#On This Day 20th November

 

Elizabeth Marchant died on this day, 20th November in 1926 in Medway, Kent, England.

She was the daughter of Thomas Marchant (1820-1899) and Elizabeth Tippet (1825-1895), and was born on 3 Jan 1848 in Brightling, Sussex, England. She was baptised in Brightling in 1848. She married Thomas David Relf in Dallington, Sussex, England on 23 Aug 1873. 

Elizabeth Marchant was my 4th cousin 4 times removed; my  5th cousin 3 times removed; my  6th cousin 4 times and my 7th cousin 3 times removed .  

How So?  

Way back in the 1700s just one line of my tree went 4 different ways and it was through these different relationships that I am linked to my great genealogy buddy and a best friend of mine.  She lives within 15 miles of me and so is someone I have met many times for research.

I love that, on two of these relationships, I have a furthest back ancestor of Richard Christmas, born abt 1628.  His son, John, had a daughter Mary Christmas.

When I was a small child I thought my name was Mary Christmas as my middle name is Mary and I kept hearing people say to Merry Christmas to me and I thought they were saying Mary Christmas!!

#On This Day - 26 October 1907

On this day in 1907 my great grandfather, George William Clark, married his second wife, Jessie Blanche Short in Plaistow, Essex, England.  George was a postman living in Stonefield Place, Hastings, Sussex.  Jessie did not have an occupation.

His first wife, Ellen Eldridge, had died two years earlier in September 1905, leaving George with four young children.  Ellen died from diabetes which she had had for 2 years and she was in a coma for her last 36 hours of life.

My mother never said that she was specifically named after this "step" grandmother but it does look like a reasonable probability.

George and Jessie in Hastings

I posted about Ellen here  

#One this Day 15 September 1905

 

        My great grandmother was Ellen Eldridge and she died on this day in 1905.

        She was born on December 6, 1868, in the village of Bodiam, in Sussex, England. Her parents were William Eldridge and Caroline Poile. 

        Ellen was baptized in the local church and lived in the area whilst still a child. Life took a tough turn when her father passed away just a few years later. Despite this, Ellen’s mother, Caroline brought the children up and remarried a few years later.  By the age of 12, Ellen had taken on the role of a domestic servant in nearby Stonegate.  

        As she grew older, she met George William Clark, a postman from Hastings. They married on September 28, 1889 in Salehurst, Sussex.  They were both just 20 years old.  They settled in Hastings, where they built their family of five children: William, Rose, Thomas, George, and Bertram.

        Tragically, Ellen’s life was cut short when she passed away on 15 September in 1905 of diabetes. Her daughter Rose recounted how she had to look after the younger children until her father remarried Jessie Short in 1907. George continued his work as a postman and ensured their family remained together until they married and left home.  He passed away in 1935.

        An earlier blog post with a picture of George and Ellen can be found here

Who were her parents?

 SOPHIA RUMMERY was my 3x great grandmother.  But who were her parents, Joseph Rummery and Hannah Blackford or Richard Rummery and Elizabeth?

There is more than a little confusion as the dates and ages do not really add up between baptism, birth, census, death and burial, nor does the birth location tie up in both instances with the place of baptism!  A tangled web indeed and one to be solved before I can put Sophia's parents in my database.

Her daughter, Eliza Keeley, was my 2x great grandmother and my mother had a photo of her with her husband George Gadd and has recorded that detail on the back of the photo.  Eliza appears with mother Sophia on the 1841 census in Hurst Green, Sussex and it is marked as born in county.  Unfortunately Eliza was born before civil registration.  Later census records say Eliza was born in Hawkhurst.  She married George Gadd in 1857 and she was  24 on the certificate, so born about 1833. It says her father was George Keeley and the witnesses were John and Sarah Keeley which was also the names of two of her many siblings.  

Even though the name Keeley has been recorded as Caley, Kaley, Kealy and Keely on various documents I am happy that Eliza is indeed the daughter of George and Sophia (sometimes recorded as Sophy!!) and a baptism at the end of September in 1833 for Eliza Caley in Hawkhurst, with parents George and Sophy Caley is likely to be the right entry.

So back to Sophia ....Quite a lot of the children shown on the various censuses were born after 1837 and the entries on the GRO gives Sophia's surname as "Rummery" which leads us nicely back to which one!!!

Sophia died 30 June1892 in Burwash and the death certificate says she was 78.  The burial register also says she was 78.  This indicates she was born about 1814.

Her marriage was in 1831 and so before registration and the records do not give her an age or show the name of her father.  There is a Stephen Rummery - could this possibly be an uncle or a sibling?

All census records say she was born in Salehurst and gives her age as: 1891 - 79; 1881 - 66; 1871 - 57; 1861 - 47; 1851 - 38 and the 1841 records her age as 25 but of course that would be rounded to the nearest 5 years.  Did she really know her age when she was asked?

Searching the Salehurst baptism I found  Sophia baptised on 8 September 1816 at 5 weeks old, dau of Joseph and Hannah Rummery.  That doesn't really tie up at all datewise though.  Unfortunately at this time there was a Richard and Elizabeth Rummery (I think that is Elizabeth Hawkins/Hawkings) also having children baptised in Salehurst!!  There was even a baptism for a Sophia Rummery to Richard and Elizabeth in Hawkhurst in 1813.  Are these Richard and Elizabeth families the same ... did they move to Wigsell in the parish of Salehurst and thus Sophia thought she was born there?  This record ties up more datewise and she could well have been confused as to where she was born.

Pondering, pondering ......... and a few extra bits found since first posted this.

Searched for a Stephen Rummery (possible marriage witness) and found a baptism in 1810 in Salehurst, parents Richard and Elizabeth!!

Hawkhurst to Wigsell is only about 6 miles distance.

Joseph Rummery and Hannah Blackford married in 1806 in Salehurst and Richard Rummery and Elizabeth Hawkins married in 1802 in Salehurst.  Witnesses were the same at both weddings.

On the 1841 census there was a Henry Rummery aged 5 years younger than Sophia.  Obviously no relationships are given on this census.  A Henry Rummery was baptised in 1819, parents Richard and Elizabeth Rummery so could well have been a brother.

#On This Day 8 Mar 1840

 My 2x great uncle, Samuel Weston, was baptised in Etchingham Parish Church on 8 March 1840.  He was the eldest son of Samuel Weston and Sarah Newick.  He married Jane Pilbeam on Christmas Day 1863 and had 12 children.  They followed their sons who had emigrated to America and left Liverpool in 1893 , settling in Portsmouth, New Hamphire.  Samuel was a brewery labourer.  The brewery that he worked for was called Frank Jones & Eldridge Brewing Co. The brewery is no longer in business.  He worked in the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard during WW1.  He loved gardening until well into his 90s when failing eyesight caused him to give up.  He died in May 1939 and there were articles about in him local newspapers because of his age.

Samuel Weston and Jane Pilbeam

This photo shows him sitting down as he was rather short and Jane was tall!!

#On This Day 11 Jan 1765

My 4 times great grandmother, Mercy Hyland, was baptised on 11 Jan 1765 in Battle, Sussex.  She was the daughter of John and Mary Hyland (nee Forward).  She had a twin brother Henry.

She married George Kemp on 20 April 1786 in Mountfield, Sussex.  They had 4 girls and 4 boys:  Mary, Sarah, William, Richard, Hannah, George, Henry and Harriot.

In 1841 she is head of household at Beech Cottages, Sedlescombe, a widow, together with William nd Richard.

In 1851 she is living in Seddlescombe as head of house, age 84 and a pauper.  Living with her were her daughter Sarah, also a pauper, William an Ag Lab, Richard also an Ag Lab and a lodger.

She was buried, aged 92, on 8 Feb 1857 in Seddlescombe.