Ellen Preston née Winfield (1900-1931)
| Parents | Elizabeth Wesley (1874-1950) | Herbert John Winfield (1869-1909) | (m.14.03.1899) | |
| Siblings | Alfred Herbert (b.1903) | Mary Margaret (b.1905) |
Lizzy (Elizabeth) Wesley (b.1898) |
|
| Partners | Thomas (m.1920) | |||
| Children | Hilda | Phyll |
Ellen was born during the first quarter of 1900 – 28th February. Her parents were Herbert John Winfield and his wife Elizabeth (née Wesley). They had married in Southwark at St Marks Walworth in the parish of Newington London on 14th March 1899. Ellen was their first child, followed by Alfred Herbert, born in 1903 and Mary Margaret, born in 1905.
It’s not known where Ellen’s father was in 1901, (He was in the Army in Ahmednagar India) but Ellen and her mother were living at 1 Canalside, Berkhamsted, the home of Ellen’s maternal grandparents, Alfred and Mary Wesley. Also living in the house were two of Ellen’s uncles, an aunt and two cousins [1].
*The child listed as Lizzy (Elizabeth) Wesley, Cousin was in fact Ellen’s half-sister who was born in 1898. The result of Elizabeth Snr. being raped while in ‘Service’ – working as a maid.
Ellen’s father died in 1909. His death was registered in Amersham. We know that in 1911 the widowed Elizabeth, together with her three children and a niece, were living at 21 Holiday Street in Berkhamsted [2]. What is not clear is whether Elizabeth and the children had moved to Amersham with Herbert and then moved back to Berkhamsted after his death, or whether Herbert had left the family. At the age of 25 Elizabeth found herself a widow with three (4) young children to support and to do so she worked as a char woman [3]. (* Herbert had not left he was working as a shepherd and died of Pneumonia. My Aunt (Mag) Mary Margaret remembered sitting on his shoulders while he walked across the fields)
On November 29th, 1920, Ellen married Thomas William Preston who was living at 20 Castle Street, Berkhamsted. Ellen was listed as living at 23 Holliday Street. Thomas, like Ellen, was born and brought up in Berkhamsted and worked as a carpenter. He was nine years older than Ellen. During World War I, he spent about four years as a prisoner of war. Ellen and Thomas lived in Castle Street and Ellen was caretaker for the infant school in nearby Chapel Street.
Ellen and Thomas had two children. Hilda Elizabeth Preston was born to the couple on 18th June 1921. The second child, Phyllis Margaret Preston, followed on 10th September 1922.
Ellen and Thomas’ marriage only lasted 11 years. Ellen died in 1931 at the age of 31 years of a burst appendix. She was buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery
[1] 1901 census
[2] 1911 census
[3] 1911 census