Part of the Earley family tree
Family background
Anne Reeves was born in Dibden, Hampshire in 1813, the third child of nine born to James Reeves (1787–1848) and his wife, Anne née Barnes (1786–1869), and was baptised at All Saints Church, Dibden on 7 November 1813.
James Reeves and Anne Barnes were both born in Fawley, and married at All Saints Church, Dibden on 9 October 1809. Their first child, Rose, was baptised at All Saints in March 1910, although they returned to Fawley for the baptism of their second child, Elizabeth, in February 1812.
After Anne, the next two children (Israel in December 1815 and Jane two years later) were also baptised at Dibden. The family then moved to the Winsor area, then part of the Eling parish, on the edge of the New Forest. The youngest four children (Norah in April 1820, Louisa in May 1822, Sarah in May 1824 and James in February 1826) were all baptised at St Peter’s Church in Bramshaw (then in Wiltshire), which was closer to the family home than St Mary the Virgin Church at Eling.
At the first national census in June 1841, James (recorded as a 50-year old farmer) was living at Cadnam with three daughters (Jane, Louisa and Sarah) and his younger son, James; also living with him was his granddaughter, 4-year old Sarah Osman, Anne’s daughter. Anne senior was staying with her daughter Rose (now married to Peter Richards) in Maybush (now a suburb of Southampton).
Marriage and children
On 26 August 1834, Anne (aged 20) married 25-year old Charles Osman at St Andrew’s Church in his home village of Mottisfont.
The couple’s first two children died as infants: Mary Anne was baptised on 13 December 1834 at Mottisfont, but died at only a few weeks old and was buried on 31 December. A year later, on 17 January 1836, Ellen was baptised; she survived for little more than two months and was buried on 30 March.
Their third daughter, Sarah was baptised at St Andrew’s on 17 February 1837, but she only survived into her teens.
They had a further six children, all born and baptised at Mottisfont, and all of whom survived into adulthood:
Charles Osman baptised 26 April 1840, died 1920
Ellen Osman baptised 18 September 1842, died 1916
Annie Osman baptised 4 May 1845, died 1898
Emily Osman baptised 27 August 1848, died 1916
Henry Osman baptised 8 December 1850, died 1943
Edward Osman baptised 9 January 1853, died 1934.
Neither Anne nor her son, Charles, can be traced on the 1841 census, while Sarah was saying with her grandfather. Charles Osman senior, an agricultural labourer, was living on his own at Mottisfont. Ten years later, Charles and Anne were living together with their six children at Mottisfont. Their address is recorded as “near the church”. Charles’s occupation was recorded as “dealer in wood”.
Tragically, Sarah died, aged just 15, on 23 September 1852 after a long period of fever and diarrhoea. Unusually, she was buried at St Andrew’s church in Mottisfont on the day she died. This tragedy was quickly followed by the birth of their final child, Edward, in December.
In the 1861 census, Charles (once again an agricultural labourer) and Anne were living at Mottisfont Street with their three youngest children, all now scholars.
Ten years later, Charles and Anne were at the same address; Charles was now working as a dairyman. Living with them were their two sons, Henry (a 20-year old general labourer) and Edward (an 18-year old railway porter), and 5-year old grandchild, Ellen Louisa Osman, the daughter of Annie.
Charles Osman died on 16 April 1878, leaving Anne as a widow at 65. At the 1881 census, she was still at Mottisfont Street; aged 67, she was now living on poor relief.
Anne died at Mottisfont on 17 January 1892, aged 78; the causes of death were chronic bronchitis and heart disease. She was buried at Mottisfont on 20 January 1892.
Other family members
Anne’s younger brother, Israel Reeves (1815–1888) was frequently in trouble with the law. In March 1852, he was arrested on a charge of stealing a sheep from a field at Bramshaw. At the Hampshire Quarter Sessions on 6 April, PC Dowell attested that he had found the remains of the missing sheep in the fuel store of Israel’s home at Pollards Moor, near Cadnam, following which he arrested Reeves and two compatriots, Noel Harding and Henry Oliver. At the Police House, Harding said: “What an old fool Reeves must have been, for we should not have thought of this if it had not been for him”, while Oliver added: “I am afraid this will be a bad job. I hope they don’t transport us”. Reeves and Harding were sent to prison for 18 months with hard labour, while Oliver was sentenced to 12 months. The men served their sentences at Winchester Gaol.
In November 1871, Israel was again in court, as a witness at the trial of George Nutbourne and Henry Farmers, who were charged with drunk and riotous behaviour on the road from Romsey to Bartley. The two defendants had been arguing at the White Horse in Romsey; on their way home, they had started fighting. Israel Reeves, described as “an old man” had been caught up in the fight and was knocked down by Farmers. The two men were fined 2s 6d.
The following June, Israel (now “an elderly man”) was again in court, charged with drunken behaviour. He was found on 22 May, lying across the road between Brook and Cadnam, fast asleep. Reeves pleaded guilty and admitted that he was “a little drunk”. He was fined 2s 6d plus costs.