Fragments of the life of Sarah Biddulph: Wherein is contained bigamists, disappeared widows, commissions of lunacy and no firm conclusions
T he fragmented life of Sarah Biddulph It is sad, but true, that most people avoid the attentions of Historians by being too poor, too female or too long ago. In the hunt for the origins of people donating hard cash to set up the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry I came across Sarah Biddulph. Apart from being rare, only 7% of donors were card carrying women in the 1794 list, [1] Sarah appeared not just in the lists of births, marriages and deaths, but during the initial search, appeared in the newspapers several times over 23 years. What will follow are fragments of History. I can not, as yet, go much beyond these spots of light in the darkness - but what fragments and what darkness. Derby Mercury 26th April 1776 Sarah was married to William Biddulph, who was involved with land in the possession of Widow Moore in 1761. [2] He was renting 27 acres of pasture [at least] in Uttoxeter in 1761. [3] William is again mentioned as being involved with the ...