Person:George Hammond (20)

George Hammond was baptised on 1st August 1755 at South Bersted on the Sussex coast, son of Mary Hammond, formerly Watts, and her husband William Hammond, a blacksmith. The parish of South Bersted at that time included the fishing village of Bognor.

George was married on 11th November 1777, aged 22, to Sarah Stocker, who was about a year older than him and originally from the neighbouring parish of Oving. Over the next eighteen years they had eight children, all baptised at South Bersted. George also worked as a blacksmith, and from 1779 employed Sarah’s younger brother Charles as an apprentice.

It appears that George's father died in 1793 and his mother in 1795.

It has not been possible to trace all of George and Sarah's children; the name Hammond is very common in the area. However, he is known to have had at least 34 grandchildren born in his lifetime.

Sarah was buried at South Bersted on 4th February 1827. She was 72 years old. George outlived her by nine years.

Towards the end of his life George moved to the nearby city of Chichester, living in the parish of St Pancras there. His son George and daughter Jane had both settled there. George’s daughter Sarah died aged 45 and his son George died aged 54 a few weeks apart in the summer of 1835.

George died at the age of 80. He was buried back at South Bersted on 7th February 1836.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of South Bersted (Sussex). Parish registers of South Bersted, 1564-1904. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   1755 / Bap[tised] George S[on] of William & Mary Hammond Aug[ust] 1st

   Whilst no named connection has been found, this baptism has been linked to the George Hammond who married Sarah Stocker on the basis that it is at about the time implied by the age quoted at his burial and in the same parish in which he married, had all his children and was buried. No evidence has been found to suggest that the George Hammond baptised in 1755 died young nor does he appear to have married anyone other than Sarah Stocker. Also, the George who married Sarah Stocker worked as a blacksmith, which was also the trade of the William who was the father in this baptism record.

2. ↑ UK. Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 (The National Archives, Kew).

   16 Feb 1782
   Master: George Hammond of South Bersted, Sussex, Blacksmith
   Apprentice: Charles Stocker
   Indentured 16 May 1782 from 1 Jan 1779
   £1 1s.

3. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of South Bersted (Sussex). Parish registers of South Bersted, 1564-1904. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   BURIALS in the Parish of South Bersted in the County of Sussex in the Year 1836
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   638	George Hammond	St Pancras, Chichester	Feb[ruar]y 7	81 years [1754/5]	R. Lewis Brown, Curate