elizabeth, william, sarah frogley

Subject Names :    Elizabeth Frogley née Kercher   (b 1842 – d 1942)
                                William Frogley                            (b 1868 – d 1892)
                                Sarah Frogley                               (b 1871 – d 1893) 

Researchers :        Pauline Sieler and Mike Brock

The sudden death of Elizabeth Frogley’s husband just before the birth of their third child left the family in turmoil.  Elizabeth’s youngest George was brought up by her sister in Horsham, but Elizabeth and her two eldest children William and Sarah became long-term inmates of the Guildford Union Workhouse, where Sarah was a persistent menace.  Elizabeth had three more children, all illegitimate, although only one would survive birth.  Elizabeth lived on in institutions into her 100th year, outliving all but one of her children.    

Elizabeth’s early years

Elizabeth Kercher was born in Cut Corner, Puttenham, Surrey in about 1842, the fourth child of labourer James and Sarah née Durbridge 1, 2.  No official birth certificate for Elizabeth has been traced, nor for the four siblings that followed her, but Elizabeth was baptised at Puttenham’s St John the Baptist Church on 14th May 1843.

The family remained in Puttenham, and at the time of the 1851 Census, 9-year-old Elizabeth was a scholar, living with her parents 42-year-old farm labourer James and Sarah, 41, and siblings George – at age 13, a farm labourer like his father – Thomas, Anne and Harriett 3.

Elizabeth had been living a couple of miles south of Puttenham, in the hamlet of Gatwick, when in November 1867, age 24, she married William Frogley, a 33-year-old carter from Haslemere 4, 5.

Their first child, William James, was born in Puttenham on 4th September 1868, with Sarah Jane following on 25th January 1871 by which time the family had moved to the adjacent village of Seale 6, 7.

Their lives were turned upside down two years later when Elizabeth’s husband William was found dead beside the road in Haslemere on 16th August 1873, aged 40 8.  An inquest held two days later heard that William had been to Haslemere’s village church to attend his father’s funeral 9.  William had stayed overnight with his brother-in-law in the village and then left early the next morning to escape the heat of the day for the 11-mile (18km) journey back home to Seale.  William was found dead around 6am just a short distance away from his brother-in-law’s home.  After an autopsy, the verdict was that William had died of ‘apoplexy’ (a stroke).  

With Elizabeth shortly expecting her and William’s third child, the jurors donated their fees to her, with the doctor also making a contribution.

This money would certainly have helped Elizabeth following the birth of Thomas George in the Farnham Union Workhouse on 2nd September 1873, just 17 days after his father’s death 10.  With 5-year-old William and Sarah, 2, to look after as well, Elizabeth would soon have needed more help.

This came in part from Elizabeth’s eldest sister Mary Page, who was living in Horsham, Sussex, with her husband and daughter 11.  Elizabeth’s youngest, known as George, was recorded on the 1881 and 1891 Censuses living with his aunt Mary and uncle in Horsham, and had most likely been there since his very early childhood 12, 13. 

The Workhouse Years

As for Elizabeth, William and Sarah, they were forced into the Workhouse.  Although there are no admission records available, later newspaper reports indicate that, after a brief spell in the Farnham Union Workhouse in early 1876, the Frogleys became inmates of the Guildford Union Workhouse later that year 14, 26. 

About two years later, Elizabeth was out of the workhouse and living in Seale, where she gave birth to premature twins James Henry and Hannah Elizabeth Frogley on 22nd December 1878 15.  No father was named.  James and Hannah were given private baptisms the following day indicating all was not well with them 16.  The babies only survived for 3 days, passing away on Christmas Day 17.

Whether Elizabeth’s children William and Sarah were with her at this time is unknown, but all three were in the Guildford Union Workhouse by September 1879 18. The 1881 Census recorded them as inmates, Elizabeth as a widowed domestic servant, with William and Sarah both scholars 19.  

Elizabeth’s cycle of life in the Workhouse would not have been conducive to finding a new partner.  Men, women and children were mostly segregated, so there was little or no chance of forming a relationship and certainly not of having a child. 

However, in October 1884, Elizabeth gave birth to daughter Hannah in the Guildford Union Workhouse 20.  Once again, no father was named on the birth certificate.  Elizabeth, aged about 42, was noted as a ‘field labourer of Puttenham’, meaning that she had been working on a day-by-day basis, probably helping to gather the harvest.  Puttenham is at least 6 miles (10km) from the Workhouse, so it would seem likely that she had been living there for quite some time.

Sarah – ‘A Terror to the Workhouse’

For Elizabeth’s elder children William and Sarah, their Workhouse schooling was intended to make them ready for employment in the outside world around the age of 13.  Sarah, however, would be beyond the help of the staff of the Workhouse and Board of Guardians, proving to be almost impossible to control.

In 1887, 16-year-old Sarah was given a two-week and then a further three-week prison sentence, both with hard labour, for her dreadful behaviour 21, 22. 

On the first occasion, she struck a matron twice after being reprimanded for making a ‘great noise in the dormitory’ and insolence. She then deliberately tore her clothes while staff tried to restrain her. She was said to have been ‘very naughty and troublesome’ ever since she had been in the Workhouse, and also described as ‘contumacious’ meaning she was stubbornly and wilfully disobedient to the Workhouse authorities.

On the second occasion a few months later, she was given oakum (used tarred rope) to unpick as a punishment after striking a fellow inmate and refusing to do her work, but Sarah threw the oakum into the yard and began smashing panes of glass, with utensils and bedding following the oakum into the yard.  More violence and tearing of her clothing followed before being restrained.

The workhouse had unsuccessfully tried several times to place Sarah into service.  Miss Augusta Spottiswoode, the Guildford Union Board of Guardians’ member who dedicated much of her time to the welfare of the Workhouse children, said that she had once got Sarah into a home to work but ‘they could not do with her’ while the Relieving Officer, Henry Portsmouth’s opinion of Sarah was that she was a ‘nasty, stubborn and ill-mannered girl’ 23.

The Workhouse’s problems with Sarah appeared to have been solved when seven members of the Trowse family, inmates of the Workhouse, were able to emigrate to Canada thanks to Miss Spottiswoode’s assistance, and agreed to take Sarah with them 24.  The Trowse family travelled with Sarah, arriving in Quebec at the end of May 1888 25. 

For reasons unknown, this did not work out as Sarah was soon back in the Guildford Union Workhouse causing more disturbances.  In 1890, she received yet another prison term for her disruptive behaviour.  It was stated that Sarah, now 19, had been an inmate of the Guildford Union Workhouse since she was 4 years old 26.

Around September 1890, following this two-month imprisonment, Sarah moved to London but was soon in a workhouse again, being admitted to the Hackney Union Workhouse on 9th October 27.  Noted as an unmarried servant, she spent most of the next six months in the Hackney Union Workhouse.  Sarah’s next of kin was recorded as ‘mother Elizabeth in Guildford Workhouse’.

Sarah was still an inmate of the Hackney Union Workhouse at the time of the April 1891 Census, but she left on 8th April, three days after the Census 28. There are no records to confirm where she went initially, but Sarah soon appeared south of the River Thames, marrying labourer Thomas Tickner, 33, in Deptford in July 1892 29. 

21-year-old Sarah was already pregnant, giving birth to a daughter also named Sarah in September in Chatham, Kent in early September 30.  The baby only lived for 7 weeks, passing away from bronchitis, and was buried at Chatham Cemetery 31.

Sarah’s troubled life ended the following year, when she died in Chatham from peritonitis on 3rd December 1893 32.  The death certificate stated that she was 36 years old when in fact she was only 22, but it does seem that this was a clerical error.  The certificate named Sarah as the wife of Thomas Tickner who would have been about 36 himself. With no other Sarah/Thomas Tickner couples found, it seems most likely that the age was incorrect on the certificate. Like her daughter, Sarah was buried at Chatham Cemetery 33.

William dies in Singapore

Sometime after leaving the Guildford Union Workhouse, Sarah’s older brother William had enlisted in the British Army, serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment.  The Regiment had travelled to Singapore in 1889, and it was at the Station Hospital, Tanglin Barracks, in Singapore that Lance Corporal William Frogley died on 11th February 1892 from a ‘rupture of heart’, at the young age of 23 34, 35.

Long life in institutions for Elizabeth

How aware Elizabeth was of the fates of Sarah and William is not known, but since her daughter Hannah’s birth in 1884, she had almost certainly become a permanent inmate of the Guildford Union Workhouse 36.  The April 1891 Census confirmed her as a ‘pauper’ and ‘laundress’, no doubt in the Workhouse laundry.  Her 6-year-old daughter, now known as ‘Annie’, a scholar, was also in the Workhouse.

When the Guildford Union Workhouse was taken over as a Military War Hospital during World War I in late 1915, its inmates had to be transferred to various other Surrey Workhouses, including Farnham, Hambledon, Dorking and Epsom 37, 38.

Elizabeth was one of those affected.  Despite the Guildford War Hospital reverting back to its original purpose as a workhouse in 1918, Elizabeth was not there in the 1921 Census, but was an inmate at the Guardians’ Institution, at Bletchingley, Godstone, about 23 miles (37km) to the east of Guildford 39, 40 *. 

The Guardians’ Institution was formerly known as the Godstone Union Workhouse, but changed its name when it was decided that the word ‘Workhouse’ had a ‘deterrent effect upon people’ 41. The Chairman of Godstone’s Board of Guardians believed that the stigma attached to the word Workhouse would be ‘entirely removed’ by adopting the word ‘Institution’, but not without disadvantages. Guildford, and all other Unions had made the same change.

By 1939 Elizabeth had been moved again. Now ‘incapacitated’, she was a patient at the Hambledon Hospital, on the site of the old Hambledon Union Workhouse in Wormley Lane 42.  This Register gave the first known record of her birthdate, 6th November 1843, although this should probably have been 1842 as she was baptised in May 1843.

Elizabeth’s condition and age saw her moved to the Farnham County Hospital in Hale Road, the site of the former Farnham Union Workhouse, where she passed away on New Year’s Day 1942 in her 100th year, having spent most of the past 70 years in institutions 43, 44.

George Frogley

Elizabeth’s youngest child George, born just after his father’s death in 1873, had grown up with his aunt and uncle in Horsham, Sussex, and married Minnie Parker there in 1896 45.  They settled in the town, raising a family of 12 children 46, 47.

George spent much of his adult life as a gas worker which he was still doing well into his 70s.  This featured in a front-page article of the West Sussex County Times in October 1946 on the occasion of George and Minnie’s golden wedding anniversary 48.

They remained married until 1955 when Minnie passed away, aged 77 49.  George died in March 1958, aged 84 50.

Annie Frogley

Annie, like her half-sibling Sarah but hopefully with more success, would have received her education and training in the Guildford Union Workhouse to enable her to go into service.  The 1901 Census showed that this had indeed been done, as 16-year-old Annie was living and working in Dapdune House, Stoke next Guildford as a ‘betweenmaid’, a term for a young female domestic worker in a large household 51.

Annie married labourer Thomas Moon in Guildford in September 1908 52. They settled in Milford, Witley, just outside Godalming, but Annie died aged 29 from complications following the birth of her second child in March 1912 53, 54, 55.

December 2020, updated February 2025
Editor: Mike Brock

*  Sarah Swan, a fellow long-term inmate of the Guildford Union Workhouse with Elizabeth Frogley, was also transferred to Bletchingley.  

Spike Lives is a Heritage project that chronicles the lives of inmates, staff and the Board of Guardians of the Guildford Union Workhouse at the time of the 1881 Census.  The Spike Heritage Museum in Guildford offers guided tours which present a unique opportunity to discover what life was like in the Casual/Vagrant ward of a Workhouse. More information can be found here

References

Note: the source is FindMyPast.co.uk unless otherwise noted

  1. James Cawson & Sarah Durbridge 7 April 1827 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Ash, St Peter; ref AS/2/2/1
    James Cawson 29 September 1829 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Ash, St Peter; ref AS/4/1
    James Kercher & Sarah Cawson 23 August 1834 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Ash, St Peter; ref AS/2/2/1
  2. Mary Kircher 4 December 1836 Baptism
    George Kircher 25 November 1838 Baptism
    Hannah Kircher 4 April 1841 Baptism
    Elizabeth Kircher 14 May 1843 Baptism
    Thomas & Joseph Kircher 21 December 1845 Baptism
    Anne Kircher 4 February 1849 Baptism
    Harriet Kircher 6 April 1851 Baptism
    Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Puttenham, St John the Baptist; ref PUT/3/1
  3. James, Sarah, George, Elizabeth, Thomas, Ann, Harriett Kercher 1851 England Census for Puttenham, Farnborough, Surrey; ref HO107; piece 1596; folio 13; page 19; schedule 70
  4. William Frogley & Elizabeth Kercher 16 November 1867 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Puttenham, St John the Baptist ; ref PUT/2/2/3
  5. William Frogley 3 March 1833 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Haslemere, St Bartholomew; ref Hme/3/1
  6. William James Frogley 4 September 1868 England & Wales Births; Sep Quarter 1868; Farnborough, Hampshire; volume 2A; page 106 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  7. Sarah Jane Frogley 25 January 1871 England & Wales Births; Jun Quarter; Farnham, Surrey; volume 2A; page 95 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  8. Sudden Death 23 August 1873 West Surrey Times, page 3
    William Frogley 1873 England & Wales Deaths; Sep Quarter; Farnham, Surrey; volume 2A; page 64
  9. William Frogley senior 15 August 1873 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Haslemere, St Bartholomew; ref Hme/4/1
  10. Thomas George Frogley 2 September 1873 England & Wales Births; Sep Quarter; Farnham, Surrey; volume 2A; page 116 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  11. Henry Page & Mary Kercher 28 May 1860 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Ash, St Peter; ref AS/2/2/2
    Mary, Harriett Page; Michael Page 1871 England Census for Grub Street, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG10; piece 1098; folio 34; page 13; schedule 62
  12. Henry, Sophia sic Page; George Frogley, Michael Page 1881 England Census for Oak Hill, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG11; piece 1108; folio 62; page 29; schedule 487
  13. Henry, Mary, George, Michael Page 1891 England Census for Oak Hill, Grub Street, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG12; piece 828; folio 49; page 17; schedule 69
  14. Elizabeth, William, Sarah Frogley 19 Feb 1876 admission Farnham Poor Law Union and Board of Guardians Records; Creed Register 1873-1879 Available at Surrey History Centre, Woking Surreycc.gov.uk
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  16. James Henry Frogley & Anna sic Elizabeth Frogley 23 December 1878 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Seale, St Lawrence; ref 7864/1/3
  17. James Henry Frogley & Hannah Elizabeth Frogley 25 December 1878 England & Wales Deaths; Dec Quarter 1878; Farnham, Surrey; volume 2A; page 74 Digital copy (James Henry) from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
    James Henry Frogley & Hannah Elizabeth Frogley 28 December 1878 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Seale, St Lawrence; ref SEA/1/8
  18. Elizabeth Frogley and her two children 18 September 1879 Order of Removal Hambledon Poor Law Union Minute Books; ref BG7/11/9 Available at Surrey History Centre, Woking Surreycc.gov.uk
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  20. Hannah Frogley 22 October 1884 England & Wales Births; Dec Quarter 1884; Guildford, Surrey; volume 2A; page 80 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
    Female Frogley 23 October 1884 Birth Surrey History Centre, Woking; Guildford Union Workhouse Births; ref BG6/37/1 Surreycc.gov.uk
  21. A Contumacious Workhouse Girl 28 April 1887 West Surrey Times, page 6 Newspapers.com
  22. A Terror to the Workhouse 20 August 1887 West Surrey Times, page 5 Newspapers.com
  23. A Turbulent Workhouse Inmate 26 April 1887 Epsom Journal, page 3 British Newspaper Archive / FindMyPast.co.uk
  24. An Act of Kindness 8 Jun 1888 West Surrey Times, page 5
  25. Chas, Jemima, Francis, Emily, Fredk, Chas, Thos Trowse; Sarah Frogley 30 May 1888 Arrival in Quebec from Liverpool Library and Archives, Canada, Ottawa; Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists; series RG76-C; roll C-4536 Ancestry.com
  26. A Violent-Tempered Young Woman 19 June 1890 West Sussex Gazette, page 3
  27. Sarah Frogley 9 Oct-18 Nov 1890 (to infirmary); 25 Nov-19 Dec 1890; 22 Dec-23 Dec 1890; 21 Jan-8 Apr 1891 Admission-Discharge London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1764-1921; Hackney Union Workhouse Ancestry.co.uk
  28. Sarah Frogley 1891 England Census for Hackney Union Workhouse, Sidney Road, Homerton, London & Middlesex; ref RG12; piece 203; folio 81; page 29; schedule 14
  29. Thomas Tickner & Sarah Frogley 11 July 1892 Marriage London Metropolitan Archives; London Church of England Parish Registers; Deptford, St John; ref P75/JN/012 Ancestry.co.uk
  30. Sarah Tickner 7 September 1892 England & Wales Births; Sep Quarter 1892; Medway, Kent; volume 2A; page 632 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  31. Sarah Tickner 29 October 1892 England & Wales Deaths; Dec Quarter 1892; Medway, Kent; volume 2A; page 335 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
    Sarah Tickner 2 November 1892 Burial Chatham, Kent; Kent Burials; Maidstone Road and Palmerston Road Cemetery Burials; entry 10579; Section G grave number 811 (C)
  32. Sarah Tickner 3 December 1893 England & Wales Deaths; Dec Quarter 1893; Medway, Kent; volume 2A; page 379 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  33. Sarah Tickner 7 December 1893 Burial Chatham, Kent; Kent Burials; Maidstone Road and Palmerston Road Cemetery Burials; entry 11196; Section P grave number 161 (C)
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  35. Singapore 18 Feb 1889 The London and China Telegraph, page 149
  36. Elizabeth Frogley; Annie Frogley 1891 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; ref RG12; piece 560; folio 200; page 3 & page 12; schedule 5
    Elizabeth Frogley 1901 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; ref RG13; piece 605; folio 65; page 5
    Elizabeth Frogley 1911 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; ref RG14; piece 3087; schedule 9999
  37. Grim Days of the Guildford Union Workhouse 7 Sep 2018 Guildford Dragon Guildford-dragon.com
  38. Inmates from Guildford Farnham Board of Guardians 8 Nov 1915 Surrey Advertiser, page 3
    Guildford Guardians (Epsom & Hambledon) 6 September 1916 Surrey Advertiser, page 3
    Guildford Inmates of Dorking Workhouse 17 December 1915 Surrey Times, page 7
  39. Elizabeth Frogley 1921 England Census for Guardian’s Institution, Bletchingley, Godstone, Surrey; ref RG15; piece 03370; page 7
  40. Remembering Guilford’s First World War Military Hospitals 4 Nov 2018 Guildford Dragon Guildford-dragon.com
  41. ‘The Guardians Institution’ 20 March 1914, Surrey Mirror, page 8
  42. Elizabeth Frogley 1939 Register for 1 Wormley Lane, Wormley, Witley, Hambledon, Surrey; ref RG101; piece 1958A; item 24; line 29
    Hambledon Workhouse, Wormley Lane, Hambledon ref SHHER_MSE23306 ExploringSurreysPast.org.uk
  43. Elizabeth Frogley 1 January 1942 England & Wales Deaths; Mar Quarter 1942; Surrey South Western; volume 2A; page 1053 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  44. Farnham Hospital Wikipedia.org
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    Ethel May Frogley Sep Quarter 1898, Horsham, vol 2B, page 323
    George William Frogley Dec Quarter 1899, Horsham, vol 2B, page 316
    Ellen Kate Frogley Jun Quarter 1902, Horsham, vol 2B, page 315
    Albert Edward Frogley Sep Quarter 1904, Horsham, vol 2B, page 313
    Arthur Frank Frogley Sep Quarter 1906, Horsham, vol 2B, page 301
    Charles Henry James Frogley Jun Quarter 1909, Horsham, vol 2B, page 291
    Nora Bessie Frogley Jun Quarter 1912, Horsham, vol 2B, page 540
    Edith Mary Frogley Dec Quarter 1913, Horsham, vol 2B, page 495
    Maurice Howard Frogley Dec Quarter 1915, Horsham, vol 2B, page 444
    Emily Vera Frogley Jun Quarter 1917, Horsham, vol 2B, page 404
    Stanley Thomas Frogley Mar Quarter 1920, Horsham, vol 2B, page 700
    England & Wales Births
  47. George, Minnie, Florence, Ethel, William Frogley 1901 England Census for 27 Stanley St, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG13; piece 123; folio 123; page 34
    George, Minnie, Florence Minnie, Ethel May, George William, Ellen Kate, Albert Edward, Charles Henry James Frogley 1911 England Census for 28 Stanley St, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG14; piece 233; schedule 29
    George, Minnie, Ethel May, George William, Ellen Kate, Albert Edward, Charles Henry James, Nora Bessie, Edith Mary, Maurice Howard, Vera Emily, Stanley Thomas Frogley 1921 England Census for 24 Stanley St, Horsham, Surrey; ref RG15; piece 05028; schedule 256; page 1
  48. Worked 40 Years for Horsham Gas Company, Golden Wedding Celebration 11 October 1946 West Sussex County Times, page 1
  49. Minnie Frogley England & Wales Deaths; June Quarter 1955; Horsham, Susex; volume 5H; page 521
  50. Thomas G Frogley England & Wales Deaths; January Quarter 1958; Horsham, Sussex; volume 5H; page 754
  51. Annie Frogley 1901 England Census for Dapdune House, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; ref RG13; piece 603; folio 101; page 7
  52. Thomas Moon & Annie Hannah Frogley 26 September 1908 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Guildford, St Nicholas; ref 8977/1/6
  53. Thomas, Annie Hannah, Florence Annie Moon 1911 England Census for Primrose Place, Milford, Surrey; ref RG14; piece 3144; schedule 326
  54. Reginald T Moon England & Wales Births; January Quarter 1912; Hambledon, Surrey; volume 2A; page 334
  55. Annie H Moon England & Wales Deaths; January Quarter 1912; Hambledon, Surrey; volume 2A; page 243