Lucy Maria Berry was born in 1859 in Woodbridge. She lived in Kingston Terrace with her parents and siblings. In May 1879, Lucy’s first child, Samuel George Palmer Berry, was born. It is possible that his father was Harry Palmer, the landlord of The Half Moon and Star in nearby Cumberland Street. Later that year, Lucy married Francis Sawyer and, the following year, Samuel was christened in St Mary’s Church, Woodbridge.
In 1881, the recently-married couple were living in Kingston Terrace, two doors down from Lucy’s parents; Francis was working as a fitter on the local railway. Ten years later, they were still in the same house, but Francis and Lucy’s family had grown to five; three sons, Samuel, Charles and Frank and two daughters, Edith and Maud. By 1901, Francis had changed jobs and was working at St Audry’s Hospital as a general labourer and the family were now living at 4 Tollgate Cottages Melton. Another three children had also been added to the family: Albert, Minnie and Ellen. Their youngest child, Ernest, was born in 1902.
Lucy Sawyer died in 1923, but Francis continued to live at 4 Tollgate Cottages, along with daughter Minnie. He died in 1944. In 1941, Minnie married Archibald Percy Edwards, a widower living in The Street, Melton. Percy also worked as a mental nurse at St Audry’s. Ellen, another daughter, worked for the family of Herbert William Burness, son of James Burness, at the Old Rectory on Old Church Road. Ellen died in 1996, at the age of ninety-eight. Two of Lucy’s sons, Samuel and Albert, served during the First World War.