Image Ref : DRA 3558.tif

Annie French

Annie French was born Lavinia Ann Bilham on 13 September 1877 to William and Mary Bilham. In censuses, her place of birth is given as Harthill, Yorkshire, but her birth was registered in Worksop, Nottinghamshire; her mother was born in that county. Annie married John (Jack) French in 1912 (3rd quarter). He was a groom at Leusdon House and Annie was recorded as the cook there in the 1911 census; Jack does not appear on the 1911 census sheet for Leusdon House. She was 35 by that date and Jack, born on 30 March 1872, was about 40. By the 1921 census, the family – Jack, Annie and two daughters (Catherine and Gladys) – is recorded as living at Leusdon House: Annie is ‘caretaker private’ and Jack is a gardener with no fixed place of work. By 1939, they have moved to a property called Bickley, at Newton Abbot. In this image, Annie is wearing a wedding ring, so dating it to no earlier than 1912. DRA 4922 PW 091