Person:Sarah Patching (1)

Sarah Patching was baptised on 14th October 1740 at Horsham in Sussex, daughter of Mary Patching, formerly Longhurst, and her husband William Patching, who was described as a gentleman. She was the couple’s youngest child and she had one surviving older sibling, being a sister called Mary.

Sarah’s father died in April 1758. Just over a year later her mother also died. In 1760, less than a year after their mother’s death, Sarah’s older sister Mary died too. In the space of just two years, all Sarah’s immediate family had therefore died. Her sister Mary left a will, in which she left her half share of their late father’s house on East Street in Horsham to Sarah (who quite likely already owned the other half share). Mary and Sarah’s uncle, Walter Longhurst, was the executor of Mary’s will.

On 18th October 1764, aged 24, Sarah married James Snelling at Horsham. He was from the nearby village of Crawley. He was described variously as a chandler or tallow chandler (making and selling candles), shopkeeper and yeoman. Sarah’s uncle Walter Longhurst was one of the witnesses to the marriage.

Sarah and James settled in Crawley after their marriage. They went on to have two sons: William in 1767 and James in 1775.

Sarah’s elder son married in 1791 and her first known grandchild was born the following year.

James died in March 1814, when he was said to be eighty years old. He left a will, written in October 1813, in which he directed that £10 was to be immediately paid to Sarah after his death, and also left her an income of £50 per year for her lifetime. He also left her a house in Crawley for her lifetime. They were not living in the house at the time he wrote his will; it was rented out to a tenant. James directed his trustees to take possession of the house and spend £10 repairing it for Sarah to then occupy it.

Sarah survived James by just over two years. She died at the aged 75 years old and was buried at Crawley on 7th June 1816.

1. ↑ Horsham, Sussex: Parish Registers (West Sussex County Council, Chichester).

   Christnings 1740 / October / 15 Sarah Daughter of William Patching by Mary

   This baptism has been linked to the Sarah Patching who married James Snelling on the basis that it is in the parish in which they married and close to the time implied by the age given when Sarah died. The Sarah baptised in 1740 had an older sister called Mary, whose will (written in 1760) mentions her sister Sarah and appoints their uncle Walter Longhurst as executor, and one of the witnesses to Sarah Patching and James Snelling’s marriage in 1764 was Walter Longhurst. There was a Sarah Patching buried at Horsham on 1st April 1742 described as “a child”, but in light of the evidence of the marriage witness and sister’s will, it is assumed that child who died in 1742 must be somebody else, albeit no baptism record for such a child in Horsham has been found.

2. ↑ Burials register, in Crawley, Sussex: Parish Registers (West Sussex County Council, Chichester).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Crawley in the County of Sussex in the Year 1816
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   21	Sarah Snelling	Crawley	June 7	77 years [1738/9]	S.J. Lewin