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Elizabeth Howard née Slack (1821-1916) (source A Mulholland via Ancestry)74 York Street
An Experienced Nurse
The entry on this page has been expanded thanks to the research of the occupant in 2024.
The house was built some time in the 1870s.
1881
Elizabeth [Betsy] Baker [née Howard], head, widow, 23, 1858, washerwoman, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
James Baker, son, 5, 1876, scholar, Cambridge
William Baker, son, 1, 1880, Cambridge
Elizabeth Howard [née Slack], mother, widow, 60, 1821, day nurse (S.M.S.), Upwood, Huntingdonshire
George Spaxman, lodger, 24, 1857, brickmaker, Ditton, Cambridgeshire
William Sands, head, 28, 1853, bricklayer’s labourer, Brighton
Alice Sands, wife, 30, 1851, London, Middlesex
Elizabeth Sands, daughter, 2, 1879, London, Middlesex
17-year-old Betsy Baker had married her husband, 20/21-year-old James Baker, in 1875. He had been a brickmaker, but he had died in 1880, aged 25/26. He was born in Chesterton. It is not known whether the family moved to no. 74 before or after James’s death.
S.M.S. stands for Subsidiary Medical Services. Elizabeth isn’t a trained nurse, but she’s showing that she has experience.
The listing of the Sands family either implies that no. 74 was divided into two households at this time or that they were visitors. They were not listed as lodgers.
1882
In April 1882 24-year-old Betsy Baker married 24-year-old George Spaxman (the lodger).
1891
George Spaxman, head, labourer, 33, 1858, Fen Ditton,
Betsy Spaxman, wash woman, 33, 1858, b St Ives
James Baker, labourer, 15, 1876 , b Cambridge
Willer Baker, scholar, 11, 1880, b Cambridge
Elizabeth Howard, mother-in-law, retired nurse, 70, b Upwood Hunts
1892
In October, November or December 1892 17-year-old James Baker married 18-year-old Martha Ann Carter.
1898
In 1898, possibly earlier, 23-year-old James Baker and his wife Martha and their three children lived in Vicarage Terrace.
1900
In July, August or September 1900 20/21-year-old William Baker married 20-year-old Ellen Rebecca Reynolds.
1901
George Spaxman, head, 43, coal merchant, 1858, Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire
Betsy Spaxman, wife, 43, 1858, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Elizabeth Howard, mother-in-law, 80, 1812, Upwood, Huntingdonshire
25-year-old James Baker (now a locomotive coalman working for Great Eastern Railway) had moved next door to 72 York Street with his wife Martha and their four children.
21-year-old William Baker (now a brickfield labourer) lived at 114 York Street with his wife Ellen and their baby daughter.
1908
According to a 9th October 1908 article in the Cambridge Independent, 33-year-old James Baker was in a fight with another man at about 10pm on 27 September 1908 near the City Arms (now the Dobblers Inn) on Sturton Street. Neither were drunk. Both were fined 5 shillings and sixpence.
Also in 1908, possibly earlier, 50-year-old George Spaxman, his 50-year-old wife, Betsy, and her mother, 87-year-old Elizabeth Howard, had all moved to 141A York Street.
1911
Thomas Farrington, 29, general labourer at cement works, b. Cambridge
Susan Farrington, 30, b. Cambridge
Charles Thomas Farrington, 4, b. Cambridge
Emma Farrington, 2, b. Cambridge
Henry Farrington, 6 months, b. Cambridge
Florence Farrington, 6 months, b. Cambridge
Henry Bruse, 65, father-in-law, widower, farm labourer b. Cambridge
Susan and Thomas have been married for five years and have had four children.
Sources: 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 UK Census, GENUKI, Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books (1722-1966),
ID emailed 2023: Elizabeth Baker of the 1881 census is the same individual as Betsy Spaxman of the 1901 census. She became widowed and married the lodger. Her children retained their Baker surname. James Baker Junior even ended up living next door at no.72.
1962 -1970
Mrs Ashby
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