Greg’s great great grandfather John Plowright (1831 – 1910) was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on 26 November 1831. He was christened three days later in St Margaret’s Church.
The church, now known as King’s Lynn Minster, is Grade 1 listed – a building of exceptional interest – in the register of the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.
King’s Lynn Minister was founded in 1095 as part of a Benedictine Priory. Some Norman architectural elements remain. There are Gothic towers from the 12th and 15th centuries and the chancel, the area around the altar, dates from the 13th century. Part of the building collapsed in 1741 and was rebuilt in Gothic Revival style. The church was the parish church for the town of King’s Lynn and was granted the title of Minster in 2011 by the Bishop of Norwich. (Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most famously York Minster in York and Westminster in London; a minster refers more generally to “any large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church”.)
John was the fourth of eight children of William Plowright (1791 – 1869) and William’s second wife Sarah Ann Plowright nee Jackson (1796 – 1864).
John’s father William was christened at St Margaret’s in 1791.
William was a mariner. He lived at various addresses in King’s Lynn, among them:
- 1818 Priory Lane
- 1825 Church Street
- 1829 Austin Street
On the 1841 census William Plowright was living at Austin Street. His occupation is described as labourer; his wife was absent; and there were eight children aged from 2 to 20 living in the household. The oldest son, William, aged 20, was a plumber. William’s wife, Sarah Plowright, was a female servant in the household of John Ayre, a merchant living in Norfolk Street, Kings Lynn.
In 1851, William, occupation seaman, Sarah, and three children and two lodgers were living at 22 North Clough Lane. Their son Edward aged 14 was a Boots at the inn. Frederick aged 12 was an errand boy, Mary Ann aged 8 was at school.
John Plowright signed on as a merchant seaman in 1858. On the 1851 census he was living in Tower Hamlets, St Pauls Shadwell, in the East End of London. He was a boarder in a house with other seamen who were also boarders.
About 1853 John Plowright sailed to Australia on the brig “Speculation”, probably as a seaman. He disembarked at Melbourne and joined the gold rush, never to return to England.
Atherton said:
Hello Anne! That is a fascinating church, with an interestingly patchworked architectural style (as most old buildings tend to be–but the fabric of each old building is always a different sort of patchwork, which is cool). Also, you give us interesting slices of life, and it is interesting to think of all of those professions living together in one house and one family. A seaman, a servant, a Boots, and an errand boy–everyone had a job. Really neat stuff!
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kristin said:
So, Sarah the wife lived away from the husband and 8 children or just for the day of the census? If she lived on the job, I hope the next oldest was a daughter.
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Anne Young said:
I think the family were not doing so well and Sarah had a job as a live in servant leaving her husband to care for the children probably with the assistance of the older children: the oldest girl was Sarah aged 10, she had 3 older brothers. It is of course impossible to tell if the arrangement was just for the night of the census or longer term.
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Fran @ TravelGenee said:
Anne, I always want to know why family members are separated on census day as Kristin noted in the comments. I have some myself. The ones I can be more sure about is when they are visiting family. Possible servant situations are harder to sort out with just an odd name on the page in a household not surrounded by family to help make sure you have the correct census page.
Fran
TravelGenee visiting from the A to Z challenge.
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Anne Young said:
I am reasonably confident about Sarah in this instance, right age, missing from home, only a few streets away and a female servant. 18 – 20 year old labourers or servants with a common name are often tricky 🙂
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lindamaycurry said:
I had to go back and find out what happened to John Plowright. What a hard life he had. I feel so sorry for his poor wife. Dropsy and exhaustion! It’s hard to tell who had the better life – those who left or those who stayed behind.
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