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Sunday 18 August 2019

The Tragic Death of Haydon Lounds, Coach Builder : 52 Ancestors Week 34

Tragedy is the theme of this week's "52 Ancestors" prompts. 

Here an admission -  in many ways I have come to regret my choice of title for my blog.  When I set this up, as a novice,  in August 2010,   I was keen to convey my enthusiasm and pleasure that I gain from my family history activities - hence "Family History Fun."  But  tragedies. abound in our research  from mothers dying in  childbirth, the early deaths of children succumbing to illness,  accidents at home and work,  and of course in warfare.  


So most of us will soon come across tragedies in our family history. Here is such a one from distant branch of my family, and  where my blog title  becomes inappropriate.

I was asked by my  cousin to find out more about the background of his  grandmother  Sarah Haydon Lounds who married my great uncle John Danson (left)   It proved a sad tale.



SARAH'S PARENTS 

A search on www.ancestry.co.uk  quickly revealed  that the surname Lounds was very popular in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. I soon traced an entry for a Sarah Haydon Lounds born Jan-March 1884 at Worksop, Nottinghamshire.   She was baptised at St. John's Church, Worksop, daughter of  George Haydon Lounds and Charlotte Ann Short, who had married in 1873. 


George Haydon Lounds was the eldest son of Haydon Lounds and Jane Beaver, born December 1853 at Bourne, Lincolnshire. He was consistently described in census returns as a coach painter.  He and Charlotte had six children Haydon (1873),  Jane (1875),  Emma (1877),  Willie (1879), Sarah (1884)  and Harold (1889).
 


WHERE DID THE "HAYDON" NAME COME FROM?  
I was  keen to find out the background to the  unusual Christian name of Haydon.  My first thought was that it  probably stemmed from a mother's maiden name - but we all know as family historians, not to make assumptions.  

 

I had Sarah's grandfather's likely birth year as c.1832 so looked up the 1841 census to trace a young Haydon Lounds aged around 9.   He was found with his family at Bourne, Lincolnshire with parents Thomas, a cottager, born, c 1791,  mother Sarah,  and 4 sisters,  Esther, Sarah, Eliza and Julia, and brother Thomas.  Father Thomas obviously prospered over the years, as in 1851 he was a farmer of 29 acres, and ten years later of 40 acres. 

 

A search for the marriage of Thomas and his wife Sarah was the next stage of research - and there was my answer -  on 24th October 1814 the marriage of Thomas Lounds and Sarah Haydon with the banns read at Corby, Lincolnshire and   Holywell, Lincolnshire.


Around the same time as Thomas and Sarah above married, there was also a marriage in Lincolnshire of a Thomas Lounds and a Mary Lamb and many people cite them as Haydon's parents on the online trees in Ancestry.  However I have discounted this as the correct record,  as none of the  female descendants were called Mary, and the Sarah Haydon link is so powerful, given the way her maiden name and the Christian names of her children were continued down the generations and branches of the family.


Haydon Lounds: Coach Builder - Grandfather of "my" Sarah
Given that coach builder Haydon was a local tradesman, I sought to find more about his own life and work and searched newspapers online to discover a  wonderful source of entries on Haydon.  

Stamford  Mercury:27th January  1854



 But success was short lived as reported in 1855: 
 
The London Gazette:  22nd February 1855

"A petition for bankruptcy - hearing date 14th February 1855 has been filed against Haydon Lounds of Bourne in the county of Lincoln, coach builder and wheelwright......" 
Haydon could only have been about 23 years old at the  time of this bankruptcy and
had married only two years previously, with  eldest son George Haydon (Sarah's father) born the same year.    However Haydon continued working in his trade, as indicated in the census returns 1861-1891 where he was described as "employed". Three daughters and six sons were born over  the next twenty years. 

Newspaper reports gave an insight into  Haydon as a respected member of the community, with  frequent reference to Haydon being among a company of bell ringers, who performed in church and at various social occasions, plus an award made to him by a Friendly Society. 

The Stamford Mercury:  12th July 1870"

"The Managers of the Hearts of Oak  Friendly Society, of London, have this week presented a handsome silver medal, bearing a suitable inscription, to Mr. Haydon Lounds, workman in the employ of Mr. Anderson, coach builder, of this town, for valuable assistance he has rendered for some time in inducing persons to become members of that institution"....... 
 
The Friendly Society was set up in 1842 with the aim of giving its members protection against distress through sickness.   It grew rapidly and a major collection of its records is now held at the National Archives

 The Stamford Mercury:  9th December 1870

  "A company of hand-bell ringers, under the direction of Mr. Haydon Lounds, gave a very pleasing diversion"

The Grantham Journal:  27th November 1875 
- an effusive  report  on a Saturday evening concert at the Temperance Hall noted among the entertainers were:  

"Mr. Haydon Lounds and his sons who gave immense satisfaction by their excellent manipulation at the hand bells; the various pieces played by them being received with enthusiastic manifestations of delight".
 However tragedy befell the family as reported below.  

Lincolnshire Chronicle Friday 27 March 1896:

GRANTHAM - SUICIDE.  Mr Aubrey H. Malin, coroner, held an inquest into  the death of Haydon Lounds aged 65, a coach-body maker, who died on the previous day.  Arthur..... Lounds, son of the deceased, identified the body. Deceased had been suffering from white-lead colic for six weeks but had not stayed off work until the previous Wednesday.  Deceased of late had appeared in a rather depressed state.  He seemed to trouble about the idea of having to live upon his children.   William Deed, engine driver,  said he had known the deceased for about 20 years.  On Saturday at lunchtime, the witness was called to the deceased house.  In his bedroom, he found the deceased lying on his side, with his throat cut and a razor in his hand.  He had noticed that the deceased had been rather absent minded.  Dr. Paterson, attributed death to shock and exhaustion, due to loss of blood.  Verdict - Suicide whilst in a state of unsound mind."

So work for  40 years as a coach-body builder, resulted in Haydon suffering from what was later to be believed to be work related   lead poisoning.  Thus ended  the life of this family man and supportive member of his communit.   He was buried at Grantham Parish Church, Lincolnshire. 


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7 comments:

  1. What a thoughtful post about a man's life, which had many beautiful moments which were shared in the community.

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  2. That is indeed a sad ending for his life.

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  3. What a tragic ending to Haydon Lounds' story! It is interesting how a woman's maiden name can be carried down the line as a second Christian name, in my family it is the name Jephson. I love how you've incorporated newspapers into your research in this post as well. Great work!

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  4. A tragic ending to a relatively long life, which you capture so beautifully in the introductory portions of this post. I looked up white lead after reading this, and it was apparently used in wheel lubricants -- so yes, very likely an occupational exposure. How unfortunate that it often takes losses like this for such toxic substances to be banned.

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  5. A sad ending, ScotSue, to a good life. I can't help0 but wonder how many in his kind of work suffered from lead poisoning.

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  6. Sue, It is a tragic ending to his life. He seemed, however, to have a fairly long, decent life. He had a wonderful family, a job he enjoyed, and liked helping others.

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  7. You're right. That's a sad ending for a hardworking man. I think he'd like that you're honoring his memory with a post.

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