Person:Florence Sansum (1)

Florence Kate Sansum was born on 2nd October 1880 at Long Melford in Suffolk, daughter of Sarah Sansum, a horsehair weaver. Florence was raised by her grandparents, Henry and Caroline Sansum (formerly Mills), and indeed gave their names as being her parents when she was an adult – she may not have known that her ‘older sister’ Sarah was in fact her mother.

The 1891 census finds Florence living with Henry and Caroline and their other children on Westgate Lane in Long Melford.

By 1901 Florence had moved to London, where she worked as a servant to a tailor and his family in the East End. An Ada Sansum from Long Melford was also working as a servant in the same household; they appear to have been second cousins.

Florence then left Britain altogether and travelled to Malta. Precisely when and how she travelled is unknown, but she was in Malta by August 1902. She converted to Catholicism there, being baptised by the Catholic chaplain of the British Army Services College on 21st August 1902. It seems highly likely that she did this in order to marry; her husband, John Meekins (known as Jack) was Catholic. He was originally from London but had been serving with the army in Malta since 1898. Whether they had met in Britain or Malta is unknown.

Florence and Jack’s marriage record has not been found, but it seems reasonable to assume that they married in Malta shortly after her conversion to Catholicism. The earliest army Catholic chaplain’s marriage register for Malta only begins in 1904. In the 1911 census Florence and Jack indicated that they had been married for nine years, and Jack was transferred from Malta to Bermuda in October 1902.

Florence’s next sighting is in July 1903, when she sailed from London to Bermuda, presumably to join Jack there. Jack left the army on 24th August 1903, having purchased his discharge. He was developing a promising career as a boxer and it seems he wanted to focus on that. Jack later reported that he had travelled about after leaving the army, spending time in America and France.

By 1908 Florence and Jack were living in the Battersea area of London, having a daughter called Dorothy baptised there. She was followed in 1909 by a daughter called Norah, who died as a baby.

The 1911 census finds Florence, Jack and Dorothy living at 313 Battersea Park Road in London, with Jack described as a club proprietor. They reported that they had had three children but two had died, suggesting that there was another child who has not been identified; perhaps they had another child earlier in their marriage whilst travelling abroad.

By 1918 the family had settled at 27 Cristowe Road in the Fulham area of London, which would be Florence’s home for the rest of her life.

In 1929 Florence’s daughter Dorothy married a soldier called William Cecil Fletcher, who appears to have lived with them at 27 Cristowe Road for some time. He was later appointed Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant of the 2nd Middlesex Regiment and was stationed at Portsmouth by 1937.

Florence died on 16th March 1939, in the Southsea area of Portsmouth, presumably having gone there to see her daughter and son-in-law. She was 58 years old. Her ashes were interred at the churchyard back in her native village of Long Melford. Jack survived her by eleven years and remarried in 1941.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Florence Kate SANSUM, December Quarter 1880, Sudbury Registration District, Volume 4a, page 540, mother’s maiden name blank

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Suffolk Baptism Index 1538-1911 (Suffolk Family History Society).

   ch. 2 Jan 1881, Holy Trinity, Long Melford:
   No. 246 / Florence Kate / Sarah / Sarnsum / Long Melford / Horsehair Weaver / born 2 Oct 1880

   When Florence converted to Catholicism in 1902 she gave her date of birth as 2nd October 1881 and her parents’ names as Henry Sansum and Caroline Mills. When she died, she was said to have been the daughter of Mr and Mrs H. Sansum of Westgate Street, Long Melford. No birth or baptism record for such a child has been found, but Florence was living on ‘Westgate Lane’ with Henry and Caroline Sansum and described as their daughter in the 1891 census. This baptism record gives a birthday of 2nd October, but in 1880 not 1881. Sarah Sansum was an elder daughter of Henry Sansum and Caroline Mills, who had been born in 1862. It would therefore appear that Florence was raised by her mother’s parents as though she was their child.

3. ↑ England. 1891 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 RG12; Piece 1443; Folio 138; Page 27, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Westgate Lane, [Long] Melford, Suffolk
   Henry Sansome, head, married, male, 52 [1838/9], Bricklayers Laborer, employed, b. Lavenham, Suffolk
   Caroline Sansome, wife, married, female, 51 [1839/40], Horsehair Weaver, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Walter Sansome, son, single, male, 32 [1858/9], Woodman, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Elizabeth Sansome, daughter, single, female, 19 [1871/2], Horsehair Weaver, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Emma Sansome, daughter, single, female, 18 [1872/3], Horsehair Weaver, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Annie Sansome, daughter, female, 15 [1875/6], Nurse maid, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Jessie Sansome, daughter, female, 13 [1877/8], Nurse maid, employed, b. Melford, Suffolk
   George Sansome, son, male, 10 [1880/1], Scholar, b. Melford, Suffolk
   Florence Sansome, daughter, female, 9 [1881/2], Scholar, b. Melford, Suffolk

4. ↑ England. England. 1901 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 RG13; Piece 336; Folio 72; Page 19, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 136 Bridge Street, Mile End Old Town (parish), Stepney (borough), London
   Samuel Myers, head, married, male, 41 [1859/60], Tailor, employer, working at home, b. Spitalfields, London
   Rose Myers, wife, married, female, 33 [1867/8], b. Spitalfields, London
   Ernest Myers, son, single, male, 11 [1889/90], b. Mile End, London
   Henry Myers, son, single, male, 10 [1890/1], b. Mile End, London
   Pauline Myers, daughter, single, female, 8 [1892/3], b. Mile End, London
   Esther Myers, daughter, single, female, 1 [1899/1900], b. Mile End, London
   Florence Sansum, servant, single, female, 20 [1880/1], Domestic Servant, b. Long Melford, Suffolk
   Ada Sansum, servant, single, female, 17 [1883/4], Domestic Servant, b. Long Melford, Suffolk

   The Ada Sansum working as a servant in the same household as Florence in the 1901 census was born at Long Melford 16th September 1883; she was the daughter of Frederick Sansum, who was the son of John Sansum, who was the son of Robert and Mary Sansum of Lavenham. Robert and Mary were also the parents of Henry Sansum who was grandfather of Florence.

5.   Catholic Registers Births and Baptisms (Scottish Catholic Archives)
   BF1 2 1 15 59: Aldershot South Camp Military Cemetery.

   CONVERT
   No. 177
   SANSUM
   SMALL MALTA NOTEBOOK No. 107
   FLORENCE SANSUM dau. of HENRY SANSUM & CATHERINE (née MILLS) born 2 OCTOBER 1881 was baptized 21 AUGUST 1902 REV. CHARLES BEAUCLECH

   This book appears to be a much later copy of an earlier notebook, with the pre-printed parts being in a style more typical of the second half of the 20th century. The copy has been filed amongst the papers of the Aldershot South Camp Military Cemetery, which are now held (for reasons which are unclear) by the Scottish Catholic Archives. However, the reference to “Small Malta Notebook” suggests that the original record being copied was from Malta, whilst Charles Sidney de Vere Beauclerk (not Beauclech) was a Catholic priest who was chaplain of the Services College in Malta.

6.   Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 (The National Archives, Kew)
   BT27.

   Ship: Cayo Blanco
   Departed London 8 Jul 1903 bound for Bermuda
   Florence Meekins, profession nil, married female, 21 [1881/2]

7. ↑ England. 1911 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 RG14; Piece 2159; Schedule 2, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 313 Battersea Park Road, Battersea, London
   7 rooms occupied
   John Meekins, head, male, 30 [1880/1], married 9 years, 3 children born to marriage, 1 child still living, Club Proprietor, working at home, b. Borough of London
   Florence Meekins, wife, female, 29 [1881/2], married, assisting in Business, working at home, b. Long Melford, Suffolk
   Dothery [sic] Meekins, daughter, female, 3 [1897/8], b. Tidemore St[reet], Battersea

8.   London, England. Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 (London Metropolitan Archives, London).

   1918, Fulham
   27 Cristowe Road:
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   
   1923, Fulham
   27 Cristowe Road:
   Freeman, Emily Mary
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   
   1928, Fulham
   27 Cristowe Road:
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   
   1930, Fulham
   27 Cristowe Road:
   Fletcher, William Cecil
   Knight, Jack
   Knight, Peggy
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   
   1936, Fulham
   27 Cristowe Road
   Everest, Arthur
   Fletcher, William Cecil
   Jones, Thomas
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   Spindler, Olive (Miss)
   
   1937, Fulham, Hurlingham Ward
   27 Cristowe Road, S.W.6.
   Everest, Arthur
   Fletcher, William Cecil
   Jones, Thomas
   Meekins, Florence
   Meekins, John
   Spindler, Olive (Miss)

9. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Florence MEEKINS, March Quarter 1939, Portsmouth Registration District, Volume 2b, page 842, aged 56 [1882/3]

10. ↑ Bury Free Press (Bury St Edmunds), in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
    Page 16, Saturday 25 Mar 1939.

    LONG MELFORD…
    FUNERAL. – On Thursday the Rev. J.W. Green officiated at the committal service for the late Mrs. Florence Meekins, whose remains were interred in the parish churchyard. The deceased, aged 58, passed away at Southsea on the Thursday previous, and was cremated at Streatham Crematorium. She was a native of Melford, being the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. H. Sansum, of Westgate Street, Long Melford. Melford has always been interested in Mr. and Mrs. Meekins, as he is a boxer of repute. In his prime he has fought Carpentier, Battling Nelson, Johnny Summers, and Sid Burns for the Lonsdale Belt, Welter Weight Championship of England. He also fought and defeated Chabrier. The family mourners for the committal service were: Mr. Jack Meekins, widower; Mr. and Mrs. W. Fletcher daughter and son-in-law; Mrs. Jessie Miller and Mrs. Ellen Turner, sisters; Mrs. Nellie Kirrage, niece. There were several beautiful floral tributes.