I have previously written about Sarah and her family in my blog: Hallgate Zion Independent Chapel in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire. Sarah and family are included in the Sargison tree which includes people in the parishes of Eastrington, South Cave and Cottingham.
I knew that Sarah had lived in Cottingham with her mother until at least the 1851 census. However, her mother Mary had died in 1857 and a pauper lunatic return for 1861 (QAL/2/19/9), which I consulted at the East Riding Archives in Beverley, indicated that she had been committed to the joint North and East Ridings asylum in York on 10 November 1860. It indicated that she was aged 57 and chargeable to the parish. The cost of her maintenance in the asylum was seven shillings a week. Sarah was recorded as a lunatic and dangerous to herself. She did not have dirty habits which contrasts with what was noted about her brother Thomas in 1846.
In 1861 Sarah was recorded as have been of unsound mind for five months. She was in the 7 April 1861 census return for the asylum which was located to the north of York, in the suburb of Clifton, as shown in the following OS map: Yorkshire Sheet 174 dated 1853:
Further Sculcoates Union pauper lunatic returns for Sarah can be consulted up to the year 1871 (QAL/2/286/8) when she died on 5 May 1871 There seems to be only one entry for her in Ancestry’s collection of UK Lunacy Admission Registers, so perhaps once admitted to the asylum, she did not leave. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share with me.
I viewed the release of the 1921 census with some excitement and was even more pleased when I was able to add it to my FindMyPast subscription. I have slowly started using it to enhance the information I have on members of my one name study who were born in the latter half of 19th century and into the 20th century. One tree I’ve been working on contains Sargison/Sergisons (and other variants) who lived in Lancashire, although in many cases their ancestors were from Ireland.
While searching the 1921 census I came across a family of Sargisons living at 25 Osborne St, Salford, Lancashire and a new person to add to my tree Philip Harold Sargison (1920-1989). Philip’s father Ernest (1888-1970) was described as a grey cotton goods salesman and his mother Ethel Maude Higham (1889-1968) as having home duties. The family were living with Ernest’s brother Albert (1892-1966), a cotton goods salesman and his wife Edith Jones (1894-1984). Osborne St is circled in black on the following map (OS Lancashire CIV.NW d1923) and two nearby dye works are in blue. This area of Salford was known for its textile industry in the 1921 census.
Ernest and Albert’s father was Archibald Sargison (1865-1947). He was the son of a soldier, Holmes Sargison, who had been in the 7th Dragoons. Holmes was born on 22 April 1834 in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland and unfortunately a death for him has not so far been found. However, his wife Margaret McManus (1840-1874) died in nearby Cheetham. By the 1881 census Archibald was an inmate in the Salford Union Workhouse, New Eccles Rd, Salford and his sister Mary Anne (born 1871) was an inmate in the Boys Refuge and Industrial School in 14 Francis St, Cheetham.
Archibald went onto marry Sarah Ellen Chapman (1868-1961) in 1886 and they had a family as shown in the following descendant chart:
By the 1921 census Archibald, Sarah and daughters Lilian and Nora were living at 8 Milford St, Weaste, Salford. Archibald was a tobacconists assistant working for Messrs O Mahoney Ltd and daughter Nora an assistant chemist working for J J Rigbys Ltd, soap manufacturers.
So where does the civil servant come into this story? Archibald’s grandson Philip Harold Sargison (1920-1989) joined the Civil Service/executive class in 1938, after an open competition. Two sets of records on FindMyPast, the London Gazette and the Britain, Royal and Imperial Calendars, (1767-1973), were particularly helpful in following Philip’s career in the Civil Service.
By 1939 Philp was an assistant accountant grade II in the War Office. He served in the South Lancashire regiment in WWII and by 1946 had been awarded an MBE. After the war he returned to the War Office and in 1962 was the Deputy Command Secretary in the War Office. The last record I could find for him was in 1973, when he was recorded as Director (Assistant Secretary) of the Directorate of Accounts (civil pay) in the Ministry of Defence. At some point Philip had moved to Bickley, Kent where he died on 4 June 1989.
I am interested in knowing more about the family who I’ve written about in this blog post. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share with me.
England and Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed November 2022.
GB Historical GIS/University of Portsmouth, History of Salford in Lancashire, Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time. https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/326 accessed: November 2022.
Sarginson Family One Name Study 