Life story retold by Pamela Moss, family descendant.
George is my 3x great-grandfather, and was baptised on 17/2/1828 at Reading St Giles, the 5th child of George MOSS (c1795-1873) and Sarah Powell. As a young man he moved to London, and was working as a cook at the time of his marriage to Charlotte Eliza HUNT at St Mary’s Paddington in 1849. They moved to Newington, Charlotte’s birthplace, where George worked as a pastry cook and confectioner, and they had two sons, George (born 1850) and William (born 1852).
By 1863 George had moved back to Reading with his family and become a publican like his father. He ran the Grenadier Inn in Basingstoke Road (taken over by his brother William in 1864), and then the Moderation Beer House in Caversham Road. He later moved to Queens Road and by 1871 had reverted to his earlier profession, being employed as a foreman/biscuit baker at Huntley and Palmer’s where he spent the rest of his working life.
Charlotte died on 11/11/1882 (aged 57) and was buried in Division 51 of the cemetery (grave no 7598). George then set up home with Elizabeth Moss, a much younger woman, and they had two children- Ernest (born 1884) and Walter (born 1886), Nothing is known about Elizabeth, and there is no trace of a marriage record, although she is described in other documents as George’s wife. Elizabeth died, aged 27, just 9 days after Walter’s birth, of phthisis (tuberculosis) and bronchitis. She was also buried in Division 51 (grave no. 8477) and when Walter died less than a month later, of debility, he was buried with his mother.
Two years later George married Lucy Childs, born in Earley and some 36 years his junior. She already had one child – Isabel Maud (born 1886) and she and George then had Agnes (born 1890). By this time George was a pensioner and now had three young children at home.
On 15/10/1891 George died of cardiac disease (aged 63), and was buried with Charlotte. Curiously he had written a will in March of that year in which he left his whole estate to his friend John Day, a pork butcher in Minster Street, who was also sole executor. There is no mention of Lucy or any of his children.
Lucy died soon afterwards on 1/1/1892 of apoplexy (aged 27) and was buried with George and Charlotte. The Reading Board of Guardians investigated the case of George’s will but found no evidence to justify further action, and were forced to take the children into the workhouse. They were later sent to Wargrave District School, which provided a basic education for poor, orphaned and deserted children. By 1893 the school’s capacity had been exceeded, and 28 children, including Ernest, Isabel, and Agnes, were selected for ‘boarding out’ i.e.being sent to foster homes. Nothing further is known about Ernest, but in 1901 Isabel (now known as Maud Moss) was at a servant’s training home in Newbury, and Agnes was boarding with a widow in Chilbolton, Hampshire. Both girls later married and settled in these areas.
The two older sons both stayed in Reading. George MOSS (1850-1913) married Sarah SARNEY, and worked as a machine fitter at Huntley & Palmer’s; William Moss (1852-1933) married Jane Roper, and was a carpenter/joiner.
Division 51 graves 7598 and 8477 (unmarked?)