Greetings Peter, Lorraine, et al.,
I have been in contact with Peter above via Private Message and one of the things we have been able to determine, is that the wife of Post-Capt. William Day, R.N., Governor of Sierra Leone, returned to England and became a Matron at the Royal Greenwich Hospital in Kent. This was a Hospital associated with the Royal Navy, so it makes sense that Sarah Day, as a widow, could have ended up there.
Although I currently do not have the source as to whether this is definitely our Sarah Day, I have been able to find a burial for her on 18 March 1831 at Greenwich, Kent. The burial register indicates she died at the Greenwich Hospital and was a Matron.
Whilst doing some research, I did find the following:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/british-army-nurses.htmIf you scroll down to Royal Navy nurses, you'll find that records for nurses (and presumably matrons) at the Royal Greenwich Hospital (where the Mrs. Day previously mentioned was listed) have been kept and are available to look at the National Records Centre at Kew.
Unfortunately I do not currently have a pass, so I'd have to visit Kew to be able to look into this. As it happens though, I need to visit Kew anyway to pursue further details regarding Ensign Thomas Edward Lodington's army career.
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Also, I have been trying to determine a bit more about the Sarah Smith who married John Day, of Antigua. As Lorraine mentioned previously, there is reference to Sarah having other sisters. One, Susanna, married John Taddy. Here's the link:
http://archive.org/stream/internationalgen00convuoft#page/xx/mode/2up/search/TaddyAlso note Horace Ludington, M.D.'s post at the top of that page.
Anyhow, having dug a bit deeper, I may have found something.
I quote a message I sent to Peter earlier:
I have the wife of John Day, of Antigua, as Sarah Smith. They married on 25 September 1758 at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London. I do not know who her father is but I do have note of a sister Susanna Smith who married John Taddy on 23 January 1745 at St. Clement Eastcheap, London.
Anyhow, having done some brief further research, it appears Sarah and Susanna maybe of the Smyth family of the Manor of Annables, Harpenden, Hertfordshire.
The National Archives site helps here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=046-desi&cid=-1#-1This specific record in particular is worth looking at:
Agreement DE/Si/41665 30 Mar 1767
Contents:
Between the Rev Edmund Smyth, rector of Filgrave and Tyrringham, Bucks, clerk, executor of the will of Mary Greenhill, widow of the Rev Cleave Greenhill late of Abbots Langley, clerk, 1st, William Smyth of London, gentleman, Christopher Smyth of Northampton, Northampton, gentleman, Susanna Smyth of the same, spinster, and Susanna Taddy of Mansell Street, Goodmans Fields, London, widow, four of the legatees named in the will of the said Mary Greenhill, 2nd, and Langhorne Burton of Somersby, Lincoln, esquire, and Mary his wife, late Mary Walker, spinster, 3rd, for payment of legacies under the will of Mary Greenhill.
Signatures. 2 seals
Note also that the son of John Taddy and Susanna Smith was named Christopher Taddy. The name may well have come through the Smith/Smyth family as there is a Christopher Smyth of Northampton mentioned above.
I'll try and find out more.
If this is correct, then this will extend our ancestry back even further.
As I am sure you are aware, we already have several descents from several different monarchs. There is a chance there could be another shared here.
Any input, or thoughts on this would be very much appreciated.
Regards,
James R. Yeowell