Edmund James Stillman (1844 1865) 

Edmund Stillman was born 1844 in Speen, the son of Richard Stillman and Sarah Masters. He was baptized on I December 1844 at St Mary in Speenhamland as the son of Richard and Sarah of Wood Speen East with Richard recorded as a shoemaker. In the 1851 census Edmund was living with his parents Richard and Sarah and step brothers sons George aged 17 & Stephen aged 15 and sister Jane (baptized as Sarah Jane) aged 3 in Speen. Richard was recorded as a shoemaker, George a carpenter and Stephen as an errand boy.

Ten years later in the 1861 census Edmund aged 15 was living with hisparents Richard and Sarah and sister Sarah Jane aged 12 in Stillman's Yard, Bartholomew Street in Newbury. Both Edmund and Richard were recorded as shoemakers,
Edmund's mother Sarah died March 1863 and was buried at Newtown Road Cemetery on 1 April 1863.
Edmund died November 1865 aged 21 and was buried at Newtown Road Cemetery on 24 November 1865.
After the death of his mother his father Richard moved away from Newbury and was recorded in the 1871 census living in Bulleigh in Somerset with his son George and his wife Mary. Richard was recorded as a shoemaker and George as a carpenter employing three men.

In the 1881 & 1891 censuses Richard was recorded as a boarder living in Maiden Newtown in Dorset, the head of the house and only other occupant was Elizabeth Hodges, a widow. In 1881 he was recorded as a shoemaker and in 1891 as a retired shoemaker.

Richard died May 1893 and was buried 9 May 1893 at St Mary in Maiden Newtown.

Edmund's sister Sarah Jane married Robert Aitken on 19 July 1881 at the Belgrave Church in Halken Street, Belgravia in London. Robert was born circa 1840 in Kinghorn in Fife, and the couple then lived in Scotland until Robert died on 27 November 1908 at Morton Place in Easter Aberdour in Fife aged 68. Sarah then moved back to Newbury where she died in January 1934 and was buried 17 January 1934 at Newtown Road Cemetery.

Author: Gerald Soper
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