Sarah... what?

[sugarbakers]

Sorry ... incorrect

[clb222]

Josey: thanks for looking, and yup, hadn't thought of that, definitely a possibility. I'll see if anyone on the Suffolk board can check the parish registers for me. I have looked at every single marriage for a Sarah Johnson in Essex and Suffolk (Stratford St Mary is on the border) on freebmd between 1852 - when James Johnson died - and 1861, and found nothing else that fits, so it's worth a try.

[sugarbakers]

1851 census Stratford St Mary
John Polley 66 living next door to Sarah Johnson wife of Thomas and mother of Emily

FreeBMD
Thomas Johnson = Sarah Polley  DecQ 1850 Samford RD Suffolk
Thomas Johnson died MarQ 1852 Samford RD

[Hackstaple]

Sarah Polley m Richard Kearey - Apr-Jun 1852 Oxford Vol 3a, p 705.

[sugarbakers]

FreeBMD
Sarah Johnson born Sep 1846 Samford RD
Emily Johnson born Sep 1849 Samford RD

1851 census
Sarah Johnson 5 niece b. Stratford Suffolk living with George & Elizabeth Nice at Sudbury St Gregory

[clb222]

sugarbakers: Thanks for looking, but I already have everything on Sarah before 1861, except her mysterious remarriage!

Hackstaple - thanks, that's a possibility & I'll look into it, but it's a long way from her home and perhaps a little too close to the death of James Johnson.

Just found another marriage possibility in Colchester - a bit nearer to home - in Dec qtr 1856: Sarah Johnson & John George Runy. I looked up Runy and there are only three (unrelated) examples of it in all freebmd's data, which makes me think it might be a mistranscription for something else - it's certainly closer to 'Roahrey' than anything else I've found.

[Colin Cruddace]

Bearing in mind that the census pages are the Enumerator's transcript of household schedules, it is possible that the original was Roohney or something similar, which would fit your recent find.

Colin

[Rosinish]

Hi folks,

My initial thought on the name "Roahrey" having looked at other names/writing.....

The initial "R" looks right but "h" looks to be an "l" as it's loop is longer than the "h" in Johnson..more like the "l" in Polly.

This may be a mispronunciation of Rowlsey or similar....just an idea/thought?

Annie

[Ruskie]

Sarah Polley m Richard Kearey - Apr-Jun 1852 Oxford Vol 3a, p 705.

This looks the most likely, fitting in best with what her surname appears to be on the census.

I wouldn't be concerned about a remarriage so soon after the death of Thomas Johnson - this is quite usual for that era. Regarding location of the marriage - there could be any number of reasons for this ...

If you haven't already done so, perhaps look for Richard Kearey in 1861 to see if he is with a (different) Sarah, or alone. Also check the 1871 census to see if Sarah and Richard Kearey are together with any Johnsons or Polleys.