The oldest occupation

Our female ancestors did not have particularly easy lives, they were effectively second class citizens, answerable to their fathers and then their husbands, with little freedom to make their own way in life.

Most women worked hard too.  Unless they belonged to the upper class with lots of servants at their beck and call then they would be kept busy taking care of their children and home without the benefit of modern conveniences.  Many women had employment too; in the towns many worked in millinery, teaching and in retail.  

One occupation which gave women a bit of independence, although at a high price, was prostitution.  As prostitutes women had more choice, they could to some extent choose when and where to work, they control over their income and a freedom from the social restrictions which governed other women.  It was not always an employment option that the women wanted to take but often one they were left with little choice but to take.

It is not easy to identify prostitutes in the census but concentrating on the 1881 census I was able to identify a few with links to Sussex.

Margaret Robinson was resident in Ypres Castle Prison in Rye in 1881, she was 26 years old and had lived in Rye all her life.  Her occupation was recorded as prostitute but this had been crossed out and replaced with ‘no occupation’.  

Fanny Smith was living in Derby Place in Brighton where she worked as a prostitute.  She was born around 1848 in Sussex and is recorded as being married although there is no husband living with her.

Kate Coombs and Frederica Grigson probably never knew each other but in 1881 their lives had brought them to a similar outcome.  Both were born in Brighton in around 1862 and in 1881 both were in prison for prostitution, Kate in Dorchester and Frederica in Westminster.

Two Sussex women were suffering the unpleasant consequences of their occupation; Ann Leggett was born in Petworth in about 1859 whilst Annie Petersfield was born in Brighton in about 1847 but by 1881 both were resident in lock hospitals.  Lock hospitals were hospitals which specialised in venereal disease. Annie was in an Aldershot lock hospital whilst Ann was in one in Paddington.

Sarah Pipman, born in Brighton in around 1859, was living in London in 1881 where she lodged with the Painter family whilst she worked as a prostitute.

Most women did not want to be labelled as prostitutes in the census.  Most of the women above were in circumstances which did not give them control over how they were presented in the census.  Often women would record their occupation as anything but prostitute, seamstress is a common alternative occupation and in many cases the women may have had two jobs, working a regular job and earning a bit extra on the side.

Sometimes it is possible to identify women who probably worked as prostitutes even though they are not listed as doing so in the census.  Carrie Wood says she was born in Brighton in 1831 but by 1881 she is living in Mint Street in Southwark, an area noted by Charles Booth for its prostitutes.  None of the women lodging along with Carrie are listed as prostitutes but of the 23 residents only one is a man and one is a child of 23 days.  The ages of the women vary from 18 years to 64 years and their occupations vary from ironers to seamstresses to laundresses and a variety of other low income jobs.  Carrie and another women are listed as ‘unfortunate’.  The likelihood is that this is either a brothel or a lodging house where the majority of the residents earn their income from prostitution.  It is also likely that few of them gave their real names as there are 2 Browns, 2 Smiths and 6 Jones within the group.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, it is hard to locate these women in other censuses. Margaret Robinson and Ann Leggett can be located in earlier censuses but I have yet to find the other women in the earlier censuses and have found none of them in later censuses nor can I identify any obvious marriages or burials.

Where's my father?

In the Victorian era it became popular for groups to take annual outings to the seaside.  On the 12th July 1906 it was the turn of the tradesman of Orpington and St Marys Cray to take an outing to Brighton. For the first time they decided not to travel by train but to hire a double decker bus with an open top.  It was to prove to be a fatal decision.

   

The journey began well but it was soon clear there were mechanical problems, the driver had to stop on several occasions to wield his spanner. Locals in Horley, Surrey reported seeing the omnibus make its way through the town noticeably  top heavy (with many of the passengers taking advantage of the open top, many of them standing). 

As the bus approached Handcross Hill they were travelling about 12 miles an hour (the national speed limit was 14 miles an hour) but they picked up speed as they began down the hill getting up to an estimated 30 or 40 miles.  The bus wasn't designed to cope with the speed and by the time the driver tried to use the brakes it was too late, they failed with a loud bang leaving a variety of mechanical parts lying in the road behind them.  The badly shaken driver tried the handbrake without effect so he threw the gears into reverse, the only option left to him.  There was a further bang as many of the remaining mechanical parts fell out and the driver lost all all control of the bus.  The driver, Henry Blake, tried to keep the bus on the road but it hit a large oak tree, a branch of which tore off the top half of the bus, the rest of the bus continued until it came to rest hanging off the side of the hill.

Red Lion, Handcross

The Red Lion in Handcross multi-functioned over the next few days; it became a temporary hospital for the injured, it became a morgue for the dead and it provided a room for the inquest which began just two days later.  The tenth and final victim dying in a room next door just as the inquest began.

The inquest eventually decided on a verdict of accidental death "caused by the breakage of the machinery brought on by the efforts of the driver the check the speed of the  omnibus when he found that it was going to fast".  There was some concern that the driver had had two beers during the journey and that the bus company were in the habit of encouraging speed down the hills to give momentum on the other side but it was decided no one was criminally responsible however they recommended that this type of omnibus was not suitable for country roads.

The ten men who died were Thomas Francis, a 49 year old master baker, who died of a fractured skull.  He was an Orpington man born and bred who left a wife Sarah Jemima (nee Brice) and seven children aged between 29 years and 8 years.  Sarah continued the bakery shop with the help of her older children.

Arthur Savage was another baker, from the neighbouring village of St Mary Cray.  He was 42 years old when he was killed by shock and a broken back leaving behind his pregnant wife Bessie (nee Ashley) who was expecting their ninth child.

9 of the 10 victims
(the 10th is on the previous page)

Edward Packham, a basket maker, died from shock and a fractured skull aged 39 years leaving his wife Lavinia (nee Trist) to bring up their two young daughters Lilian and Ivy.  His wife supported her family by working as a library caretaker, a job which came with accommodation   Lavinia remarried in 1915 and died in 1967 at the age of 96 years.

The Epsom family of St Mary Cray had not had an easy time even before the accident; Solomon Epsom, a grocer, and his wife Catherine (nee Regan)  had married in 1878 and had four children but their youngest daughter died in 1894 aged 9, their son in 1900 aged 16, Catherine died in 1902 and then their two surviving children lost their remaining parent when Solomon died as a result of a broken back.

Herbert Baker was a clothier in St Mary Cray where he lived with his wife Alice Maud (nee Tier) and their young family, their youngest child was born just weeks before Herbert was killed.  The impact tore his leg off and it landed in the oak tree where it alarmed rescuers.  He survived the initial impact but he died shortly afterwards at the Red Lion. 

32 year old John French who ran the Anglesea Arms in Orpington, left a wife Ellen (nee Driscoll) and a young son Jack.  Ellen remarried in 1911 - to John's younger brother William, landlord of the Castle Hotel in Tonbridge.

Alice, wife of William Vann, was pregnant at the time of the accident and it was feared that the shock and anxiety would cause her to lose the baby but Laurence was born a few months after his father died.  William had been a draper and ran a busy business in St Mary Cray which his wife continued after his death.

The youngest to die was Henry Burch who was just 26 years old.  He died instantly when he was thrown from the top level into the tree where his body was caught in the branches and was left hanging.  His body had to be identified by his father.

Ironically one of the dead was the undertaker, Henry Hutchings who was 42 years old and travelling with his 13 year old son William.  The first to the scene of the accident found William wandering around calling for his father.  Both of them had been travelling on the top of the bus but William had jumped out prior to the crash and was almost unhurt but later recounted how his father had remained sitting upright in his seat as the bus hurtled towards the oak tree.  Following his death his wife Bertha (nee Meade) worked as an elementary school teacher in St Mary Cray.  She never remarried.

William Bailey was the last to die.  The 54 year old school master survived the crash and was taken to the Red Lion with a compound fracture of his right leg and fractured ribs which had punctured his lungs.  He was kept alive with oxygen but died two days later just after the inquest into the accident began.

It was also reported in a few newspapers that the conductor Frank Ewans had also died in the accident.  He had been badly injured leading to his transfer to Brighton hospital for trepanning to relieve the swelling of his brain.  He did however survive and continued to work as a bus conductor until he died in 1931 aged 66 years.

For contemporary photos see the Gravelroots website.

The Great Escape of 1651

Most of us do not expect to find ourselves unexpectedly playing a role of national importance but that is the situation that Nicholas Tettersell found himself in.

Tettersell lived in the small fishing village of Brigthelmstone in Sussex and was the captain of the coal brig 'Surprise'. In 1651 he was asked to help two men who were escaping the country after a duel, after agreeing a fee Tettersell arranged to take the two men to Fecamp in France. However when the men arrived Tettersell recognised one of them as Charles II, recently defeated at the battle of Worcester and with a price on his head much higher than the fee he had agreed. But Tettersell didn't hand the king to the authorities, although he did negotiate a higher price for the trip before he took the king to France safely.

After the Civil War and Commonwealth period Charles returned to England to be welcomed as king. Feeling he had played a significant role in the kings survival Tettersell took his ship which he renamed the 'Royal Escape' and sailed down the Thames to remind Charles that he had had a part in making sure Charles had lived long enough to be restored to the throne. Charles acknowledged his role, he made the Royal Escape part of the Navy as well as giving Tettersell a £100 a year pension and all the kudos he thought he was worth.

Tettersell returned to Brighton where he is also remembered for his role as High Constable (he enjoyed persecuting non conformists especially the Quakers) and for his purchase of the Old Ship Hotel which boasts it "was closely linked with the escape of Charles II in 1651".

Tettersell died in 1674 and is buried in a tomb in the graveyard at St Nicholas in Brighton along with his wife Susanna (nee Cooke, married 1638), his son and his grandson - both also named Nicholas Tettersell.

The Tettersell tomb at St Nicholas, Brighton (to the left of the red door)

His role in saving the monarchy has not been forgotten;  Brighton and Hove buses have had a bus named Nicholas Tettersell since 1999 and there is an annual yacht race between Brighton and Fecamp known as the Royal Escape.  And just in case anyone forgets what Nicholas Tettersell did...all they need to do is read the inscription on his tomb:

When Charles ye Greate was nothing but a breath
This valiant soule stept betweene him & death.
Usurpers threats nor tyrant rebells frowne
Could not afright his duty to the Crowne;
Which glorious act of his Church state,
Eight princes in one day did Gratulate
Professing all to him in debt to bee
As all the world are to his memory
Since Earth Could not Reward his worth have given,
Hee now receives it from the King of heaven

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long Legs, or as it was properly known Pioneer, was the oddest pier ever to have existed.  It was built as an extension to the electric railway which ran along the Brighton coast from the Aquarium to the Chain Pier; it was difficult to  continue the line along the coast so Magnus Volk, the designer, decided to run it though the sea.  So in November 1896 it became possible to board the Pioneer at Paston Place and travel along a railway line through the sea to a pier at Rottingdean.
Pioneer sat on 24ft pier-like legs, could carry a maximum of 150 people at a time but travelled at just 8 mph when the weather was good meaning it took an hour and a half to travel to Rottingdean and back.  It was a effectively a slow moving section of pier.

The line was plagued with problems - just a week after it opened Pioneer and the pier at Paston Place were badly damaged in the same storm which destroyed the Chain Pier, the service did not restart until July the following year.  The rebuilt Pioneer was now 26ft high but  breakdowns were frequent and it could not operate in bad weather.  Not only was it expensive to build and maintain it was also expensive to ride costing 6d each way so it was only our better off ancestors who could afford to take a ride on it.  Despite that the crowds came to try out this unique and unusual method of travel.
In 1900 the service was suspended whilst work was undertaken to prevent further erosion of the cliffs but the new groynes extended out beyond the route of the railway so the line was closed.  There were plans for a new route further out but the cost was prohibitive and instead the inshore railway was extended to Black Rock.

Volks railway is the oldest electric railway and it is still in operation during the summer months.  For more details see the website.
For more information on the railway line and Daddy Long Legs see the Volks Electric Railway Association website.

A Halloween tale

With Halloween fast approaching the time seems right for a spooky tale.

Lewes Castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest by William de Warenne, it is associated with many ghost stories and this is one of the best known.

Many many years ago, probably during the Norman period, the lord of Pevensey Castle took an army to attack the Earl of Warenne at Lewes Castle; the two armies met at Mount Caburn just outside of Lewes where battle began.  But watching from the castle at Lewes was the wife of the Earl of Warenne who was holding their new born baby.  It seemed as if the lord of Pevensey was going to take honours and with his sword raised he moved in for the kill but the Lady de Warenne loved her husband and she prayed to St Nicholas, who protected those in danger, and promised that their son would not marry until he had been to Byzantium and offered up treasure to the tomb of St Mary.  St Nicholas obviously liked this plan and intervened in the battle, Lord Pevensey lost his balance, his sword missed de Warenne and without a wife to offer up their own child on his behalf he was killed and the battle was over.

Lewes castle today

Life went on, each year the de Warenne's celebrated their win over Lord Pevensey and the young baby grew up to be a fine young man.  As young men tend to, he fell in love and was soon going to marry the Lady Edona.  The  two  were dancing at the anniversary of the battle when suddenly, an icy wind swept through the hall and the room was plunged into dark as the candles and lamps were extinguished.  Now the room was lit by images of the battle which were played onto the walls and just as Lord Pevensey again went to strike Earl de Warenne everything was suddenly silent and quiet.

The de Warennes took this as an omen and soon their son found himself on a ship to Byzantium.  One year later, on the 17th May, his ship was spotted off the coast of Worthing and the de Warenne family along with the Lady Edona rushed to meet the returning hero.  They gathered along the coast near the church of St Nicholas in Brighhelmstone singing songs of joy as the ship grew closer.  Suddenly the ship hit rocks near Shoreham and sank almost instantly, it was too much for Lady Edona who dropped dead on the spot.  The Earl of Warenne had a new church built for St Nicholas on the same place were they had stood and Lady Edona was buried when she had fallen.

On the 17th May each year it is said if you stand on the hill next to the church of St Nicholas you too can watch the doomed ship trying to make its way home.

Of course given the change in the coast line and modern commercial development you'll have little chance of seeing anything but doomed shops sinking without a trace in the recession!

Marriage and our ancestors

How old were they when they married?

The average age for marriage nowadays is 36 years for men and 33 years for women, a figure which includes first and subsequent marriages.  Most couples marry now for the first time between their 25th and 29th birthday. 

We tend to think that our ancestors married at a younger age than us but how much younger were they?

Peter Laslett's study of marriage licences applied for at Canterbury for couples marrying for the first time between 1619 and 1660 found that the average age for grooms was 26 years and for brides was 23 years, although when he limited the marriage licences to those of the gentry he found the age dropped to 24 years for grooms and 19 years for the brides.  He did find the occasional marriages with particularly young brides including one 13 year old and four 15 year olds.

I did a similar study of marriage licences issued at the Archdeaconry of Lewes between 1772 and 1837 (based on 250 marriage licences), and found that the average age for marriages at this time was 25 years for men and 23 years for women.

 There are some limitations to using marriage licences to determine the average age for marriage.  Marrying by licence was more expensive than marrying by banns so it tended be the gentry, those who aspired to better status and those who needed to marry quickly who used marriage licences.  The wording on the marriage licence says "aged x years and upwards"  we are only given their youngest possible age and given the increasing number of couples who married in the 1830s where both were 21 years and upwards it is unlikely that they were all 21 years old when they married. 

George Battcock and Mary Patterson Paine married on the 25th March 1813 in Brighton and according to their licence both were 21 years old and upwards.  George was baptised in Storrington on the 19th October 1784 so he was actually 29 years old when he married Mary whilst she was baptised in Brighton on the 10th May 1787 which meant she was 26 years old.

Richard Bannister married Ann Roots on the 2nd April 1778 in Framfield and again their marriage licence gives both their ages as 21 years and upwards. Based on their age when they died they were born in 1739 and 1745 so they were actually 39 years and 33 years old when they married.

It seems more likely that the age given is more accurate when the couple were younger than 21 years.  Anyone marrying under the age of 21 years needed parental (or other responsible adult) permission and their details should be included on the licence.    John Avis married Ann Ovenden on the 17th November 1776 in Withyham, according to their marriage licence they were "20 years or thereabouts" but they were actually about 16 and 15 years old.  The minimum age for marriages since 1753 had been 14 years for men and 12 years for women but it was unusual for couples to marry that young.  John and Ann's daughter was baptised the month after their marriage so it would seem that they 'had' to get married.

William Bean married Ann Farncomb on the 1st October 1778 in Wivelsfield when they were 19 years and 28 years old, the marriage licence gave their ages as 19 years (William had the permission of his father, William) and Ann's as 25 years plus.

The 17th century average age of marriage is 26 years for grooms and 23 for brides whilst I found the average in the late 18th/early 19th century to be the same.  Looking at specific examples I found they were generally older than the age given in the marriage licence which would raise the average age for the latter period.  Rather than being much younger when they married it seems that in most cases couples married at a similar age as we do today.

Sources

The World we have Lost Further Explored Laslett, Peter   Routledge 1983

Sussex Record Society Volume 25 Marriage Licences at Lewes 1772-1837 A-L

Work and working class women

According to the 1881 census only 42% of women worked, but that doesn't mean that the other 58% were sitting around with their feet up.  It simply reflects that women's employment was seen as unimportant and negligible.  This is because it was often seasonal, part time, poorly paid or a support role for their father or husbands own work.

Many women worked in a domestic environment, taking care of their own home or other peoples.  Elizabeth Burtenshaw was typical, she was born in 1866 in Albourne to John Burtenshaw, an agricultural labourer but by the age of 15 years she was working as a servant for Simeon Gumbrill.  For blacksmith Simeon employing a servant was a step towards middle class status. 

Many women in Sussex would have worked on the land, taking care of their own vegetable patch, working alongside their husbands or fathers or as seasonal help.  Ruth Gutsell worked as dairy maid in Upper Dicker (Arlington) before she married but whilst the 1871 census entry suggests she is no longer working it is highly likely that she is still working. 

The industrial revolution gave women a new work opportunity.  Sussex was not at the heart of industrial growth but it was not unaffected.  There were many new developing industries along with pre-existing industries.  Women of all ages could work in a factory and it was a work opportunity that was available to many married women as well as single women.  The paper factory in Stedham employed many local women including Ann Burns, a 35 year old widow and Jane Simmonds was still working there at the age of 65 years.

Outwork was another employment option for married women, working from home could be fitted in around caring for their children.   Outwork was considered socially acceptable for women; factory work gave women an independence that worried society, farm work was too coarse and domestic work took women until other people's houses making them possible prey to immoral employers.  Many women working as dressmakers and milliners would have been working at home such as 14 year old Elizabeth Deeks in Brighton and 73 year old Ann Longhurst of Angmering.

There were many other jobs women undertook, many without the recognition that they were working.  A search of the census shows many families taking in lodgers to supplement the family income and it was the women who took care of the extra work involved.  Maria Collis of Westhampnett earned an income as a charwomen and rented a room to a lodger whilst the five daughters of Richard Geere, a builder in Brighton, all earned an income as teachers.  Some women would have earned a less than salubrious income from prostitution, it is estimated that 7% of the population of Victorian London were prostitutes (possibly as much as 15% of the female population).  Whilst prostitute was generally listed in the census under occupation there might be clues to the real occupation of such women as Alex Kingston found out on a recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Some women broke the mould, taken on what was usually seen as men's work.  Sarah and Elizabeth Ray followed their father Daniel into the family silversmithing business in Battle whilst Caroline Burkenshaw worked as a carrier in West Itchenor.

It is reasonable to think, regardless of whether the census showed an occupation or not, that our working class female ancestors were hard workers and they contributed to the family income.

The value of the vestry

Parish records are much more than baptism, marriage and burial registers.  Up until the mid 19th century the parish was responsible for the organisation, administration and care of the parish and its parishioners - the result of this was a lot of paperwork, some of which (where it has survived) is very valuable to the genealogist.

One example of documents which can provide all sorts of useful information are the vestry minutes.  Those involved in running the parish were known as the vestry because traditionally they met in the vestry room of the church.  Here they would appoint the officials needed to run the parish such as the overseers, the surveyor and the constable.  Many of these roles were undertaken on a rotational basis for a year.

For vestry minutes to be useful they have to have survived, a search of a selection of Sussex parishes finds that the parishes of Polegate, Etchingham and Southease have no surviving vestry records whilst those for Heathfield only survive from 1820, those for St Mary in the Castle, Hastings (known as Castle parish) survive for the period 1753 through to 1908 whilst those for St Nicholas Brighton survive as early as 1683 through to 1856.

In addition to surviving they also have to contain useful information for genealogists.  The vestry records for the Castle parish in Hastings between 1774 and 1794 only record the accounts submitted by the overseers but later records for the period 1823 to 1851 provide far more detailed information.  The records for Brighton between 1789-1799 include the decisions made at each meeting but don't list all the applications which were turned down.  The vestry book for West Grinstead 1833 to 1842 is a record of the myriad of applications for relief.

In a time before  pensions and the NHS each parish took care of its elderly population:

Mrs Gallop the wife of William applies for some more relief, her husband being incapable of doing anything being imbecile.  Ordered that she be allowed 7s 6d per week.  [1st December 1825 - Hastings]

old George Laker wants Relief Ill Lost 11 Days [work - given]  6 shillings  [15th October 1833 - West Grinstead] 

The vestry also provided healthcare (such as it was):

Ordered that Application be immediately made to get Lucy Ovett into St Lukes or Bedlam   [27th Mar 1793 - Brighton]

Ordered that Mrs Brand be paid fourteen Shillings for nursing the man that dyed at Mr Hobdens   [16th May 1796 - Brighton]

Reuben Eason applied for a nurse for his wife.  Allowed   [14th April 1825 - Hastings]

Edward Dinage wants Relief has had the Misfortune to be run over with A very heavy Load of Coals, near Billingshurst Street, has not been Able to do any Work since, Doctor Evershed attends him   [20th August 1833 - West Grinstead]

The wife of George Ransom Tailor applies for a nurse to be allowed her in her approaching confinement and also a pair of Blankets.  Allowed  [2nd Oct 1833 - Hastings]

The vestry might help to find work for those in need of employment, this benefited the parish as people were less likely to need help from the vestry if they were working:

At this Parish Mr Benjamin Lingham agrees to take James Hook and Charles Chapman two poor Boys for the year ensuring upon the parish finding them in Clothes   [29th March 1824 - Hastings]

Ordered that Thomas Wellsted a poor Boy of this Parish be put apprentice to Mr John Russell of the Parish of Saint Clement in this Town, Baker  [14th April 1825 - Hastings]

John Gates has got A place [job] for his Girl at Brighton wants the Parish to give her som Clothes, Sarah Gates Age 14    [1st October 1833 - West Grinstead]

Much of the work of the parish would be taken up with care of the poor, often supplementing their income in times of need  or finding ways to move them elsewhere:

Ordered that Jane Brand (wife of Richard Brand now serving in the Sussex Militia for the Parish of Saint Michaels Lewes) be allowed one Pair of Sheets one Blanket and one Rug   [23rd Oct 1797 - Brighton]

Ordered that Mr James Pounse be requested to enquire what will be the expense of repairing James Shrivells Boat    [12th Feb 1798  - Brighton, presumably if his boat is repaired James Shrivell will be able to support himself again]

John King of Rye applies for relief [–] ordered to be allowed two Shillings a week for himself and his wife   [16th June 1831 - Hastings]

Ordered that provided James Holt is willing to go to America with his wife and child he shall be allowed the sum of £7 and that their passage and victualling on board shall be paid by the parish and a decent suit of clothes shall be provided for himself and wife.  [28th March 1833 - Hastings]

The administration of the poor law was considerable, especially when the person living in the parish belonged to another parish and vice versa:

Ordered that the Parish Officers of Godstone be wrote to concerning Pullens Daughter now with child  [30th Jan 1793 - Brighton]

Ordered that the Parish Officers of Clapham near Arundell Sussex be written to and acquainted that Mrs Wiseman has become chargeable and desire their Answer what Steps the Officers should persue as they are under Certificate    [13th June 1796 -  Brighton]

Edward Gallop now living at Newhaven applies for assistance to bring his family home to Hastings.  Ordered that it be left to the Overseers to manage as they can with him   [28th March 1827 - Hastings]

Eliza Smith [living in] Brighton wants Som Clothes Age 16   [1st April 1834 - West Grinstead]

Bastardy was a big issue, illegitimate children and their mothers often became the responsibility of the parish so the vestry were keen to offset the costs by identifying the father.  Parents who ran off and left their children were not popular either:

Ordered that William Warburton Newman be advertized for running away and leaving his wife and Children chargeable  [20th Mar 1797 bri]

Ordered that the overseers shall take such course as they may consider most adviseable to apprehend James Stilwell for bastardy with Ann Kemp  [23rd May 1832 - Hastings]

But of course the vestry was not always helpful to its residents:

Sarah Shoesmith a little Girl 12 years old applied for some Clothes.  Not allowed    [4th August 1825 - Hastings]

John Gates wants Work [to which the response was] Go in the [work]House    [13th October 1833 - West Grinstead]

Sources

East Sussex Record Office: Brighton St Nicholas HOW 34/17 Minutes of Vestries 1789-1799

East Sussex Record Office: Hastings St Mary in the Castle PAR369 12/2 Vestry notes 1774-1794

East Sussex Record Office: Hastings St Mary in the Castle PAR369 12/3 Vestry notes 1823-1851

West Sussex Record Office: West Grinstead PAR95 12/1 Vestry minute book 1833-1842

Who Do You Think You Are?

The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? started this week with Samantha Womack nee Janus, who is well known for her recent role in Eastenders.

Samantha Zoe Janus was born in Brighton in 1972, the only child of Noel Robert Janus and Diane O'Hanlon.  Her parents relationship broke down when she was about six years old and her parents separated, Samantha moving away with her mother.

Samantha's father remained in Sussex and according to newspaper reports had a difficult relationship with his daughter.  Noel Janus was born in 1949 in Kensington, the son of  Robert William Bough Janes and Doris Cunningham Ryan and he was half brother of Angie Best (wife of George Best).  He continued to live in Brighton but suffering from depression, he committed suicide in 2009.

Noel's mother and Samantha's grandmother Doris still lives in Brighton but this line of the family were newcomers to Sussex and tracing her father's ancestry back you soon find yourself in Scotland, France and Dublin.

The episode was the usual well put together programme but as always it skipped over anything that was inconclusive, too complicated or unknown.

One thing that this episode did show was how names can vary, causing so many problems for researchers.  You don't have to go far back in Samantha's family history to find name complications - her birth was registered as Samantha Zoe Janus, daughter of Noel Janus but Noel's birth was registered as Noel Robert Janes.  Presumably Noel amended his surname to make it more distinctive

Noel Robert Janes aka Janus

(he was a singer songwriter).  Then there is Samantha's great grandmother who was known to the family as Beatrice Ryan nee Garraud - Gerraud is an unusual surname which has advantages but being unusual it is more likely to be misspelt.  No birth record can be found for Beatrice Gerraud, not because the surname was misspelt,  but because, as the programme shows, she was originally named Berthe Marie Garraud.  Her father was French which explains the choice of name, possibly it was Anglicized (as was her father's name from Pierre to Peter) or the orphanage may have felt Beatrice was a more 'suitable' name.  Later when Beatrice went to America with her mother she was recorded as Beatrice Finkle; her mother's new surname, so any searches for Beatrice have to take into account her different forenames and changing surnames.

As mentioned above the programme does gloss over some details which would stop the story flowing so smoothly.  We are told how Anthony and Beatrice were found in the 1901 census to be living in orphanages, an assumption was made that their mother Jessie had abandoned the children to go to America after her husband's death but of course she could have gone to America leaving them in the care of her husband who may have then died after she left.  That is, if he died at all.  I can't trace a record of his death even taking in to account the various versions of his name.  As there was no mention of when he died in the programme I doubt WDYTYA? found it either.

A bigger niggle is the relationship of Beatrice Garraud to Alexander Cunningham Ryan - WDYTYA? referred to Beatrice as the partner of Alexander and it is quite likely that they never married although this was never mentioned.  Alexander Ryan's attestation papers in 1914 shows his wife was Beatrice Winifred Pickford, they had married in 1908 in Plymouth.  This Beatrice was ignored by the programme

Alexander Ryan's unexplained wife

so we have no idea what happened to her.  There is an interesting family trend here - Samantha's parents were not married, her paternal grandparents were not married and it seems that her maternal great grandparents were not married either.  Unlike many modern families which break with tradition by not getting married, Samantha Janus broke family tradition when she did get married.

Sources

BBC Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast 16th August 2012 

GRO Birth Index - www.freebmd.org.uk

Wikipedia -  wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Womack

Daily Mail - 25th August 2009

Argus - 7th September 2009

www.ancestry.co.uk

1840 US Federal Census

There has been a lot of publicity for the 1940 American Federal census which has just been made available (although not yet completely indexed) so I took a look to find someone who began their life in Sussex but had moved to America by 1940.

Charles John Coley married Sarah Ann Walder on the 23^rd February 1879 in Brighton.  Quite how Charles earned his income is not clear as he is variously recorded as a huckster, engineer, sailor and steam yacht engine driver!  Charles and Sarah had a number of children including Amelia Hannah, Phillip Andrew, Attree John, Elsie Adelaide, Florence Minnie, Albert Kemp and Percy Maurice. 

We are interested in Elsie; she was baptised in Chailey (as Alsie Adeline) on the 31^st August 1884 and by the time she 18 years old she was working as a housemaid at the Belvedere Hotel in Brighton which is probably how she met her husband.  On the 31^st December 1908 Elsie married Theodor Nierhoff who was originally from Bochum in Germany and was now working as a waiter in England.  Their only child Edward Kemp Nierhoff was born on the 21^st September 1909  in Southwark, London.

Being German and living in England at the time of the First World War would not have been easy so Theodore and Elsie left for America with their young son.  

I haven't traced Edward in the 1940 census yet but the 1930 census finds him with his parents in New York and working as a draughtsman.

By the time of the 1940 census Theodore and Elsie are living at 2213 East 18^th Street in New York and next door to them is Elsie's sister Florence who is married to Robert Norman.  Theodor is still working as a waiter whilst Moving to America appears to have been a good move for Elsie and Theodor, they retired  to Clackamas in Oregon where  Elsie lived to be 84 years (she died on the 22nd June 1970) and Theodor was 87 years old when he died on the 29th January 1972.