Laburnum Terrace

The Early Years of Maria Alpass

Maria Alpass was born in 1827 the daughter of John Parslow, gentleman and maltster and his wife, Maria, both of Berkeley.  She married Stephen Alpass in Berkeley Church on 16 October 1845.  Stephen was a butcher born in Morton in 1812, the son of John Alpass, yeoman.  Stephen’s butcher’s shop was in High Street, Berkeley. 

By 1851, Stephen, Maria and their four children had moved to Canonbury Street in Berkeley where he continued with a butcher’s shop.  They were still there in 1861 when they had seven children and Stephen had added farming 29 acres to his role as a butcher.

The 1871 census shows the family had moved to Elberton where they had a large farm of 253 acres employing six men and two boys.  Some of their children had moved away, but they still had seven children with the birth of three more children since Stephen had turned 50! In the 1881 census, the name of the farm was shown as Camp Farm, which was described then as a farm of 250 acres employing three men and one boy. It is not clear whether this a different farm or the same one described slightly differently.

Stephen died in 1883 aged 71 years.  He was buried in Berkeley Cemetery in the same plot as his wife’s parents.  In 1891 census, Maria had moved to a house on Olveston Green with the 2 unmarried daughters, Ellen and Annie and an unmarried son, Milton who was a farmer.

By 1896, Maria and her unmarried daughters had moved to 18 Gloucester Road.  Her name appears there in the electoral register of 1896.

This page was last updated: 23/03/2007