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Sarah Elizabeth Gayleard 1845-1909 |
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william henry Gayleard
George Holmes
John Charles S Haines
Photograph supplied courtesy of Mrs P Flowers |
Sarah & John
Haines photographed with their daughter in law, |
Sarah Elizabeth Gayleard was born on 31st March 1845, at 6 Union Court, Portsea, Hampshire. She was the eldest child of Amelia Rebecca Savers. Her father, Henry Gayleard was a Mariner and we know little about him, though it is believed he and Amelia were not married. Henry was however, a witness to the marriage, in February 1845, of Amelia’s sister Mary Ann, to Robert Read. So from this we know he had close contact with the family.
In 1851, Sarah is recorded as living with her mother, sister Rosina, and brother Henry, in Nicholls Court, Portsea. Her mother, still thought to be unmarried, was supporting her young family as a needlewoman.
Portsea in the 1800’s was a very crowded, impoverished naval town. Living conditions were harsh, with poor sanitation, and houses crammed into a maze of dark, narrow alleyways. Disease was rife, and the mortality rate very high. In 1855 Amelia contracted TB; she died in August that year, aged 30. Her two youngest children, Rosina and Henry, were taken into the care of their Aunt, Mary Ann Read. Sarah, who was aged 10, is believed to have been placed in service. |
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We know little about this period of Sarah’s life, but it seems probable that she remained in the Portsmouth area. In November 1860, aged 15, she gave birth to an illegitimate son, William Henry Gayleard, at 1 Montague's Yard, Landport, a district of the Portsmouth/Southsea area. We don’t know his father’s name. The child lived only for a few months; his death is recorded in the June quarter of 1861.
The following year, on 15th February 1862, Sarah married Edward Ralph Holmes at St. Paul’s Church, Portsea. The witness’s were Charlotte and George Mausem or Mansen. Edward was a Seaman and his father was a retired Carpenter. Sarah’s father’s occupation was given as a Sail–Maker. We know nothing about Sarah and Edwards’s life together, except that in April 1867 their son George Holmes was born.
It has been difficult tracing much of Sarah’s life, because she doesn’t appear on either 1861 or 1871 census returns. However, from family records we know she was widowed, and married for a second time.
On 30th December 1877, at the Parish Church, Sculcoates, Hull, Sarah married John Shew Haines, a Coastguard. The witnesses were William W Hazzaru and Annie Eliza Willson. Sarah’s father was named as Henry Gayleard, Mariner, deceased. John’s father, Edward Shew Haines’s occupation, was given as a Silversmith.
We begin to know more about Sarah’s life from this time. Her marriage to John (whom she called Jack), appears to have been a happy one. Their son, John Charles Shew Haines was born a year later, while they still lived in Hull.
John Haines was born in Brighton, Sussex c1849,and he came from a very large family. His father later became a well known portrait artist in Brighton.
John had a very successful career in the Royal Navy, before becoming a Coastguard. By the time of the 1881 census, the family had moved south to Black Rock Coastguard Cottages, Rottingdean, near Brighton.
Sometime after this John left the Coastguard service, and he and Sarah moved to Eastbourne, where for the next 20 years, they were caretakers of the General Post Office. It was during this time, that Sarah renewed contact with her sister Rosina. They had not seen each other since they were children; despite this there had remained a very close bond between them. They corresponded regularly, and we are fortunate that some of Sarah’s letters to Rosina have survived.
Tragedy shadowed Sarah’s life. In 1896 her son George Holmes was drowned 200 miles of Spurn, a notorious stretch of water off the coast of Grimsby. George, a ship’s Bosun, was just 29 years old. An enquiry was held into his death, which Sarah had to attend, and she later wrote of her distress at this loss to her sister.
In November 1909 tragedy struck again, when Jack died suddenly. Sarah was already suffering with consumption and the shock of losing her husband precipitated her own death, when she caught a cold which developed into pneumonia. Two weeks later, on 30th November she died. Her son Jack and his wife Annie arranged for her to be buried alongside her husband in Eastbourne Cemetery. |
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