What Do We Know About William Sargant

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT.....William Sargant
SON OF BENJAMIN and AMELIA

(Last amended August 2009)
COMPILED BY JIM SARGANT (5)
Benjamin (1), William (2), Jesse (3), William Henry (5)

My great grandfather and his twin brother John were born on December 3 1853 to Benjamin and Amelia Serjant (note different spelling). He and John were christened in St Katherine’s Church, Merstham on December 5 1853.

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He married Agnes Gadd at Holmwood, near Dorking, on March 25 1872, when the surname was spelt Sargeant. Agnes came from Newdigate – not far from the Surrey/Sussex border. The marriage certificate shows both residing in Holmwood and neither was able to write at this time, making their marks on the certificate.

Two of their children died very young – William aged 2 years on February 27 1877, and Albert Edward aged 9 months on February 18 1878. By the 1981 census, the name was spelt Sargant. William and Agnes were living at Bores Green, Merstham with their children Amelia (8), John Hewitt (5) and Jesse (1). William was a farm servant. There were three lodgers – Jessie (31), John (24) & Annie (19) Gadd – probably siblings of Agnes.

Harrie was born in 1884 and his mother died on June 7 1885. It has been suggested that Agnes died in childbirth, but this could have been as a result of Harrie’s birth.

William married his second wife, Dora Louise Penny in 1890. At the 1891 census, they were living at Fore Bridge Cottage, Gatton with Jesse and Harry. William was an agricultural labourer. Ten years later, William and Dora were at 6 Albury Road, Merstham with their daughters Florence (9) and Eva ((5) and William was a coal merchant.

Jean Austin insists that her grandfather was William Henry, although there is no trace of a second name on William’s birth certificate. The family was quite religious and Jean thinks that William was in the Church choir.

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Maria Gadd, William’s mother-in-law

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Louise, William’s 2nd wife

Having worshipped at Merstham Parish Church, St Katherine’s, for all his life, William seems to have played a part in the introduction of a new church to serve the growing population of South Merstham. All Saints’ was constructed mainly using local bricks in a 13th century style. It was opened for worship on February 6 1898 & consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester on July 4 of the same year. This photograph of the dignitaries of the new Church may have been taken at either of these events.

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William (arrowed) appears to be holding a staff shorter than those held by the man in the front row. Merstham historian & author, Alex Hunter suggests that this indicates that William was a deputy Church Warden, the larger staffs being the symbol of office of the Church Wardens.

William’s sister Amelia died young but worked for a time for a Rev Wagner, a Roman Catholic clergyman who became well-known for revealing a confession – of a murderer. This was the subject of a television play some years ago.
His brother John Hewitt, according to Jean Austin, married a posh lady called Julia. Jean knew him as Uncle Jack. He was steward of the Brighton Conservative Party. After Julia died, he re-married a cook – Kate Louise. He died on August 8 1950 aged 75. Kate Louise died on August 23 1969.

Having been an agricultural labourer all his working life and unable to write in 1872, William started a coal merchants business in Merstham in 1890 – presumably influenced by his new wife. At some stage, the family moved from 5 to 32 Albury Road, Merstham, which doubled as the headquarters of the business and a home.

This photograph (overleaf) of 32 Albury Road has been copied from a pictorial history of Merstham. The caption reads:

*Mr Sargant’s House.* William Sargant lived at ‘Belvedere’, number 32 Albury Road. The board between the upstairs windows gives the information that W. Sargant, Carman and Coal Merchant, was established in 1890. The postcard dated 1915 was written by Mrs Sargant and sent to Ruth to inform her that “They arrived home quite safely and that the train was on time, just right for the bus. Dad thanks you so much for his tobacco”.

After the Second World War, the downstairs front room was used as an office where callers could place their orders for fuel with Sargant & Martin (coal depot at Merstham Station) : a warm welcome awaited them in the shape of a continuously burning stove that was never allowed to go out during the winter, a good advertisement for solid fuel in the days before gas central heating.

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The postcard referred to was obviously sent by William’s second wife Dora Louise, but who Ruth was is unclear. Did William and Dora have another daughter? Or could this be Ruth Sargant, daughter of William’s nephew Frederick (son of Philip, William’s eldest brother)?

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The Merstham address in this advertisement does not tally with other information

Florence, a daughter from William’s second marriage, married a Frederick Martin. Presumably he joined the coal merchants business, hence its later name Sargant & Martin Ltd. It can be assumed that the name change occurred after 1913, since Kelly’s Directory of Surrey for that year list ‘Sargant William, Albury Road, South Merstham & Station Merstham, Redhill’ under the heading Coal & Coke Merchants.

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William & Dora

William’s twin brother John emigrated to America with his family in the early 1900s. On November 14 1922, arrivals at Ellis Island for New York aboard the Majestic included a William Sargant. Was this a final meeting of the twins ?

William passed away on March 30 1927 (see death certificate on following page).

Florence continued running the business until after World War Two. David Davis, who lived next-door to the coal yard in Albury Road between 1946 & 1958, remembers Florence, her husband Bert/Burt & son George. Florence sold the business and emigrated to Canada to live with relatives. There is no evidence to suggest that these relations were Sargants, so the assumption is that they were associated with the Pennys. It is probable that someone else ran the business for some years after Florence left. The company was dissolved in 1975 as recorded in The London Gazette dated June 26 1975.

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