There are many questions I would ask Eliza Jane Merrick if she was alive today. Instead, I will have to settle on what I have discovered and ponder several possibilities regarding how her life was lived. Historical accounts show that she was born on 18 June 1818 to James and Mary Merrick who lived in Windsor, Berkshire, England. James had a long career as a servant in the Royal Household working various jobs including coal porter, table decker, and wax fitter.
In the 1851 census, Eliza was recorded as living with her mother, Mary, and a relative, Georgina Maddison, who was described as Mary’s granddaughter. On the night of the census James was away from home staying at Buckingham Palace for his work. Eliza was unmarried and described as a “teacher of music” who had been born in Windsor.
In 1856 James died which left the family in a state of disarray. His death was noted in several newspapers:
“James Merrick, one of the oldest servants of the Royal Household, died at Windsor last week, aged 77. He had served during four reigns, and was pensioned off two or three years ago on £40 per annum. Distressing to say, he has left a wife of his own age totally blind, and a daughter a cripple, both wholly unprovided for. He was a well known inhabitant of Windsor.”1
There is further evidence to confirm that Mary Merrick was blind. In December 1857 it was publicly announced that she was to receive an annual pension of £10 from a donation gifted by a charity that sought to help the “Aged Blind”.2 In 1856 the only unmarried daughter who would have been living at home was Eliza, who according to some reports was presumably limited in her mobility to some extent.
Latter-day Saint Membership
Family records suggest that Mary Merrick had nineteen pregnancies of which only 7 of the children survived to adulthood. One of her daughters, Maria, met missionaries and was baptised in London on 17 July 1848, after which she became a member of the Somerstown branch. At some point news of the restored gospel spread to other members of the Merrick family. Eliza was baptised on 8 April 1849 by William Booth, an early Latter-day Saint convert who laboured in the London Conference as a missionary. He recorded that she had “heard the gospel preached only twice” before she joined the Church.3 Eliza became one of only two Latter-day Saints in the town, but others were soon to follow.
A Latter-day Saint congregation was established in Windsor, Berkshire, on 20 August 1850 after Elder George Margetts, a missionary in the London Conference, was stationed in the Windsor and Maidenhead area. When the boundaries were drawn Eliza became one of the thirty or so founding members who had previously been in various other branches, but she was not the only member of her family to join the new church in Windsor.
Georgina Maddison
Georgina was born on 14 March 1841 in Adelaide Square, New Windsor. She was nine years old when on 17 June 1850 she was one of the first Latter-day Saints baptised in Windsor by George Margetts. At the time she was a student, but at some point, she moved to the Paddington branch. Census data and the utilisation of the Maddison surname raise the question: who were Georgina Maddison's parents?
Fortunately, being born in 1841 meant that the birth was legally required to be registered, but there was no Georgina Maddison registered in 1841. There was, however, a Georgina Merrick registered that year. After recently acquiring a copy of the birth registration it becomes clear that Georgina was Eliza’s daughter. No father was listed on the birth registration, but the family lived in Adelaide Square, New Windsor. It could be inferred that Maddison was the surname of her unnamed father, and there is a strong candidate. Still, given the spurious nature of such identifications and the inability to verify such claims, I will leave this discovery where it lies. The reason for its inclusion will become clear as the story goes on.
When Georgina emigrated from Liverpool in April 1855 onboard the Chimborazo at age 14 she would never see her mother again. Although unaccompanied by family members she travelled with other members of the Paddington branch to Utah where she had her Aunt Maria and cousins who had emigrated in 1851. In Salt Lake City two years later she married Francis Hawes on 25 April 1857 when she was just 16 years old. A daughter, also called Georgina, was born in September 1858 but lived only for a couple of weeks before she died of convulsions. Tragically, on 8 January 1859, Georgina followed her in death with her cause of death listed as consumption. Her life, which appears to have had several health challenges, was sadly cut short.
Healing
In 1849, Eliza was a recent convert and she communicated with Elder Booth through letters. In one such communication, she sent him an account of an experience she had with faith healing:
Dear Brother Booth, I feel it to be my duty to inform you of the power of healing which has been manifested unto us during the past week. A youthful member of our family, whom you know very well, was taken exceedingly ill on the 30th of last month with her old complaint (inflammation on the chest) which came on more rapidly than it had ever done before. She was obliged to be put to bed and I anointed her chest with the oil you consecrated, and also gave her some inwardly. That was about four o’clock in the afternoon. She continued very ill all the evening: her breath very short, and the fever very high. I again anointed her chest in the name of the Lord, and asked his blessing; he was graciously pleased to hear me, and in the course of twenty-four hours she was as well as if nothing had been the matter. I wish I could personally testify of the Lord’s goodness, but as I cannot I have written to you. Though I have been but a short time in the church, I have received many blessings, and I hope soon to be able to stand up and testify of the same in Windsor.
For the present farewell. I am, dear Brother Booth, yours in the everlasting covenants, Eliza Jane Merrick.4
The blessing presumably took place in the Merrick home at 2 Gloucester Place, which was a modest yet not grandiose building. During this time it was common for Latter-day Saint men and women to perform healing blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. They would often lay hands on the affected part of the body and ask for healing without invoking priesthood authority. Eliza used oil that had been consecrated and given to her by Elder Booth and was acting with the understanding of blessings that she had been given. One question though is why did Elder Booth give her some consecrated oil? Her health challenges, her mother’s blindness, and the maladies of a child might have been the motivation. Perhaps it was seen as an authorised extension of the Priesthood. While such practices are not followed today there was certainly more variability in the past.
Unfortunately, little is heard of Eliza again. She moved to London and chose not to emigrate. Her activity in the Church is unclear, but in 1865 she married Alfred Thompson. There are no known children born to the couple and ten years later she died. Similarly, there are no known photographs of Eliza Merrick or Georgina Merrick Maddison, but there is one of Maria Merrick which is probably the closest we will get to knowing what Eliza looked like.
So yes, there are questions about her life I’d like to ask, but from looking at her life certain inferences can be made. Eliza was educated and accomplished in music. She had some family support, but social pressures at the time meant she might have had to publicly present a different relationship to her daughter, Georgina. She was able to marry and seemingly lived a life of relative comfort. She embraced her Latter-day Saint faith at least for a time, and in a period of flux and experimentation, had an unusual experience in which she was able to heal her biological daughter.
‘Untitled,’ Metropolitan, 13 September 1856, p. 7.
‘Charities to the Aged Blind,’ Morning Herald, 12 December 1857, p. 1.
William Booth, ‘Miraculous Healings,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 11, No. 13 (1849), pp. 204-205.
Eliza Jane Merrick, ‘Miraculous Healings,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 11, No. 13 (1849), p. 205.