HENRY MESSENGER
Subject Name : Henry Messenger (b1832 – d1889)
Researcher : Heather Turner
Despite struggling with mental health problems later in life, Henry Messenger was an industrious man
who unfortunately was forced to spend most of his final years in Surrey workhouses and the asylum.
Henry’s parents, Amelia May and William Messenger, were married in the parish church of St Mary’s,
Worplesdon, Surrey on 17th February 1831 i. He was their first child and was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 15th April 1832 ii.
The 1841 Census showed 9-year-old Henry was living in Worplesdon with his parents and four sisters,
Mary (7), Jane (5), Ann (3) and Elizabeth (6 months). Both his parents were described as “Ag Lab” (agricultural labourers) iii.
Tragically, two years later, Henry’s father William died age 42 iv, just a few months after Henry’s fifth sister Sarah had been born v. William was buried at St Mary’s Church on 23rd August 1843 vi.
Life must have been a battle for Henry’s mother to care for her children, but in 1846, 34-year-old Amelia married 40-year-old bachelor Thomas Chandler on 30th August in St Peter’s Church, Ash, Surrey vii. Thomas, a labourer, had no children of his own but now found himself the stepfather of five children aged from 3-year-old Sarah up to Henry, 14 viii.
Over the next 25 years, Henry’s life appeared to be stable and uneventful. According to the Censuses, he was employed firstly as a servant and then as an agricultural labourer, living with families in Ash ix, x. His mother Amelia was also in Ash with husband Thomas and their expanding family. By 1855, Amelia had had five more children – Thomas, Hannah, Lucy, William and Louisa xi, xii, xiii, xiv. 
In 1871, Henry was still working as an “Ag Lab”, living with Licensed Victualler William Boyer and his family at the Duke of Normandy pub in Normandy, West End Tything, Worplesdon xv. Henry’s mother and stepfather were living in Wyke, Worplesdon with Ann, one of Henry’s sisters, and three of his half-siblings xvi.
While some believe Normandy was named after the pub, this seems unlikely as the village is referred to in deeds and maps as early as 1608, while the Duke of Normandy only opened its doors for the first time around 1855. After over 150 years of serving the village, the pub closed permanently in July 2012 and was demolished in 2021 xvii.
By 1881, life had changed dramatically for 48-year-old Henry, being recorded as an inmate of the Guildford Workhouse xviii. His mother Amelia, now widowed for the second time, was living nearby in Slade Cottage, Ash with her sons Thomas and William, daughters Ann and Louisa, and two grandsons xix. As the Admission, Discharge and Creed Registers no longer exist for the Guildford Workhouse, it is not known when Henry was admitted, but other records do show that he was transferred from Guildford to Farnham Workhouse around July 1881 xx, xxi.
Henry was admitted to the Brookwood Asylum on 10th June 1884, but it was clear from his admission record that he had not been living in the Farnham Workhouse for the past three years but had instead been living back in Normandy with Stephen Head, a general dealer. His half-brother Thomas was listed as his relative xxii.
The reason for Henry’s admission to Brookwood was made all too clear by his medical certificate written by Receiving Officer George Day “had seen the patient standing by Mr Head’s horse making faces at the animal and squaring at him as if he meant to fight. He actually struck the horse and challenged him to fight. I noticed his stupid dull look. Stephen Head of Normandy with whom the patient had lived for some time told me that he is in the habit of getting up at night, feeding pigs and lighting fires at unreasonable hours. That he sets fire to the common and eats rabbit’s lights raw as taken from the animal….”
The record continued that “… the patient has been strange for years, he is very incoherent and doesn’t understand what is said to him, talks to himself in an excited manner and seems quite lost, has worked up to this morning. There is no history of drink in his family and he has always been a hard-working man…. His health is good, eats well but doesn’t sleep”.
When he was admitted, Henry was keen to work and was allocated jobs to do on the asylum farm. As he was well behaved and deemed to work well, he eventually went to live in the farm bailiff’s house. He remained there for about three years but as he became more demented over time, he had to return to the main asylum building.
By the early part of 1889, Henry’s general health began to deteriorate and near the end of that year, on 17th December, he died at the age of 61 due to ‘’exhaustion from organic brain disease’ xxii. He was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 24th December xxiii.
October 2022
References
i. ‘Amelia May and William Messenger’ (1831) Marriage: Bishops Transcripts of St Mary’s, Worplesdon, Surrey, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
ii. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1832) Baptism: Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1917, Available at: Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
iii. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1841) Census: 1841 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1080; Book: 8; Civil Parish: Worplesdon; County: Surrey; Enumeration District: 5; Folio: 10; Page: 13; Line: 9; GSU roll: 474666, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
iv. ‘William Messenger’ (1843), Death Index: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 Year: 1843, Qtr: 3, District: Guildford, County: Surrey, Vol: 4, Page: 116, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
v. ‘Sarah Messenger’ (1843), Baptism in the Parish of Ash, Surrey, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
vi. ‘William Messenger’ (1843), Burial: St Mary’s Church graveyard, Worplesdon, Surrey. Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
vii. ‘Amelia Messenger and Thomas Chandler’ (1846) Marriage: Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
viii. ‘Jane Messenger’ (1842), Death Index: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 Year: 1842, Qtr: 1, District: Guildford, County: Surrey, Vol: 4, Page: 127, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
ix. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1851) Census: 1851 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1596; Civil Parish: Ash; County: Surrey; Registration District: Farnborough; Folio: 60; Page: 6; Line: 9; GSU roll: 193494, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
x. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1861) Census: 1861 England Census, Class: RG9; Piece: 434; Civil Parish: Ash; County: Surrey; Registration District: Farnborough; Folio: 31; Page: 6; GSU roll: 542637, Available at: Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xi. ‘Emeline (Amelia) Chandler’ (1851) Census: 1851 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 1596; Civil Parish: Ash; County: Surrey; Registration District: Farnborough; Folio: 69; Page: 25; GSU roll: 193494, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xii. ‘Hannah Chandler’ (1848), Birth Index: England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 Year: 1848, Qtr: 2, District: Farnborough, County: Surrey, Vol: 4, Page: 151, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
‘Hannah Chandler’ (1849), Death Index: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 Year: 1849, Qtr: 1, District: Farnborough, County: Surrey, Vol: 4, Page: 127, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xiii. ‘William Chandler’ (1851), Baptism in the Parish of Wyke, Surrey, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xiv. ‘Louisa Chandler’ (1851), Baptism in the Parish of Wyke, Surrey, Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xv. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1871) Census: England, Wales & Scotland Census, Archive Ref: RG10, Piece: 808; Civil Parish: Worplesdon; County: Surrey; Registration District: Guildford; Folio: 38; Page: 5; Available at: FindMyPast.co.uk
xvi. ‘Amelia Chandler’ (1871) Census: 1871 England Census, Class: RG10; Piece: 808; Civil Parish: Ash; County: Surrey; Registration District: Guildford; Folio: 10; Page: 2; Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xvii. ‘Duke of Normandy Pub’ Normandy Historians.co.uk/pubs
whatpub.com/pubs/SHB/179/duke-of-normandy-normandy
xviii. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1881) Census return for Guildford Union Workhouse, Union Lane, in the parish of Stoke next Guildford, registration district of Guildford, Surrey. Public Record Office: PRO: RG11/778, folio 94 p.10. Available at: TheGenealogist.co.uk
xix. ‘Amelia Chandler’ (1881) Census: 1881 England Census, Class: RG11; Piece: 783; Civil Parish: Ash; County: Surrey; Registration District: Guildford; Folio: 37; Page: 3; Available at: Ancestry.co.uk
xx. ‘Henry Messenger’ (14th July 1881), Farnham Union Minute Book, BG4/11/3, Available at: Surrey History Centre
xxi. ‘Henry Messenger’ (23rd July 1881), Minutes of Guildford Union Board of Guardians, BG6/11/20 page 173, Available at: Surrey History Centre
xxii. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1884 -1889), Brookwood Asylum, Male Case Book No 10, 3043/5/9/1/15 Page 14, Available at: Surrey History Centre
xxiii. ‘Henry Messenger’ (1889), Brookwood Cemetery Burials, Available at: Deceasedonline.com