From a Beautiful Village

Sarah Smith was born in Bibury parish, Gloucester, in the first half on 1817, rather less than 9 months after her parents, James Smith and Elizabeth Hatt were married on 17 December 1816.  I have previously written Elizabeth Hatt’s story. 

Bibury is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful villages in England.  It is full of stone cottages by a river in nestled in the hills of the Cotswolds and has been a popular stopping place for tourist coaches. Sarah was baptised in Bibury parish church on 6 June 1817.  Her family’s residence was given as Arlington, which is across the River Coln from the main village of Bibury and is famous for Arlington Row, a particularly picturesque row of cottages. 

 

Arlington Row (Public domain photo from Needpix)

Sarah Smith was the oldest of at least ten children.  Her siblings were Joseph, Elizabeth, James, Charles, William, Mary, Martha (died young), Susannah and her twin Martha.  All of the children were born and baptised in Bibury, the twins in 1839 by which time Sarah was an adult.

In 1841, Sarah was not living with her family in Bibury.  With a surname like “Smith”, there are several possible candidates in the 1841 census.  It is likely that she went into service in her teens and was working as a servant somewhere not far from her family.

Arlington row (Public domain photo from Needpix)

Sometime in the early 1840s, the whole Smith family moved to Hammersmith in London.  In 1844, Sarah Smith had an illegitimate son, William Smith, born there.  Over the next few years, Sarah’s brothers all married in the Hammersmith area.  I have had less success with researching her sisters. 

While the rest of her family stayed in London, Sarah moved back to Gloucestershire with her son, William.  It is possible that she had another illegitimate son, Thomas born around 1845, although he could have been the son of a different Sarah Smith.  That Thomas tragically died in 1848 in Bibury, when his clothes accidentally caught fire.

In 1850, Sarah was working as a servant in the village of Winstone in Gloucestershire.  She met Thomas Partridge, a widowed carpenter from nearby Duntisbourne Abbots, who was about 20 years older than Sarah. Sarah Smith married Thomas Partridge on 21 March 1850 in Winstone. Sarah appears to have left William with the Merchant family in Winstone for a time after her marriage as William was living with them in the 1851 census.

According to the census, in 1851, Sarah Smith was living in Duntisbourne Abbots, in a household with husband Thomas; two of his adult children, Anne and Walter; and two of his younger children or grandchildren, Louisa and Cecily.  Walter married in 1860.  Ann stayed living with Sarah.  Sarah was only four years older than Ann.  I haven’t been able to find out what happened to Louisa or Cecily.

On 6 April 1852, Sarah and Thomas had a daughter, Harriet Partridge, their only child that I know of.

Sadly for Sarah, Thomas Partridge died in August 1853, ending a brief marriage.  It would have been a difficult time for Sarah, as her mother died around the same time in London and her father-in-law Nathaniel Partridge had died earlier in the year.

In 1861, the widowed Sarah Partridge was living in a full household, still in Duntisbourne Abbots, with her children Harriet and William, step daughter Ann, some cousins on her mother’s side Sarah and Henry George Kibblewhite, and border William Fern.  Sarah was described as a proprietor of houses.

By the time of the next census, 10 years later in 1871, the Duntisbourne Abbots household had shrunk to Sarah, Ann and Harriet Partridge, William Smith, and Henry Kibblewhite.  Sarah was working as a laundress, possibly a sign she was a bit short of funds.  William was working as a slater and plasterer, a trade he may have learned from former border William Fern.

William Smith and Harriet Partridge both married in the 1870s and they both married Partridge cousins.  William Smith married Julia Partridge, the daughter of Thomas Partridge’s brother William.  Harriet Partridge married Oscar Kirby, son of Margaret Partridge, sister of William and Thomas.

At the time of the 1881 Census, Sarah Partridge’s household had shrunk further to step daughter Ann and cousin Sarah Kibblewhite, still in Duntisbourne Abbots.  Sarah was described as living on an annuity.

In 1891, Sarah and Ann Partridge were still living together in Duntisbourne Abbots, along with a nurse, Elizabeth Scriven.

Ann Partridge died in 1894, aged about 70, having lived with Sarah for over 40 years.

A new century brought change to Sarah Partridge.  In the 1901 census, 83 year old Sarah was visiting her daughter Harriet’s family in Batley, Yorkshire.  Batley was a mill town, so very different to the quiet Cotswold villages where Sarah had spent most of her life.

Sarah appears to have stayed with her daughter in Batley for the last few years of her life as she died there on 6 January 1909, aged about 91.

I have been fortunate enough to have visited Bibury and Duntisbourne Abbots and see the villages where Sarah Partridge nee Smith spent much of her life.

 

Notes on lineage: Me > Dad > Helen Francis Ruth Akeroyd > Florence Ruth Kirby > Harriet Partridge > Sarah Smith