Mary Ann Barham was born on 20th September 1809, and christened at Swanscombe on 21st October, the first daughter of James and Mary Barham. She was 12 when her mother died in 1821, following which she and her siblings were cared for by Elizabeth Hazelton. 

She was 32 years old when she married Francis Viner, a gardener on 14th September 1840 at Sutton-at-Hone, and they appear there in the 1841 census. There is no record of any children and In 1851 she had moved to Bromley in Kent where she was working as a servant at the White Hart Inn. A Frederick Viner aged 33 (Mary was by this time 41) was also on the staff and this is presumably an error in recording her husband Francis.

There is no further evidence of Francis (or Frederick) but in 1861 she appears amongst those living at the Vicarage in Coleshill in Berkshire. It is not clear what she was doing there, but it is worthwhile listing all the residents.

Edward Bouverie	Head	Widower	77	Vicar of Coleshill
Fanny Bouverie	Daughter	Unmarried	48	Vicar's daughter
Catherine Berens	Visitor	Widow	80	Sister
Richard Winstanley Allsop	Boarder	Unmarried	28	Curate of Coleshill
Harriet Clargo	Visitor	Widow	69	Work woman (?)
Maryann Viner	Visitor	Married	49	Visitor Mute
Sarah Harmes	Servant	Unmarried	43	House Keeper
Mary Rebecca Leigh	Boarder	Unmarried	32	School Mistress
Elizabeth Steide	Servant	Unmarried	70	Upper House Maid
Jane Price	Servant	Unmarried	29	Cook
Jane Atkins	Servant	Unmarried	31	Under House Maid
Mary Jane Smith	Servant	Unmarried	16	Kitchen Maid
William Hughes	Servant	Unmarried	20	Groom
Daniel Tovey	Servant	Unmarried	17	Footman
Jacob Theobald	Visitor	Unmarried	71	Helper

Mary Ann is one of two visitors who are listed above the servants snd schoolmistress, but their reason for being there is unclear. Neither appear to be people of the "quality" of Edward Bouverie, the vicar, and his family who were related to the Lord Radnor who lived at nearby Coleshill House. In fact Harriet Clargo, Mary Ann's fellow visitor, was the widow of an agricultural labourer, but she did have a connection with the vicarage in that her eldest daughter, Mary, had been employed as Lady's Maid to the late Florence Bouverie, the vicar's wife..Florence had employed two Lady's Maids, the other one being Sarah Harmes who had been by now elevated to the position of Housekeeper. Mary Ann is intriguingly described as "mute" , the first time that there has been any hint of a disability. So could it be that the Vicar was offering some kind of care to these two ladies?  Whatever the reason the presence of Mary Ann there, a significant distance from Kent and her last know n residence in Bromley remains a mystery.    Also a mystery is the fact that she was described as "married" rather than "widow" suggests that Francis was still alive.

Whatever the reason for Mary Ann's presence at the Coleshill Vicarage she did not remain there as she died in 1868 back in the Swanscombe area. . 

To return to the family of James Barham and Mary Peskett follow this link