Great Widows

Hi Tony, I looked her up on the 1871 census for Worthen and she was classed as an ANNUITANTliving with her son Samuel who was a HOUSE JOINER, so I Googled that name and on Rootsweb, this is an explanation;

It means they were receiving a sum of money from an estate or an insurance pay out. For example in a will it may say " I leave my wife anannual sum of 10 pounds to be paid her in 6 monthly portions of £5 each 6 months.

From the dictionary for Annuitant One that receives or is qualified to receive an annuity.

And from the dictionary for Annuity The annual payment of an allowance or income.
The right to receive this payment or the obligation to make this payment.
A contract or agreement by which one receives fixed payments on an investment for a lifetime or for a specified number of years.  

But, that still doesn't answer your question though !

Angela
 

Thanks for this Angela. Maybe the term 'annuitant' is used in her case in the census as a way of recognising that she has the special annual charity income from being a 'great widow' - most unlikely that she would have been receiving a genuine annuity. But, as you say, that still leaves open the question as to what a 'great widow' was from the viewpoint of those dispensing charity at that time. There were a very small number of women  then treated in this way in Worthen.

From scene 1 of the play, The Widow's Tears (which dates back to 1612):

Tharsalio [to Hylus]: And having won her, nephew, this sweet face,
Which, all the city says, is so like me,
Like me shall be preferr'd; for I will wed thee
To my great widow's daughter and sole heir,
The lovely spark, the bright Laodice.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=L4ZKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA124

The character Laodice is described as daughter of Eudora, who in turn is described as "the widow C.o.u.n.t.e.s.s." [Full stops inserted to stop this site's overzealous profanity filter from replacing the word with asterisks.]

A story from the early 1800s about the Duchess of Montmorency states: "Not long after, the great Montmorency, whose fame all France—nay, all Europe, has heard of, came that way, is struck by her features and humour, and in a short time marries her, or makes her his mistress, and not long after dies, leaving her a great widow."

Queen Victoria was referred to as a great widow after Albert's death, and there are references to Richard Wagner's wife Cosima being, after his decease, a great widow. Going even further back in time to the 200s A.D., "Syria and the eastern provinces of Asia Minor recognised the dominion of Odenathus, and afterwards that of his great widow Zenobia."

From the above and various other occurrences of the term found through a search of the publications available at Google Books, it seems to me that the term was used for a widow who was of high status or standing in society. Of course, the selection of those featured in the texts I have found could well be biased in favour higher status people (poorer widows would likely generate very little mention in books and other publications). Perhaps the term also covered a widow who was held in some regard by her local community? Another possibility might be a widow of great age, although of course status and respect can come with age (in my case however, I suspect age will come alone!).

One definition we can discount is that from from Zulu culture: traditional Zulu men apparently marry several women, the eldest of whom is the great wife - known after the husband's decease as the great widow.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Not just for the interesting info, also some literary education. On the face of it your suggestion in the last but one paragraph looks apt. The interesting issue then would be on what basis the very small number of great widows were selected as having a standing which marked them out from the remainder. Given the role of the church in the annual allocation of this particular charity money I suspect that outward forms of godliness and respectability are what counted, that these were the features which would give her 'standing'.

Martha was aged 84 at 1881 Census, then still with son Samuel, and at Brook Cottage, Worthen.

73 would not really have been classed as a great age when she got a payout in 1870. There might be something more in records of the parochial charities of Worthen - which per Cassey's Directory of 1871 were merely of an annual value of £32-10-0.

There was a 19th cent national survey of such charities. Tony might find the year online and whether the detailed returns are thereby accessible. The parish file at Archives might have something, such as in overseeers' accounts. But does Tony want the cost of a look-up by their staff? If he does - archives@shropshire.gov.uk.

Thanks Martyn. This is indeed the Martha in question. Between 1870, shortly after her huisband died, and 1882, just before she died, she received many annual payments of £1 - 10s by virtue of being a 'great widow'; and, in addition, was awarded annual  payments of 4s comparable to the payments made to other charity recipients [of which there were many]. The Cassey directory figure of £32 is in line with the figures I've looked at when checking the parish Account Book of Charity Money at Shropshire Archives; it is partly the smallness of this sum which makes it the more surprising that such a large fraction be allocated to someone such as Martha. I'll follow up your suggestion about the 19thC survey of charities, and if it sheds light on the status of 'great widows' I'll add it to this thread.

I think I've come up with a likely answer to my own question. I've looked in more detail at the charities in Worthen that made up the £32 distributed on St Thomas' Day each year. One of them was known as 'Poor's Money': at some point Mrs Martha Scarlett bequeathed £100, the interest to be paid yearly to six poor widows 'at the discretion of the minister, churchwardens and the executors of Peter Scarlett'. It seems likely that Martha Speak was one of the six widows singled out for these special payments and that these widows were known locally as 'great widows'.

The Will of Martha Scarlett, spinster, late of London, then of Shrewsbury, dated 1.11.1711 was proved 17.6.1720 in PCC. It is at Shropshire Archives in Lloyd of Leaton Knolls collection (103/1/8/188). The catalogue refers to a gift to the poor of Worthen.

She was an unmarried daughter of Leighton Scarlett, gent, of Hogstow, Worthen. Her brother Peter was buried there (as Scarlet) 12.12.1744, leaving an only child Susannah, who married 1713 (from memory) at Clive Edward Lloyd, of Leaton, near Shrewsbury, bringing the Hogstow lands, and the increasingly valuable lead, to that family.

I have Susannah Scarlett marrying Edward Lloyd on 23 May 1713 at Clive, and Edward Lloyd's sister Elizabeth marrying Richard Atcherley (who continued the Marton line at Myddle) on 28 Jan 1702. The son of Edward and Susannah, Francis Lloyd, married Mary Ward on 19 Jan 1748 at Eaton Under Heywood, and their son also named Francis Lloyd married Ann Atcherley (or Acherley), daughter of Roger, of the Cross, Ellesmere. So I have two rather tenuous connections with this story!

Steve

Agreed, Steven. I don't think have sent you my table for Lloyd of Leaton. Will do so later.

Have pottered with Scarlett for ancestry of friends, and ought to make and deposit at Archives a full table, as I already had key material not in print or anywhere online. Some fine day, as with much else!

(The mother of Leighton Scarlett was an ancestral first cousin to me, but that's by the way of things).

Ought to have mentioned above that the "Mrs" Martha would have meant "Mistress", then usual for "gentle" spinstresses.

To continue these sideways connections, the Scarlets and Lloyds are linked to another of the charities in Worthen, known as 'Scarlet's charity'. In the Parliamentary returns of 1786 it states that Peter Scarlet left a rent-charge of 2 pounds to the poor of Worthen, which was then vested in Francis Lloyd. In 1906 this sum was paid by Richard Wall, tenant of land at Hogstow Hall [which by then belonged to Arthur Lloyd of Knowles near Shrewsbury].