Betsy Sams (1850 1924
Betsy was born in Albury, Hertfordshire, daughter of William Beeson and Susan (nee Stevenson). William, from Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire, married Susan, from Branstone, Leicestershire, in Grantham in 1845.
Betsy was baptised in Albury on March 17th, 1850. Father William was then a Kennel Servant.
In 1851 the Beeson family was living at Albury Hall Lodge, William then a Feeder to fox hounds'. Their children Tom Dent, 4, Ann Welbourn, 3 and Betsy,1, were with them, plus Lodger, Sarah Jane Edwards, Parochial School Mistress.
In 1861, William Beeson was a Publican at the Coach and Horses, in Thorley Street. . (Thorley is about a mile from the centre of Bishops' Stortford, and 7 miles from Albury.) With him and Sarah were son Thomas, daughter Ann, and Betsy all scholars.
In 1871 Betsy or Elizabeth was working as a Cook at All Saints Rectory in Hastings. She was one of 4 Servants at the Rectory.
Betsy married William Sams in 1874 in Holy Trinity, Kensington and Chelsea.
Born in Bardfield, Essex, William lived with his parents Edward (an Agricultural Labourer) and Sarah, in Bishops' Stortford between 1861 and 1871. He was described as a Florist, on his marriage certificate, living in Upper Chelsea, and his father Edward was a Farm Bailiff.
Betsy's father was by then a Licensed Victualler.
William had become Manager for George Beer who built several glasshouses on land by Chesswood Villa in 1872. There were two vineries, a cucumber house and a house for peaches. This was the first commercial glasshouse industry in Worthing.
William became a significant grower at Heene and Vice-Chairman of the Founding Committee of Worthing Horticultural Society
In 1881, living in Manor Road, were William and Betsy, with sons William John, Verles, and Edward, plus Betsy's parents, William now a retired Publican and Susan, both then in their sixties. (I haven't found any trace of Verles anywhere else)
By 1891 living at Stortford House, Manor Rd., were William, Nursery Man and Fruit Grower, with Betsy, and children William John who followed his father into the Nursery trade, Joseph Beeson, Edward and Dolly. As William had lived in Bishops Stortford, that's probably the source of the name of his house. (which is on the corner of Manor Road and St Michael's Road, very close to the Cemetery.) It is also likely that William and Betsy originally met in the Bishops Stortford area.
By 1901 William, Betsy, William John, Dora and Bessie, were living at the Elms, in Boundary Road. They had 2 female Servants with them. William John was a Fruit Grower and Employer, like his father. Bessie was recorded as deaf from birth.
In 1911 the family was living at The Elms, on the corner of Heene Road and Boundary Road. William, Nursery Man and Fruit Grower, Betsy, Joseph, Bank Clerk, Daisy and Bessie, plus one Servant, 23-year-old Lilly Bishop, from Portsmouth.
Betsy died on 22nd March 1924, and was buried in what became the family grave, on March 27th.
William died at The Elms in 1937.
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