I received a request for a photo of Elizabeth’s grave in East Hill Cemetery, Dartford. This led me to look up her burial in the cemetery records, where I found that she died at Dartford Railway Station. I looked at copies of The Dartford Chronicle (stored on microfilm at Dartford Library), to see whether I could find out more. This is what I discovered about her life and unfortunate death.
Elizabeth Mary Ann Clarke was born in 1864 in Stotfold, Bedfordshire. The 1891 census shows her as a housekeeper, living at 497 Kings Road, Chelsea with her brother Thomas W Clarke (aged 27, an accountant’s clerk) and two lodgers.
Elizabeth married Arthur Adkins, aged 29, a carpenter, at St John’s Church, Chelsea on May 30th 1892. She is shown as aged 28, a spinster, with her father being William Clarke, a baker.
Arthur and Elizabeth seem to have moved to Ashwell in Hertfordshire after their marriage, as this is where their first three children were born. They were Thomas William (born 1893), Lilian Cecilia (born 1894) and Audrey Muriel (born 1896). Arthur was also born in Ashwell, which is only 5 miles from Stotfold. The family moved to Dartford in about 1897, where their other two children were born. They were May Olivia (born 1898) and Herbert George (born 1906).
The 1901 census shows the family living at 99 New Colney Road, Dartford. Arthur is shown as a carpenter. New Colney Road is in the Newtown area of East Dartford. A lot of the houses in Newtown were built between 1880 and 1910, which was developed to accommodate Dartford’s rising population at this time. The streets were relatively wide and the properties were generally better than those in central Dartford, where there were health problems associated with poor sanitation.
In 1911 the family were living at 113 Colney Road, Dartford. The household consisted of Arthur Adkins (aged 50, a carpenter), his wife Elizabeth (47) with their children Thomas (17, a clerk), Lilian (16, a dressmaker), Audrey (14, a milliner), May (12, at school) and Herbert (4). The census return says that the family were living in 5 rooms.
The following item was published in The Dartford Chronicle dated Oct 1st 1915.
"Passengers and officials at Dartford Railway Station on Saturday morning were horrified to see a woman, who attempted to enter a carriage of a train in motion, crushed to death between the train and the footway, in the presence of her little son, who was accompanying her to London for the day.
The train was that which leaves Dartford at 7.03 am, and the last by which cheap tickets are available, and is accordingly very popular and always well filled. The train was stopped immediately, and the unfortunate woman was got on to the platform but life was extinct. The body was badly crushed. She was identified as Mrs Elizabeth Mary Ann Adkins of 113 Colney Road, Dartford."
The item goes on to record evidence given at the inquest.
“The bereaved husband, Mr Arthur Adkins, carpenter, said
he saw his wife a few minutes before the accident, at the foot of East Hill.”
A witness at the station testified that Mrs Adkins was seen running towards the train and called to her son “Come on sonnie, we’ll catch it.”
The son of Mrs Adkins was Herbert George Adkins, who was aged 9. He must have been traumatised by what happened.
Arthur Adkins died on 11 March 1935 aged 74. He was buried in the same grave as his wife. It is marked with kerbstones, although these have partly sunk into the ground. The inscription reads :
“In memory of ARTHUR ADKINS passed over 11th March 1935
aged 74 / Also ELIZABETH his wife passed over 5th September 1915, aged 52.”
(The date of Elizabeth’s death was actually 25th September 1915)
The grave of
Elizabeth Adkins
Probate records show that the value of Arthur’s estate was £277 5s (equivalent to about £60,000 now) and that the administrator was Thomas William Adkins (his eldest son), a carpenter and joiner.
