Annie Robb Thomson/ Thompson 1876-1953
They married in Fulham on 15 August 1903, but were living at 33 Railway Street at the time of my mother’s birth. Annie died in 1953 between April and June, aged 77. I don’t have a death certificate for her, but she spent the last years of her life in Burgoyne Road, Sunbury on Thames and then, I think, in Shepperton. I believe that she was originally from Scotland, probably the Dundee area. Her mother was said to be called Coutts( actually the name not of her mother but of her great grandmother- extraordinary that this was passed down in family lore!!) and there was a rumour in the family that she had married her coachman! I am afraid that that is the total of what I know about Annie."
"Annie Robb Thomson had had a colourful upbringing – the only one of my grandparents still alive when I was born, she would describe how as a youngster she would ride cows bareback across fields. As an adult, she had worked as a stewardess on ocean-going liners, an adventurous thing to have done at that time ( not convinced that this was true, or that she was talking about her husband's youth!
DAVID , can you recall how she went from being a farm servant in 1891 to becoming a stewardess, presumably working out of London, some years later ??? ) .
Her grandson, David Keene, remembers staying on a farm near Blairgowrie as a small boy, the farm being owned by a relative- a cousin??- of his mother, Annie's daughter. (And where he burnt down the haystacks -see his memoir.)
David: Where did "Her mother was said to be called Coutts " come from???? It was her great grandmother!!!
Glenisla to Dundee is ~45k!
SP defines Glenisla as "a parish in the county of Angus. It was a quoad omnia parish (a parish for civil and religious purposes)".
1876 Annie Robb was born 29/1/1876 in Glenisla, Angus/Perthshire, Mary Robb, single mother . . . ?Coutis?. Glenisla is on the border of Angus and Perthshire, the birth being registered in Angus
Her father was David Gow: a paternity case was held in August 1876
1880 4 years later. her mother, Mary Robb, 27, married James Thomson, 20, a shepherd, on 26/11/1880 in Loanhead, Glenisla. Mary's parents were John Robb & Ann Robb. Witnesses were Alex Robb & Martha Coutis( she maybe a relation of Mary Robb's grandmother, Mary Coutts, who died 1874)
and have found the 1852 birth in Glenisla of Mary Robb to parents John & Ann. Also the 1871C for the family in Glenisla
1881C. Ann R Thomson, NOT YET FOUND. on Ancestry, FMP or on SP!!!. Have spent hours searching! They should be in Glenisla where 5 half siblings were born 1880-1889 : cannot find a birth for Marjory or Betsy on SP. John's birth exists in 1886, not purchased.
As a youngster she would ride cows bareback across fields.
1891C. Ann R Thomson, 15, farm servant, was living with her stepfather, mother, and 5 step siblings, at Meadows Of Ballied Blairgowrie Perthshire. All the half siblings were stated to have been born Glenisla. 1880- 1889: but SP on;y has Betsy McInnes Thomson 1882 and John Thomson 1886 down as born Glenisla .
Thought the below must have come from SP, but the image from there does not seem to have been purchased!. And can not find any of the family on Ancestry or FMP!
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1901C. Ann R Thomson, where? Not with her family in Glenisla . She would have been about 25 then
David says she was a stewardess on transatlantic liners and her absence from the UK census gives some weight to this. . Her future husband, Herbert Conway, was a 2nd steward on a ship based in London
Stewardesse: They are for the most part the relatives of officers in the service—this is the invariable rule on the Cunard Line, to mention one in particular—and outsiders without influence stand but little chance of employment.
The salaries average about £3:6:0 a year, with board and lodging, but the presents from grateful passengers augment this sum very considerably. As times go this pay is not bad. But the work is hard and disagreeable; it demands untiring energy, and a temper which nothing can ruffle; it shuts one off from home and from home comforts.
Besides possessing some knowledge of nursing, a stewardess must be proof against sea-sickness, even in the worst weather, and she must at the same time be able to sympathise with those who in this respect are weaker than herself. This is a combination not often met with.
No; a stewardess is certainly not overpaid.
1903. Annie Robb Thompson married Herbert Conway Fulham Sep 1903. Likely in a Register office as no m,c, on Ancestry London Marriages Worth buying this m.c.
1911C. Annie Robb Conway, 35, was living . 14 High Street Wallingford, St Peter, Berkshire
| Herbert | Conway | Head |
Married | Male | 31 | 1880 | Laundry engineer washhouseman | Pimlico London |
| Annie Robb | Conway | Wife |
Married | Female | 35 | 1876 | - | Glenisla Pertshire |
| Kenneth | Conway | Son |
- | Male | 4 | 1907 | - | Windsor Berks |
| Walter | Conway | Son |
- | Male | 3 | 1908 | - | Wallingford Berks |
| Herbert | Conway | Son |
- | Male | 1 | 1910 | - | Wallingford Berks |
1912. Edith M Conway was born to Herbert & Annie 10/1/1912
1915. Lilian Marjorie Conway was born to Herbert & Annie Hertford Dec 1915. b.c. with notes on her page
1917.Violet M Conway was born to Herbert & Annie 22/8/1917 Staines Sep 1917
Children of Herbert Conway and Annie Robb Thompson
1918. Her husband, Herbert Conway, died of spanish flu in Hounslow Military Hospital
1921C. purchased 29/8/2022 . Living 17 Old Cemetery Lane, Sunbury
| Annie Robert | Conway | Head |
Female | 1876 | 45 | Perthshire, Scotland | Work At Home & School Caretaker | Middlesex Education Committee |
| Kenneth | Conway | Son |
Male | 1906 | 14 | Windsor, Berkshire, England | - | - |
| Edith M | Conway | Daughter |
Female | 1912 | 9 | Wallingford, Berkshire, England | - | - |
| Lilian M | Conway | Daughter |
Female | 1915 | 5 | Hertford, Hertfordshire, England | - | - |
| Violet M | Conway | Daughter |
Female | 1917 | 3 | Sunbury, Middlesex, England | - |
Census also says that Annie was widowed, aged 45 yrs and 5 mths and worked at Sunbury Council School
1939 Register . Annie E Conway, Newsagents manageress, born 29/1/1876, was living 77 Burgoyne Rd, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex with her daughter, Edith
| Annie E | Conway | 29 Jan 1876 | Female | Newsagents Manageress | Widowed | 7 | 1 |
| Edith M | Conway | 10 Jan 1912 | Female | Civil Servant Counters Clerk & Telegraph | Single | 7 | 2 |
David
thinks she later moved Shepperton
Late 1940s. David spent a holiday o a farm near Blairgowrie: Glenisla is near Blairgowrie, which is where I remember staying on a farm as a small boy, the farm being owned by a relative of my mother. (And where I burnt down the haystacks -see memoir, .No photos exist of this holiday.
DAVID - did Annie come here with you??
Annie was a formidable old lady, dressed usually in widow’s black. There came a time in my young boyhood- maybe ~1946? - when I (David) reckoned I could run faster than her and escape up the garden, so I said something rude to her and set off. I was right that I could run faster, but I ran out of garden, was caught and duly spanked.
1953. Annie R Conway died Middlesex S Jun 1953 . Do you remember this David??