Sarah Meears Amerson (1835-1878)

Parish church of Ombersley, Worcetershire, page 182, no. 1453.

Sarah was the daughter who stayed; she was the only child of George and Sarah Ann Gibson Meears who chose to live out her life in England. All other family members emigrated to the USA.

 Sarah “Meers” was born 20 September 1835, according the Bristol Road Branch Records for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[i]  This record includes her baptism date of 21 October 1851, and is the earliest birth record found-- and was created in her life time.  The first primary source was made by L.H. Burrows, curate, of the Ombersley parish in Worcester solemnizing her baptism 18 October 1835.[ii] Her abode was listed as Hadley.  Her father, George, was listed as a labourer and her mother as Sarah. The last name was spelled Meers just as it was in the LDS branch record.

Sarah was five years old when her sister, Emma, was born in Batheaston, Somersetshire. This meant that George, Sarah Ann--the mother, and the four girls moved from Hadley before Emma’s birth. The 6 June 1841 census listed Sarah and noted George’s occupation as railway labourer.[iii] This might have accounted for the move since there was great growth in the rail industry at this time period in England.  Sarah Meears was listed as a six year old in that census even though her birthday was still two months away. 

On 30 March 1851 the family was living on Upper Bishop Street in Birmingham but Sarah is not listed in the household that day.[iv] A search in the 1851 census was unfruitful.  She was 15 and could have been working out as a servant.  This assumption was further supported by the report in in the Bristol Road Branch Records that listed her as a dress maker.[v] This source recorded her baptism 21 October 1851 by Henry Cooper, a priest, and confirmation 22 October 1851, by Elder Henry Brides. It is the only record for her in the 1850s.  She was again counted with the family 7 April 1861 in the census record and was still working as a dress maker.[vi]

Later in that year, on 22 December 1861, Sarah married John William Amerson in All Saints parish, Birmingham, Warwickshire.[vii] A FreeBMD search in the marriage index showed records for both John and Sarah on the same volume and page for the 4^th Quarter of 1861.[viii] The marriage record was ordered and received from the General Register Office (GRO). The marriage, after banns, was of John William Amerson, 22, bachelor, commercial clerk residing on Sherlock Street whose father was John Amerson, a miller, to Sarah Meears who was 25, a spinster, and draper’s assistant, also residing at Sherlock Street whose father was George Meears who worked in agriculture.[ix] The marriage record was signed by the couple and witnessed by George Kenitson and Sarah’s sister, Emma Meears. 

Note: Sarah was 26 years old and 4 ½ years older than her husband when they married. (There was also a Sherlock Street address in the 1861 census listing for Sarah’s sister, Selena Meears, who was a servant in the Thomas Hancock household.)

Certified copy of an entry of Marriage, General Register Office, 22 Dec. 1861, John William Amerson & Sarah Meears

A search for the Amerson family in the later census records found them 2 April 1871 in Edgbaston, on 80 Bristol Road.10 John was a 31 year old corn merchant born in Olney, Buckinghamshire.  Sarah, wife, 35 and a son, William G. Amerson, 8, born Birmingham, Warwickshire were also listed with a servant, Anne Parks.[x]

1871 England census, Warwickshire, Edgbaston, district 7, page 11, schedule 42, John W. Amerson household.

John was listed as a widower in the 1881 census.[xi] Consequently a search in FreeBMD found Sarah Amerson's death listed in 4^th Quarter, 1878, in King’s Norton records.[xii]  The certified copy of the entry of death was ordered from the GRO.  Upon arrival it revealed death in the sub-district of Edgbaston in the counties of Warwick and Worcester where death occurred 18 December 1878.[xiii] They resided at 93 Belgrave Road, Edgbaston, Warwick. Sarah Amerson was the 44 year old wife of John William Amerson, a corn merchant.  The informant was William Amerson, her sixteen year old son, who was present at the death at their home.

Certified copy of an entry of death, General Register Office, Edgbaston, Warwickshire, 18 December 1878

[i] Sarah Meers, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Bristol Road Branch, British Mission, Record of Members, 1852-1857,  item 1, Branch Register, page 22, number 4, FHL film 86988.

[ii] Sarah Meers christened 18 October 1835, Church of England, Bishop’s Transcripts for Ombersley, 1608-1876, Baptisms and burials, 1820-1838, page 182, no. 1353, FHL film 350594.

[iii] Sarah Meears in the George Meears household, Batheaston, Somerset, England 1841 census, district 1, folio 11, page 14, line 13, Batheaston Street, www.ancestry.com, accessed 9 September 2011.

[iv] George and Sarah A. Meers household, 1851 England census, Warwick, Birmingham, St Martin, district 8, folio 208, page 4, householder 43, Upper Bishop St., accessed 11 October 2011.

[v] Bristol Road Branch, item 1, Branch Register, page 22, number 4, FHL film 86988.

[vi] Sarah Meears, daughter in Sarah Ann Meears household, St. Martin, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England 1861 census, district 11, folio 22, page 37, household 184, www.ancestry.com, accessed 7 September 2011.

[vii] John William Amerson and Sarah Meears marriage 22 December 1861, All Saints, Birmingham, Warwick, England, “England Marriages, 1538-1973,” index; batch number M07142-3, FHL film 1520008  (FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org): accessed  October 2011.

[viii] John William Amerson and Sarah Meears marriage, 1861,Q4 Dec, A, page 31 and 1861, Q4 Dec, M, page 82, England & Wales, Free BMD Marriage Index: 1837-1983, vol. 6d, page 19, www.freebmd.org.uk, accessed 5 March 2012.

[ix] John William Amerson and Sarah Meears marriage entry on 22 December 1861, citing 6d/19/316, All Saints parish, Birmingham, Warwick; General Registry Office, Southport, England.

[x] John W. and Sarah Amerson household, Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England 1871 census, district 7, page 11, schedule 42, 80 Bristol Road, www.ancestry.com, accessed 12 October 2011.

[xi] John W. Anderson household, St Martin, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England 1881 census, district 5, page 42, schedule 235, www.ancestry.com, accessed 21 October 2011.

[xii] Sarah Amerson death entry, “England & Wales, Free BMD Death Index: 1837-1983,” A, Q4 1878,  page 5, column 2, www.ancestry.com, accessed 12 October 2011. 

[xiii] Sarah Amerson death entry, 18 December 1878, citing 6c/332/132, Kings Norton registration district, Edgbaston sub-district, Counties of Warwick and Worcester; General Registry Office, Southport, England.