Person:John Hammond (58)

John Hammond was baptised on 27th May 1787 at South Bersted on the Sussex coast, son of Sarah Hammond, formerly Stocker, and her husband George Hammond, a blacksmith. John was the fifth of their eight children.

On 21st May 1808, when John was about 21 years old, he was married to Ann Woolgar. She was 27 and from Pagham, which is the neighbouring parish to South Bersted, but they married in Chichester Cathedral, a few miles away. After their marriage they settled in Pagham, living at a hamlet called Lagness, on the road between Pagham and Chichester and near the junction with the road towards South Bersted and Bognor. Ann's parents appear to have also lived at Lagness.

John and Ann had eight children between 1808 and 1823. Seven of them were baptised at Pagham, and one at South Bersted. John worked as a blacksmith. Back in South Bersted, John's mother Sarah died in 1827.

In 1830 John's eldest daughter Sarah was married, and he became a grandfather the following year, aged 43, when her first child was born.

John's father George died in 1836 and was buried at South Bersted.

The 1841 census finds John and Ann living at Lagness with their daughter Jane and son Alfred, and a young man named William Patrick who was an agricultural labourer. William Patrick would later marry their daughter Jane. The 1851 census also finds John and Ann living at Lagness, this time with their son Alfred and their widower son Henry and his two surviving children, Henry's wife having died in 1848.

John's son Alfred died tragically aged 36 in 1857 – he fell in a ditch after an evening with friends in Bognor and drowned.

The following year John's wife Ann died, being buried at Pagham on 2nd December 1858. She was 78 years old. After Ann's death John left Lagness where he had been living for most of his adult life, going to live at Felpham, a few miles east along the coast, the opposite side of Bognor. Quite possibly he went to stay with his youngest son, John, who worked in Felpham as butler to a clergyman. John outlived Ann by just over a year. He died in Bognor on 14th March 1860, aged 72. He had lived to see 22 grandchildren born in his lifetime and was also a great grandfather. He was buried back at Pagham.

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

   1787 / May 27th / John Son of George & Sarah Hammond

   This baptism has been linked to the John Hammond who married Ann Woolgar in 1808 on the basis that in the 1851 census John claimed to have been born at Bersted and his quoted ages suggest he was born around 1787. No evidence has been found to suggest that the John baptised in 1787 died young or married anyone other than Ann Woolgar. One of the witnesses to John's marriage was an Elizabeth Hammond, who was presumably the Betty Hammond sister of the John baptised in 1787.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1099; Book 4; Folio 5; Page 3, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Lagness, Pagham, Sussex
   John Hamond, male, 50 [1786-91], B Smith, born in county
   Ann Hamond, female, 60 [1776-81], born in county
   Jane Hamond, female, 20 [1816-21], born in county
   Alfred Hamond, male, 20 [1816-21], born in county
   William Patrick, male, 20 [1816-21], Ag Lab, born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1652; Folio 129; Page 1, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Lagness Hamlet, Pagham, Sussex
   John Hammond, head, married, male, 60 [1790/1], Blacksmith, b. Bersted, Sussex
   Ann Hammond, wife, married, female, 70 [1780/1], b. Pagham, Sussex
   Henry Hammond, son, widower, male, 36 [1814/5], Blacksmith, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Alfred Hammond, son, unmarried, male, 30 [1820/1], Blacksmith, b. Pagham, Sussex
   William Hammond, grandson, male, 11 [1839/40], Ag Lab, b. Pagham, Sussex
   James Hammond, grandson, male, 3 [1847/8], b. Pagham, Sussex

4. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Chichester
   1860 Death in the Sub-district of South Bersted in the County of Sussex
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   93	Fourteenth March 1860 Bognor	John Hammond	Male	72 years	Blacksmith (Master)	Hydrocele Gangrene Certified	Anne Boyling Present at the Death Bognor	Sixteenth March 1860	Arthur John Binstead Registrar

   
5. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Pagham (Sussex). Parish registers for Pagham, 1707-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Pagham in the County of Sussex in the Year 1860
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   838	John Hammond	Felpham	March 16 1860	72 years [1787/8]	R. Barker, Vicar