Even though I feel I neglected Sarah Minister, the notes and documentation on hand have a lot of information about her. It isn't complete though and, if DNA matching might potentially help, I will need to find out about both her children and any siblings she might have had. There are similarities between her experiences and those of my other 2 x great grandmother, Mary Rideout nee Maidment. They both became widows at a young age. I wonder if Sarah, like Mary, had a child after her husband was no longer around.
Unlike Mary, Sarah moved a lot as was common for the city dwellers of London at the time. She would have lived in the Big Smoke from the time of her marriage to Benjamin Cavanaugh on September 11, 1838 until her death in 1885. As you can see from the photo of their death certificates above, Benjamin died in 1855 so that meant she was a widow for 30 years. Even so, her occupation on her death certificate was listed as being the widow of Benjamin Cavanagh, as though that was what had supported her for three decades.
At this point, I need to go through the information I have and come up with a plan of action to fill in the gaps of Sarah's story and determine what happened to her children. I also hope to take the search back to Sarah's origins in Great Yarmouth and see if there are any other related Ministers I can follow up on.
Sources:
General Register Office Death
Certificate:
·
Benjamin
Cavanagh 25 March 1855 31 Devonshire Street age 39 Painter Journeyman Phthisis
3 years Pericarditis informant Mary [Ind] present at the death registered 27
March 1855
·
Sarah
Cavanagh 10 August 1885 Infirmary Bakers Row age 70 Widow of Benjamin Cavanagh
a plumber 6 Charlotte Place Apoplexy informant JJ Ilott medical superintendent
Infirmary Bakers Row registered 12 August 1885
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