Suzanne Woolner (sdwoolner @t hotmail.com) wrote: I have a book inscribed: "to Patty Wilkinson, a Sunday School prize from the Vicar and Mrs Overton. High Cross Xmas 1907" I guess Mrs Overton was the Sunday School teacher. Can someone give me anymore information on these people just for curiosities sake?

The wording is what I would expect from a vicar and his wife.

As the Vicar was the Rev. Frederick Arnold Overton, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford, who had been in post since 1893 (Kelly's Directory for Hertfordshire, 1908, online) it is reasonable to assume that Mrs Overton was his wife. 

The 1901 census (Ancestry) show Frederick A Overton (38, born Hackness, Yorkshire) as "Vicar & private tutor for the Universities" and his wife Ella G Overton (37, born Torquay, Devon) as an authoress. They were living at High Cross Vicarage, Standon.

The British Library catalogue shows that Ella Edersheim Overton wrote "A Lady Born" (A novel published in 1893 by the Christian Knowledge Society) and "The Schoolmistress of Haven's End" (published in 1900 by the Religious Tract Society).

The 1901 census also shows that at Wadesmill, Standon, William Wilkinson, a 28 year old carpenter, was living with his wife Martha and daughters Elizabeth (3) and Helen (1). Perhaps Patty was a familiar name for Elizabeth?

If you can add to the information given above tell me.