Person:Phoebe Hammond (3)

Phoebe Hammond was baptised on 19th June 1818 at Pagham on the Sussex coast, daughter of Ann Hammond, formerly Woolgar, and her husband John Hammond, a blacksmith. The family lived in the hamlet of Lagness, on the road linking Pagham to the nearby city of Chichester. Phoebe was the sixth of eight children. When she was born all four of her grandparents were living locally. Her maternal grandparents also lived at Lagness, whilst her paternal grandparents lived in the neighbouring parish of South Bersted (which included the town of Bognor). Phoebe's paternal grandmother died in 1827. Both her grandfathers died in early 1836. Her maternal grandmother died in 1839.

In 1840 Phoebe had a daughter, Emma. She was not born in Sussex, but nearly 100 miles west of Pagham at Weymouth in Dorset. Phoebe set up home there with a wood turner named James Medhurst. He was originally from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, and specialised in making a type of inlaid decorative wooden pieces known as 'Tunbridge Ware'. Phoebe and James could not marry; he already had a wife and children who were living in Worthing, not far from Pagham. Phoebe, James and their daughter Emma appear in the 1841 census living on Maiden Street in Weymouth.

Phoebe and James do not appear to have had any other children for several years. In 1843 James discovered the remains of a Roman temple at Jordans Hill, just east of Weymouth along the coast. He set up a small private museum in the town. The 1851 census finds Phoebe, James and their daughter Emma visiting an inn at East Lulworth. Phoebe had a son, John Hammond Medhurst in 1856, some sixteen years after her daughter Emma. Back in Sussex, Phoebe's mother died in 1858, followed by her father in 1860.

Phoebe and James appear to have separated in the late 1850s. Phoebe and her son John appear in the 1861 census living at 9 Chesterfield Place in Weymouth, with her described as a fancy ware shop keeper. James however was living at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire with a lady called Eliza from Chichester, who was described as his wife. Phoebe also became a grandmother in 1861 when her daughter Emma had a son, although sadly he died when only one year old.

Phoebe appears to have followed James's business for the next few years. He is known to have run a shop at Weston-super-Mare in 1863, and Phoebe and her son John were living in Weston-super-Mare in the 1871 census. By 1872 James had set up a shop in Great Malvern, and by 1881 Phoebe was living there too. Her son John (who took to calling himself William John Hammond Medhurst) stayed behind in Weston-super-Mare, marrying in 1877 and having a number of children from the late 1870s onwards.

James died in 1877. His children from his marriage were quick to secure grant of administration after his death, noting that he was a widower (his wife had died in 1871), perhaps to emphasise that Phoebe (and Eliza) had not been his true wives.

The 1881 census finds Phoebe living with her niece, Eliza Edwards, at 'Tunbridge House' in Great Malvern. Both were described as "keeper of fancy goods", whilst the name of the house rather suggests they were still trading in James's Tunbridge Ware. Phoebe's niece Eliza has not been found for certain in the 1861 or 1871 censuses; the possibility remains that she was the Eliza that James had been living with in the 1861 census. Phoebe and Eliza appear to have run James's old business together for some years, advertising as "Medhurst & Edwards" in the Kelly's Directories from 1884 to 1892.

In 1884, aged 66, Phoebe married a whitesmith, bell hanger and gas fitter named Richard Harvey Melvin, a widower whose first wife had died the previous year. They married at Worle, near Weston-super-Mare, where Phoebe was living at the time, but presumably had met in Great Malvern, as that is where Richard had been living for some years too. Phoebe's son and daughter-in-law witnessed the marriage. Phoebe and Richard returned to Great Malvern after their marriage and lived at Richard's house, Brompton Cottage, on Bank Street.

Richard died in 1894. Phoebe appears to have retired from her business between 1892 and 1896; her niece Eliza was running it alone in the 1896 Kelly's Directory. Eliza would later return to Sussex, setting up a shop in Chichester by 1899. Phoebe survived Richard by less than three years, dying at Devereux House in Great Malvern on 21st March 1897. She was 78 years old. She was buried at Great Malvern Cemetery, although in the same plot as James Medhurst, rather than her late husband Richard Harvey Melvin, who is buried elsewhere in the same cemetery.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Pagham (Sussex). Parish registers for Pagham, 1707-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Pagham in the County of Sussex in the Year 1818
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   195	June 19th	Phoebe daughter of	John & Ann	Hammond	Lagness	Blacksmith	W. Marler, Vicar

   This baptism has been linked to the Phoebe Hammond who lived with James Medhurst and then married Richard Harvey Melvin on the basis that her marriage certificate names her father as John Hammond, smith, whilst in the censuses she generally claimed to have been born around 1818 in Pagham. She also had her niece Eliza Edwards living with her in the 1881 census, who was daughter of Sarah Ann Hammond, sister of the Phoebe baptised in 1818.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 295; Book 16; Folio 22; Page 38, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Maiden Street, Melcombe Regis (parish), Weymouth & Melcombe Regis (borough), Dorset
   James Medhurst, male, 40 [1796-1801], Turner, not born in county
   Phebe Medhurst, female, 30 [1806-11], not born in county
   Emma Medhurst, female, 11m [1840], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1856; Folio 275; Page 23, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: East Lulworth, Dorset
   Joseph Davis, head, married, male, 69 [1781/2], Innkeeper, b. Piddletrentive [sic], Dorset
   Mary Davis, wife, married, female, 70 [1780/1], Innkeeper wife, b. Beaminster, Dorset
   Charles Champ, son in law, married, male, 32 [1818/19], Carpenter, b. East Lulworth, Dorset
   Mary A.M. Champ, daughter, married, female, 29 [1821/2], Carpenter Wife, b. Poole, Dorset
   James Medhurst, visitor, married, male, 26 [1824/5], Manufactor, b. Tunbridge, Sussex
   Phebe Medhurst, wife, married, female, 39 [1811/12], Manufactor Wife, b. Tunbridge, Sussex
   Emma Medhurst, daughter, unmarried, female, 10 [1840/1], Manufactor Dau[ghte]r, b. Weymouth, Dorset
   Henry Snelling, servant, unmarried, male, 22 [1828/9], Labourer, b. West Lulworth, Dorset
   Jane Harvel, servant, unmarried, female, 19 [1831/2], House Servant, b. West Lulworth, Dorset

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1349; Folio 97; Page 9, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 9 Chesterfield Place, Melcombe Regis (parish), Weymouth & Melcombe Regis (borough), Dorset
   Phoebe H. Medhurst, wife, married, female, 42 [1818/9], Fancy Ware Shop Keeper, b. Pagham, Sussex
   John H. Medhurst, son, male, 4 [1856/7], Scholar, b. Weymouth, Dorset

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 2459; Folio 38; Page 6, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: High Street, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
   Phoebe Medhurst, head, married, 52 [1818/9], Wife of Tunbridge Ware Manufacturer, b. Pagham, Sussex
   John H. Medhurst, son, male, 14 [1856/7], Wood turner, b. Weymouth, Dorset

6. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 2920; Folio 39; Page 7, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Tunbridge House, Great Malvern, Worcestershire
   Phoebe Medhurst, head, widow, female, 62 [1818/9], Keeper of Fancy Goods, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Eliza Edwards, niece, unmarried, female, 50 [1830/1], Keeper of Fancy Goods, b. Pagham, Sussex

7. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 2331; Folio 144; Page 13, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Brompton Cottage, Great Malvern, Worcestershire
   Richard Melvin, head, married, male, 69 [1821/2], Whitesmith (retired), b. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
   Phoebe Melvin, wife, married, female, 72 [1818/9], Fancy Goods Dealer, neither employer nor employed, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Lilian Medhurst, granddaughter, female, 12 [1878/9], b. Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
   Constantia Kearney, boarder, single, 87 [1803/4], Living on own means, b. Dublin, Ireland

8. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Upton on Severn
   1897 DEATH in the Sub-district of Hanley Castle in the County of Worcester
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   437	Twenty first March 1897 Devereux House, G[rea]t Malvern U.D.	Phoebe Melvin	Female	76 years [1820/1]	Widow of _ Melvin, Whitesmith Master	Cerebral Apoplexy Certified by H.O. Holbecke M.R.C.S.	L.M. Gwynn Present at the Death 3 Church Street, G[rea]t Malvern	Twenty seventh March 1897	James Doughty, Registrar

   
9. ↑ Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Great Malvern Cemetery Registers (Worcestershire Record Office, Worcester).

   REGISTER OF BURIALS in the burial ground of GREAT MALVERN
   No. of Entry: 3063
   Name of Person Buried: Phoebe Melvin
   Description of Person Buried: Widow
   Age: 77
   Place where Death occurred: Great Malvern
   Date of Burial: 1897 March 25
   Ceremony Performed by: Rev. H.H.K. Bartleet
   Residence of Person Buried: Great Malvern
   No. of Grave Space: 2956
   In Consecrated Ground: Consecrated

10.   Kelly's Directory of Worcestershire, 1884
    Great Malvern
    Medhurst & Edwards, fancy repository, Church street
    Melvin Richard, gas fitter, Bank street
    
    Kelly's Directory of Worcestershire, 1888
    Great Malvern
    Medhurst & Edwards, fancy repository, Church street
    Melvin Richard, gas fitter, Bank street
    
    Kelly's Directory of Worcestershire, 1892
    Great Malvern
    Medhurst & Edwards, fancy repository, Church street
    Melvin Richard, gasfitter, Brompton cottage, Bank street
    
    Kelly's Directory of Worcestershire, 1896
    Great Malvern
    Edwards Eliza (Mrs.), fancy repository, Church street