Loading Sugar Hogsheads* in Antigua
1850 didn't start out well for Sarah Arment. Her husband, Thomas, had died in October of 1849 while in custody as a convict on the hulk Defence in Portsmouth Harbour. Had she been able to see him after he was taken away? Was she able to attend his funeral?
Sarah's son, Thomas, was still in England but being transferred from one prison to another as he awaited transportation. It must have been difficult to keep in touch. Sarah had her remaining children to turn to for support, her sons George and James and daughter Sarah Littlemore. Did she take stock of the children who remained close and hope the worst was over?
Perhaps there were indications that everything was not well with the remaining family at the beginning of 1850. George Arment's wife, Sophia, died on March 23. Perhaps she had taken to her bed before an end deemed a "natural death accelerated by excessive drink". Sophia was 38 when she died. Was George distracted after his wife's death following so closely on his father's? It appears that he was working when he was "accidentally crushed between two sugar Hogsheads*" on July 12, 1850.
That series of events reads like an over the top tragedy but the kicker is that there are documents to prove what happened. By 1851 life settled down a bit for the Arments. Sarah Arment was now living with her son, James and his family, at 5 John Street in St. Georges in the East. Hang on a minute, isn't that where George and Sophia were living? Maybe the brothers and their families had been living together before George and his wife died. Then again, maybe James had seized the opportunity to move to a better address when brother George died. But there was another question. When I looked down the names of the household in the 1851 census I was left wondering what happened to George and Sophia's son, William?
Story to be continued next week
Sources:
General Register Office, England. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, 1849 Death in the Sub-district of Alverstoke in the County of Southampton No. 216 19 October, 1849 2.15 am “Defence” Convict Ship Portsmouth Harbour for Thomas Armant
General Register Office, England. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, Registration District Saint George in the East 1850 Death in the Sub-district of St Mary in the Parish of St. George in the County of Middlesex No. 390 23 March, 1850 5 John Street name: Sophia Arment, wife of George Arment, a carman
General Register Office, England. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, Registration District Saint George in the East 1850 Death in the Sub-district of St Mary’s in the County of Middlesex No 482 12 July, 1850 in Betts Street name: George Arment
Image:
By
Infant School Depository; after W. Clark -
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/142966, Public Domain,
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