1888)
Joseph Arthur Pinchbeck (1867-1968)
Fred Ormerod Pinchbeck (1869-1936)
Charles Henry Pinchbeck (1872-1952)
George Albert Pinchbeck (1874-1950)
Frank Wilson Pinchbeck (1876-1930)
Margaret Mary Alice Pinchbeck (1878-1918)
Alfred Edward Pinchbeck (1880-1937)
Mary’s life in England was during the Victorian era, a period marked by industrial revolution, social changes, and the expansion of the British Empire.
By the 1881 census the family have moved from Horncastle in Lincolnshire to Tottenham in Middlesex.
Then in 1887, Mary and her family (except son Fred Ormerod Pinchbeck) emigrated to the United States. Mary travelled with the four youngest children (George aged 12, Frank aged 10, Margaret aged 9, and the youngest Alfred aged just 6 years old), arriving at Albany, New York, on 12th October 1887 on the steam ship Wisconsin, Joseph travelled earlier in the same year. They settled in New York, where they continued to build their lives. By 1900, the family was residing in the Bronx, New York.
Mary’s later years were spent in the United States. The family arrived in the U.S. during a time of rapid growth and change, including the Gilded Age, characterized by economic expansion and social upheaval She lived in various locations, including the Bronx, New York and the Township of Washington in Bergen county, New Jersey. She passed away on 15th January 1909, in Hartsdale, Westchester, New York, and was buried at the Kensico Cemetery, White Plains, New York.
not just any family 