Person:Sarah Gobby (1)

Sarah Gobby was born on 24th February 1811 at Woburn in Bedfordshire, daughter of Ann Gobby, formerly Dennis, and her husband, Thomas Gobby, an agricultural labourer. Some time between between 1815 and 1817 the family moved from Woburn to the nearby village of Toddington. It has yet to be established when Sarah's mother Ann died, but it appears that her father married again in 1821, implying that Ann must have died before Sarah was ten years old.

In 1831, aged twenty years old, Sarah married a William Neal at Houghton Conquest, a few miles north-east of Toddington and Woburn. They had two children baptised at Houghton Conquest: Thomas in 1833 and Ann in 1835.

In 1837, Sarah's husband William stole a lamb, was convicted and transported for life to Australia. Sarah was left bringing up the two children alone. She left Houghton Conquest and moved back to Toddington. The 1841 census finds her living at Woburn Street in Toddington with her children and her sister Esther, and working as a straw plaiter.

In 1842, Sarah had a son named Joseph Neal, who sadly died as a baby. Joseph was followed in 1844 by a daughter named Elizabeth.

Sarah married again in 1845, aged 34, to a widower named Joseph Kempson, who had three young children from his first marriage. Sarah claimed on her marriage certificate to be a widow, but was probably relying on the convention that having not heard from her husband William Neal in seven years she could consider him legally dead. He may well have still been alive in Australia.

Sarah had three more children with Joseph Kempson: James in 1847, Rebecca in 1850 and Eliza in 1852. The family moved from Toddington to Chalk Hill in the parish of Houghton Regis, then Joseph's native village of Totternhoe, where they appear in the 1851 census. Sarah's eldest two children from her marriage to William Neal had both left home by this time; Thomas had moved to Flamstead in Hertfordshire, whilst Ann had moved to St Pancras in the northern suburbs of London, living with Sarah's sister Mary.

Sarah's eldest two children both married in 1855, and Sarah's first grandchild was born later that year. Sarah's father, Thomas Gobby, died at Toddington in 1856.

In 1858, Sarah was convicted of stealing wood and sentenced to 14 days in jail.^[9]

In London, Sarah's daughter Ann died in 1859, aged 23.

In 1861, Sarah's stepson George Kempson died as a young man of eighteen, having been accidentally given disinfectant instead of medicine whilst staying in the Luton Union Workhouse. The poisoning slowly killed him over about three months. At this time the family was still living in Dunstable, and the newspaper report of George's death records how the family removed him from the workhouse to take him home. The article says that his mother (which must mean Sarah as his stepmother) had to carry him from the workhouse to the railway station, a distance of about half a mile, then they just missed a train and had to wait two hours for the next. At Dunstable, Sarah again had to carry George from the station to their home, where he died on 18th March 1861. The census the following month finds Sarah and Joseph living on Church Street in Dunstable, with Sarah still working as a straw plaiter.

Some time between 1861 and 1871, the family left Dunstable and moved to the neighbouring town of Luton. The 1871 census finds Joseph living in Park Lane with their son James, whilst Sarah was an inmate at the Luton Union Workhouse. She died at the workhouse on 17th November 1873, aged 62. Joseph outlived her by seven years, and married for a third time three years after Sarah's death.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Bedfordshire Family History Society. Woburn Parish Register Transcript. (Bedford).

   ch. 17 Mar 1811, Woburn, Bedfordshire: Sarah daughter of Tho[ma]s & Anne Gobbey, b. 24 Feb 1811

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 5; Book 34 part 1; Folio 12; Page 18, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Woburn Street, Toddington, Bedfordshire
   Hester Gobby, female, 25 [1811-16], Straw Platter, b. in county
   John Gobby, male, 8 [1832/3], b. in county
   William Gobby, male, 5 [1835/6], b. in county
   George Gobby, male, 3 weeks [1841], b. in county
   ~
   Sarah Neal, female, 25 [1811-16], Straw Platter, b. in county
   Thomas Neal, male, 9 [1831/2], b. in county
   Ann Neal, female, 6 [1834/5], b. 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 1757; Folio 12; Page 17, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Kempson, head, married, male, 35 [1815/6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Kempson, wife, married, female, 41 [1809/10], Straw Plaiter, b. Wobourn [sic], Bedfordshire
   David Kempson, son, male, 11 [1839/40], Straw Plaiter, b. Stanbridge, Bedfordshire
   George Kempson, son, male, 8 [1842/3], Straw Plaiter, b. Stanbridge, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Kempson, daughter, female, 7 [1843/4], Straw Plaiter, b. Toddington, Bedfordshire
   James Kempson, son, male, 4 [1846/7], Scholar, b. Puddle Hill, Bedfordshire
   Rebecca Kempson, daughter, female, 1 [1849/50], b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ 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 1011; Folio 48; Page 3, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Kempson, head, married, male, 44 [1816/7], Ag[ricultural] Labourer, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Kempson, wife, married, female, 51 [1809/10], Straw Plaiter, b. Wobourn [sic], Bedfordshire
   Rebbecca Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 18 [1842/3], Straw Plaiter, b. Toddington, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 17 [1843/4], Straw Plaiter, b. Dunstable, Bedfordshire
   James Kempson, son, unmarried, male, 14 [1846/7], Straw Plaiter, b. Dunstable, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Kempson, daughter, unmarried, female, 8 [1852/3], b. Dunstable, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ 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 1574; Folio 110; Page 8, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Luton Union Workhouse, Dunstable Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   [many inmates, including:]
   Kempson, Sarah, inmate, married, female, 61 [1809/10], Washerwoman, b. Woburn, Bedfordshire

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

   d. Sarah KEMPSON, December Quarter 1873, Luton Registration District, Vol. 3b, page 272, aged 63 [1809/10]

7. ↑ Burials in Luton 1813-1904, in Bedfordshire Family History Society. Luton Parish Register Transcript. (Bedford).

   Name: Sarah KEMPSON
   Abode: Luton
   Buried: 26 Nov 1873
   Aged: 63 [1809/10]

8. ↑ Luton Union, Vol. 1: Workhouse Births and Deaths 1866-1905.

   Date of Death: 17 Nov 1873
   Name: KEMPSON Sarah
   Age: 63
   From what parish admitted: Luton
   Where buried: Luton Ch. Cy.

9. ↑ Bedford Gaol Database, accessed 14 May 2012