Miss Elizabeth Barron
(1837-1921)
7 March 1861
Volume 2, page 276, sitting number 2395.
[Identified only as 'Miss Barron' in the Silvy daybooks, an inscription verso in a period hand reads ‘Elizabeth Barron / Putney, March 31st 1861. 17.’ The ’17’ at the end of the inscription is possibly the sitter’s age. The likeliest candidate for a fuller identification is the Elizabeth Barron living in Paddington.]
Elizabeth Barron, aged 17, appears on the 1861 census living at 88 Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, with her mother, also Elizabeth, and her step-father, George Vaughn, a magistrate. Also present on the night of the census were her sister Nora and eight servants, including a butler and a footman.
On 19 February 1867 she married engineer Henry David Blyth of 28 Westbourne Terrace, the son of Alfred Blyth, also an engineer. According to their marriage certificate, Elizabeth’s father was Charles Barron, ‘Merchant / Decd.’
When their son Bertie Hotham Blyth was baptised on 3 June 1869, the family were living at 46 Porchester Square, Paddington.
When the census was taken in 1871 the couple were living at 60 Cleveland Square, Paddington, with their two young sons and five servants. Henry gave ‘Mechanical Engineer’ as his profession.
In 1911 they were living at 58 Queens Gardens, Hyde Park, with six servants. Henry was now a ‘Merchant.’ The census shows that he and Elizabeth had been married for 44 years. The marriage had produced four children, but one of them was no longer alive.
Elizabeth Blyth died on 26 April 1921 at 58 Queen’s Gardens, Bayswater. Probate was granted to her husband Henry David Blyth. Her estate was valued at £1289.
Henry died two years later, at the same address, on 26 December 1923, leaving an estate valued at £71,751.