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Messages - TimCSS

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Friday 08 March 24 19:43 GMT (UK)  »

Good Evening to all,
I am still none the wiser with regard to Elizabeth Sarah Humphries mother of John Laing Humphries.
This is most unfortunate but I would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who have tried to assist me
in my quest to find her. We seem to be no further forward in spite of enquiries here and elsewhere!
TCS.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Monday 12 September 22 14:57 BST (UK)  »
jonw; I went through your posting re Elizabeth Sarah who went to Australia. Couldn't find any connection. HOWEVER, I have now read all my notes and see that I did have an Elizabeth Sarah who went to Australia and another one who went to Canada. I'm not sure if the Ozzie one is the same as yours and the Canada one didn't have any Brighton connections. But THANK YOU for all your work and suggestions.
Shame we weren't looking for one of my Sargeant family who had very strong connections to Chiswick, Twickenham and Kingston areas in 19th and 20th centuries! Only lost with the death of my father's cousin quite recently.
You mention the adoption of illegitimate children being 'arranged' in advance; Although John Laing provided quite well for the child he doesn't mention the mother. To me that has two explanations; He had made some settlement on her earlier, or she had found a husband and moved on leaving the child in the care of the Potter family which was financed by John Laing. It was probably all 'hushed up' at the time as John Laing's younger brother David was a clergyman, ALTHOUGH, he was known to have stayed at the Oriental Place address when visiting or preaching in Brighton. There are references to people visiting Brighton and where they stayed including David Laing.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Sunday 11 September 22 09:58 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for that one.
Just a quick aside before we go out; My Gt gt Uncle William Samuel Sargeant was a boatbuilder at Strand-on-the-Green in late Victorian times. A pioneer in Electrically Propelled launches.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Saturday 10 September 22 23:44 BST (UK)  »
No I don't have J Body's Will. He's in Ringmer churchyard as well as most of the Potters. Good Night! TCS.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Saturday 10 September 22 22:33 BST (UK)  »
Jonw & Annette; Many thanks for all that info which I will digest later, probably Monday as out tomorrow.
In the meantime I have been going through my copious notes on this lot.
John Laing Humphries (whose mother Elizabeth Sarah we are still looking for) was farmed out to live with the Potter family firstly in Brighton and later at Ringmer near Lewes. At Ringmer the Potters were living with one John BODY, a carpenter, whose wife had died in 1847 and his son William had died in 1856.
I have just found some notes I made years ago from which I see that a Richard BODY, a cabinet maker, and family lived at No 4 Grosvenor Street Brighton. The Potter family, (if I remember correctly) had also lived in Grosvenor Street before moving to Ringmer to live with John BODY.
Body is not a particularly common name so it can be presumed that these Bodys were related, maybe brothers?
NB: I think I previously mistakenly said that John Body was a 'Fly Operator'. No, that was Thomas Potter. Richard Body born1822 Brighton, John Body born 1823. Didn't note where.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Saturday 10 September 22 19:53 BST (UK)  »
Annette: I am not fixated on Elizabeth Sophia, I have an open mind on the whole thing! I had found the marriage you mention but had assumed it to be a double wedding, ie: a brother and sister getting married at the same time. I haven't applied for that certificate though. I couldn't find a birth for her either so thought it would be before 1837. However, by that time John Laing was already living at Powis Villas Brighton and I can't put that Elizabeth anywhere near there at the right time. Of course, I could be, and probably am wrong!
John Laing had two daughters one of whom died in infancy. He is buried at Horton in Bucks, (right under the flightpath for Heathrow!) together with his first wife and infant daughter as that is where his first wife came from. She was Lydia Whitefoord Bailey, (spelt Whiteford in the register but she signed it Whitefoord, / and sometimes with an e at the end) They married at St Michael's Horton on 6th January 1827 with consent of her mother Mary Bailey, widow. The witnesses were all relatives of one or the other family. John Laing's address is only given as 'St Mary parish in Kennington in the County of Surrey. Somewhere I'm sure I had the full address there and a later one in London where his daughter lived after her marriage. Strangely Lydia died at Tunbridge Wells not far from where we live. I haven't found out why she was there but taking the waters at TW Pantiles for various ailments was in vogue at the time.
Nell: I know what you mean about a servant girl getting in the wrong bed!
As you probably all realise, I've got paperwork concerning this coming out of my ears, but nothing for Elizabeth Sarah! That is why I decided to give it another 'push' now. Thanks to all. TCS.

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Saturday 10 September 22 11:23 BST (UK)  »
It is a shame that so far none of the very welcome responses on this site have advanced our search for my wife's Gt gt grandmother whether she be Elizabeth Sarah or Elizabeth Sophia. Unfortunately,... where anything is written down both spellings of the Humphries / Humphreys name were used in the 1850s. I suppose that spelling was less important then and phonetic spelling was used. On John Laing HUMPHRIES' birth certificate his name, as registered by the presumed father (John Laing) is spelt Humphries. On his baptism 28th March 1858, numbered in register 1224, nearly a year after his birth, it was spelt Humphreys when recorded presumably by his mother who is down as Elizabeth Sarah and address given only as Grosvenor Street, Brighton, and no number is recorded nor is her occupation. Unfortunately no records of the occupants of Grosvenor Street survive as these were only tenement houses and directories of the period did not bother to list the occupants.
I also, having spent an hour or so re-reading my copious notes last night am inclined to dismiss Elizabeth Sophia as we do know where she went to later but so far no death has been found for her so maybe she married again after George Gray died. If I have followed the right person she seems to have flitted about a bit, but we do know that she did actually exist.
So, returning to Elizabeth Sarah; We have not found any confirmed birth, marriage, or death so far under either spelling. Thanks to all who have responded so far. We are still waiting for that little breakthrough which might lead us to the right person. The main problem is that if she did not marry subsequently and have other children, no-one else is going to be looking for her!

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Sunday 04 September 22 20:11 BST (UK)  »
John Laing's daughter from his first wife married Admiral Sir Joseph Nias, so that was up-market!

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Family History Beginners Board / Re: HUMPHRIES Elizabeth Sarah (or Sophia?) Brighton 1856/7/8?
« on: Sunday 04 September 22 17:38 BST (UK)  »
jonw65; Just re-read your earlier posting, The reference to Eling in Hampshire is of some sort-of interest as Elizabeth SOPHIA Humphries' later husband's family came from there. He was George GRAY born Eling Hants. See 1881 Census on findmypast.

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