In April 1861, Mary Elizabeth Spratt, aged 22, was the mistress of the village school staying at Hardington Rectory.

Early life in Exeter

Mary was born at Exeter in about 1839, the eldest daughter of George (a tailor) and Elizabeth Spratt, who lived in Trinity Street.

Mary was born into a family that valued education. All three of her sisters, Ellen, Eliza and Emma, became teachers, while her brother, Frederick, became a solicitor’s clerk.

In April 1861, her sister, Ellen, who later became the headmistress of St Sidwell’s Girls’ School, Exeter, was a student at St Mary’s Hall Training School, Cheltenham. Mary may have gone there two years earlier.

Life at Hardington

There is no evidence of Mary’s stay at Hardington other than the 1861 census.

Chard Union

After leaving Hardington, Mary may have held a position with the Chard Union, as in July 1864, a “Miss Spratt” resigned as schoolmistress of the Chard Union.[1]

Life at North Allington

After leaving Hardington, Mary eventually lived near Bridport. On 10 October 1868, she married a stonemason named Charles Fry at Allington in Dorset. They lived at North Allington for the rest of their married lives. Their address was 131 North Allington from 1901, if not earlier.

In 1889, Mary inherited £5 from her father.[2]

Charles died in 1910, aged 68. Mary died in late 1925 or early 1926, aged 86.

Charles and Mary had three sons and two daughters.

References

[1] Dorset County Chronicle, 28 July 1864, p.8.

[2] The will of George Spratt, dated 29 June 1888, proved at Exeter on 16 January 1889.