The Days and the Kettles

Family Stories by Lois

I thought I would share this post with you again:

In 1911 in the village of Bletchingley, Sarah Jane Day was living with her husband John Colgate; she was born in Suffolk in 1855. her widowed father had brought her to Surrey via London, no doubt in search of work and a living to support his family.

Sarah Colgate née Day

Eleven years later in another part of Suffolk, Kezia Cracknell was born… and in 1911, she too was living in Bletchingley in Common Lane. Did the two women know each other? Did Sarah hear Kezia talking in the shop and recognize her Suffolk accent? Did they talk about the old place?

Kezia was a recent arrival having moved there in about 1902 with her husband Henry and her children James, Charles, and Arthur; she may have been pregnant with Herbert, and within a couple of years Florence and Alfred were born. Her daughter Alice lived not too far away in Godstone, and her other daughter, Edith lived in Reigate; both girls were in service. Her son Edward was in Reigate, the same as his sister, he was a gardener. Her eldest son, William was at least in the same county; he was a police officer in Epsom.

There is no way now to know what brought the family, including the adult children all the way from Suffolk to Surrey.

Bletchingley

Her husband Henry had been married before he met Kezia; he had married Hannah Day (no relation to Sarah Day of Lidgate) They had at least four children, Annie Day, Henry, Offira and Christina in the twelve years they were together… Poor Hannah died young, just as her own mother had, in 1882. He married Kezia the following year.

When Henry moved to Surrey, his daughter Christina stayed behind, living in Ipswich, and her brother Henry junior was well-settled in Suffolk with his wife Lily and five children. His other son Offord/Orford, and wife Clara also stayed in Suffolk with their two children, Orford junior and Edith. His step-daughter Annie was also married with three children… Did Henry Kettle leave his elder children and his ten grandchildren with regret? Or was he more concerned with the well-being of his new young family?

However, the move to Bletchingley was not as happy as no doubt Henry and Kezia had hoped; tragedy struck in 1909, Henry died aged sixty. He left Kezia a widow at forty-three, a widow with four children under ten, and another two older sons at home. She probably had some financial support from her working children, but the younger ones  were not without a father for long because Kezia married Joseph Trussler in 1912. It is hard to find exact details about Joseph, he may have been born in 1866… or he may have been born in 1871…

Her happiness did not last long because Joseph also left her a widow in 1919. To have been widowed twice in ten years… to marry twice in ten years, yes, she married again for the third time to Charles Coomber. As with her other two husband, Kezia outlived Charles, he died in 1930, she lived to be eighty-one, dying in 1948, five years after the other Surrey girl, Sarah Colgate.

So what brought me to the Kettles latterly of Suffolk, later of Surrey? My husband, Sarah Day’s great-grandson, went to school with Kezia’s great-grandchildren.

http://loiselden.com/2012/05/01/a-sad-tale-with-a-happy-ending/

10 Comments

      1. Nigel Kettle

        I was born and bred in Bletchingley. I now live in France. Went to school at St. Catherines, Herbie had a nickname Marcus, why I don’t know. Florrie,. daughter of Arthur, died recently at 100 years. She often made references to Granny Coomber who owned the tearooms in Bletchingley. I now know Granny Coomber was Kezia. Somewhere I have a photograph of her. I know that Rose, Jame’s daughter married a Robson and lived in Coneybury on the White Post estate Jack (my father), Stan (my Uncle), Vera (Arthur’s daughter), Bill and Alf also lived in Coneybury.

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      2. Lois

        Hello again Nigel, my husband lived in Bletchingley for many years and he remembers a family called Kettle and he went to school with Brenda and Ann.on Kendrick Square – I don’t suppose they were related to you? My husband’s name is Bari (was Barry) Sparshott, and he had cousins living nearby, surnames were Rolph and Nash. We live in Somerset, but occasionally pass through the village.

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      3. Nigel Kettle

        Hello Lois, All Kettle’s in Bletchingley are all directly related to Henry and Kezia . I need to get a timeline on Barry because I am now 63. When I was 5-10 (1966-70) I was at school and Mrs Sparshott was the main cook. She lived with her husband at about 55 Coneybury (I am a bit sketchy on that) I was 94 Coneybury. Mrs Sparshott made excellent tarts as I recall. It was lucky that she was a good cook because in those days there were no chips and you were forced to clear the plate. Did Bari go to the old school at the top of the village? It closed a few months before I went to school. Mr Clegg was the headmaster when I was there.

        With thanks to you I have extended my family tree. I am struggling with Bill and Alf’s (brothers) children, maybe Brenda and Ann are a part of them but neither lived in Kenrick Square as I recall, they lived in Coneybury. My brother Andrew was born in 1956. Most of Henry/Kezia children are buried in the cemetery in Bletchingley.

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      4. Lois

        Hi Nigel, thanks for all the interesting information. Yes, Mrs Sparshott, Dorothy was Bari’s mum and she was a great cook – at home as well as at school. She eventually moved to be near us in Weston-super-Mare where we now live, but she died in 2006 at the age of 92. Bari went to the village school then got s scholarship to Reigate Grammar. Bari (originally Barry) has two cousins, Dennis and Mike Rolph and another two who were older, Rosemary and Shirley Nash. There are Colgates buried in the same cemetery as your family – neighbours in life and afterwards!

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      7. Nigel Kettle

        15 years apart that is why I can’t remember him, however, you have got me interested in Bletchingley again. I have to ignore the online rubbish I am interested in the personal side of life as it was. I am putting together a list of families in Coneybury 40 years ago, I know a lot of names I am not sure where they all lived. Do you have an email address so I can send you a file. 108 places to fill in. There are clues from my memory.

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