Ruth Parker

1912 - 1972  (59 years)

• Name	Ruth Parker
  Birth	21 Feb 1912	Caterham, Surrey, England   [1, 2, 3]
  Christening	5 May 1912	St Mary's Church, Caterham, Surrey, England   [4]
  Gender	Female
  Census	29 Sep 1939	Ealing, Middlesex, England   [5]
  	1939 Register, Ealing: Ruth Cole, born 21 Feb 1912, married, house parlourmaid, living in the household of Harold J. and Leila G. Stowell with her husband Harry Cole (born 1898). Both were evidently in service there.
  Death	30 Jan 1972	Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England   [6, 7]
  Notes	WHAT BECAME OF RUTH (researched 2 Nov 2026). Born 21 Feb 1912 at Caterham and baptised at St Mary's, Caterham, on 5 May 1912, daughter of Clement Parker, gardener, then 65, and his second wife Harriet Sarah. Her father died on Christmas Day 1922, when she was ten. On 3 Aug 1935, aged 23, she married Harry Cole, about fourteen years older, at St Leonard's Church, Surrey (the register names her father as Clement Parker). In 1939 the couple were in domestic service together at Ealing, Ruth as house parlourmaid. She died at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, on 30 Jan 1972, aged 59, leaving a will (probate Oxford, 3 Mar 1972). CHILDREN: none found yet. A search of the birth index for Cole children with mother's maiden name Parker (1936 onwards, Middlesex and Buckinghamshire) is the next step; any children would be half-first-cousins of Frank Todd Wilson.
  Person ID	I602074848	Walsh - Wilson Family Tree
  Last Modified	3 Nov 2026

  
  

  Father	Clement Parker,   b. 10 Oct 1846, Hutton, Somerset d. 25 Dec 1922, Meadow at Longmead, Caterham Military Depot, Surrey (Age 76 years)
  Mother	Harriett Sarah Seal,   b. Abt 1875, Bridport, Dorset, England
  Marriage	Between Apr 1911 and Jun 1911	Godstone district, Surrey, England   [8]
  Notes	Clement's SECOND MARRIAGE (found 2 Nov 2026). On census night, 2 April 1911, Clement, 64, was a widower at 7 Foxton Lane, Caterham, with a 74-year-old housekeeper. A few weeks later, in the April-June quarter of 1911, he married Harriett Sarah Seal, born about 1875 at Bridport, Dorset, nearly thirty years younger (GRO index, Godstone 2a 456; the bride's name is from the same index page and the 1921 census). Their daughter Ruth was born at Caterham early in 1912. So Clement became a father again at 65, and Ruth was a half-sister to Sarah Ann Wilson and an aunt five years YOUNGER than her nephew Frank Todd Wilson. Harriett and Ruth were with him at The Cottage, Knaresdale, Caterham, in 1921, the year before he died. To confirm: the marriage certificate (it will give Harriett's father and her age).
  Family ID	F601969441	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Harry Cole,   b. Abt 1898
  Marriage	3 Aug 1935	St Leonard's Church, Surrey South Eastern district, Surrey, England   [9, 10]
  Family ID	F601969442	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Nov 2026

  
  

• Sources

  [S4901] U.K. General Register Office, GRO birth index, Jan-Mar 1912, Godstone district: Ruth Parker (Reliability: 3). [S90941] 1921 England Census, (The National Archives (via Ancestry)), 1921 census: daughter, 9 years 5 months, born Caterham (Foxton Lane) (Reliability: 3). [S90942] Surrey CofE Baptisms, (Ancestry.com), St Mary's, Caterham, baptism 5 May 1912: Ruth, born 21 Feb 1912, daughter of Clement and Harriet Sarah Parker (Surrey History Centre 6087/1/9) (Reliability: 3). [S90942] Surrey CofE Baptisms, (Ancestry.com), St Mary's, Caterham, 5 May 1912 (Surrey History Centre 6087/1/9) (Reliability: 3). [S90944] 1939 Register, (The National Archives (via Ancestry)), RG 101/718D, schedule 242 (Reliability: 3). [S51] England and Wales Death Index, Death index, Jan-Mar 1972, Amersham district, vol. 6a p. 828: Ruth Cole, born 21 Feb 1912, aged 59 (Reliability: 3). [S90945] National Probate Calendar, (Ancestry.com), Probate calendar 1972: Ruth Cole of Beaconsfield, died 30 Jan 1972; probate Oxford, 3 Mar 1972 (Reliability: 3). [S4901] U.K. General Register Office, GRO marriage index, Apr-Jun 1911, Godstone, vol. 2a p. 456: Clement Parker; the same page lists Harriet S. Seal (Reliability: 3). [S90943] Surrey CofE Marriages, (Ancestry.com), Marriage 3 Aug 1935, St Leonard's Church: Ruth Parker, 23, father Clement Parker, to Harry Cole (Surrey History Centre P14/1/7) (Reliability: 3). [S4901] U.K. General Register Office, GRO marriage index, Jul-Sep 1935, Surrey South Eastern: Ruth Parker and Harry Cole (Reliability: 3).