Ellen is pictured opposite with her youngest son Joe, circa 1925
Ellen was born in China (as were all of her children) and in 1892 married widower John Compton in Shanghai. John was 30 years older than Ellen, and was actually born before Ellen's father (!), who had died when she was around 13.
At the time of the birth of her last child (Joe) in 1914 her address was 48 Boone Road, Shanghai. She was shown as the informant on the birth certificate of her daughter Gladys' son John Charles Edward Hetherington in 1918, where her address was recorded as 7 Carter Street, Shanghai. It is possible that her husband died somewhere between these two dates.
Her obituary notice (showing her address as "House 2, 15 Carter Street, Shanghai") provides a lot of detail regarding her family, It mentions two sisters: Mrs De Linde and S Mesny - although it is possible that these were half-sisters, as Ellen's mother had remarried after her father's early demise. Among those sending wreaths were "W Golding" which could possibly refer to her step-father Edward Goulding Wilson who had been a witness at her marriage in 1892.
A letter dated 12th Dec.1937 between her daughters May (in Shanghai) and Winifred (Liverpool) provides an interesting insight into both her physical and financial situation at the time of her death. The family had returned from Hong Kong [holiday?] on 25th November, and Ellen died just 11 days later. The letter stated that "Mother was laid to rest beside Father ... mother had left nothing but debts (rents and taxes) amounting to over $2,000. Mother had asked Gladys to carry on the house and try to pay these debts to save the family's name. If the house was to be sold as a going concern it would not be worth $7.00 to $8.00". The Bubbling Well Cemetery closed in 1951, reclaimed for redevelopment in 1954, and is now the Jing'an Park
Her uncle was an "adventurer" in China - click here for a link to the colourful biography of William Mesny. Click here to go to a schematic tree of the Compton family, and here for the Mesny tree.
Note: The Consular Births Indexes at the FRC did not reveal any births with the surname Mesny in China between 1871 and 1915 (in sharp contrast with the 13 Compton names in the same period!).
Page last updated: May 2008
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