I am trying to confirm a connection between my wife's great grandmother Sarah Ann Smith, who was born in East Grinstead, Sussex and a family of bargemen from Cold Waltham, Sussex.
This Smith family, Charles and Maria with 5 children were at Hardham, Sussex in 1851 then with 9 children at Thakeham, Sussex in 1861. In 1861 all the children, except the eldest and youngest daughters, were listed as bargemen. One of these children was Samuel whose birth was registered in 1846 in Thakeham, the same location as the other children .
Obviously, the surname Smith does not help. I have found a record which supports my theory but need to fill in a few gaps before I feel more certain of the connection.
Before Sarah's first marriage in East Grinstead in 1902 there were no easily identifiable census records for her. The 1911 census, when she was in household of her husband George Leonard Glew, gave East Grinstead as her place of birth, so I located a birth registration: Registration District East Grinstead, Page 154, Volume 2B, Line No. 110, Quarter Jan-Feb-Mar, Year 1881.
In the 1881 census at Farnborough, Hampshire, I found a Sam Smith aged 35 from Sussex, together with his wife Louisa 25, sons Sam 11 and Charlie 8 as well as a daughter Sarah aged 0, all born in Sussex. Sam is listed as a gypsy, with no occupation.
The gypsy label tends to link with bargeman origins.
The location was close to the Blackwater River and the Basingstoke Canal.
Sarah's age 0 on census day 3 April 1881 matches BRI from East Grinstead.
Sarah Ann named one of her daughters Louisa Smith Glew, potentially after her own mother.
And tips or further information would be gratefully received.
