William Charles Joyce Meade

Postmaster

The postmaster at this period (1902-15) was William Charles Joyce Meade, who lived in Burgh Heath Road. Born 1857 Battersea; married 1886 Emily Eliza Ann Abbott (1863-1949, then living Ewell Road, Cheam).

Children – Daisy Rebecca (1887 Sydenham-1952), married lapidary Richard George Butcher; William Charles Abbott (1888 Sydenham-1970); Dorothy Emily (1892 Sydenham-1979), working in the Post Office in 1911, married Henry Maurice Restall; Vera Mary (1893 Sydenham-1983), married 1932 Ewell engineer Stanley Frank Fox; Ena Elizabeth (1900 Marlborough,Wiltshire),married 1929 Epsom physician Basil Noel Victor Bailey (later Wase-Bailey).

Died 18 November 1928, then living in Reigate Road, Ewell.

Benjamin Batty Ransley Marshall

Caretaker

The man actually living on the premises was Mr Marshall. Born c.1860 Brighton; married 1897 Elizabeth Collins (c.1868-1949 – latterly lived in Ewell).

Children (both born Epsom) – Alice Kathleen (1898-1980), married James Milford; Dorothy Winifred (born c.1903). Dorothy also worked for the Post Office at Epsom.

Mr Marshall was born Benjamin Batty Ransley, son of a Brighton fishmonger who died in 1879. I don’t know why and when he changed his surname to Marshall (which was the second forename of his grandfather) but he was using that name when he enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1874, a career which continued until 1897.

Died 9 March 1925, then living in Miles Road.

The Post Office.
Image courtesy of Bourne Hall Museum