Gideon Baker (b. 1854 in South Petherton, Somerset), son of John Baker and Jane White, married Susan Rhoda Bussey (b. 1857), listed as Susan Aurora Bussey on the marriage record, daughter of James Wilmot Bussey and Ellen Jane Munday, at the second church of St Mary's Church, Portsea in 1876.
In 1881, Gideon Baker (25) was a Refreshment House Keeper at 37, North Street, Portsea, with Susan Baker (23), Richard Bussey (17) Brother-in-law, Butcher; Caroline Bussey (31) Sister-in-law, Housekeeper; William Shotter (5) Nephew (son of Susan's sister Hannah Jane); Thomas Beckford (30) Dockyard labourer, Visitor from Devonport, Devon and three Seamen, Boarders: George Matthews (21), John James (23) and William Madgarrick (25), so presumably were also running this as a boarding house.
Twenty years earlier, in 1861, Gideon's father, John Baker, who had come to Portsmouth between 1854 and 1861, was also a Refreshment House Keeper in North Street, Portsea, so we can presume he is carrying on this business.
"Towards the end of the 19th century the temperance movement [a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages] gave rise to a lot of establishments which didn't sell alcohol and were known as tea rooms or refreshment houses. They weren't the old coffee houses, more like modern tea shops." [Source]
Moderation or abstinence didn't help, however, as Gideon Baker died, aged 34, on 22 Mar 1889 and was buried at Kingston Cemetery, Portsmouth.
By the time Probate was granted on 10 Dec 1890, Susan Aurora Baker had already remarried to William James Leese, son of John Leese and Caroline Bussey, who was her first cousin. (William James Leese' mother, Caroline Bussey, was the sister of Susan Rhoda's father, James Wilmot Bussey.)
Neither of these marriages produced any natural children, however.
In 1891, William James Leese (31) and Susan A Leese (33) (William, 12 years younger than his wife, made himself 10 years older) were living in London Avenue, Portsmouth with Jane Hayward (21) Boarder from Sussex. William James Leese' occupation was listed as Dockyard Writer. His appointment as a Dockyard Boy Writer had been announced in The London Gazette in 1884 and, in the same periodical in 1895, his elevation to 'First Class Writer in the Expense Accounts Department of Her Majesty's Naval Yards'. In 1919, 'Assistant Expense Accounts Officer in H.M. Naval Establishments'.
In 1901, William J Leese (31) Clerk Civil Service and wife Susan R Leese (39) - she was 43 - were living in Gladys Terrace, Gladys Avenue, Portsmouth.
In 1911, there was a record of a William J Leese in Gibraltar.
In 1921, William Leese (51) Civil Servant (Clerk) for the Admiralty, from Newhaven, Sussex, was at 25, Trafford Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey with Susan Leese (63) and Winifred Dugan (21) Adopted Daughter.
Susan Rhoda Leese died, aged 65, on 9 Jul 1922 S Quarter in CROYDON Volume 02A Page 269. Probate was granted to William James Leese.
In 1939, William James Leese (b. 7 Oct 1869), Civil Servant (Retired), Widowed, was listed at 1 Lavant Cottages, Hurgas Hall, Lurgashall, West Sussex, living in the household of Winifred May French (b. 25 Dec 1899) and her two children. Winifred May Dugan of 25, Trafford Road, daughter of William Duggan, Builder (her biological father), had married Stanley French, Draper, on 14 Jun 1923, at Christ Church, Croydon. William J Leese had been one of the witnesses at this marriage of his adopted daughter.
William James Leese died, aged 83, in 1953 S Quarter in CROYDON.
