Sarah Leadbitter death puzzle - opinions sought please

[Jomot]

John Leadbitter & Sarah Hall married in Benfieldside in 1870.  John was described as a widower aged 41 (he was actually 31) & Sarah was a spinster aged 28, father Thomas, a farmer.  John's occupation was given as Puddler.

On the 1871 census they are in Benfieldside / Blackhill with son John Coxon aged 13, and 1881 with son John Hall aged 19.  On both occasions John Leadbitter is described as an Iron Works Labourer, which fits with being a Puddler.

I'm still trying to figure out John Coxon/Hall's birth, but for now I'm more interested in what happened to Sarah.

In 1889 John Leadbitter married again at Lanchester Register Office and is again described as a widower and a Puddler. I'm therefore assuming that Sarah must have died between 1881 & 1889.

The only death I can find that sort of matches is in 1884 in Lanchester but in the name Sarah Ann Leadbitter.  The cert shows her as aged 43, which fits, although the place of death stated as Tow Law, Cornsay RSD.  But what makes me question whether this is the right death is that she is described as 'wife of John Leadbitter, a fireman at a Colliery' and also the fact that the death was notified by John Leadbitter, son, of 2 Chapel Row, Blackhill.

As far as I know John & Sarah had no children together and Sarah's son continued to use the name John Hall.  I'm not aware of any connection to Tow Law, but as its only about 10 miles from Benfieldside I hoped that Sarah might have been buried in Blackhill cemetery, but she's not there (my thanks to PatB for this info).  I also can't find any evidence that John Leadbitter ever worked in a colliery.

So now I'm torn as to whether this is the right death - and if not, then what happened to Sarah?

As always, any thoughts, ideas & suggestions gladly welcomed.

[Ruskie]

I don't have time at the moment to look further into this, but a few things come to mind (though further research is required of course).

Firstly I wouldn't worry too much about John's possible change of occupation if everything else fits.

Re 'son' John -  I would investigate further to see if the surname Coxon could be the maiden name of John's first wife. Although Sarah said she was a spinster when she married John, she may not have been. I would also look to see if she was previously married to a Mr Coxon. Or perhpas John was born illegitimately to Sarah, but the father was Mr Coxon, hence John's surname alternating between his mother maiden name of Hall, and his (possible) father's name of Coxon. OR Coxon may have been an enumerator error on the census. Understandable that he used the Leadbitter surname on his mother's d/c as she was married to John Leadbitter. Have you found son John's birth?

Re The death you found for Sarah Ann - perhaps she had a middle name she never used, or perhaps an error by the informant. Have you found her birth?

All speculation of course. Have you searched for other Leadbitter families in the area to see if perhaps you have the families confused at some point? Aslo keep in mind the spelling of Leadbitter may have variations.

These are just a few thoughts on various scenarios, but obviously the facts will need to be unearthed to find the truth.

[WolfieSmith]

From your other post on the same family, Sarah is aged 29, b.Lanchester, in 1871 census.
Aged 28, father Thomas Hall, a Farmer, on marriage cert in 1870.

This family fits the bill in 1851 census.

1851 census, Crookhill, Iveston,
Thomas Hall, 39, b. Lanchester, Farmer of 14 acres,
Sarah Hall, wife, 36, b. Ryton,
Jane Hall, dau, 10, b. Lanchester,
Sarah Hall, dau, 9, b.Lanchester,
Thomas Hall, son, 6, b. Ryton,
Mary Hall, dau 3, b. Lanchester,
Isabella Hall, 6m, b. Lanchester,
HO107/2389/461/17

Same family are in Stockerley, Lanchester, in 1861, Thomas is a widowed Landholder. Sarah aged 19, b. Lanchester.

And this baptism on Familysearch fits the bill for Sarah.

Sarah Ann Hall, baptized Lanchester 8 April 1842, parents Thomas and Sarah.

Alan.

[WolfieSmith]

Just another snippet. On your other thread you say that John Coxon/Hall gives his place of birth as Boggle Hole on some later census, which is next door to where Sarah is living in 1861.

A baptism at Lanchester on Freereg.

2 Sep 1864. Anne, daughter of Sarah Hall of Boggle Hole.

Alan

[Jomot]

And this baptism on Familysearch fits the bill for Sarah.

Sarah Ann Hall, baptized Lanchester 8 April 1842, parents Thomas and Sarah.

That's why Roots is so great, I hadn't spotted that baptism & it certainly ties in with both the family I had for her before marriage and also with the middle name on the death cert.  Thank you 

Firstly I wouldn't worry too much about John's possible change of occupation if everything else fits.

Understandable that he used the Leadbitter surname on his mother's d/c as she was married to John Leadbitter. Have you found son John's birth?

The occupation and the informant using the surname Leadbitter are the two main things that did have me questioning whether this was the right Sarah, so its helpful to know others don't consider this a particular issue.  I also don't know what she was doing in Low Law as she died of phthisis (TB) so I'd have thought it unlikely she was just on a visit, but I guess its possible that John did change occupations briefly and that's where they were living at the time.   

Regards John Coxon / Hall (and now, briefly, Leadbitter), no, I haven't found his birth yet but as he's only connected by being the son of someone who 'married in' I've put that on the back-burner for now, although the 1864 baptism found by Wolfie is potentially an interesting twist!