Biography of Robert Smith

Robert was born about 1805 in Cantley, Norfolk, close to Reedham. He married Mary Ann High on 14 April 1835 at Reedham. In the 1841 census they are still in Reedham, but by 1851 they have moved to Besthorpe ('Compasses Road Railway Lodge'), Norfolk, where Robert became a Railway Gate Keeper.

Robert & Mary didn't have any children. Robert remained a Railway Gate Keeper in Besthorpe all his life. The 1861 census records them at Gate House, Besthorpe, with a visitor Mary Ann High (18, one of Sarah Spurgeon's sisters). Ten years later in 1871 Sarah's staying with them; the address is recorded as White House Lane, Besthorpe.

In the 1881 census Robert (76), still a Railway Gate Keeper, is living with Mary (70) at the Gate House, White House Lane.

No record of his death has been found. The 1891 census shows Samuel Edmund (77) as the new Railway Gate Keeper.