Eliza SCOTT & Benjamin WHEAT
Eliza SCOTT was born 17 April 1844, in Upwell, Cambridgeshire; the 2nd child and 1st daughter of
John SCOTT & Sarah SAVAGE.
On 25 December 1866 at the Baptist Chapel Upwell, Eliza and her future husband, Benjamin WHEAT,
were witnesses to the marriage of Eliza's eldest brother, John to Hannah DONCASTER of March.
Eliza and Benjamin WHEAT, son of Joseph WHEAT, Farm Baliff, were married on 16 July 1868, at the
Baptist Chapel, Upwell - whose Minute Books [Registers] are still missing. Her father and her sister, Emma,
were the witnesses.
Benjamin was 32 years old and a widower; Eliza was 23. Benjamin's occupation was given as "Merchant's Clerk"
Spitalfields Market, London.
A note here about Benjamin - taken from a letter sent by his grandson, Dennis, to family members in
January 1991:
"Benjamin Wheat was the youngest son of a farmer in Stonea, near March, Cambs, deep in the Fens
of Cambridgeshire. Being a youngest son, his prospects of inheriting the farm were negligable and
we may assume that he did not relish the prospect of spending his life as a farm labourer. Being
also of an enterprising nature, he went down to London to start a potato merchants business.
This he did in a good prominent position on the corner of Brushfield Street, Spitalfields Market.
At the same time he had an "understanding" with Eliza Scott, a farmer's daughter and told her
that he would return when he had established, so that they could get married. This he did and they
were married on July, 16th 1868. They lived above the warehouse in Brushfield Street and started
their family there. As the family increased the accommodation distinctly restricted and they moved
to a really grand house, Waverley, in the main road at Upper Clapton. After some years, the family
moved to Filey Avenue just along the road.......
His business flourshed mightily and from what I have gathered from people who knew him he was
practically the "King of the London Potato Trade."
Money was a taboo subject for discussion in those days and Benjamin, being a good fenman, kept his wife
in the dark about his financial affairs, more than most. She was quite sure that on his death [abt 1906]
,she would find herself destitute. Accordingly, she managed to save £500 out of her house-keeping money,
a by no means a negligible sum in those days. To her amazement, she found he had left three farms
(two in Essex and one in Cambridgeshire) and a block of flats in London as well as a wad of railway shares."
Eliza and Benjamin had a large family:
| Agnes
| born
| 1869
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Herbert
| born
| 1871
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Alfred
| born
| 1872
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Walter
| born
| 1874
| Spitalfields, London
| Died - 1876
| George W.
| born
| 1876
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Edward
| born
| 1878
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Francis
| born
| 1881
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| Edith Nellie
| born
| 1885
| Spitalfields, London
| .
| | | | | | | |
November 2005 - My thanks to Eliza & Benjamin's Gt Grandson, Brian WHEAT for additional information, which
can also be found on Brian's WHEAT family website..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More to come on this page!
SCOTT Home Page
Site Home Page & Index
Contact Details - if you think you have any information that will help me with my research and these webpages.
And please, don't forget to sign my Guest Book before you leave!
This page created 30 July 2002
and amended/updated 19:32 01/02/2006