Ann Scamp, née Jones, 1873–1940
Ann was the second wife of William Scamp, and the mother of the singers Phoebe Smith and Charlie Scamp. She was the source of several of the songs in Phoebe Smith’s repertoire, including ‘Young Ellender’ and ‘Higher Germany’.
In 1921, when the family were camping at Mystole near Chilham, they were listed in the census under their alternative surname of Matthews. Ann was 53 years old, and her birth place was given as Forest Row (between East Grinsted and Crowborough), in Sussex. Her occupation was given as “Licence Hawker”. She and Bill must have married at some point between the death of his first wife Louisa in 1890, and the birth of their first son, Sydney, in 1892 or 1893. Bill died in 1931. In September 1939 the widowed Ann, along with her son Sidney – both still using the Matthews surname – were recorded as being in a caravan at Brook Gardens, Sevenscore, Minster. She died on 3rd September 1940, aged 67 years, and was buried in All Saints Churchyard, Biddenden. Her gravestone has the inscription “Dear Mum I will not forget you Phoebe”.1
- Mary Ann Jones Matthews, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244418813/mary_ann-matthews ↩︎
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