Person:Sarah Hawkins (58)

Sarah Hawkins' origins have yet to be confirmed. When she died in 1821 she was said to be 51 years old, suggesting she was born in about 1770. Her first confirmed sighting is on 6th November 1788, when she married a labourer named Francis Forsey at Winsham in Somerset. One of the witnesses to their marriage was a Henry Hitchcock, who had married an Ann Hawkins at Winsham the previous year. It therefore seems likely that Ann and Sarah were related. One possibility is that they were sisters: there was an Ann Hawkins daughter of Thomas baptised in 1764 at Thorncombe, the adjoining parish to the south of Winsham, and a Sarah Hawkins daughter of Thomas and Ann baptised on 17th January 1768 at Thorncombe.

Sarah and Francis appear to have had five children baptised at Winsham between 1793 and 1815. Their first three children were all baptised at the parish church, whilst the younger two were baptised at the independent chapel.

Sarah died in 1821, being buried at Winsham on 1st July. Her youngest child was less than six years old at the time. Francis outlived Sarah by some years, and remarried two years after her death.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Winsham. Winsham Parish registers, 1559-1944. (Taunton: Somerset Heritage Service).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Winsham in the County of Somerset in the Year 1821
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   120	Sarah Forsey	Winsham	1 July	51 [1769/70]	F.J.H. Festing

2.   Possible baptism, in Thorncombe, Dorset, England. Parish Registers.

   Baptizims [sic] 1768 / Sarah Daughter of Thomas & Anne Hawkins Bap[tise]d Jan[uar]y 17th