CAROLINE HALL (1825-1876)

 

Caroline HALL was born in 1825 in Frampton Cotterell, the seventh child of Samuel and Elizabeth (nee WALKER) HALL. Her parents were married in Frampton Cotterell in 1810 and they lived in Winterbourne before moving to Frampton Cotterell. Samuel was a labourer while Elizabeth was a teacher. There were ten children with three of the sons migrating to Australia.  James HALL, Caroline’s brother, lived on  in Frampton Cotterell at the Old Windmill, Brockeridge.  His headstone with his death date of 1885 marks his family grave in the churchyard. His son, Samuel HALL, was living in Frampton Cotterell at the time of the 1901 census.

Caroline, in the 1841 census, was in service in Frenchay and by 1851 was a domestic servant at Dorset House, Clifton, Bristol. Her older sister, Ann, was in service at a nearby mansion.

In 1854 in Clifton, Caroline married James LANE, a nurseryman employed at Dorset House. Her sister, Ann, was a witness. After some years, James and Caroline moved to Manilla Cottage, Clifton, where James ran a nursery business with Caroline as a very capable manager. They had eight children. William, their eldest son, born with a club foot, attended Bristol Grammar School where he showed precocious writing ability [click here for a biography]. Sons, John (Judy's grandfather) and Frank, won Merchant Venturers scholarships to the Colston Hospital School.

It is more than likely that the LANE children visited their Grandmother, Elizabeth, before her death in Frampton Cotterell in 1875. Sadly only a year later in 1876, Caroline died from apoplexy aged 51. There was a headstone to Caroline and a daughter who predeceased her in the churchyard of St Andrews, Clifton.

The nursery business declined and James LANE with some of the children moved to St Leonards, Sussex.  James married again.  By 1885 all of the LANE family had migrated to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.