Stephen ELGAR (1808 – 1858) and Hannah DAWSON (1815 – 1914)
Stephen ELGAR was baptised in Tilmanstone 1 in Kent on 14-Feb-1808 to the couple Elijah ELGAR (1780 – 1853) and Mary Ann KNOWLER (1780 – 1846). He was the fourth of ten children known to be born to them and believe that all but one survived to adulthood. All eight of his great-grandparents were born in Kent.
Hannah DAWSON was baptised apparently at the Church of England, Westbere, Kent on 08-Jan-1815. Her parents John DAWSON (1789 – 1856) and Ann SCREEDER (c1778 – 1850). There appears to be a number of documents indexed as coming from Westbere but other research indicates that this was not where the events occurred. Possibly the records had somehow been consolidated there so assumption is that they were from that location.
She was the second of six children known to be born to them but their firstborn did not live very long so she would have been brought up as the eldest child. I don’t have as much knowledge about her ancestry and only three great-grandparents have been identified as yet and location of birth only known for one of these. The majority probably are Kent based though.
The family seem to have moved to the Tilmanstone area soon after she was born so presumably it is in this location that Stephen and Hannah met. They married on 10-Sep-1836 and had ten children born between 1836 and 1857 with the first baptised on 23-Oct-1836. Sadly one died so soon after birth that not even given a name but recorded Q1 1839 in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 as Female ELGAR registered in Eastry District.
In the 1841 Census the couple are listed in the Parish of Tilmanstone. They are living in Lower Street which is still there although many properties are different to those of that period. Their ages rounded to 30 and 25 and he is employed as an Ag Lab. They appear to have two children attributed to them with ages given as 5 and 1. From the baptism research know that the gap between the ages is due to the lost infant.
During the next decade Stephen presumably continued to work the land whilst Hannah looked after the family at home and another four children were born. The 1851 Census has them, with all six living offspring, under the address of Upper Street, Tilmanstone which would imply they have moved a bit more centrally and nearer the church. The eldest son is also working as an Ag Lab at 14, with the next three (girls of 11, 6 and 5) being noted as Scholars.
The village only had about 400 people recorded in it during 2011 2 so it is still not a large place. Between the census and end of 1857 the couple have three more children but believe their eldest, Lawrence William ELGAR, died in 1854 out in India. Below is just the extract of the notes (from Jan-2021) re my investigations relating to him.
There are only something like seven Laurence / Lawrence ELGAR births registered on FreeBMD and tried to unpick all of them resulting in what seemed to be 14 distinct individuals who have that first name. Others researching this individual have different dates of death and one shows him having a family but think they may be combining several of these.
Then it seems that Stephen died in early 1858, about the age of 50, so their youngest was not even six months old. His burial says that 52 but may have only be 49 if born just before his baptism date. His cause of death is given as Atrophy and he died in hospital so how long had he not been able to work and wasting away.
At least with it being a small community you would hope that Hannah received some neighbourly support being left with eight children under 18. The 1861 Census has her occupation as that of Laundress which is presumably how she is providing for the five at home with her whose ages range from 3 to 13. Her abode is next door to the Three Colts pub 3
Five years after being widowed Hannah married a John FAGG who may have been married twice before and had at least four children of his own. John and Hannah then got to share about six years together as a couple before he also passed away in 1869. So by the time of 1871 Census where her age is given as 56 she is twice widowed. Role now given as Charwoman and only youngest son still under roof. He is working as an Ag Lab.
One of the children possibly did not marry but may have ended up in London. The others were hitched in 1864, 1869, 1874, 1876, 1879, 1880 and 1886 so would like to think these occasions allowed them to get together as a family. And not sure how interlinked her family was long term with her step-children but likely they were found in the same social circles even if she had not married John.
By 1881 she is back in Lower Street, now living on her own and working as a Domestic Servant at the age of 67. Not found in an 1891 Census but by 1901 apparently back in Upper Street as schedule number 85 which the last entry of the census for the Ecclesiastical Parish of Tilmanstone. Aged 87 and living on own means.
Hannah ended up living in daughter in Deal and was bedridden for a number of years. In the 1911 Census aged 98 and although crossed through it says she had 10 children born alive and 3 have died. This I believe would be the one that seems to have gone to the capital.
In the write ups of her death that occurred on 19-Oct-1914 Hannah was described as a centurion but possibly died just before reaching that milestone based on her baptism date. She was brought back to Tilmanstone for burial.
Hannah’s connection to Charles HAWTREY is described in the following blog article that I previously posted along with some more detail of her later life including some census images.
Footnotes –
References to be provided for evidence at a later date but most research has been done using Ancestry, FreeBMD and Google Maps.
- Historic England – https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1247778 ↩︎
- City Population – https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/admin/dover/E04004926__tilmanstone/ ↩︎
- Dover Kent Archives – http://www.dover-kent.com/Three-Colts-Tilmanstone.html ↩︎
