Jefferd, Mrs Ada Bessie, Bank House, 46 & 48 Fore Street, Tiverton
Ada Bessie Jefferd (nee Rogers) was born in 1859 in Clifton, Bristol[1] and was baptised at St George, Brandon Hill, Bristol in January 1859[2]. Her father, William Rogers, was a carriage builder/coach maker from Bristol and her mother, Jane Ann Rogers, was from Bath. She was one of 10 children – mostly girls – 3 of whom did not survive to adulthood.
Ada was brought up in a large, well-to-do household – census records for 1861 and 1871 show a large family, with numerous servants, visitors and extended family all under one roof. The family lived in Clifton until the death of her father (possibly in 1880 aged 56 years[3]). In 1881, Ada, her widowed mother, two spinster sisters and a niece and nephew (both aged 3) were living in Lee in Lewisham (which was an area of strong suffrage/suffragette activity, sometimes violent, in the early 1900s). Ada, her two sisters and her mother are listed as being accountants and employed four domestic servants[4]. In 1891, Ada and five unmarried sisters were in Devon with their mother, living in Paignton[5] where she remained until her marriage in 1903[6].
Ada married Charles Jefferd (born in 1867 in Stoke Damerel, Devon[7]) in Totnes. Ada was 44 years old and Charles was 36. There is no record of them having had any children. Charles Jefferd was a bank manager in Brixham in 1901 (the Devon & Cornwall Banking Co, Fore Street[8]) and manager of Lloyds Bank in Tiverton by 1911 where he and Ada lived in Bank House, Fore Street[9]. In the 1911 census, only Charles and two servants are registered[10]. Ada appears on a census in Exeter, as a visitor at the home of Percy and Emily Tanner at St Luke’s House, Baring Crescent, Heavitree[11].
Ada was secretary of the Tiverton branch of the NUWSS in July 1913[12] and may have been there from the formation of the branch in 1912.[13] The Western Times reports on a meeting held in the Drill Hall, Tiverton on Tuesday [26 March 1912] under “the auspices of the local branch of the NUWSS …. There was a large attendance.” The meeting was presided over by Mr F.J. Widgery (Exeter) and supported by Miss Helen Fraser (NUWSS), Miss Montgomery (Exeter) and others.[14]
There are newspaper references to earlier meetings of the NUWSS in Tiverton, one being on 20 February 1909 at the Heathcoat factory gates during the dinner hour, with Miss Margaret Robinson BA (a speaker and recruiter from Plymouth) speaking. The Heathcoat factory was a large, significant employer in Tiverton at that time (owned by the Heathcoat-Amory family of Knightshayes Court) but there is no mention of this meeting in the Heathcoat factory log book which details day-to-day activity. There seems to have been another meeting only days later, on 23 February 1909 at the Tiverton Drill Hall, chaired by the Hon. Lady Acland with Lady Frances Balfour, Miss Abadam and Miss Robertson BA as speakers.[15] These meetings seem to support an article by Margaret Robertson which mentions Tiverton as being part of a “strenuous campaign” in the West.[16]
It is not clear when Charles and Ada moved to Tiverton, but it was certainly by 1910 when Charles Jefferd is listed in Kelly’s Directory as being the bank manager at Lloyds Bank.[17] Further research may show what part Ada and Charles played in Tiverton life during WW1. The Common Cause published an article on 29 September 1916 congratulating societies on increasing their membership “In these difficult times …”. Tiverton was specifically mentioned. Charles retired from Lloyds Bank in October 1919 aged 53 years.[18]
Ada Jefferd died on 9 June 1951 (aged 92 years) in Territet, Montreux, Switzerland where she and Charles had been living at least since 1929. She left effects valued at £4700 13s. Charles Jefferd died on 27 April 1957 (aged 90 years), also in Territet, leaving effects valued at £12,907 17s 4d.[19] At the time of their deaths, both were living at Riant Chateau, a residence of luxury apartments facing Lake Geneva and the Alps, built in 1912-13.[20]
Entry created by Ceri Deane, September 2018
[1] 1861 Census
[2] Church of England Parish registers 1720 – 1933
[3] England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837 – 1915
[4] 1881 Census
[5] 1891 Census
[6] Civil Registration Marriage Index 1837 – 1915
[7] 1871 Census
[8] 1901 Census
[9] Lloyds Bank Archives
[10] 1911 Census
[11] 1911 Census
[12] The Common Cause, 4 Jul 1913.
[13] The Common Cause, 29 Nov 1912.
[14] Western Times, 29 Mar 1912.
[15] Women’s Franchise, 18 Feb 1909.
[16] Women’s Franchise, 11 Mar 1909.
[17] UK, City & County Directories 1600s – 1900s, Kelly’s Tiverton 1910, 1911, 1914
[18] Lloyds Bank Archives.
[19] National Probate Calendar Index of Wills & Administrations 1858 -1966.
[20] mainstreamimages.blogspot.com