The Berridge Sisters
Many locals, of a certain age, will remember local teachers Grace and Selina Berridge, see photo believed to have been taken in 1956/7. Prior to their retirement in 1957 Grace was deputy headteacher and Selina was head teacher.
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Grace and Selina were two of eight surviving children, seven girls and one boy, born to William and Selina Berridge: Gertrude, Grace, Selina, Fanny, Mabel, Daisy, Ethel and Bertie. Grace was born in 1886 and Selina in 1888. William was a carpenter joiner and lived in Water End, Stanground.
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On 19th August 1904 both Grace and Selina’s achievements as pupil teachers were acknowledged in the Cambridge Independent Press.
By the 1911 census the family had moved to Mrytle House, Stanground. Grace and Selina had made the transition from pupil teachers to assistant teachers whilst Fanny was a dressmaker.
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Selina was registered with the Teachers Registration Council on 1st September 1920 while she was teaching at Old Fletton Council Infant's School. This document also records her previous appointments:
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Head mistress, Folksworth Mixed School, 1907
Assistant mistress, Old Fletton Council Mixed School 1901-1911
Stanground Infant's School 1911-1913
Old Fletton Council Infant's School 1913-
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By the 1939 National Register the family, William, Selina, Gertrude, Grace and Selina had moved to Fletton and lived close to the Vicarage in Church Street. Grace and Selina were assistant teachers and it would appear that Gertrude had taken on the role of caring for her elderly parents. Gertrude never married and died in 1978. Grace died on 7th January 1984 and Selina died on 4th February 1988. They had both returned to Stanground and lived at 61 Church Street.
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The other sibling’s lives are recorded below:
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Fanny married Sydney Ellwood in 1919 but sadly died just two years later aged 26.
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Mabel married widower Edward Hodges on 12th February 1921 and settled in Walton and Weybridge. They had two boys Edward and Kenneth.
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No conclusive evidence has been found about Ethel.
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Bertie married Georgina in 1930. They settled at ‘Kerria’ Fletton and had a son David. Bertie of 24 St. John’s Road died on 2nd June 1991.
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Interestingly prior to Daisy’s marriage to Cedric Dunnett in 1924 she is recorded on 10th November 1915 aged 17 as being on the SS Gaika. The Gaika was a steamship with The Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co Ltd. Daisy’s destination was Mombasa, Kenya and her occupation was recorded on the outgoing passenger list as housekeeper. This must have been a difficult journey given the situation at the time.