Eliza was born on the 24th of May 1842 in the lovely seaside town of Ramsgate in Kent. The fifth child to Henry Challis and Eliza Turner.
Both her father Henry and her Grandfather Joseph Challis were in the transport business, Joseph ran a coach service between Ramsgate and Canterbury and her father was a Carrier of groceries, a Postmaster and later a Fly Proprietor. A Fly was a one horse two wheeled light carriage and a Fly Proprietor usually owned several Flys and employed the drivers, a bit like a taxi service.
In a story by Charles Dickens 'The Tuggs's at Ramsgate' he tells how when passengers disembarked from the City of London-Ramsgate steamer " a chorus of fourteen or so men" would be calling "Fly, sir?" trying to win the passengers as customers and to bring them to their lodgings. Charles Dickens was often in the area around Ramsgate so must have experienced this first hand.
Eliza would have grown up in reasonable prosperity, her family lived at 130 High Street, Ramsgate which is in the centre of the town, close to the church and about 10 minutes walk from the harbour, she was the fifth child of seven.
In 1861 at the age of 19 Eliza was employed as a milliner in Ramsgate. Shortly after 1861 she and her parents moved to Dover where her father worked as a victualler - a victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea.
Sometime whilst living in Dover, Eliza met her future husband William Frederick Tozer who was working at the time as a decorator or grainer in Tunbridge Wells, which is about 100 km from Dover. Maybe they met in Ramsgate whilst William was taking a short holiday? What is certain is that they married at St. Mary's church, Dover on the 4th June 1866 and Eliza went to live in the lovely town of Royal Tunbridge Wells with her new husband.
In December 1867 her first child was born William Henry Tozer. Shortly after his birth they moved closer to William Frederick Tozer's family in Northamptonshire and William began his own Painting and Decorating company in Wellingborough. In 1870 their second son Frederick was born and on the 9th October 1871 my great grandmother Rose Tozer was born. The family were living at 34 Market Street, Wellingborough and William Frederick's decorating business was doing well when at the beginning of May 1872 he developed an ear infection which caused an infection to his brain membrane and within two weeks he had died.
Eliza was 29 at the time of her husband's death and had 3 children under the age of 5. In my next blog, which I promise will be alot sooner, I will post William Frederick's Last Will and Testament, and then a following blog I will write about Eliza's further life and her move up to Hull in Yorkshire.
