Sarah Carter

LIFE GOES ON: AN INTRODUCTION

MY GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS - I - MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

THE SIXTEEN FAMILIES

KNOTT - I - BOWLES - I - WATERS - I - HARRALL - I - PAGE - I - WISEMAN - I - CROSS - I - CARTER

CORNWELL - I - HUCKLE - I - MORTLOCK - I - MANSFIELD - I - REYNOLDS - I - CARTER - I - ANABLE - I - STEARN

CHRONOLOGY - I - DRAMATIS PERSONAE - I - WHERE PEOPLE CAME FROM - I - CALENDAR

MAP OF ELY - I - MAP OF MEDWAY
MAP OF CAMBRIDGE AND DISTRICT

THE WORKHOUSE

WORLD WAR I - I - WORLD WAR II

simonknott.co.uk I home I e-mail

LIFE GOES ON

Sarah Ann Carter
born Ely, Cambridgeshire, 1860
died Ely, Cambridgeshire, 1917

on the Page family tree
part of the Cross family story

married to Thomas Cross

mother of Sophia Cross and Herbert Cross

daughter of Elijah Carter
and Ann Convine

Sarah Ann Carter (1860-1917). My Father's Mother's Mother's Mother. My Great-Great-Grandmother.

Sarah was born out in the bleak fen at Prickwillow. When she was young the family moved into Ely, and as a child Sarah lived next door to her future husband, Thomas. Sarah and her husband Thomas had at least nine children, one of whom, Sophia, was my great-grandmother, while another, my great-great-uncle Herbert, would be killed in WWI at the Battle of Gaza. Sarah's daughter Sophia was still alive to appear on my parents' wedding photograph in 1956.

1860: Sarah's birth was registered in Ely in the fourth quarter of the year. There is no baptism record in the Ely Holy Trinity parish registers.

1861 census:

The 1861 census returns for Ely are lost. Sarah would have been about one year old at the time of the 1861 census. On 8th March, when Sarah's brother James was baptised in Holy Trinity parish, the family address was given as Prickwillow. James died a week later.

1863: at the baptism of Sarah's brother, also called James, on 19th March, the family address was given as Ely Drove. He would also die in infancy, and when a third James was baptised in 1864 the family address was Black Wing Drove.

1871 census:

Sarah Ann was eleven years old at the time of the 1871 census. The Carter family were living in Water Side, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Sarah Ann's father, Elijah, is shown as a labourer (general). He was 36 years old. Her mother Anne was 35.

Sarah was the second of three children. Sophie was 16 and James was 7.

All the family were born in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire, which is on the outskirts of Ely. The transcript for their entry is here. Interestingly, the Cross family lived next door, and Sarah would marry Thomas Cross, who was 19 at the time of the census.

1881 census:

Sarah was 21 years old at the time of the 1881 census. The Carter family was living in Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Sarah Ann is shown as a farm labourer. Her father was not at home. Her mother Anne is 48 years old.

Sarah is the oldest of two children. Her brother James is 16.

All the family were born in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire, which is on the outskirts of Ely. The transcript for their entry is here.

There is an Elijah Carter of the right age living at the Bull Inn, March, Cambridgeshire, and giving his occupation as an agricultural labourer. But he says he is unmarried, and gives his place of birth as Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. As Elijah was born in Wikhambrook near Bury St Edmunds, this may well be the right man..

1881:
Thomas Cross married Sarah Ann Carter in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral on Christmas Eve. Both gave their address as Broad Street. The witnesses were Thomas Cross and Martha Cross.

1882: Thomas and Sarah Ann's daughter Sophia was born on 9th January, and baptised privately on 24th February. The family address was given as Broad Street, probably the house of Sarah's parents.

1891 census:

Sarah was thirty-two at the time of the 1891 census. She was married. The Cross family were living in Potters Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Her husband Thomas is shown as a gas works labourer. He was 41.

Sarah had five children living at home. Sophia and Alice were both 9, Sophia being 9 months older than Alice. Tom was 5, James was 2 and Herbert was 4 months old. Also in the house on the night of the census was Sophia Convine, aged 37 and described as a visitor.

Sarah was born in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire. Her husband and the children were born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The visitor, Sophia Convine, also born at Prickwillow, was probably a cousin of Sarah's, as Convine was her mother's maiden name. The transcript for their entry is here.

1901 census:

Sarah was forty-two at the time of the 1901 census. The Cross family were living in Potters Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Her husband Thomas is shown as a gasworks labourer. He was 49.

Sarah had seven children at home at the time of the 1901 census. Tom was 15, and is shown as a farm labourer. James was 12, Herbert was 10, Annie was 8, Sarah was 6, John was 3 and Violet was 2 months old.

Sarah was born in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire. Her husband and the children were born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The transcript for their entry is here.

Sarah's daughter Sophia, my great-grandmother, was twenty years old at the time of the 1901 census. Her birth year is given as 1881. She was married to Arthur Page. The Page family were living on west side of Bull Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Her husband Arthur is shown as a baker's labourer. He was 22 years old. Sophia had no children at the time of the census.

Sophia was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, as was her husband Arthur. The transcript for their entry is here.

1911 census:

Sarah was fifty at the time of the 1911 census (actually 52).The Cross family were living in Potters Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Her husband Thomas is shown as a general labourer in gasworks. He was 57. They declared they had been married for 29 years.

Sarah had seven children at home at the time of the 1911 census. Tom was 25 and is shown as a farm labourer. James was 23 and is shown as unfit for work, Herbert was 20 and is shown as a farm labourer (On 18th June 1917, Herbert would be killed when a Private in the 1st/5th Batallion of the Suffolk Regiment in Gaza, Palestine), Annie was 18 and was shown as a jam factory general labourer, Sarah was 15 and is shown as an errand girl, John was 13 and was shown as a schoolboy, and Violet was 10 and is shown as a schoolgirl. Curiously, her husband Thomas wrote on the form that they had had seven children. In fact, there had been at least nine.

Sarah was born in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire. Her husband and the children were born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The transcript for their entry is here. You can see the original form here.

1917: Sarah died at Potters Lane, Ely, Cambridgeshire on 5th October at the relatively young age of 57. This was a few months after the death of her son Herbert in the Battle of Gaza. She was buried in Ely cemetery on 9th October in plot F1148. There was a notice of the death in the Cambridge Independent Press on 12th October.