ELIZABETH MARY SCANES

ELIZABETH MARY SCANES 1835 - (from information from Colin Davis)

Elizabeth Mary was the first child of Henry Scanes and Elizabeth Martyn. She was born at Broadclyst in 1835 and baptised 12th August 1835. Her father Henry owned Trow Farm and Farthings Farm, the family lived at both. Elizabeth was well educated, the 1851 census shows her aged 15 still a scholar.  Her father also owned the New Inn PH at Broadclyst. All of this would have given Elizabeth a good incite into life working on a farm or in a Public House. Elizabeth married James Frederick Davis, son of Edward and Ellen Davis of Rowley's Farm, Honiton, on 26th October 1860 at Christ Church Exeter, she was living at Pavilion Place Exeter, at the time.

Elizabeth and James' first child was born 10th January 1861, they named him James Henry Edward. The 1861 census shows them living at Little Churchill's Farm, Broadclyst, with James' widowed grandmother Amelia Caroline Davis and her unmarried daughter Pauline Elizabeth Fairfield Davis and married daughter Amelia Eliza Georgina Salter and husband Peter Salter. Little Churchill's Farm is virtually next door to Trow Farm, owned by Elizabeth's father.

The government had repealed the corn laws, cheaper foreign corn was being freely imported, so perhaps James' father Edward Davis had advised the couple not to settle in Farming. Certainly the following year, James and Elizabeth had moved to London, leaving their son James Henry Edward in Devon with great grandmother Amelia Caroline Davis.  James and Elizabeth became Licenced Victuallers in the East End of London, running The Mallard Public House at 5 Middle Grove Street, Stepney, which is now Golding Street.  Another baby had arrived Kate Elizabeth Fairfield born there on 19th April 1862. Two years later they had moved to the Harlequin Public House at 69 Drury Lane, in London's West End, right in the middle of Theatre land. In fact The Harlequin was the stage door pub for the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Their next daughter Helena was born 17th May 1864. 

By 1865-66 they had moved on again. Elizabeth has disappeared from the scene by 1870, it seems that their marriage was not a happy one. Colin thought at first that she had died. But he had found family hearsay, giving conflicting stories about  what had happened. One side of the family, blame Elizabeth, saying she was a bad lot, and nothing more than a barmaid, who walked out on her husband leaving her two small daughters for him to bring up. The other side, say that James was a drunkard and a womaniser who kicked her out. We can only speculate.

Colin thinks that Elizabeth may have married again, and was living round the corner at 1 Conduit Court, St Martin's in the Fields, with her husband Samuel Taylor, as per the 1881 census.

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