Part of the Earley family tree (Great-grandmother)
Family background and early life
Emily Mary Peers was born on 25 January 1867 at the home of her maternal grandparents in the hamlet of Chartridge, near Chesham. She was the second of five children born to Thomas Peers (c.1837–1874), a painter & decorator, and his wife Rebecca née Bignell (1840–1924).
Emily was baptised at her parents’ local church, St John the Evangelist Church, Great Stanmore on 3 October 1869, when she was 2-years old, alongside her younger sister, 10-week old Elizabeth Maud.
In April 1871, Thomas and Rebecca were living at Church Road, Great Stanmore, with their three children. 4-year old Emily was recorded as a scholar.
Emily’s father died on 10 June 1874, when she was seven years old. Her only brother, Thomas Emanuel Peers, was born two months after his father’s death, leaving Rebecca Peers as a widow aged 31, with five children aged nine or under, including her youngest sister, Amy Rebecca, born in October 1871.
At the 1881 census, Rebecca was living at Great Stanmore with her eldest daughter Alice, aged 15, and her two younger children, Amy (aged 9) and Thomas (aged 6). Emily (aged 14) and Elizabeth (aged 11) were both at the Red Hill Union School, attached to the Hendon Workhouse on Edgware Road, Burnt Oak.
Marriage and child
On 1 April 1890, Emily, aged 23, married 22-year old William Alexander Branch (known as Robert) at St John the Evangelist Church. The witnesses to the marriage were Emily’s sister, Elizabeth Maud Peers, and her brother-in-law, William Stock, husband to Alice Louisa Peers.
The couple’s only child, Kate Alfreda Branch was born at Eardley Road, Streatham on 6 April 1892. In March 1901, the census recorded Robert and Emily with their daughter Kate, living at 29a Fairlight Road, Streatham.
Later life
Robert and Emily appear to have separated at some time in the next ten years. At the 1911 census, Emily and Kate were living in Fallsbrook Road, Streatham, but Robert was now living with his sister, Emma, and her husband, Alfred Wiggett in St Pancras. Emily was now working as a seamstress, while 18-year old Kate was employed as a checker for a firm of printers.
In August 1915, Kate married Robert Ewart Allan, with their daughter Rebecca being born in December 1918. This marriage broke down shortly after Rebecca’s birth.
At the June 1921 census, Emily, Kate and Rebecca, were living at 25 Tunstall Road, Brixton. Emily’s marital status was now reported as “widow”: this implies that Robert Branch had died in the previous ten years. Her occupation was recorded as “Laundress (own account)”.
Emily and Kate are recorded on the electoral roll living at 74 Aytoun Road, Brixton in 1935 and 1936. The following year, they moved to 60 Wiltshire Road, before settling at 26 Saltoun Road, Lambeth. In 1939, Emily, aged 72, was at Saltoun Road, but no longer employed. Her daughter, Kate was now 47 and working as a dress machinist.
On 16 March 1944, Emily died at the Staines County Hospital at Stanwell, Middlesex, aged 77. The cause of death was anaemia resulting from chronic cystitis.