Sarah Peake

Events

Date of Birth: in the 1770s.

Place of Birth: Eccleshall, Staffordshire.

Eccleshall is given as Sarah’s place of birth in the 1851 census. Her age in that census and the age given at burial suggest that she was born in the early 1770s, but the two Sarah Peakes who were baptized in Eccleshall in the period were baptized in 1777 and 1778.

Date of Burial: 8 December 1851.

Place of Burial: St Peter ad Vincula, Stoke upon Trent, Staffordshire.

The burial is recorded in the parish register.

Relationships

Father: uncertain.

Mother: uncertain.

A Sarah Peake was baptized in Eccleshall in January 1777, mother Eleanor Peake. Another Sarah was baptized in Eccleshall 21 August 1778, parents Richard Peake and Frances Underwood. Eleanor and Richard were siblings, children of John Peake and Eleanor Ward.

Spouse: William Harper. Married 8 January 1797, or shortly after. Banns read at Eccleshall, Staffordshire.

The banns were read in Eccleshall, Staffordshire on 25 December 1796, and 1 January and 8 January 1797. Both were "of this parish".

Children:

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)

William Harper (baptized 10 June 1802 in Whitmore, Staffordshire - buried 14 March 1878 in Fenton, Staffordshire) married (1) Sarah Bradshaw 22 February 1829 in Fulford, Staffordshire; married (2) Ellen Alcock in 1840.

Thomas Harper (baptized 20 April 1806 in Whitmore - died 1878) married Elizabeth Cope 19 July 1829 in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.

Sarah Harper (born 28 February 1808, baptized 9 March 1808 in Madeley, Staffordshire).

John Harper (baptized 21 June 1810 in Whitmore).

Elizabeth Harper (born about 1810 - buried 10 December 1832 in Stoke upon Trent) married Richard Woodfield 20 July 1830 in Stoke upon Trent, Staffordshire.

Jane Harper (or Ann) (born about 1817 or 1819 in Stoke upon Trent) married George Dawson 31 May 1846 in Bucknall, St Mary, Staffordshire. (Jane’s father is recorded as William in her marriage record.) The name on the marriage record and in the 1841 census is "Jane". "Ann" is recorded in the the 1851 census and probably as a witness to her brother William's 1829 marriage.

Evidence

1841 Census

Stoke upon Trent, Penkhull

Welch Street

James Poole, 50, Labourer, Y

Mary [Poole], 40, Y

John [Poole], 15, Y

Samuel [Poole], 12, Y

Sarah Harper, 65, N

Jane [Harper], 20, Potter, Y

William Woodfi[ield], 15, [Potter], Y

1851 Census

Stoke upon Trent, 7 Rome Street

George Dawson, Head, Mar., 26, Fruit Dealer, [born] Stoke on Trent

Ann [Dawson], wife, Mar., 33, [born] Stoke on Trent

Sarah Harper, Mother in Law, Widow, 80, [born] Eccleshall

William Woodfield, Nephew, Mar, 19, Potters Oven Man, [born] Stoke on Trent

Ann [Woodfield], Niece, Mar, 26, House Servant, [born] Stoke on Trent

Burial (Stoke upon Trent, St Peter ad Vincula, 1851):

Name: Sarah Harper

Abode: Stoke

When Buried: Dec 8

Age: 79 years

Commentary

The Sarah Peake who married William Harper in Eccleshall in 1797 is clearly the same woman who appears in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. The father of the Jane Harper who married George Dawson is recorded as William Harper, labourer, on her marriage record.

My assumption is that the William and Sarah Harper who were the parents of Jane were the same couple who had children baptized at Whitmore and Madeley. Evidence supporting this is that the William Harper born in 1802 was residing in Penkhull in 1831 when his son William was baptized, which is where the Sarah of this page shows up in the 1841 census. There is also an Abraham Harper, born according to the censuses in Podmore in 1797 (Podmore was in the parish of Eccleshall), married in Madeley and having children there starting in 1818, and living in Penkhull in 1841. Abraham's father, according to the marriage record for his second marriage, was a John Harper.

References

George Dawson household, 1851 census of England. Staffordshire, Stoke upon Trent,, ED 1b, piece 2006, folio 38, page 4, in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851; digital image Ancestry.com (accessed 7 November 2015).

James Poole household, 1841 census of England. Staffordshire, Stoke upon Trent, Fenton, Stoke upon Trent; HO107, piece 991, book 13, folio 33, page 39, in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841; digital image Ancestry.com (accessed 12 April 2014).

Staffordshire, parish registers. [Digital images on Findmypast.co.uk, accessed 7 November 2015]