Ann Burgess was born circa 1821 in Staple Hill, Bristol, England, United Kingdom to John Burgess (c1789-1844) and Jane Willis (c1788-1860) . She married George Sperring (?-c1855) 1841 in Bristol, England, United Kingdom.
The first child of John Burgess and Jane Willis; Ann Burgess, christened in the Downend/Mangotsfield parish on 13 December 1824, married George Sperring about 1841; Ann Burgess and George Sperring had four children;
Evan Sperring, 1841, Sarah Jane Willis Sperring who was buried on the 16th February 1844 when she was only 16 months, Sarah Sperring 1845, and Emily Sperring in 1846 (who George Sperring may never have seen).
In about 1845 her husband (George Sperring) persuaded her brother (George Burgess), who was about 16 at the time, to go with him to Baltimore, Maryland, America to continue their apprenticeship in stone cutting. In 1846 while George Sperring was in America with George Burgess (her brother) Ann gave birth to Emily Sperring, George Sperring’s daughter who he may never have seen as he died while in America and he was buried in Baltimore Cemetery, in the State of Maryland.
Ann's father was a collier later becoming a labourer and her mother a housekeeper.
Staple Hill Tunnel above which the Family lived for many years.[1]
They lived at Staple Hill above the railway tunnel in a house with 1 acre and 8 parsecs of garden and orchards set behind another house with gardens that was near the edge of the tunnel entrance. In 1844, when the council survey was started the house and grounds were referred to as `Plot 879' and was owned by John Burgess (a collier); John also owned `Plot 859' a house and gardens situated nearby at the end of what is now Acacia Road, by Staple Hill High Street, Bristol.
However, before the survey was completed her father John Burgess had died and the name of ownership was transferred her under her maiden name (Burgess) even though she'd been married for about five years. At this time (1845) `Plot 879' would have been occupied by her mother, Jane Burgess as Housekeeper (mother and widow); her two siblings and husband 'George Sperring' and her children.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Evan Sperring (1841-?) | |||
| Sarah Jane Willis Sperring (1842-1844) | |||
| Sarah Sperring (1845-?) | |||
| Emily Sperring (1846-?) | |||
References
- ^ Drawing of Staple Hill Railway Tunnel Commissioned for Arthur Russ by Tom Maloney©
The Diary of George Burgess (1829-1905)
Footnotes (including sources)