Mary Gibbs was born in 1832 at St Blazey in Cornwall, the daughter of Philip Gibbs, an agricultural labourer. On 20 September 1862 she was married at Tywardreath, Cornwall to William Pearce. Their first child Joseph Henry Pearce (1865-1950) was born in Truro on 26 September 1865, a second son Frederick Gibbs Pearce (1867-1888) was born in 1867 in Newlyn East, and a daughter Katherine Bennett Pearce (1872-1942) was born in Dorchester on 4 October 1872.
William Pearce began his career as a warden at the convict prison on Portland, afterwards serving for seven years as assistant clerk in the office of the chief constable of the Dorset constabulary at Dorchester. In May 1879, William and Mary were appointed as master and matron of the Beaminster Union Workhouse, and from 1886 until 1899 they were master and matron of the Sherborne Union Workhouse, having been chosen out of 50 applicants for the joint posts, for which the salaries in 1886 were £50 for the master and £30 for the matron.
Mary Pearce died at the Sherborne Union Workhouse on 1 November 1899, aged 68 years. On the day of her funeral her coffin was carried from the workhouse, down Horsecastles to the Sherborne Cemetery at Lenthay, where her gravestone reads:
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MARY, WIFE OF WILLIAM PEARCE, DIED 1 NOV. 1899, AGED 68 YEARS. FOR OVER 13 YEARS MATRON OF SHERBORNE WORKHOUSE.
ALSO OF KATHERINE BENNETT BETTEN, DAUGHTER OF THE ABOVE, DIED 10 JULY 1942, A DEVOTED WIFE AND MOTHER.
The Western Gazette, 10 November 1899, included the following report of Mary’s funeral:
‘DEATH OF MRS PEARCE. The death took place on the 1st inst. of Mrs Pearce, wife of the Master of the Union Workhouse. The deceased was 68 years of age, and her remains were interred at the Cemetery on Saturday, the Rev. Mr Roe (Poyntington), who is chaplain to the Union, conducted the ceremony. The mourners included Mr Pearce (husband), Mr Pearce (Bath, son), Mr Donald Betten (son-in-law), Messrs. Wilkins and Tulk (relieving officers), Police-Superintendent Simpson, Inspector Churchill (weights and measures), Mr Burt, senior, Messrs. I.O. Trevett, J. Pooley, Durrant, and Betten, senior. Mr W. Croft, of Newland, was the undertaker.’
After Mary’s death William had to give up as Master of the Workhouse, but on 9 July 1900 he remarried at Butleigh to Elizabeth Prince (née Cross), a widow, and they moved to Bridport.
Mary Pearce’s grave in Sherborne Cemetery (Find a Grave)
Rachel Hassall