Who was Eliza?

From historical records we know that Eliza was one of six children born to George and Mary Ann Cox. She was born on April 21^st 1821  and baptised in June of that year at St Leonards Shoreditch, London. Eliza’s mother died whilst she was a child. Eliza grew up in a comfortable ‘middling’ class of family in The City of London(widely referred to simply as the City being differentiated from the phrase ‘the city of London’ by capitalising City. It is also colloquially known as the Square Mile).
The City is a historic financial district, home to both the Stock Exchange and the Bank of England. The legal profession forms a major component of the City, especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located. Eliza’s father was a gentleman and one of the attorneys of his Majesty’s Courts of the Queen’s Bench (known as the King's Bench when there is a male Sovereign), Common Pleas and Exchequer at Westminster and a solicitor of the High Court of Chancery. Many of his cases are recorded in the London Gazette and Legal  Journal. Her father is recorded as practising law at Bush Lane in 1835  and in the 1841 census return at 14 Sise Lane (which is an abbreviation of the St Osyth).
In 1835 the 23 year old William  James Walrond was articled to George Cox. William was a gentleman who was granted the Freedom of the City of London on August 5^th 1840. The Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. In England, the most established borough freedom is that conferred by the Freedom of the City of London, first recorded in 1237. The Freedom of the City of London was, in the earliest times, an essential requirement for all who wished to carry on business and prosper in trade within the Square Mile. As a result, the privileges attaching to the Freedom were eagerly sought, while the duties and obligations of freemen were faithfully observed. The Freedom of the City has never been the prerogative of men alone. Ancient reports from Livery companies bear reference to 'Sisters', a fact which indicates that men and women were equally eligible for membership.
The prospective Freeman is invited to read aloud the ‘Declaration of a Freeman’, summoned to sign the Freeman’s Declaration Book, and then welcomed as a ‘Citizen of London’. Each newly admitted Freeman of the City of London is then presented with a beautifully inscribed parchment copy of their Freedom, together with a copy of a little archaic book entitled the ‘Rules for the Conduct of Life’ a guide to conducting their lives
in an honourable fashion. From the Middle Ages to the Victorian era, Freemen of the City of London enjoyed a number of inherent privileges denied to other city residents.
Freemen had the right to trade and carry-on a profession, to own land and earn money in their own right; they could play some part in determining how the City would be governed; they could take sheep to market across London Bridge without having to pay the mandatory bridge toll, and sell their livestock, produce and goods wholesale. A Freeman could also carry an unsheathed sword in public, and if found drunk and disorderly in the City he would be taken home by the Police rather than being arrested and thrown into the cells. If found guilty of a capital crime a Freeman was extended the luxury of being hung by a silken rope.
Eliza fell in love with William and on April 4^th 1844 at St Stephen Walbrook, they were married. The following year they were recorded as living at 13½ Sise Lane where William practised law. They had two children, Mary born in 1846 and Robert born in 1847. William died in the latter part of 1848 leaving Eliza a widow at only 27 years of age. Eliza never remarried.
Eliza Bell Walrond is recorded in the 1851 and 1861 census returns as being a land proprietress but in the 1871 census return she is no longer recorded as such but her son now having reached his majority and  aged 24 is recorded as being a land proprietor. Eliza still seems to have been in ample funds as she employed a cook and 2 housemaids. In later censuses she is listed as an annuitant. William left Eliza well provided for.
Her household in 1871 was a large one. On the day of the census some 11 people were in residence at Chestnut Cottage in Mortlake. Her brother an attorney, also named George Cox, had passed away and his 2 daughters Bessie and Celia, and son Frederick were being raised by Eliza. Eliza cannot be found on the 1891 census but on the 1901 census she is living with Celia in her daughter Mary’s marital home. Eliza died on January 11^th, 1904 in her 83^rd year. After her death Celia continued to live with Mary, never marrying.
Eliza’s daughter Mary had married Henry Trengrouse, a wealthy provision merchant. Henry was named after his grandfather. Henry Trengrouse senior was the inventor of the rocket line apparatus that fired a rope to stricken ships on the rocks, and enabled the crew to be taken off.
Henry Trengrouse was born in 1772 in Cornwall. He was a cabinet maker when he stood helplessly on the beach at Loe bar near Porthleven on 19 December 1807 when the frigate H.M.S. Anson, a 44 gun warship, was driven onto the coast. 120 men drowned because they could not get across the short distance from the wreck to the shore because of the boiling surf.
People on the shore could not throw a line out to the ship against the force of the gale. Later when watching a firework display on Helston Green to celebrate George III's birthday, Henry Trengrouse decided that a rocket-powered line might be the answer. His thought was that if lightweight rockets were put on ships, then grounded ships could help themselves. The rockets accelerated gradually, so the line would not snap. In an on-shore gale, the most likely scenario with a grounded ship, the rocket would be carried by the wind to the shore which was an easy target to hit.
His invention was ignored by the British Government, but the Russian ambassador invited Trengrouse to St. Petersburg to develop the invention. He apparently declined out of British patriotism. The Society of Arts awarded Trengrouse their Silver Medal and thirty guineas. Eventually the government ordered twenty of Trengrouse's 'Rocket Life Saving Apparatus', examined them, decided to manufacture it themselves, and gave Trengrouse the derisory sum of £50 in compensation.
During the 1800s a rival idea, the mortar which was fired from shore to ship, was more popular. However, it is Henry Trengrouse’s rocket that has stood the test of time. Lightweight versions are still carried on lifeboats today and must have saved thousands of lives.