The LIFE & TIMES of Laura Witheridge Goodman Edwards
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John G. Ward
This latest vignette on the LIFE & TIMES of LAURA GOODMAN EDWARDS (1845-1922) recounts the story of the life of my GREAT GRANDMOTHER and her daughter LAURA (1878-1951) and her daughter LAURA (1898-19xx) who all lived through the VICTORIAN ERA where poverty was rampant, life was tough and young children were poorly educated and put to work at an early age. DISEASE and sickness was a frequent companion and death could come early. There were no guarantees in life.
However, through all this sadness, there was a glimmering light that shone on the efforts of the Victorian Society that made efforts to educate their children in better schools, to comfort the poor and disabled in WORKHOUSE and PEST HOUSE and HOSPITAL at the cost of the public purse and the rich donor. The life of my Great Grandmother and her family in Southern England was hard and unforgiving. The women of the Family were charged with bearing and bringing up many children, while the men went to work in the Dockyard or the Gas Works or the Railway or in the Armed Forces. Children went to school from 5 – 10 years old and then took menial jobs to earn a few “Pence” or maybe a “Shilling”. Older girls would look after the younger children at home while Mum took in washing & ironing or went out to do “charring” as house cleaners. Some more knowledgable family might start a business or make silk fabrics by “Silk Throwing”…
This vignette deals with many of these aspects of LIFE in Victorian England and the TIMES of the EDWARDS and the BECK Families in Portsea, Hampshire, England.
ENJOY the tale of “LAURA GOODMAN EDWARDS BECK, this is your LIFE…!”