5
Alan March’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines, and some go back many generations. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Alan’s as (1)
RICHARD HERSEY and SOPHIA SMITH BELSOM (7)
RICHARD HERSEY was some 20 years older than Sophia. His age at his burial gives him a birth date of 1778-9, that matches the following baptism.
Baptism. St Lawrence, Caterham.
1779 Sep 19 Richard s James & Elizabeth Hearsay
His father was James Hersey of Caterham and his mother was Elizabeth Borer of Coulsden.
Richard was the youngest of seven children.
Like so many others, he became an agricultural labourer.
SOPHIA SMITH BELSOM.
Baptism. St Lawrence, Caterham.
1800 Aug 7 Sophia Smith, daughter of George Bellsom & Mary his wife, late Mary Smith, spinster, was born Jul 2nd, privately baptized Aug 7th & received into the church Nov 2nd.
This is somewhat misleading. Sophia’s mother was a base-born child. She took her mother’s surname of Leigh, but was given the baptismal name Mary Smith, reflecting the name of her father, the yeoman’s son John Smith.
A private baptism usually means that there were doubts whether the baby would survive long enough to be brought to church. It could be performed by a lay person, like the midwife. If the child lived, it was later brought to church to have the baptism publicly ratified.
Sophia was the eldest of eleven children, one of whom died in infancy.
When Sophia was born, her father was a husbandman, or agricultural labourer, but when she was about 17 he became a butcher. Surprisingly for an illegitimate child, Mary Smith Leigh was left a very substantial legacy by her paternal grandfather, Robert Smith. This was paid to her when she reached the age of 25. It was shortly after then that George Belsom made this unusual shift from agricultural labourer to butcher. Sophia’s parents must have used this legacy to train George in this trade and set him up with a butcher’s shop.
Sophia’s second name bears witness to her mother’s closeness to Robert Smith. Her elder sister was named Elizabeth Smith Belsom.
Richard Hersey married Sophia Belsom in Caterham on 15 Mar 1817. Both were of this parish.
Baptisms. St Lawrence, Caterham.
1818 Mar 22 Eliza d Richd & Sophia Hersey, h (husbandman)
1820 Feb 6 Richard h
1822 Aug 18 Olave h
1824 Nov 2 George h
1827 Jan 14 Harriet h
1829 Jan 7 Pleasaunce h
1831 Oct 16 Fanny h
1833 Aug 18 Jane h
1837 Jun 13 Maria h
1839 Dec 29 Peter h
It is surprising to find from the censuses that none of them died young.
1841 Census. Village, Caterham
Richard Hersey 60 Ag lab Y
Sophia Hersey 40 Y
Richard Hersey 20 Ag lab Y
Harriet Hersey 13 Y
Pleasance Hersey 11 Y
Fanny Hersey 9 Y
Jane Hersey 7 Y
Maria Hersey 5 Y
Peter Hersey 1 Y
Later that year, their last child Mark was born.
Baptism. St Mary, Caterham.
1841 Nov 21 Mark son of Richard & Sophia Hersey of Caterham, husbandman.
By now, Eliza was married to James Roffey, and living in Chaldon, south of Croydon. George was a 20-year-old agricultural labourer in the village of Addington. 19-year-old Olive was a servant to a farmer and his family in Chaldon, Reigate.
By the next census, Richard had died.
Burial. St Lawrence, Caterham.
1844 Dec 15 Richard Hersey of Caterham. 65 yrs.
As so often happened when the breadwinner died, Sophia fell into poverty.
1851 Census. Village, Caterham.
Sophia Hersey Head Widow 50 Pauper Caterham
Richard Hersey Son Unm 31 Ag lab Caterham
George Hersey Son Unm 26 Ag lab Caterham
Maria Hersey Daur 14 Scholar Caterham
Peter Hersey Son 11 Scholar Caterham
Mark Son 9 Scholar Caterham
John Dabner Lodger Widr 73 Pauper ag lab Chaldon
By the next census, we see a change in her eldest son’s employment from agricultural labourer to bricklayer’s labourer. The original settlement was on the slopes of the North Downs, at what is now Caterham on the Hill. In Victorian times, the modern town of Caterham was built in the valley below. It was this that gave new opportunities for employment.
1861 Census. Village, Caterham
Sophia Hersey Head W 64 Caterham
Richard Hersey Son Widr 40 Bricklayers Lab Caterham
Maria Hersey Daur Un 24 Caterham
Mark Hersey Son 19 Ag lab Caterham
Samuel Ward Grandson 9 Caterham
Richard Hersey Grandson 5 Caterham
Kilkin George Boarder Un 22 Ireland, Cork
Samuel was the son of Sophia’s daughter Harriet.
The order of households in the census return suggests that the Hersey’s were living next to the rectory.
In the next census, we see the move away from farm work continuing in the younger generation. In 1856, the railway reached the new town of Caterham. Increased travel meant a growth in the hospitality industry. One of Sophia’s grandsons found a job serving drinks in a tavern.
1871 Census. High Street, Caterham.
Sophia Hersey Head W 70 Caterham
Richard Hersey Son Widr 51 Labourer, Bricklayer Caterham
Richard Hersey Grandson 15 Potboy Caterham
Samuel Ward Grandson Un 18 Labourer, Bricklayer Caterham
George Chandler Boarder Un 44 Ag lab Caterham
George Stanbridge Boarder Un 24 Ag lab Caterham
This is probably the High Street in Caterham on the Hill, rather than the High Street in the new town of Caterham below.
Sophia died in 1883, so she should appear in the 1881 census, but we have not been able to find her.
Burial, St Lawrence, Caterham.
1883 Aug 15 Sophia Hersey Caterham 83
NEXT GENERATION: 6. ROFFEY-HERSEY
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 8. HERSEY-BORER