Genealogy Forum UK

I have sisters; Sarah Ann Shorter (b 1824, d 1897) and Elizabeth Shorter (b 1827, d 1919) both of whom are, according to the 1881 census, blind. Elizabeth turns up in the family home in High St. Tonbridge (possibly Tunbridge Wells) in the 1851 census but neither are at home, again in High St. Tonbridge (possibly Tunbridge Wells), in 1841, neither is their mother, Sarah Ann (Penny as was, b 1803, m 1823, d 1890) nor a son, William (b 1838).

I can't find any of them in any of the records I have access to and wonder if anyone can either find them, or suggest where they might be.

1851 census transcription details for: Burton House, London Road, Tunbridge
National Archive Reference:
RG number: HO107 Piece: 1614 Folio: 419 Page: 41

Reg. District: Tunbridge Sub District: Tunbridge Wells
Parish: Tunbridge Enum. District: 4N
Ecclesiastical District: Southborough City/Municipal Borough:
Address: Burton House, London Road, Tunbridge
County: Kent
Name Relation Condition Sex Age Birth Year Occupation , Disability Where Born
GALLARD, Charles Head Married M 28 1823 Carpenter Southborough Kent
GALLARD, Eleanor Esther Wife Married F 27 1824 Apprentice And 2 Sawyers Groombridge Sussex
GALLARD, Charles John Son M 1 1850 Southborough Kent
SHORTER, Sarah A Visitor Unmarried F 27 1824 Chatham Kent
FARLEY, Ann Visitor F 10 1841 Scholar Tunbridge Wells Kent
FARLEY, Jane Visitor F 8 1843 Scholar Tunbridge Wells

1861 census transcription details for: High Street, Tonbridge
National Archive Reference:
RG number: RG09 Piece: 494 Folio: 12 Page: 17

Reg. District: Tunbridge Sub District: 2 Tunbridge
Parish: Tonbridge Enum. District: 1
Ecclesiastical District: City/Municipal Borough:
Address: High Street, Tonbridge
County: Kent
Name Relation Condition Sex Age Birth Year Occupation , Disability Where Born
SHORTER, James W Head Married M 57 1804 Boot Maker Strood Kent
SHORTER, Sarah Ann Wife Married F 57 1804 Chatham Kent
SHORTER, Sarah Ann Daughter Unmarried F 37 1824 Brompton Kent
SHORTER, Elizabeth Daughter Unmarried F 34 1827 Bonnet Maker Chatham Kent
SHORTER, Susannah Daughter Unmarried F 29 1832 Milliner Tonbridge Kent
SHORTER, Jonathan Son M 18 1843 Corn Merchants Clerk Tonbridge Kent
SHORTER, Eliza Hannah Daughter F 11 1850 Scholar Tonbridge Kent

1871 census transcription details for: Houselands Essex Place, Tonbridge
National Archive Reference:
RG number: RG10 Piece: 931 Folio: 33 Page: 57

Reg. District: Tunbridge Sub District: Tonbridge
Parish: Tonbridge Enum. District: 1
Ecclesiastical District: City/Municipal Borough:
Address: Houselands Essex Place, Tonbridge
County: Kent
Name Relation Condition Sex Age Birth Year Occupation Where Born
SHORTER, James W Head M 68 1803 Kent
SHORTER, Sarah A Wife F 68 1803 Kent
SHORTER, Sarah A Daughter F 47 1824 Kent
SHORTER, Elizabeth Daughter F 44 1827 Kent

1841 census transcription details for: High Street, Sevenoaks
National Archive Reference:
RG number: HO107 Piece: 485 Book/Folio: 2/12 Page: 17

Reg. District: Sevenoaks Sub District: Sevenoaks
Parish: Sevenoaks Enum. District:
Ecclesiastical District: City/Municipal Borough:
Address: High Street, Sevenoaks
County: Kent
Name Relation Sex Age Birth Year Occupation Where Born
BLIGH, Samuel M 30 1811 Kent
BLIGH, Elizabeth F 25 1816 Kent
BLIGH, John M 2 1839 Kent
BLIGH, Mary F 1 1840 Kent
LUTCHFORD, Thomas M 50 1791 Kent
LUTCHFORD, Mary F 50 1791 Kent
FARRANT, George M 20 1821 Kent
MATTHEWS, William M 20 1821 Kent
BAKER, Elizabeth F 30 1811 Kent
SHORTER, Elizabeth F 16 1825 Kent
KNOWLES, Matthew M 16 1825 Kent
BATE, Henry M 25 1816

1841 census transcription details for: Drum Lane, Ashford
National Archive Reference:
RG number: HO107 Piece: 471 Book/Folio: 2/5 Page: 3

Reg. District: Ashford, West Sub District: Ashford
Parish: Ashford Enum. District:
Ecclesiastical District: City/Municipal Borough:
Address: Drum Lane, Ashford
County: Kent
Name Relation Sex Age Birth Year Occupation Where Born
TAPPENDEN, Charlotte F 60 1781
TAPPENDEN, Mary F 15 1826 Kent
SIMMONS, Herbert M 20 1821 Kent
SHORTER, Sarah F 15 1826 Kent

Blind people can be apprenticed.

Bonnet Maker/Milliner is a possible career path.

Ther amount of eyesight they have and still be legally blind is unknown.

Pity is, very few blind people ever got married.

Thanks Mark, that's great.
So for 1841 we have 15 year old Sarah possibly staying with a friend, 16 year old Elizabeth apparently in a house of multi occupancy. There is a strong line of Bligh's in the Sevenoaks area (including William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) but I understood they were wealthy people, it would have been unnecessary for them to boost their income with lodgers, I wonder if they ran a charitable home for the blind, I must google some Sevenoaks history.
Still no sign of Mother Sarah or brother William though, I wonder if they were visiting family back in Chatham.
1851 has Sarah, again possibly visiting a friend (sociable girl wasn't she? I wonder if it was friendship or charity) but at a different address from the friends parents.
1861 puts the family back together again but with brother William old enough to be away.
1871 has only the two elder daughters at home just like the 1881 one.

As for not marrying, things had hardly changed a hundred years later; we knew two blind sisters who shared a flat in the block we lived in, although the elder one had been proposed to she wouldn't leave her sister on her own.

Twit that I am; I was at school in Sevenoaks and the main building in the High Street was Bligh's Hotel. Now what would a 16 year old blind girl be doing in a hotel, with no other member of her family, on census day? I suppose that, just because she was blind in 1881, doesn't mean she was blind as a teenager.

By the way Mark, where did you dig that info out from? I couldn't get it with searches on FreeBMD or FMP.

I use Ancestry, Find My Past, The Genealogist and World Vital Records.

None of the indexes are perfect.

World Vital Records? I'd not heard of that one.

Thanks again, it looks the whereabouts of mother Sarah and child William will remain a mystery for the time being.

Actually the whole thing with William and his brother George is a little odd. There are records that suggest different birth years but mainly it seems they were born in the same year (and thus probably twins) but George appears in the 1841 census in the family home and they both do in 1851 but after that things get tricky.

World Vital Records is absolutely amazing.

http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/

Thanks again, it's bookmarked.

I think this can marked as COMPLETED now.