Sarah Ann Wilson (1853-1907)
Sarah Ann's story is interesting for many reasons. She lived a life of poverty, but so did most of those around her, and in such circumstances people do not even dwell on their misfortune, they just get on with it.She also lived a life of mystery. It is difficult to find the exact circumstances of her leaving her native Broomfield in Somerset before she was 18 years old, to work in service at a boarding house in the faraway seaside town of Weston. It is equally difficult to trace how she came to choose to travel across the Bristol Channel to Cardiff, and then within what must have been a very short space of time, in 1873, to marry a widower with a young daughter.Yet that does appear to be the chain of events that brought Sarah Ann Sellick from Broomfield, to become Mrs Sarah Wilson, wife of Thomas Wilson, who was born in Hull, the son of soldier (Connaught Rangers) from Lurgan, Armagh, Norther Ireland.
The mystery is perpetuated by some of the early documantation. Her marriage certificate gives her father's name as Abraham, but there is much to suggest that she was the daughter of a Somerset couple, Edmund Buth Sellick (b. 1820 Broomfield) and wife Elizabeth Fling (b.1824 Fiddington). The 1881 census gives her place of birth as London, yet later census records appear to be nearer to the truth; "Somersetshire, Bridgewater" in 1891 and "Bridgewater, Somerset" in 1901. It would appear that Sarah did not want anyone to know what her true background was.
Her children's names offer a few clues. The eldest daughter, Edith b.1871 was actually the daughter of Thomas Wilson and Amelia Todd ( b.1850 Bradford, Wiltshire). Amelia seems to have died soon after the birth of her daughter. Sarah's first child, Elizabeth (b. 1874) was possibly named after her mother Elizabeth Fling. Her first son Thomas John (b.1878) was named after his father, and perhaps his uncle John . William H Wilson (b.1880) seems to have been named independently of any family name, and there is no suggestion of an Abraham (nor indeed an Edmund) in later children. There is however, a significant gap between William and the next child, Sarah L born in 1889. I have yet to locate any births between these years, but Wilson is not an easy name to follow. The following photograph may well be Sarah Ann Wilson and some of her children. I have not been able to date the photograph, but it would have to have been taken around 1886 to have any credibility. This would make Sarah Ann around 33, Edith would be 14, Elizabeth 12, Thomas John 9, William 6, but the two younger children remain a mystery. I am currently working on this but if anyone with a knowledge of the dating of photographs can offer a better suggestion I would very much appreciate it - e-mail
Lol@valeofglamorgan.net|
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