Sarah Jane (1) Woodhurst


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Brief biography

Sarah Jane (1) Woodhurst was born at Pett on February 1st 1841 [Birth Index: Hastings VII 369, 1841 (March)] of parents James (1) Woodhurst and Sarah (nee) Broadfoot. The birth certificate describes her father James (1) as a labourer. The informant was her mother, who registered the birth on February 8th; Sarah's maiden name (Broadfoot) is spelled there as 'Bradford' probably because she was uncertain of the spelling (and was unable to sign her own name, simply making an 'X' mark). At this stage the baby was unnamed, and the certificate simply says 'girl'.

The baby was still unnamed at the time of the Census for Pett on June 7th 1841, in which she was recorded only as an "infant". Her baptism had probably been delayed by the problems arising from her father's illness with scrofula, from which he had died on April 30th.

It seems probable that by the third week of June 1841 she had become very ill and was thought unlikely to survive. On June 22nd she was at last baptized and given her name Sarah Jane [Pett Parish Register]. The latter record describes her (deceased) father as a labourer.

Sarah Jane (1) died at Pett just two days later, on June 24th. Her death certificate [Death Index: Hastings VII 233, 1841 (Sept)] gives her age as 5 months and the cause of death as 'debility'. Her father is described as a deceased labourer. Her mother, who was present at the death, was the informant and registered the death on July 1st.