Ann Richardson Sayer (1820 - 1898) - A headstone (and life) uncovered
by Chris Phillips
Some years ago a large number of mid- to late-Victorian gravestones were deemed unsafe and cleared from Ely Cemetery. In the summer of 2020, however, during work to prepare an unused part of the cemetery as a burial area many of the stones were found to have been broken up and buried a few feet below the surface of the ground. At the time of writing their recovery is very much a work in progress but interesting fragments and some larger pieces of masonry have been unearthed. One almost intact and undamaged stone is that of Ann Richardson Sayer who died in 1898 at the age of 78. Her story illustrates – perhaps grimly – aspects of life in nineteenth century Britain that are worth calling to mind
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Ann was born in 1820 and the records show that she was baptised on 1st April in Holy Trinity, Ely's second parish. Its congregation met for worship in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral until the parish was merged with St Mary's in 1938. Her parents were Joseph Sayer (1794-1861) and Hannah Harlock (1793-1865). They had married at Holy Trinity on Christmas Day 1817 and Ann was their second child – a little boy christened George had been born in 1818 but had lived only a few months. Later came Hannah (1821-58), Mary Ann (1824-69) and a second George (1827-64). Joseph was a cooper at the time of his marriage but later and certainly by 1830 was also landlord of the George and Dragon public house which stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Lynn Road. It was a respectable house and indeed could hardly have been otherwise standing as it did opposite Ely's Sessions House where justice was regularly dispensed. Running it seems to have been very much a family affair with George helping his father with the barrels and the girls working in the inn.
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The George & Dragon Public House, on the corner of Chapel Street and Lynn Road. It was demolished in the 1970s.
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Only a little can be known of Ann's early childhood but in October 1836 when she was sixteen she acted as a witness in a court case involving a theft at her father’s pub. This event was reported in some detail by the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal of 28th October. Ann's testimony was straightforward. She had seen the accused, John Nicholas, pick up a sovereign her father had placed on the table for a moment, and then hurry out of the inn. She at once told her mother what she had seen and explained to the court that the accused had slipped the gold coin into his pocket. Nicholas was found guilty and sentenced to three months hard labour in Ely gaol.
There was a significant event for the Sayers on 3rd May 1846 when Ann's younger sister, Mary Ann married Benjamin Richard Powell at St Mary's church. The family may well have thought that Benjamin was a 'good catch'. He was a skilled craftsman, a stonemason – and later a master mason - in a family business originally based in Cambridge. After their marriage the couple settled in Ely, in Little London, where they soon began to raise a family. Benjamin's work can still be found in Ely cemetery where various gravestones bear his name. Whether Ann felt aggrieved that her younger sister had married before her is a matter for conjecture but at the time of the 1851 census she, now aged 31, was still at home and described on the census return as “Publican's Daughter – At Home.” The Sayers at this time had two Irish hawkers living with them as boarders – Susannah and Catherine Sands aged 22 and 18 respectively. Taking in lodgers was a way in which many families at that time added to their income or simply made ends meet.
There was a significant event for the Sayers on 3rd May 1846 when Ann's younger sister, Mary Ann married Benjamin Richard Powell at St Mary's church. The family may well have thought that Benjamin was a 'good catch'. He was a skilled craftsman, a stonemason – and later a master mason - in a family business originally based in Cambridge. After their marriage the couple settled in Ely, in Little London, where they soon began to raise a family. Benjamin's work can still be found in Ely cemetery where various gravestones bear his name. Whether Ann felt aggrieved that her younger sister had married before her is a matter for conjecture but at the time of the 1851 census she, now aged 31, was still at home and described on the census return as “Publican's Daughter – At Home.” The Sayers at this time had two Irish hawkers living with them as boarders – Susannah and Catherine Sands aged 22 and 18 respectively. Taking in lodgers was a way in which many families at that time added to their income or simply made ends meet.
In the autumn of the following year came what must have seemed like a disaster - Ann discovered that she was pregnant and on 28th June 1853 she gave birth to a daughter who she named Emily. No father of the child was named on the birth certificate and the place of birth was given simply as 'Chapel Street, Ely'. It is difficult to know the circumstances surrounding this event. Illegitimacy was common enough in mid-nineteenth century England but Ann was somewhat older than the average single mother and the fact that she did not marry Emily's father might suggest that the birth was the result of an affair with a married man – but there are no real clues and such a conclusion is no more than speculation. There are no hints either as to whether Ann's family stood by her in her misfortune except perhaps that when Emily was christened at Holy Trinity on the 1st April 1855 Ann gave her address as 'Little London' and perhaps at least at this time she was with her sister Mary Ann.
As Emily grew up, however, any family support that Ann might have had was removed by the deaths in quick succession of her parents and siblings. Sister Hannah died in 1858, father Joseph in 1861, George in 1864 , her mother Hannah in 1865 and Mary Ann Powell in 1869. Thus Ann and her daughter were left as sole surviving members of the immediate family and needed to fend entirely for themselves.
As Emily grew up, however, any family support that Ann might have had was removed by the deaths in quick succession of her parents and siblings. Sister Hannah died in 1858, father Joseph in 1861, George in 1864 , her mother Hannah in 1865 and Mary Ann Powell in 1869. Thus Ann and her daughter were left as sole surviving members of the immediate family and needed to fend entirely for themselves.
Unfortunately the 1861 census returns for Ely were badly damaged by flooding and have never been microfilmed or digitalised and so it is not possible to know where Ann and Emily lived at that time but in 1871 when Emily was already 17 the two of them were in a cottage in Lynn Road and the return showed that Ann was working as a charwoman and Emily as a dressmaker. Their combined wages would have been small and almost without a doubt the shadow of poverty would have hung over them – but in the years since the birth of her daughter Ann had kept the two of them together and this must surely be counted as no mean feat.
By 1881 Emily had left home and almost certainly was the Emily Sayer working as a housemaid at the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly, Westminster and who gave her birthplace as Cambridgeshire. Ann remained in Ely and worked as a charwoman well into her seventies. Her death, however, is recorded in 1898 at the Ely Union Workhouse and this can only mean that she had gone there in failing health or increasing infirmity, no longer able to make ends meet. She would not have been able to save money for her old age from a charwoman's wages and without immediate family in the town to care for her the workhouse would have been her only recourse. The city's workhouse[1], built in 1836-37, although it avoided most of the excesses and scandals associated with similar institutions elsewhere earlier in the century, offered its inmates little by way of comfort - but at least it afforded them shelter, clothing and very likely much the same sort of food they might have been able to afford at home. The stigma attached to 'going into the workhouse', however, was still great and most would have done all that they could to avoid it.
By 1881 Emily had left home and almost certainly was the Emily Sayer working as a housemaid at the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly, Westminster and who gave her birthplace as Cambridgeshire. Ann remained in Ely and worked as a charwoman well into her seventies. Her death, however, is recorded in 1898 at the Ely Union Workhouse and this can only mean that she had gone there in failing health or increasing infirmity, no longer able to make ends meet. She would not have been able to save money for her old age from a charwoman's wages and without immediate family in the town to care for her the workhouse would have been her only recourse. The city's workhouse[1], built in 1836-37, although it avoided most of the excesses and scandals associated with similar institutions elsewhere earlier in the century, offered its inmates little by way of comfort - but at least it afforded them shelter, clothing and very likely much the same sort of food they might have been able to afford at home. The stigma attached to 'going into the workhouse', however, was still great and most would have done all that they could to avoid it.
Ann's headstone, erected by her daughter, Emily in 1898, uncovered once more in Ely Cemetery in 2020.
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Ann died on the 19th February 1898 and was buried in Grave D574 on the 23rd. The curate of St Mary's church, the Revd W.A.Baker officiated at the funeral and that might well have been the last word about her – but it was not. Her daughter had a headstone made. It was of simple design and the wording was “In Loving Memory of My Dear Mother” and if that is taken at face value then perhaps Ann and her daughter who was raised in such difficult circumstances were close and loving and that story worth the telling. Of Emily after 1881, apart from the memorial stone, there are no definite facts to be had. Perhaps she married, but if she did the wedding is hard to trace. If she did not, it is strange that she does not seem to appear on any subsequent census returns. She must, then, so far as this study goes, remain something of a mystery.
But the unearthing of Ann's headstone has caused the two women to be remembered and the bare facts of their story to be told. At the foot of the memorial are the words “Gone but not Forgotten”. In fact Ann and her daughter were forgotten but are now recalled and that surely is a cause for quiet satisfaction. |
[1]Most of the workhouse buildings still stand at Tower Court off Cambridge Road
