Sarah Bowditch in Salisbury

I really need a fresh pair of eyes to check I have not made some silly mistake .... I hope the following makes sense ...

Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Emily, born in Beaminster, Dorset Apr-Jun 1863

1871 in Beaminster with parents [RG10: 2026: 30: 32]
1881 in Fisherton Anger, Wiltshire a laundress, boarder with her married sister [RG11: 2068: 55: 17]
1891 in Fisherton Anger, a nurse in Salisbury Infirmary [RG12: 1618: 143: 1]

I couldn't find her in 1901
but I did find a 1905 Salisbury marriage to either a Charles Ings or a James Young

In 1911 I then found a Sarah, a laundry hand, born c 1864 in Beaminster, wife of Charles Ings, married in 1905 [RG14: 12108; Schedule #: 392] ... so back on the trail

I then found a 1901 census with Sarah (a laundress) and Charles as a married couple [RG13: 1954: 89: 13] ... so naughty, naughty but at least I found her

then I found Sarah (a laundress) and Charles as a married couple in 1891 !! ?? [RG12: 1620: 81: 5]

This is where I started to doubt my sanity, but I don't think I have gone wrong ... I assume as a nurse she wasn't supposed to be married so at work went under her maiden name, but somehow managed to get enumerated at home too under her married name (of course, she wasn't technically married) ... OR I have gone wrong

I have double-checked, and tried to find alternative Charles's and Sarah's and marriages and censuses etc etc

So do I accept the second 1891 census as her, or do I need to rethink my 1901 and 1911???? Please help

 

well all 3 certainly seem to be same person Charles is a bricklayer and Sarah a laundress
It certainly wasn't unusual for couples to move in together especially if perhaps he had been married before and not either widowed or divorced guess we need to look him up

 

CHARLES INGS married one of these people
EMILY JANE SANDY, ELLEN SANDY
in fordingbridge in 1891 maybe this is him

in 1891 with Emily so maybe not

 

I can find no evidence that he was previously married (the Fordingbridge Charles Ings is a different Charles) and no obvious reason therefore why they didn't marry until 1905 (unless it was due to her nursing job as I have heard that they didn't allow married women to nurse?)

At first I thought that Charles just happened to marry two Sarahs, but two Sarahs born c1864 in Beaminster is a bit of a stretch ... so I think therefore that the 1891 nurse Sarah Bowditch and the 1891 laundress Sarah Ings are the same person ... ?

 

really weird the Charles Ings married to Emily Sands is also a bricklayer

but why would sarah say laundress on all other census and only a nurse on one......not that it isn't possible

 

You see why I am confused and doubting

Maybe as a nurse she worked nights and that left her free to do laundry during the day?? Don't know ... but I am certain that there were not two Sarah Bowditches born c1864 in Beaminster who both manage to turn up in Salisbury by 1891 ...

 

she was in same area in 1881 so maybe as she wasn't yet married you could be right using her single name for work not sure nurse had to have qualifications in 1891 and as she was living with Charles she used his name

 

Who is the Sarah Bowditch that married in 1886 in Beaminster to either a Richard giles or Charles james haines

 

She was a widow, nee Watts (she married Richard Giles, who was a widower) -- marriage in Netherbury

 

I cannot find any marriage in Wiltshire on the GRO for a Charles INGS in the period 1881 to 1891 to a Sarah. In fact the only one to come up in Wiltshire is the one in 1905 to Sarah BOWDITCH. I guess the only way to be certain she is your Sarah, is to either buy the marriage certificate or find the actual parish register entry for the marriage but the occupations of both Charles & Sarah do seem to be consistent except for that of Sarah in the 1891 census of Fisherton. I suppose being a nurse back then could cover a variety of work so perhaps she was just moonlighting to gain some extra pennies.

Janet

 

Western Gazette 20th January 1884 The Late Railway Accident
Sarah Bowditch, a nurse at the Infirmary, deposed to the deceased being brought to that lnstitution on the evening of the accident, and to his being placed in her charge. She was with him the whole of the following day, on the evening of which he died.

Western Gazette 8th January 1892 under Salisbury - part of a piece about 'Sudden Death of a Railway Employee at the Infirmary'
On Monday morning, January 4th, Sarah Bowditch, day nurse at the Infirmary, saw deceased at 7.20, and left him to attend to another patient in the same ward. On her return ten minutes later she found that Handford had died.

Ann

 

Well from the little I have managed to find the Salisbury Infirmary was founded in the 1760s and was a modern run hospital with permanent medical staff ... so maybe there was a rule about nurses not marrying ...

Apparently the archives are held at Wiltshire and Swindon History and include staff records ... maybe one day I will go and find out more

 

One of my ancestors was a night nurse at the same infirmary in 1851, and she was going by her married name (although I can't find the marriage). In later years she worked as a laundress. Similar pattern of life to your Sarah. This is a generation earlier, but my Patience had no problem being a married woman and a nurse in 1851.

She was Patience Holly or Holley (nee Hayter, "married" to Thomas)
1841 census: (HO107/1190 f26 p8) Brown Street, Salisbury St Thomas
Patience Holley, 30, born Wilts

1851 census: HO107/1846, Salisbury Infirmary, Fisherton Anger
aged 40, night nurse at infirmary, born Laverstock, Wilts

1861 census: (not got ref), Culver Street, Salisbury
aged 50, laundress, born Laverstock, Wilts

1871 census: (not got ref), 86 Culver Street, Salisbury
aged 60, born Laverstock

1881 census: RG11/ 2072 f36 p12, 11 Queen Street, Salisbury
aged 70, born Laverstock. Nurse in household of Charles Ling, lay vicar and hosier, a family with with 7 children under 12, one only two weeks old.

 

Thank you Barley very interesting

so perhaps I should be asking why Sarah and Charles finally decided to marry in 1905 after all those years, and not why they didn't until then , probably never will know, but that's OK

 

Perhaps they didn't have the money to marry before

 

Well, both her parents died earlier that year, maybe she inherited something (though I haven't found probate records for them)