The hunt for William Stickland a mysterious fellow.

Church in Beaminster

In the past I had thought about searching for the father for my forebearer 3x great grandfather, William Stickland (Strickland) Milverton. I knew the name of William’s father might not be the easiest to research especially since I had little information to go on other than his name through the 1846 birth registers in Beaminster, England. I have written about the court case in 1861 involving his mother, Wilhelmina Milverton who took the man William Stickland to court for breaking the promise that he would marry her, but never did. I have classed the search as being not easy for many years with only just a name to go on and nothing else. Thinking I could look into the man to see what I could find would be interesting.

Finding a detailed article about the case, I learned some valuable clues that would aid in my research and discovery. The two clues I had after searching for newspapers were that the farm William Stickland worked on or leased was called Axnoller Farm near Beaminster. In another article, the farm was called Axe-Noller. The farm surprisingly enough still exists and is used for weddings. The other clue was that his brother was located at the same farm so it helped to find the right Stickland. I began to suspect William was wealthy in some way as it was mentioned the Milverton family sold the Swan Inn within Beaminster to pay back a debt owed to William Stickland. I have found through Electoral registers William Stickland being an Occupier of Axnoller farm so those are helpful in tracking people down. Apparently, there was a lease on the farm, but I know nothing about it. The main thing I have found is that I do know the man exists and isn’t made up in any other way.

Since the court case takes place around 1861, William Stickland seems to fall from the face of the earth. There were several records through the 1861 census that made me question, which Stickland I was meant to follow as he had apparently married. My best guess was that he was living with his brother James in Beaminster as retired farmers. The best clue I had the right person was their servant, Susan. She appeared in the newspaper article. I am satisfied for the time being that there was a William Stickland from Axnoller Farm. This will be a partial mystery that I will solve one day or even find through another newspaper article. The right record might not even be online. Birth locations vary from Shertle in Dorset to Shipton George, Dorset with a birth between 1817 to 1823. There was also a brother on the same farm, but nothing to say if the brother was married.

The time line that I know of is as follows

Within the 1840 Electoral for Bridport, William was listed as being an Occupier of farm within Axnoller.

1841 Census he was listed as being with his father William (60), brothers John and Janes, Sister Frances.

1851 census he was living with John and James in an area called Axnoller. John was apparently on an adjoining farm James was the head of the household employing 4 men and 3 boys

1857 electoral roll he was listed as being on Axnoller, Beaminster

1861 Census was a retired farmer near Beaminster in an area called Whaleley? James was head of the house and someone who appeared in the census was servant Susan Bartlett was also in the court case. Both men were now in their mid 40s if you believe the records. This is the last record that I know of where William appears.

The only real question I do have is had his illegitimate son, William meet up with William Stickland once he was an adult or even when he got married in 1867 in Middlesex. Newspapers are a little bit of a hit and miss through online searching for the UK. With a little bit of information, you can find more info on people than you do realise. I know they are there within the records or someone who is related, but shocked their family member had an illegitimate child in the 1800s.

Sources

Electoral register 1839 – 1922, Dorset Electoral Registers and Poll Books. Dorchester, Dorset, England: Dorset History Centre.

William Stickland, Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Dorset Summer Assizes, Salisbury and Winchester Journal (Salisbury, England), Saturday, July 27, 1861, Vol. CXLI, p.7. From British Library Newspapers

The tragic life of Sarah Annie Milverton

I had wondered about the second wife of my Great grandfather Percival Milverton of Palmerston North. His life I knew a bit about, but I knew little about the lady who called herself Sarah Anne Dennis. Stories I heard was she was a gold digger amongst other things. I realised, I did not know about the life of this woman and thought the time was right to follow the trail that was her life. Percival Amos Milverton was the superintendent of the Palmerston North Fire Station when they married in 1936, but anything from the past of her life was a mystery.

The 1965 death certificate of Sarah Milverton, I did basically ignore as I at the time had assumed the children listen with ages were those of Percival. Turns out I was actually really wrong in my thoughts and I went looking for the children. What had been listed at the time was age for each living daughter, 59, 56 and 52. Age of each living son, 54 and 44. I soon realised none of them were Percival’s children. The other information, which helped me were the previous marriages and their locations. They were Arthur Ernest Rumsey and Francis Donnes, although I realised the surname was Dennis.

Sarah was born Sarah Anne Patterson in 1880, Tynemouth, Northumberland to Robert Patterson and Ann Winchester. In 1905 she married Arthur Ernest Rumsey in Newport, England. Arthur Ernest was born in St Helier, on the Channel Island of Jersey very close to France. His parents were James Rumsey occupation master mariner and Georgina Grace Blackler. The children to Arthur and Sarah were Vera b 1907, Grace b 1909, Walter b 1912 and Hilda b 1914. I was confused over the name Hilda as I was not sure, I had the correct person even though the death record in New Zealand had her. Once I had the birth certificate, I knew I had the correct person. I soon found the death of Arthur in 17 October 1917. He had been on board the S.S. Manchuria as a 2^nd Engineer drowned as result of the attack from an enemy submarine. Sarah and Arthur were living in Hartlepool in county Durham at that time. According to a wreck website the ship was steam propelled, built in 1905 and an armed merchant ship was carrying Iron ore from La Goulette to West Hartlepool where she was torpedoed by German submarine U-53 (Hans Rose), 60 miles northwest of Ushant off the coast of France. Arthur was one of 26 people lost.

I cannot believe the trauma that Sarah would have endured during the time with the death of her husband in 1917 and with several children as well. She soon found Francis Dennis also known as Frank in 1918, whom she married in Coventry, Warwickshire. I didn’t do any research on Frank as I was more interested in what was happening with Sarah. It was during this time I was pondering how she ended up in New Zealand. Did she take her children after Frank had died to New Zealand? I found a death for him in 1927 within the UK, but that seemed to be a bit late. I couldn’t find Sarah within the shipping records, but a breakthrough as I was searching for the Rumsey children answered my question late at night. I found the record on the Familysearch website for the LDS. They were on board the Athenic arriving in Auckland in 1920 from Southhampton in 3^rd class. The reason I couldn’t find Sarah was she was listed as Mrs Dennis and the children listed by ages as Rumsey. I now had proof where and when they arrived in New Zealand, which made me happy.

Frank and Sarah it seemed would have one child between them by the name of Frank Rumsey Dennis born around 1923. Both seemed to drop off the radar for a little while, but I found Frank in Palmerston North in 1925 getting caught by police twice. The first time in April after being caught asleep at the wheel, fined £10 by the caught for being drunk behind the wheel and warned if he was caught a second time he would lose his car license since the judge was lenient through Frank needing it for his employment as insurance agent. He was caught again around the 31^st of October for failing to stop. Again fined of £10, license taken off him for 3 months and threatened with imprisonment if caught again. In 1927 there was an inquest to his death, which was by suicide. Apparently Frank and Sarah had been separated for some time, when he arrived at her boarding establishment after drinking heavily. She allowed him to stay on a coach in the sitting room. She found him the next morning deceased. The coroner reported that his death was by suicide after Frank had wrapped his head with a sheet and inhaled coal gas from the gas oven. Frank was buried in Terrace End Cemetery in Palmerston North.

Not a lot more is known about Sarah Dennis other than she went before the courts with debts to be paid in 1928. The case was Cooper, Rapley and Rutherford v. Sarah Ann Dennis £1/10/-, Costs 8/-. Cooper, Rapley and Rutherford is a large law firm in the Manawatu area of New Zealand that was established in 1881. I don’t know what the court case was about, but it should be interesting when I do find information about it. The next time she appeared was in 1936 as bride to Percival Amos Milverton in Palmerston North at the quarters of the brigade superintendent within the fire station in Cuba Street Palmerston North. Their marriage according the certificate was dissolved decree absolute on the 11/02/1947 by the Supreme Court in Palmerston North, a year before Percival passed away.

Sarah passed away on the 27^th of November 1965 and was buried in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery at the age of 85 years. According to the cemetery information her daughter Hilda Crofton Patterson Borreson was buried with her in 2001. Hilda married Karl Lancelot Borreson around 1942 who was a carpenter and died 1994, buried in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery. He had served during WWII in the 2^nd NZEF. Karl had remarried after he and Hilda divorced and married Una. Vera Annie Rumsey married in 1927 to Edward Albert Smith (also known as Alfred Edward). Vera passed away in 2002 and is buried in the Taupo cemetery with Alfred, death 1962. Walter James Rumsey died in 1968. He did serve in WWII, but havnt found anything on him. Grace Rumsey I havnt found anything on her yet. Frank Rumsey Dennis son of Frank and Sarah was buried in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North in 1971. He served in WWII, but according to the Centoteph website he is known as Frank Ramsay Dennis. There is an inquest record through the National Archives website in New Zealand for Frank Dennis, but the accidental find through the newspapers on Papers past provided me with plenty of information. You never know what sort of information you can find on someone and this is only the beginning through several hours of research and by no means complete.

Sources:

Ancestry website, UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914 – 1921 for Arthur Ernest Rumsey, Mercantile Marine Memorial Tower Hill, London Part 7 (Quade-Svensson)

SS Manchuria (+1917)

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11009

Frank Dennis, Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2655, 13 April 1925

Frank Dennis, second offence Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2286, 3 November 1925

Frank Dennis Inquest, Manawatu Times, Volume LII, Issue 3578, 21 April 1927

Sarah Ann Dennis Debts to be paid, Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6658, 11 July 1928

New Zealand Marriage Certificate, 1936009289, Sarah Annie Dennis and Percival Amos Milverton, 1936.

New Zealand death certificate, 1965036023, Sarah Annie Milverton, 1965

Cemetery search Palmerston North council

http://www.pncc.govt.nz/services/onlineservices/cemetery-and-cremation-search/

Vera Rumsey and Frank Dennis shipping record.

"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDN-3S5Y : 24 May 2014), Vera Rumsey Rumsey, 27 Sep 1920; citing Athenic, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004439935.