Person:Sarah Farey (1)

Sarah Ann Farey was born on 28th January 1851 at Ashbrook, a hamlet in the parish of St Ippolyts, Hertfordshire, which lies about half a mile north-east of St Ippolyts village, on the main road between the towns of Hitchin and Stevenage. She was the daughter of a straw plaiter called Charlotte Farey, formerly Watson, and her husband John Farey, an agricultural labourer. Sarah appears in the 1861 census living with her parents and siblings at Ashbrook.

By 1871, Sarah had left home and was working as a general domestic servant at a public house in the Westminster area of London.

Sarah later returned to the Hitchin area. In 1874 she had a son called Frederick in Hitchin. The 1881 census finds Sarah and her son living at Taylor's Lane in Hitchin with a widower called John Stokes. Sarah was described as a housekeeper. Two months after that census, Sarah married John Stokes, who was 38 years her senior; when they married he was 67 and she was 29. They did not marry locally to Hitchin but in Islington in the northern suburbs of London. John had been married twice before and had twelve children from his first two marriages, most of whom were older than Sarah. He worked as a lime burner.

Sarah and John returned to Hitchin, where they went on to have three children together between 1882 and 1888. The 1891 census finds the family living at 28 Radcliffe Road in Hitchin.

John died in 1893, aged 79. His death was registered between January and March of that year. A few weeks later, on 1st May 1893, Sarah married again.

Sarah's second husband was Daniel Faulkner, a railway platelayer. He was from Hitchin, but they married at Lambeth in the southern suburbs of London. They had one daughter together in Hitchin in 1894. Daniel died in London in 1897, aged 43.

The 1901 census finds Sarah still living at 28 Radcliffe Road with her youngest daughter and two of her stepsons. By 1911 the family had moved to 3 Florizel Cottages at Walsworth, just north-east of Hitchin.^[11]

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Sarah was living alone at 18 St Michael's Mount, near Hitchin railway station. She was described as incapacitated.

Sarah died in 1943, aged 91.

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

   b. Sarah Ann FAIREY, March Quarter 1852, Hitchin Registration District, Volume 3a, page 217, mother's maiden name Watson

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. St Ippolyts Parish Registers.

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of St Ippolyts in the County of Herts in the Year 1852
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   71	1852 March 28	Sarah Ann	John & Charlotte	Fairey	Ashbrook	Labourer	J. Scott Whiting, Curate

3. ↑ England. 1861 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 RG9; Piece 820; Folio 47; Page 16, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 1 Ashbrook, Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   John Fairey, head, married, male, 34 [1826/7], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire
   Charlotte Fairey, wife, married, female, 31 [1829/30], Straw Plaitter, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Fairey, daughter, female, 8 [1852/3], Straw Plaitter, b. Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   John Fairey, son, male, 6 [1854/5], Straw Plaitter, b. Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Fairey, son, male, 5 [1855/6], Straw Plaitter, b. Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Daniel Fairey, son, male, 1 [1859/60], b. Ippollitts, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 103; Folio 51; Page 7, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: "Walton Arms", 10 Kinnerton Street, Westminster (St George Hanover Square), Middlesex
   Charles Dear, head, married, male, 38 [1832/3], Licensed Victualler, b. Baldock, Hertfordshire
   Ellen Dear, wife, married, female, 36 [1834/5], b. Wickham, Hampshire
   Charles B. Dear, son, male, 7 [1863/4], b. Chelsea, Middlesex
   William R. Dear, son, male, 6 [1864/5], b. St George Hanover Square, Middlesex
   James G. Dear, son, male, 2 [1868/9], b. Chelsea, Middlesex
   Fanny Brewer, servant, unmarried, female, 22 [1848/9], Assistant, b. Bermondsey, Surrey
   Sarah Farey, servant, unmarried, female, 19 [1851/2], General Serv[ant] (Domestic), b. Ashbrooke, Hertfordshire
   Eugene Defrail, lodger, unmarried, male, 13 [1857/8], b. France
   [blank] Baptiste, lodger, married, male, 30 [1840/1], Coachman (Domestic), b. France

5. ↑ England. 1881 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 RG11; Piece 1419; Folio 87; Page 36, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Taylor's Lane, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   John Stokes, head, widower, male, 66 [1814/15], Limeworks Labourer, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Farey, boarder, unmarried, female, 31 [1849/50], Housekeeper, b. St Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Fred[eric]k Farey, boarder, male, 6 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire

6. ↑ 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 1107; Folio 178; Page 13, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 28 Radcliffe Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   John Stokes, head, married, male, 77 [1813/14], Retired Lime Burner, b. Walsworth, Hertfordshire
   Sarah A. Stokes, wife, married, female, 38 [1852/3], b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Harry Stokes, son, male, 9 [1881/2], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Reuben Stokes, son, male, 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Edith Stokes, daughter, female, 2 [1888/9], b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire

7. ↑ 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 1302; Folio 36; Page 23, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 28 Radcliffe Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   4 rooms occupied
   Sarah Faulkner, head, widow, female, 48 [1852/3], b. Ashbrook, Hertfordshire
   Charles Faulkner, son, single, male, 17 [1883/4], Straw Carter, worker, b. Royston, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Faulkner, son, male, 15 [1885/6], Straw tiers Labourer, worker, b. Ninesprings, Hertfordshire
   Florence Faulkner, daughter, female, 6 [1894/5], b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire

8. ↑ 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 7613; Schedule 12, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 3 Florizel Cottages, Walsworth, Hertfordshire
   5 rooms occupied
   Charles Faulkner, head, male, 27 [1883/4], single, Machinist joinery works - Railway, worker, b. Royston, Cambridgeshire
   Sarah Faulkner, mother, female, 59 [1851/2], widow, 5 children born alive, 5 children still living, b. Ashbrook, Hertfordshire
   Arthur Faulkner, brother, male, 25 [1885/6], single, Telegraph Linesman - Railway Company, worker, b. Ninesprings, Hertfordshire
   Florence Faulkner, sister, female, 16 [1894/5], single, Domestic (General), b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Winnie Faulkner, niece, female, 9 [1901/2], School, b. Borough, London

9. ↑ ^9.0 9.1 General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Hitchin Urban District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 18 St Michaels Mount, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Faulkner, Sarah A. / Female / b. 28 Jan 1851 / widow / Incapacitated

   Given that Sarah's birth was registered between January and March 1852, it is assumed that the day and month of birth given here are correct, but the year is one year out.

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

    d. Sarah Ann FAULKNER, September Quarter 1943, Hitchin Registration District, Volume 3a, page 937, aged 92 [1850/1]

11. ↑ Walsworth had been part of the parish of Hitchin until 1894, but was then made a separate parish. The parish was later abolished, being absorbed back into Hitchin in 1921.