Person:Susannah Edwards (9)

Susannah Edwards was baptised on 27th July 1823 at Pagham in Sussex, daughter of Fanny Edwards, formerly Johnson, and her husband James Edwards, an agricultural labourer. Susannah was the fourth of their nine children.

As a young woman Susannah went into domestic service. She worked for several years for a clergyman named William Holland and his wife Jane who lived at a house called Cloisters near Chichester Cathedral. Susannah appears there in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses.

On Christmas Day 1857, aged 34, Susannah married a grocer named William Francis. They had two children, Maria Jane and William, and appear in the 1861 census living on Southgate in Chichester. Sadly William died in 1863, leaving Susannah with two small children to raise. She continued to work as a grocer on Southgate, appearing there in the 1871 census.

By 1881 Susannah had moved to the Portfield area on the eastern edges of Chichester, which at that time fell within the parish of Oving. The 1881 census finds her living at 15 Florence Lane in Portfield with her two children and her elderly uncle, Henry Edwards. Susannah by this time was working as a laundress. The 1881 census also tells us that her son William had suffered with epilepsy from birth.

In 1891 Susannah and her son William were living at 10 Mill Cottages on Oving Road in the Portfield area. Susannah died in 1894, aged 71.

1. ↑ Pagham Baptisms, in Sussex, England. Online Parish Clerks.

   No. 375
   Date: 27 Jul 1823
   Name: Susanna
   Parents: James & Fanny
   Surname: Edwards
   Abode: Lagness
   Occupation: Labourer

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 1119; Book 4; Folio 4; Page 27, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Cloisters, Chichester (Precinct of the Close), Sussex
   William Holland, male, 55 [1781-6], Clergyman, not born in county
   Jane Holland, female, 55 [1781-6], not born in county
   Sarah Redman, female, 45 [1791-6], F.S., born in county
   Susannah Edwards, female, 20 [1816-21], F.S., born in county
   Sarah Hall, female, 50 [1786-91], F.S., not born 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 1653; Folio 320; Page 6, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Cloisters, Chichester (Precinct of Cathedral Close), Sussex
   W[illia]m W. Holland, head, married, male, 65 [1785/6], Rector of St Andrew Chichester, b. Birmingham, Warwickshire
   Jane Holland, wife, married, female, 70 [1780/1], b. London, Middlesex
   Sarah Redman, servant, unmarried, female, 55 [1795/6], House Maid, b. Sutton, Sussex
   Sarah Hall, servant, unmarried, female, 64 [1786/7], Cook, b. Petersfield, Hampshire
   Susan Edwards, servant, unmarried, female, 27 [1823/4], House Maid, b. Pagham, Sussex

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 623; Folio 51; Page 20, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: West side, Southgate, Chichester (Subdeanery), Sussex
   William Francis, head, married, male, 34 [1826/7], Grocer & shopman, b. Lodsworth, Sussex
   Susannah Francis, wife, married, female, 37 [1823/4], b. Pagham, Sussex
   Maria Jane Francis, daughter, unmarried, female, 2 [1858/9], b. Chichester, Sussex
   Jane Smith, boarder, widow, female, 60 [1800/1], Monthly Nurse, b. Horsham, Sussex
   Fanny Croucher, servant, unmarried, female, 15 [1845/6], Domestic Serv[an]t, b. Singleton, Sussex
   John Sherwood, lodger, widower, male, 83 [1777/8], Lawyer out of Practice, b. London [more detailed birthplace illegible]

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 1117; Folio 49; Page 25, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Southgate, Chichester (Subdeanery), Sussex
   Susan Francis, head, widow, female, 47 [1823/4], Grocer, b. Pagham, Sussex
   William Francis, son, male, 7 [1863/4], Scholar, b. Chichester, Sussex
   Maria Francis, daughter, female, 12 [1858/9], Scholar, b. Chichester, Sussex
   Peter McHugh, lodger, unmarried, male, 29 [1841/2], Lab Ordnance Survey, b. Ireland
   William Ayling, lodger, unmarried, male, 24 [1846/7], Gunsmith, b. Chichester, Sussex
   Ellen Stroud, lodger, unmarried, female, 25 [1845/6], Dressmaker, b. Chichester, Sussex
   William Murray, lodger, unmarried, male, 26 [1844/5], Lab Ordnance Survey, b. Ireland

6. ↑ 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 1126; Folio 96; Page 36, 3 Apr 1881.

   15 Florance [sic] Lane, Portfield, Oving, Sussex
   Susanna Francis, head, widow, 57 [1823/4], Laundress, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Maria Jane Francis, daughter, unmarried, female, 22 [1858/9], Laundress, b. Chichester, Sussex
   William Francis, son, unmarried, male, 17 [1863/4], No occupation, b. Chichester, Sussex, Epileptic from Birth
   Henry Edwards, boarder, widower, male, 81 [1799/1800], Gardener, b. Pagham, Sussex

7. ↑ 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 844; Folio 81; Page 21, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 10 Mill Cottages, Oving Road, Portfield, Oving, Sussex
   Susanna Francis, head, widow, female, 67 [1823/4], No occupation, b. Pagham, Sussex
   William Francis, son, single, male, 27 [1863/4], b. Chichester, Sussex, Epileptic from Birth

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

   d. Susannah FRANCIS, September Quarter 1894, Westhampnett Registration District, Volume 2b, page 215, aged 71 [1822/3]