Lookup BORLEY birth Westerham

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GOOD SPOT!! Casalguidi

1881 - census

I think this is Sarah BORLEY and her daughter Sophia B. taking up with Henry BELL and his son William.  I hve found Henry & William in 1871 census in Byker living with parents/grandparents but no wife present.

and (I had just found this while you posted!)

1891 - census
12 Victoria St, Gateshead

Head:  William BROWN, 24, married, labourer, b. Newcastle
Wife:  Sarah BROWN, 26, married, b. Norfolk, Kings Lynn


Now we have:

1856 as the likely DOB for Sarah BORLEY
Sarah in the 1881/1891/1901/1911 census records
Norfolk, Essex, Suffolk, Kent as possible birthplaces for Sarah
Robert (Stacey?), Henry Bell, William Brown as husbands/partners
Sophia ALLAN (nee BORLEY 1871) as her sole child

Any offers for the 1861 & 1871 census? or where & when Sarah was born

I think I may have to purchase the 1872 marriage cert to either eliminate this or else tie down some details of her life at this stage.

HELP!!

[casalguidi]

Look at Sarah BORLEY born Hadleigh, Suffolk 1861 census ............. I think Hadleigh is right next to the Essex boarder.  Perhaps she said Hadleigh and it was confused with Hadlow next to Tonbridge in Kent  

I don't know but I would have a good look at her anyway if you haven't already done so.

Casalguidi

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Thanks for the lead.

I have since looked into this family in some depth and it looks quite promising.

Sarah's birthplace is recorded as Hadleigh and is the final child to William and Maria Borley.
William has a career as a policeman and moves from South Suffolk/Essex border up through Norfolk to Kins Lynn and Wisbech.  Indeed he is recorded as being in Kings Lynn (a few streets away from Sarah's whereabouts in 1871 - Providence St) in 1870.

I think all the moving around might well have confused Sarah's knowledge of her birthplace.
She may well have moved up with her parents and become pregnant.

Several Ancestry researchers have tracked her siblings but she seems to have dropped off the Borley family radar.  Going by her elusiveness in later years this could also fit.



I have christening of Sarah on 25 April 1854, Hadleigh.

I am ordering the marriage certificate from 1872 to confirm/deny that this is William's daughter.
I've briefly looked into Robert Stacey and that also provides a possibility as the young father of Sophia.

I'll get back when I have more information.

still not sure which is Sarah Borley's BMD?? - any suggestions
another hunch I have is that Maria may have died in childbirth to Sarah as their death/birth dates are close and she was her final child.

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One more possible sighting of Sarah BORLEY ... in 1871

In Census records for Belchamp Otten, Sudbury

Foes House, Foes Lane
Head:  Thomas Pratt, farmer
Servant:  Sarah Borley, Unmarried, 20, General Domestic Servant, b. Suffolk, Monk's Eleigh

Monk's Eleigh is in the Hadleigh-Long Melford strip where the Borleys were in 1850s-70s.

The only issue I have is the dob 1851 with her sibling Alfred being b. OND 1851.

There is a BMD for Cosford AMJ 1853 which catches my eye (1 year before christening) - the other in 1852 Bosmere seems a little close to Alfred's birth.

Could it be that she was 6 months pregnant at the time of the census and then travels to Kings Lynn a month or so later to have her first child with her parents close by??

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I now have the MC from Feb 1872 which confirms that this is my Sarah (Hooray!  , mother of Sophia (my GGG Grandmother).

Robert STACEY, 21 years, Bachelor, Labourer, Friars Street, South Lynn (Robert STACEY (deceased), Labourer)

Sarah BORLEY, 20 years, Spinster, Pleasant Row, South Lynn (William BORLEY, Policeman)

So it seems that Sarah BORLEY was indeed born in Hadleigh, Suffolk.  Her family moved to North Norfolk where William Henry BORLEY became the Police Officer in Burnham Westgate and later settled in Gaywood then Wisbech.  Presumably, Sarah moved to Kings Lynn with her parents, became pregnant and married the father, Robert STACEY, a year after the birth.

As this post has moved significantly from the original search for Sarah's birth near Tunbridge Wells I am going to start a new post trying to clarify the STACEY family side of things in King's Lynn.

Thanks to all contributors for nudging me along thus far.