After examining all the records, it has become clear that Mary Mears must have lived a very hard life and had a great struggle to survive and raise her children.  She managed to do this the best way she could and it is a tribute to her that she did so much better than many others around her.  Six of her seven children reached adulthood and had children of their own.  She nursed James through the terrible conditions of prison life and he went on to live almost 77 years.  The earliest known occupation that Mary had was laundress but she may have lost that job after she came out of prison at the age of 26.  Perhaps someone else had taken this work when she was away.  Her next recorded occupation is labourer (agricultural labourer) but she returned to being a laundress when she was about 50.  This is her last known occupation and she seems to have retired from working altogether at the age of about 60.  Towards the end of her life, Mary began to fade both physically and mentally and she eventually died at the age of 82 from senile decay (meaning she was generally worn out) and bronchitis.

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