Annie Wright

In her letters to Minnie, Emma Savage mentions “Annie” on a number of occasions:

and, possibly,

She often talks about Annie in relation to her child, and the treatment Annie has received at the hands of the child’s father.
The letter of June 27, 1901 is particularly revealing in this regard. It hints that the child is just over a year old, that the father had been in the army and, of course, that Annie, despite her earlier wishes, had not married the father.
Earlier letters, like that of April 23, have already told us that the child was a girl.
The letter of November 12, 1900, suggests that the daughter is being looked after by her grandparents.

So, who was Annie, and what was her relationship with Emma Savage?

In the letter of December 19, 1901, Emma talks of Tom and Annie being “still the same”.

The 1901 Census for “Brick Kiln”, Glemsford, the house which the letters link with Emma and George Savage, shows two people in residence:

Tom Brown, aged 74, a Gardener (recorded as “servant” in his relationship to the Head of Household),

and Annie Wright, aged 23, a General Servant (Domestic),
also recorded as “servant” in relation to the Head of Household.

At the time, the Savages appear in the Census for the Trafalgar Hotel, York Road, Lambeth.

George Savage was the “Head of Household” missing from Brick Kiln.

Annie Wright was single; her place of birth was Sudbury.

My assumption now is that she is the "Annie" of the letters.
That seems to make sense when Mrs Savage talks in terms of her being in Glemsford when Emma wrote to Minnie.
She has not been easy to find, but I think I've got there (although the usual health warnings apply).

In the 1901 Census, Annie is recorded as being 23, so her birth would have been about 1878.
So 1881 is the earliest she can appear on a census.

The Sudbury Census for 1881 shows:

77 Melford Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (called the "Rifle Arms" - not there as a pub under that name today) - the family of:

Isaac Wright, (53) Innkeeper, born Coggeshall, Essex

Elizabeth Wright, (52), wife, born Bocking, Essex

Elizabeth Ann Wright, (27), daughter, unmarried, born Lambeth, Surrey (London)

Annie, (2) Grand daughter, born Sudbury.

So, possibly, Annie was Elizabeth Ann's daughter, born the "wrong side of the blanket".

After much searching I then found in the 1891 Census:

55 Melford Road, Sudbury - the family of:

Harry Stiff, (34) Miller born Stanton, Suffolk

Elizabeth Ann do., (37), wife, born Surrey, Walworth (London) Milliner Straw [indecipherable] Maker

Annie E W do., (12) Step daughter born Suffolk Sudbury

("Wright" is written in under the "ditto")

William Harry (Stiff) (6)

Jessie Rosa (4)

Emily Kate (1)

Elizabeth Wright (63) widow Mother in law born Bocking Essex

That seems to tie those two families together nicely.
Annie’s mother had married Harry Stiff, and Annie was treated as his daughter.
The addition of the name Wright had been made after the census return had been completed for the family, at the time the full records were written up for that district.

Annie’s grandmother had been widowed, but was living with her daughter’s new family.

(Walworth and Lambeth are neighbouring London boroughs)

Then I went off on one of my wild goose chases, looking for births and marriages and all sorts, before I finally came to my senses and looked for the Stiff family again in 1901 - and lo and behold:

The 1901 Census reveals:

55 Melford Road Sudbury - the family of the same

Harry Stiff,
Elizabeth Ann,
William,
Jessie,
Emily,
as well as Emma (8),
plus Elizabeth Wright, now 73, mother in law,

AND

Elsie M Wright, Grand daughter, (1), born Glemsford

Elsie May Wright’s birth certificate records her birth on February 3, 1900, to
Annie Elizabeth Wright, in Glemsford. Annie recorded the birth on March 14.
The child’s father is not registered.
Annie was a “General Servant (Domestic)”.

So: in all probability, Elsie May was the daughter being looked after by her grandparents in Sudbury, and Annie Wright, Elsie’s mother, was the servant being cared about by Emma.

I kept looking out for Annie Wright getting married, but can find nothing certain at present, so can’t make that leap which would confirm what the 1913 letter has to say … yet!

I think that nearly does it - except, of course, for the name "Poppy" - possibly, I suppose, a pet name?

There is a little extra to say about Harry Stiff, Annie's stepfather.
In 1881, he, a Miller, was lodging on Chapel Green, Long Melford, with Alice and Charles Sillitoe. In 1871, he was living at Holgate Cottage St Gregory, Sudbury, with his parents, George and Ann Stiff. George was a Groom and Gardener. Harry was already occupied as a Miller.
In 1861, aged 4, Harry was living in Stanton, with his family. At that date, George was an Ag(ricultural) Lab(ourer).

And there we have it. An ordinary serving girl from Sudbury, whose own mother had herself faced problems early in her adult life. Working, it would seem, in Glemsford, she developed a relationship with a soldier who, having made her pregnant, promised her the earth and even treated the child as his own, until that time when. in law, it was too late for Annie to name him as the father. Her own mother stood by her to look after the child while Annie continued working.
And Annie's employer continued to care for her, through the broken promise of marriage and beyond.
Yet again, I am fascinated by the total lack of criticism or censoriousness, towards Annie at least, in any of the letters.
I would like to think that the Annie of the 1913 letter is our Annie and that she had, in the end, found happiness.
I wonder.

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