Person:Sarah Harper (37)

Sarah Harper's origins have yet to be established. The ages she quoted as an adult suggest she was born around 1799, and she gave her birthplace as Luton in Bedfordshire. Her first confirmed sighting is on 13th July 1817, when she married Joseph Hobbs at Whipsnade in Bedfordshire. After their marriage they moved to the nearby parish of Flamstead in Hertfordshire, having three children baptised there between 1818 and 1824.

By 1841 Sarah and Joseph had moved to the London area. The census that year finds them living with their children on Augustus Street in St Pancras, with Joseph working as a brewer. The 1851 census finds Sarah, Joseph and a lodger living at 49 Augustus Street, with Sarah working as a laundress and Joseph as a servant.

Sarah and Joseph later left London and returned to Hertfordshire, settling in Hemel Hempstead, not far from Flamstead where they had previously lived. Joseph died there in 1855, aged 67.

The 1861 census finds Sarah working as a housekeeper in Hemel Hempstead for a paper maker and his family.

Sarah died in 1868, being buried at Boxmoor in Hemel Hempstead on 28th March 1868. She was said to be 68 years old.

1. ↑ 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 684; Book 10; Folio 11; Page 16, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Augustus Street, St Pancras, Middlesex
   Joseph Hobbs, male, 50 [1786-91], Brewer, not born in county
   Sarah Hobbs, female, 40 [1796-1801], not born in county
   Eliza Hobbs, female, 15 [1821-6], not born in county
   Frederick Hobbs, male, 15 [1821-6], Engineer Ap[prentice], born in county
   Sarah Hobbs, female, 20 [1816-21], Governess, not born in county

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 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 1493; Folio 681; Page 72, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 49 Augustus Street, St Pancras, Middlesex
   Joseph Hobbs, head, male, 63 [1787/8], Servant, b. Hertford
   Sarah Hobbs, wife, female, 52 [1798/9], Laundress, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   John Nicholson, visitor, male, 52 [1798/9], Tailor, Cumberland

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 839; Folio 90; Page 17, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
   George Redding, head, widower, male, 32 [1828/9], Paper maker, b. Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire
   George Redding, son, male, 6 [1854/5], Scholar, b. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
   Thomas Redding, son, male, 3 [1857/8], Scholar, b. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
   Sarah Hobbs, lodger, widow, female, 61 [1799/1800], House Keeper, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

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

   d. Sarah HOBBS, March Quarter 1868, Hemel Hempstead Registration District, Volume 3a, page 245, aged 68 [1799/1800]

5. ↑ Burials register, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Parish Registers of St John, Boxmoor (Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Boxmoor in the County of Herts in the Year 1868
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   1022	Sarah Hobbs	Two Waters	March 28th	68 y[ea]rs [1799/1800]	D. Ingles, Curate