Mary Ong
(1774-1855)
Mary Ong (later Mary Cross) was the fourth of the eight children of Thomas Ong and his second wife Martha Feast of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Despite her father having had three children in his first marriage to Martha Jennings, it appears that Mary and her younger sister Martha Ong, were the only two children to survive. She was also the second of these children to be named Mary.
Mary married a farmer of Padnal, Ely, named Philip Cross and the couple remained in Ely where they had at least fourteen children. Sadly though, not all of the children survived into adulthood, with son Robert and daughters Margaret, and twins Kezia and Sarah, all dying before the age of 5 years.
Philip wrote his Will on 22nd March 1846, leaving his estate to Mary, except for 'two cows and my dairying utensils, which I bequeath to my son George Cross'. He also left his tenement and out-buildings, and 8 acres of land in Padnal, to George. No other child is mentioned within the Will, and he died just 2 days later.
George left the UK in about 1858, and emigrated to Australia with his family. George joined his brother Charles who had emigrated in October 1855, and was at sea when his mother died.
Mary out-lived Philip by nine years.
Life Events
Born
- circa 1774 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Baptised
- 24th July 1774 at Holy Trinity Church, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Banns
- 23rd May 1790 at Holy Trinity Church, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Married
- Philip Cross (1770-1846) on 24th May 1790 at Holy Trinity Church, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Children
- James Cross (1791-1877) married Elizabeth Lee (1791-1858)
- Robert Cross (1793-?)
- John Cross (1795-?)
- Margaret Cross (1797-1802)
- Philip Cross (1798-1866) married Sarah Freeman (1802-1829), and later to Ellen Wayman (1806-?)
- Robert Cross (1800-?)
- Richard Cross (1803-1870) married Ann Hunt (1806-?)
- Mary Cross (1804-?)
- Margaret Cross (1807-?)
- Kezia Cross twin (1809)
- Sarah Cross twin (1809)
- Samuel Cross (?-1809)
- Charles Cross (1810-1871) married Jane Thompson (1814-1834), and later to Elizabeth Garner (1823-1859), and unknown
- George Cross (1812-1887) married Frances Thompson (?-1840s), and later to Julia Thurlow (1818-1892)
- Peter Cross (1814-?) married Charlotte Hills (1811-18??), and later to Elizabeth Wright (1817-?)
Census and Residence
- 1841: 70yrs, Padnal, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
Death
- 23rd December 1855 in the presence of the mother of her daughter-in-law (Julia Thurlow), Lucy Munns, at Newnham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, aged 87 years.
Cause Of Death
- Fever - certified.
Burial
- 27th December 1855 at Ely City Cemetery, Grave # A85 [C].