Emma Elizabeth Clive was born April quarter 1848 in Aston New Town, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England as the first child of Zephaniah Clive and Mary Ann Jones. She had three known siblings, namely: John Arthur, Mary Ann, and William Henry.
I can't find any reference yet for the family in the 1861 census but given the variety of ways to spell/transcribe their name(s) this is not surprising. By the time of the 1871 census she is shown as a 22 year old dressmaker. She is described on this census as deaf & dumb from birth. The requirement for particulars such as these to be given on the census began in 1851, however, the 1851 census entry for Emma does not have a note in this column. Emma was only two years old but you would have thought that if she was deaf they would have realised it by that age. It will be interesting to see what is included in the 1861 census. Again the column is empty on the 1881 census.
Whether Emma was or wasn't deaf and dumb or the extent to which she was she still made a name for herself. Well, she appeared several times in trade directories anyway.
By 1881 Emma and her family had moved from Whitehead Road and were living at 416 Victoria Road. Her mother had died by this time as her father is listed as a widower and shown as a night porter. Emma is still listed as a dressmaker and her sister, Mary Ann, is an assistant dressmaker. Brother William, the youngest, now aged 20 is shown as a tool maker. Some time between the 1881 census and just before 1884 the family had moved to number 86. From 1884 on-wards Emma Elizabeth appears in several trade directories as a dressmaker of 86 Victoria Road, Aston Park.
She died about February 1891 aged just 42 and she was buried on 26 February at St Peter and St Paul in Aston, Birmingham. She must have been working right up to her death as she still appeared in an 1892 trade directory. It would have taken time to gather the names of the subscribers together and therefore there will be rare occasions where the person appears after they have passed.
The majority of this information was gathered in very few minutes just reviewing Ancestry hints. I suspect that someone on Ancestry is researching this family right now as I assume that is why they appeared in my recent hints list.
Update:
Yesterday I received another Ancestry hint. It was for the burial of Emma's mother, Mary Ann Clive (nee Jones). All the details tied up. Mary Ann was living at Victoria Street when she died and was buried on 6 November 1889. She was 70 years old.
I also received a hint for John Arthur's birth in the indexes. It looks like he was a twin as underneath his details is a Mary Ann Clive. Both are shown as born in Aston with the same reference XVI 246. On the 1871 census John is shown as 20 and Mary Ann is shown as 15 years old. On the 1881 census Mary Ann is 26 and 36 on the 1891 which is consistent with the 1871 census. Therefore, the only conclusion, without further research at this moment, is that John's twin Mary Ann (born in 1851) died sometime before 1855.
