Just like many families in other parishes, Great Ellingham folk suffered the loss of their loved ones. Many of these losses were through tragedies. Death is probably the only certainty in life. However, the loss of a child must be an unbearable and painful experience. To lose a child as a result of a terrible accident must be devastating.
Here we look at the very short life of a little girl, Sarah Margaret Clark. I decided to write about Sarah so that her tragic story will be told, and her short life remembered.
Extract from a postcard depicting groups of children in Town Green/Long Street
Date may be around 1900
The Clark Family
Great Ellingham born Charles Clark and his wife Charlotte lived in the Town Green area of Long Street. Like many of his village peers, Charles was an agricultural labourer.
Great Ellingham Man
A son of Samuel and Mary Clark, Charles was likely born in Long Street. He spent his early years growing up in the village. However by 1871 and unmarried, he followed his elder brother, Thomas Richardson, and went to live and work in Dore, Yorkshire (now in Derbyshire). He and Thomas worked at a local quarry.
Baptist Chapel Long Street Great Ellingham. Courtesy Attleborough Heritage Group
Marriage
However by the May of 1871, Charles was back in Great Ellingham. He married London born Charlotte Bridgman on the 20th May, 1871, at the Baptist Chapel in Long Street.
Following their marriage, Charles and Charlotte moved to Brightside, Sheffield and then on to Dore.
Great Ellingham
However by early 1881, the couple moved back to Great Ellingham.
By then, Charles and Charlotte had five children – Mary Annie Elizabeth aged 8, Alice Hannah 6, Charlotte Sarah 4, John William 3 and Lydia Hagar 1.
The 1881 census captures the family in Long Street not far from the Baptist Chapel where they had married some 10 years earlier. The couple’s youngest son Charles Samuel was born just a few months before the census was undertaken.
Charles and Charlotte welcomed Sarah Margaret in 1882 and May Florence in 1884, bringing the total of the Clark children to 8.
Modest Home
Like many family homes in the village, the Clark’s home would have been modest. Maybe their home was a ‘two-up two down’. At best, they would have had four rooms in which to cook, live and sleep. Perhaps the older children slept in one bedroom with the younger ones sharing the other with their parents. However, Charles and Charlotte may well have slept downstairs.
Later the 1891 census shows that the Clark family’s home (still in Long Street) comprised just three rooms!
The Tragedy of June 1886
Sunday, the 20th June, 1886, may have begun like any other Sunday for the Clark family.
It was probably the only day that 37 year old Charles Clark did not work. However, we can but wonder how the Clarks usually spent their time on a Sunday.
Nevertheless, 32 year old Charlotte would have been busy with their 8 children (ages now ranging from 13 to 1). Given that Charles and Charlotte were members of the Baptist Church, it follows that the family may well have attended (or intended to attend) at least one of the church services. The children may also have been regular attendees at the Baptist Sunday school.
Nonetheless, it would be usual to find the children of the village playing together outside in the street. Accordingly, most of the Clark children would have been playing outside. The older of them may well have been tasked to ‘look after’ the younger ones.
Tragic Accident
We do not know the circumstances of Sarah Margaret’s tragic death. All we know for certain is that she died as a result of accidentally drowning in a pit of water at Great Ellingham. Sarah was just two months short of her fourth birthday.
However, the story of Sarah’s tragic death by drowning has been passed down the generations. The ‘pond’ was in Long Street – and not far from her home. Her hat was found floating on the surface.
The coroner held an inquest the following day. Inquests were usually held in one of the two public houses in the centre of the village – the Chequers Inn or the Crown.
According to Sarah’s death certificate, the coroner’s verdict was that Sarah had ‘accidentally drowned in a pit of water in Great Ellingham’ with ‘no culpable negligence’. It was a tragic accident.
Burial
21 June 1886. Coroner’s Order for Burial. Sarah Margaret Clarke. Courtesy Great Ellingham Baptist Church
At the conclusion of the inquest, the coroner issued the above order for burial to Sarah’s heartbroken family.
Although there was a Baptist Burying Ground on the edge of the village, Sarah was buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church. However, the Pastor of the Baptist Church, the Reverend Frederick Harvey, officiated at the burial in the churchyard on the 24th June.
The Clark Family after Sarah’s Death
Following Sarah’s tragic death, her family remained living in the village for several years. The year after Sarah’s death, Charlotte Clark gave birth to another daughter, Henrietta Mabel in 1887. The couple welcomed another son, Alfred, in 1889.
Sadly, the Charles and Charlotte buried 2 year old Henrietta Mabel in the churchyard of the Parish Church on the 17th January, 1890. At a time before antibiotics, Henrietta may well have succumbed to one of the many childhood illnesses which were then more difficult to treat.
Long Street. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin
The 1891 census captures the family living in the Town Green area of Long Street. Charles Clark is now working as a farm bailiff.
The year after, Margaret Mabel was born in 1892. She was followed by Leonard Frank in 1893 and Sydney Benjamin in 1898.
Move to Ashill
By 1900, Charles Clark moved his family to Ashill to take up another position as a farm bailiff.
Sadly not long after moving to Ashill, Charles and Charlotte buried their youngest son, Sydney Benjamin Clark.
The 1901 census finds the Clark family in High Common Road, Ashill. Charles and Charlotte have four of their children still living ‘at home’. Two year old Gerald Hope is a visitor to the household. In fact, Gerald was Charles and Charlotte’s grandson, and the couple would bring up Gerald ‘as their own’.
Move to Sheffield
By 1911, Charles and Charlotte with Alfred, (Leonard) Frank and Gerald are in Sheffield. At 62, Charles is working as a carter in a Steel Works.
A much different life to that which they left behind in rural Norfolk. My guess is that they did not forget the children they ‘lost’ in Norfolk.
Sources:
GRO Index. Also available at FreeBMD website
1861 census RG9/1237/93
1871 census RG10/4666/8
1881 census RG11/1974/89
1891 census RG12/1549/70
1901 census RG13/1897/67
1911 census RG14/27738/303
Certificate for Burial. Great Ellingham Baptist Church Records. Thanks to Hugh Collier & the Baptist Church
Electronic Image of Death Certificate for Sarah Margaret Clark 20 June 1886 obtained from GRO.
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 609. Also available at www.familysearch.org
Thanks to Angela McCleery, a descendant of the CLARK family