Introduction

The central theme in Mary Elizabeth Spratt’s life is education. She and her sisters all became school teachers, while her brother became a solicitor’s clerk. Mary married Charles Fry, a skilled stonemason, who provided her with a stable home and family life. Together, they had seven children, several of whom went on to pursue respectable careers, including positions in education and the civil service.

Early life in Exeter

 Mary was born at Exeter in about 1839, the first of five children born to George and Elizabeth Spratt. Her parents lived in Trinity Street, where her father worked as a tailor.

Mary was raised in a family that valued education. She and her sisters—Ellen, Eliza, and Emma—each became teachers, while her brother, Frederick, became a solicitor’s clerk in London.

By April 1861, her sister Ellen was a student at St Mary’s Hall Training School in Cheltenham and eventually became the headmistress of St Sidwell’s Girls’ School in Exeter. It is possible that Mary attended St Mary’s Hall two years earlier.

Life at Hardington

By April 1861, Mary was the mistress of the village school at Hardington and was residing at Hardington Rectory. There is no further evidence of her time at Hardington other than the 1861 census.

Chard Union

Following her time at Hardington, Mary may have accepted a position with the Chard Union, as a “Miss Spratt” resigned as schoolmistress of the Chard Union in July 1864.[1]

Life at North Allington

Mary eventually moved near Bridport. On 10 October 1868, she married a stonemason named Charles Fry at North Allington. The witnesses to the marriage were Mary’s father, George, and her sister, Ellen.

Charles and Mary lived at North Allington for the rest of their married lives. Their address was 131 North Allington from at least 1901.

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

Charles’s death

Charles died in 1910 at the age of 68.

Mary’s later life

Mary continued to live at North Allington with her daughter, Ellen, and her son, Lewis.

Mary died in late 1925 or early 1926 at the age of 86.

Children

Charles and Mary had five sons and two daughters;

Circa 1869- Frederick Charles (died aged 5);

1870- Ellen (never married; lived at North Allington with her brother, Lewis; died after 1939);

1872-Hubert Alexander (became a Customs and Excise Officer in London; died in 1958);

1875- Walter Richard (became the manager of a Gentlemen’s Outfitters in Guildford; died in 1956);

1877- Lilian Emma (became a housekeeper at Exeter; never married; died in 1955);

1880- Percival George (became the Head Teacher at Symondsbury; died in 1953);

1883- Lewis (went to Oystermouth as a young man but returned to North Allington, where he worked as a labourer; died in 1953).

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.