Daisy Burnell
(1885-1952)

Daisy Burnell (later Daisy Martin and Daisy Shelton) was the third of the six children of George Burnell and his wife Mary Ann Barker of St. John's Wood, Middlesex, England.

In 1891, when Daisy was about 6 years old and her family were living in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, her father died. Her mother brought the family to Littleport, Cambridgeshire. It is here that her young widowed mother, Mary Ann, set up a new life and remarried to James Smith.

Daisy and her sister Lillie Burnell worked for Hope Brothers shirt factory in Littleport and they both appear on the 1901 census with their Step-father James Smith and her half-sister, Winifred May Smith.

Seven years later, Daisy married Herbert Martin of nearby Little Downham, and they had four sons, but sadly it wasn't long before she too was widowed when Herbert was killed in a train accident in France whilst on his way home during the First World War. Their youngest child, Cyril, was no more than a year old.

Daisy later re-married to Reuben Shelton of Little Downham, Cambridgeshire and together they went on to have three children, including Daisy's only daughter Edith ('Edie').

Life Events

Born:

• 16th November 1885 at The Stables, Abercorn Place, Kilburn, Middlesex (now London), England.

Baptised

• 21st February 1886 at St. Mary's Church, Kilburn, Middlesex, England.

Married

• Herbert Martin (1884-1917) on 20th October 1908, at St. George's Church, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.
• Reuben Shelton (1880-1954) during 1919 at Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.

Children

• Sydney James Martin (1910-1977) married Mima Joyce Sparrow (1913-1999)
• Herbert George Martin (1911-1985) married Ada Butcher (1893-1968), and later to Olive Eunice Payton (1920-1983).
• Percy Martin (1914-1991) married Edna Olga Newman (1916-1986), and later to Irene Elizabeth Mary Powell (1926-2008).
• Cyril William Martin (1916-2006) married Margaret Barrett (1921-2016)
• Edith Rose Shelton (1920-1995) married Hubert Donald Merrit (1921-2005)
• Maurice John Shelton (1922-1984) married Marjory Helen Gillett (19??-?)
• Frederick Hugh Shelton (1925-1994) married Joan Valerie Upchurch (19??-?)

Census and Residence

• 1891: 5yrs, The Royal Oak Public House, Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.
• 1901: 15yrs, Rose Cottages, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.
• 1911: 25yrs, Fourth Drove, Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, England.

Employment

• 1901: Shirt Machinist for Hope Brothers Ltd at Littleport

Death

• 10th February 1952 at Fourth Drove, Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, England, aged 66 years.

Burial

• 13th February 1952 with her second husband Reuben, at Little Downham Cemetery, Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, England. View Grave.