Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    BMB8/2
  • Title
    Estates of Miss M. Walker - Bedford, Petersfield, Hants, Downham, etc., Cambs
  • Date free text
    1913-1946
  • Production date
    From: 1913 To: 1946
  • Admin/biog history
    Mary Walker was the eldest daughter of James Walker. James was born in 1829 in Kempston, Bedfordshire, the son of Lewis and Elizabeth Walker. James married Sarah Cranfield at Marston Mortaine on the 5 July 1853. They moved to Downham in Cambridgeshire (which it seems was part of Sarah Cranfield's marriage settlement see BMB8/2/8/11/6) where their two daughters Mary, (c 1854-1947) and Sarah Elizabeth (c. 1857-1913) were both born. The family later moved to Hampshire, where Sarah died in 1884. Neither Mary nor Sarah Elizabeth married and after their father's death they lived at The Pines, College Street, Petersfield. They held a range of property and investments, which on Sarah's death passed to Mary for life with her cousin Harry Inskip Cranfield as the other executor. James's younger brother, Lewis, born 1836 in Stagsden, remained in Bedfordshire and continued to farm in Stagsden. One of Lewis's daughters, Mary Elizabeth Walker, married Joseph Aurelius Weston, estate agent of Bedford. Joseph and Mary's son Joseph Gordon Walker Weston was born c. 1898 in Bedford. He married Marguerita Allen in Marylebone in 1923 and he and Rita had two daughters - June M Weston born 1927 in Marylebone and Mary Pauline Weston born 1931 in Bedford. The management of Mary's affairs was given to her cousin Mary's husband Joseph, who by 1934 was a principal director of Stafford, Rogers & Merry. Joseph's son, Gordon, later took over from his father but died in early 1947. When Mary Walker died on the 11 November 1947 her estate went to Gordon's widow, Marguerita.
  • Scope and Content
    Mostly correspondence particularly between Mr Weston and Miss Walker. Some minor papers re. the management of the property. Personal financial papers of Miss Walker for tax purposes and some personal material.
  • System of arrangement
    In general the files to do with individual properties retain only documents that were felt to give a picture of the property or the economic climate. Some letters that appear in these files will also be found in the bound correspondence files but it was felt that keeping them would give an introduction to things given that the correspondence files were not to be individiually catalogued. The correspondence should be used to get the fuller picture.
  • Reference
  • Level of description
    sub-series
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