George Richard Westcott 1831-1882 & Sarah Hall 1833-1902

 

George Richard & Sarah Westcott nee Hall

It was whilst writing a blog post about Ada Mildred Youell that I recalled this couple. My association is that Sarah’s second marriage was to my 3x Great Grandfather, William Youell. Further to this is that George and Sarah’s son took William’s name. So remembering them I decided it was time to investigate further. As with so many of my ancestors and wider family research, what would initially appear a simple task, turns up complex lives and characters, only scraping the surface of the truth behind the facts.

Sarah Hall, was born in Swaffham, Norfolk on 12 Jul 1833, the daughter of William Hall, a shoemaker and Sarah nee Addison.

                                        

In the 1841 census she was at home with her parents and siblings but by the 1851 census she was working in service to Augustus Pyne and his family, the curate of West Bradenham, Norfolk.

By 1854, she had moved to London as the next document to be found is her marriage to George Richard Westcott, a licensed victualler at The Parish Church, St Georges Hanover Square on Jan 12^th.

George Richard Westcott was born 28^th Sept 1831 to John, a servant, and Lucy Westcott at St Georges Hanover Square.

 As the marriage certificate shows George was a Licensed Victualler. Pubs that he ran include: The Westmoreland Arms in Shoreditch and The Hunters Arms in Compton Street.

Whilst the publican of The Hunters Arms in 1856 George Richard was charged with misdemeanour and sent for trial. The misdemeanour involved both assault and grievous bodily harm in the form of the supply of a noxious substance, in this case in supplying a noxious/poisonous ingredient rather than a pure liquor. However the jury found him Not Guilty, due to lack of evidence as per newspaper report.

 London Evening Standard 8th Aug 1856

Meanwhile the Westcott family grew, with the birth of: Sarah Clifford in 1854, George Alfred in 1856 and Frank in 1859.

In 1861 the family are living at the White Lion, Picadilly, the census return is torn.

George Alfred is missing from the census and in the 1871 census he is found living in Swaffham Norfolk, lodging with neighbours of his Uncle, William Hall.

Meanwhile, their daughter, Sarah Clifford Westcott died in Sept 1861, being buried at Brompton Cemetery on Sept 19th aged 7.

^{It is during the 1860’s that it would appear the couple went their separate ways.}

^{What happened to Sarah Westcott?}

^{As previously stated her son George is found in Swaffham in the 1871 census, but I have been unable to find evidence of Sarah or her son Frank.}

^{However on the 14th April 1879, widower William Youell marries widow Sarah Westcott.}

^{For the 1881 census William, Sarah and Frank are all living in Bermondsey, Frank has now changed his name to Youell, so Frank Westcott has become Frank Youell he later marries William’s niece, Eliza Youell in 1879. Documents relating to the Banns of marriage transcribed for William and Sarah on the Ancestry site it suggests that Banns were called again for this marriage in 1881, however viewing the document no year is actually identified but the dates of the banns would be consistent to the 1879 marriage.}

^{Sadly this marriage was short lived as William died in May 1882. It would appear that Sarah then goes to live with her son Frank and Eliza as she is registered with them both on the 1891 and 1901 census. Sarah died on 19th January 1902.}

^{What happened to George Richard Westcott?}

^{Sarah states that she is a widow on the 1879 marriage certificate but despite searching for a death, I was unable to find one within the time frame. As neither Sarah nor George were blood relatives I would occasionally dip in and out of searching. But as I wrote the blog relating to Ada married to Frank Youell, the grandson of George I decided to make another wider search for George R, and this time it was fruitful opening up a whole new story of intrigue and co-incidences or perhaps the family were all more cohesive than would be expected. As with all mysteries the actual clues do not come in chronological order, in this particular case it was going with an 1881 census entry, the General Record Office (GRO) online search facility then the baptism record of another son that led me to finding the man in question. So I will start with the 1881 census and return to 1871 later.} 

^{On the 1881 census a George Westcott is found at No. 32 Tracey Rd, a house of multiple occupancy in Lambeth District with his son, Frederick, aged 12.}

^{Searching the GRO online indexes. A Frederick Westcott b. 1868 in the general area shows a mother’s maiden name of Seaman. A blanket search of Westcott/Seaman births in the London area showed a number of births.}

^{Frederick G Westcott b.1868}

^{Florrie Bessie Westcott b.1869 d.1870}

^{Harry Westcott b.1871 d.1872 or 1874}

^{Florrie Seaman Westcott b. 1873}

^{Bertie Westcott b.1874 d.1874}

^{Ernest Westcott b.1876}

^{Albert Herbert Westcott b.1878.}

^{It is the baptism of Ernest that authenticates that the father of these children is in fact George Richard and a clue to the mother.}

^{The baptism took place at St Mary’s Lambeth on Mar 17 1878.}

^{There is no marriage for George and Florence, which is unsurprising as it would have been bigamous. The implication of course is that William Youell and Sarah Westacott would also have been a bigamous marriage.}

^{I then found George and Florence on the 1871 census in Chorlton, Lancashire, again both parties give their occupation as ‘professional’. It is interesting to note that George has shaved a few years from his age.}  

Their son, Frederick, is found with William and Mary Fish in Lamberth as a visitor. On  finding Florence’s occupation the reason for the Lancashire address becomes clear.

^{So searching for Florence became so much easier, when I was able to establish that she was Florence Seaman, born into the theatrical family headed by William and Frederica Seaman. Okay, so this may be seen as a huge leap of faith as to the authenticity of this assertion, which can be quickly confirmed whilst following the life of Frederick G, son of the George Westcott in the 1881 census, who in 1901 is with his cousin, Charles Seaman, a stage carpenter living in Newington.} 

^{Florence Seaman. From the book Victorian Touring Actresses by Janice Norwood 2020: re Julia Seaman.}

^{In families such as the Seaman’s involvement in the business was extensive with the careers of it’s members frequently entwining. In addition to her parents Julia’s 3 sisters also earned their livings as performers, although none matched her high profile. Frederica Mary (1834-69) was a dancer until she became an invalid. Theresa Alice(1843-1925), stage name, Alice, was particularly successful at the Adelphi in the 1860’s and Florence (1850-1917), known as Florrie, shone in pantomime and as a serio comic. Their brother, William Joseph (1846-1925) worked as a stage carpenter.}

As previously mentioned regarding the 1871 census an adverisement in the Manchester Evening News, April 12. Florrie was appearing at the Alexandra Hall.

^{There are numerous articles in the newspapers following Florrie’s career, often she appears as a guest artist.}

^{It is noticeable that many of George and Florence’s children died in infancy and another child I have been unable to follow is Florrie Seaman, b.1873, and am unsure of facts relating to their youngest child Alfred Herbert, but Frederick and Ernest clearly survived. Frederick was with his father in 1881, but where were Florrie and Ernest?}

^{I eventually found her under the name Florrie Verner in Brighton, reportedly married to Charles Verner, an actor born in Scotland. She also has a 4 year old Ernest, but now using the surname Verner with another child, 3 month old, Charles.}

^{It appears that Ernest has taken the name of Verner and is being bought up as Charles’ son. Florrie remains with Charles for the 1891,1901 (Oldbury Worcs) and 1911 census, Suffolk, although there is yet another name change as Charles and the rest of the family become known as Fortesque By the 1891 census there is another son, Thomas aged 5.}

^{Checking the GRO index for births, there is no registration for an Ernest Verner mmn Seaman, so it looks that the assertion that Ernest Westcott and Ernest Verner are one and the same is likely.}

^{Charles Vere Verner mmn Seaman was b. M qtr 1881 in Blackburn}

^{Gladys Vere Verner mmn Seaman b. 1882 M qtr Eastry Kent baptised 1883 at St Andrews Deal, but cannot be found with Charles and Florrie in later census.}

She appears to have been adopted by Thomas and Sarah Ann Barker living in Lambeth by the 1891 census.

^{However despite using several search engines I have not been able to find the birth details for Thomas. As for Florrie, again I have been unable to find an actual death record, but of course there are numerous names that may have been used, the snippet from the recently written book suggests a date of 1917. Charles Fortesque appears to have died in 1922 in Wales.}

We left George Richard Westcott at the 1881 census with his son Frederick, it is not long after that in 1882 that there is a death record in Lambeth district.

Whilst searching the newspapers I found this report in The Sportsman on 16th Jan 1882.

^{The address given in the report tallies with that in the 1881 census and further confirmation is found when on Fredericks later marriage certificate he gives his father’s occupation as a ‘billiard marker’.}

So that is the story of George Westcott, Sarah Hall, Florence (Florrie) Seaman and multiple children. I appreciate there are many gaps in this story and if cost was not an issue there would be numerous birth and death certificates I would like to investigate, alongside an odd will or two, but it is a start, and may help those that have an elusive ancestor in their own family relating to this story.

*all documents are Crown Copyright*