Mary Jane Housemann

Mary Jane Houseman moved to the Nag's Head Yard in 1896.

Mary Jane Watkins was born in 1864 .We know very little about her life before 1896, when she married Herbert Houseman and moved into the Nag's Head Yard, apart from the fact that she already had two children, named Harriett E and William F Watkins.
Mary Jane often used just her second name Jane. There were many Jane Watkins living in Shropshire during the late 1800’s, so tracking her specific details down has sometimes proved difficult. In 1901 Mary Jane was living in Nag's Head Yard with the two children, and earning her living as a dressmaker. That year though she declared heself as 'married', there is no sign of Herbert on any census record. Mary Jane's business cannot have been lucrative enough to support the family, because in 1902 she appeared in the local police court for being drunk and disorderly, and was described as being of ‘no fixed abode’. The case was remanded, on the understanding that she went into the workhouse. It was stated in the court records that although Mary Jane had tried, her son was refusing to go with her.

A week later a Sergeant Perry informed the court that Mary Jane and her children were now in the workhouse, and subsequently the case against her was dropped.
Ludlow Union Workhouse was situated at Gravel Hill on the outskirts of the town. People would only enter if they were absolutely desperate. The regime was created to be a place of 'hardship, degradation and humility' and was 'administered with strictness and severity.'
Parents were separated from their children, and Mary Jane would have been allowed to see Harriett and William for short periods of time, by appointment only.
The last we see of Mary Jane is in the form of a newspaper report in 1909, where she is charged with stealing a purse. The statement is again from Sergeant Perry who did not press charges because he knew that ‘Mrs Houseman has had a hard life’.