Second Generation - Sarah Ann Harrison    

       Sarah Ann Harrison, mother of George Horner, was born in May 1838 at 97, Newmarket Street, Skipton and baptized on 3 June 1838 [1] . She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Harrison and Margaret Scott. Her father Thomas Harrison was a tailor and the family lived in a house that had probably been in the hands of Thomas’s ancestors for generations.

     In June 1841, Sarah Ann, aged three, lived in Newmarket Street with her parents and her younger sister Jane, aged one [2] . She was probably too young to remember her brother Joseph who had died in 1839 aged two [3] . Her father Thomas was a Tailor, but he did not have his own business and may have worked for a larger firm, probably near Newmarket Street [4] . Margaret did not work and cared for Sarah Ann and her sister at home. However, Sarah Ann’s maternal grandparents also lived in Newmarket Street, a few doors away from her family home and were on hand if needed [5] . Thomas Harrison may have earned enough as a Tailor to support his family.

   In 1851 Sarah Ann’s cousin, John Bramley, had joined the Harrison family. John was only two years old in 1851 and was cared for by Sarah’s mother Margaret Harrison [7] . Margaret Harrison’s sister Mary Scott had married George Bramley in 1845 [8] . They had two children before Mary Bramley died in 1850 [9] .  In 1851, George Bramley lived at number 7 Back of the Becks, a widower and a twister-in in a Cotton factory. He lived near his father John Bramley, weaver, at the Back of the Becks, uncle to Elizabeth Horner nee Bramley, and great uncle to Thomas Horner [10] . It is possible that the Harrisons and Horners knew each other through the Bramley connection [11] .

 Sarah’s grandfather John Scott, and her Aunt Sarah Scott still lived close by in Newmarket Street. John Scott worked as a Labourer, and his daughter Sarah as a weaver [12] . Sarah Scott probably worked in Isaac Dewhurst’s Cotton Mill on Newmarket Street.

Last days at Home

In April 1861, Sarah Ann was preparing for her marriage to Thomas Harrison in May and was still living at home with her parents on Newmarket Street [13] . Sarah Ann, aged twenty-two, and her sister Jane, aged twenty-one, both worked as a Cotton Power Loom Weavers in Dewhurst’s Cotton Mill. Their Aunt Sarah Scott, who still lived in Newmarket Street, was also a Cotton Power Loom Weaver. Sarah Ann and Jane may have followed Sarah Scott into the factory. Dewhurst’s was the first Mill to introduce Power Looms into Skipton in 1829. Initially a Worsted factory, Dewhursts started to produce Cotton when the mills were rebuilt after being burnt in 1831.

Sarah Ann’s brothers Edward, aged nineteen and James aged fifteen, were Whitesmiths and ‘Bele hangers’ and did not work in the Cotton Factory [14] . Sarah’s cousin James Bramley had moved out of the Harrison household and was living with his grandfather John and his aunt Sarah Scott who still lived in Newmarket Street. In 1861 Sarah Scott, aged thirty-three, continued to work as a cotton power Loom worker in Dewhurst’s Mill, but John Scott, aged sixty-seven, had changed his occupation and now worked as a servant, a groom [15] .

Life cannot have been easy for Sarah Ann, as in addition to working in Dewhurst’s Mill she also had a two year old daughter Elizabeth Ann to care for [16] . This may have been the reason why James Bramley had moved to live with his grandfather, to make room for the baby. Sarah Ann’s mother Margaret Harrison probably stayed at home and looked after Elizabeth Ann when Sarah was in the cotton Mill, as she had no occupation in 1861. It is doubtful whether Sarah’s future husband Thomas Horner was the father of Elizabeth Ann. Elizabeth Ann spent her childhood in the care of her grandparents at Newmarket Street and did not join Sarah Ann’s married households.

Marriage to Thomas Horner

  Sarah Ann married Thomas Horner in Skipton Parish Church on 28 May 1861. Sarah Ann’s brother Edward Harrison was one of the witnesses to the marriage [26] . Sarah Ann and Thomas soon started to build a home together at 89 Millfields, Skipton, and their first son James Horner was born about a year later in 1862. Five years later Harrison Horner was born in 1867, and their youngest son George was born on 3 August 1869 [27] .  Sarah Ann probably remained at home to take care of the children, although the gaps between their ages may mean that she worked in the factory when her children were weaned [28] .

Brother Edward Harrison

          Sarah’s brother Edward married Jane Henry in October 1862 [29] . Edward and Jane soon started a family, the first son James Henry Harrison being born in 1863, followed by Mary Ann Harrison in 1868 [30] . Edward did not live in Skipton in 1871, but his son James Henry was living with Edward’s mother Margaret Harrison [18] .

          By 1881, Edward had set up his own household at 14, Westmoreland Street, Skipton, and worked as a Whitesmith [19] . His wife Jane continued to work as a Woollen weaver, probably in the nearest factory. His son James Henry aged eighteen was a Blacksmith Striker. Mary Ann aged thirteen was still at School. 

          Ten years later in 1891, Edward and his wife Jane were still living at 14, Westmoreland Street, but Edward, aged 49, was a Blacksmith [20] ..  Their married daughter, Mary Ann Clarkson, and three grandchildren joined Edward and Jane in their household. Mary Ann was a cotton weaver and she probably left the care of her two children Edith J. Clarkson, aged two, and Fred Clarkson, aged 1, to her mother during the day.  Jane Harrison probably also cared for her other grandchild Jane L. Harrison, probably the daughter of Jane’s son James Henry Harrison.

       Not far away, Edward’s son James Henry Harrison had set up his own household in 1891 at 20, Crossley Place. James, aged 29 was a general labourer. His wife Amanda, aged 28, was born in Gargrave [31] . James and Amanda had three children, Edward, aged 5, Catherine, aged 2, and Harold 8 months old [32] .

       Sarah’s sister Jane married William Smith, dyer, in 1872 and at 35 years of age became the mother of Thomas Smith in 1875 [33] .

Brother James Harrison

       In 1868 James married Martha Hannah Smith, a dressmaker, and they set up home together in Sun Yard, Skipton by 1871 [34] . Their eldest son Thomas Henry Harrison was only two years old, and Martha probably balanced her dressmaking with care for her son. James continued to work as a Whitesmith.

       Between 1871 and 1881 the family grew, Willie Harrison joining the family in 1872, Annie Harrison in 1875, and Edward Harrison 1878.  By 1881, the family had moved to 11, Coach Street, Skipton, and James Harrison was working as a Mechanic on S-Mach machines ^{[35] .} Most of the children attended school, except three-year-old Edward.  Annie Smith, aged 19, probably Martha’s sister also lived with the family.

Death of Thomas Horner

       In 1873, Thomas Horner died and left Sarah Ann with the care of three young boys [36] . Her youngest son George Horner was only four years old. Only two years later in December 1876, Sarah Ann, aged thirty-nine, married a boatman named George Bright, aged twenty-five [37] . Her brother Edward and her sister in law Mary Hannah were Sarah’s witnesses.

      Sarah was a full fifteen years older than George Bright, and it is difficult to understand how her Horner in-laws would have responded to this arrangement. Sarah Ann may have needed a male provider for her young family, as it is difficult to see how her family would have survived on one wage. Her eldest son James Horner was a cotton worker and had probably been forced into working in the cotton factories when he left school in 1874, to support his widowed mother and his two younger brothers. He may have cared little for her new husband who would only have been eleven years older than him.

However, the marriage may have been a happy one. In 1881, Sarah and her three sons were living in the household of George Bright, at 2 Commercial Street [38] . Her middle son Harrison Horner became a boatman and seems to have followed George Bright into the canal business. This shows that at least Harrison was on good terms with George Bright.

Sick at Home

      Ten years later, when living in her son’s household, Sarah Ann has the surname Horner, not Bright, which was probably an enumerator’s error [39] . By1891, Sarah was ‘kept by her son’ James Horner in his household at 18, Westgate [40] . It is uncertain what had happened to George Bright, but he had probably passed away. 

      Sarah Ann was fifty-three years old, and described as a widow. Sarah Ann had no occupation, and although she had worked in a cotton factory when she was younger, it is possible that she was no longer able to earn a living for herself. She was also possibly infirm and had to be cared for by her son and his wife Annie.

      James and his wife Annie also had a lodger Elizabeth Thompson, a ‘sick nurse’. Elizabeth may have helped to care for Sarah Ann. Sarah Ann’s father Thomas had died before he was fifty-four and her grandfather Edward Harrison had died aged 48 [41] . At fifty-three years of age, Sarah Ann may have been suffering from some sort of inherited condition. In the 1891 census, we have the last written record of Sarah Ann’s life before her death in September of that year [42] .         

Family Connections

Sarah Ann Harrison and Thomas Horner probably met through family connections. Sarah Ann’s aunt Mary Scott had married George Bramley, a cousin to Elizabeth Horner (nee Bramley) Thomas Horner’s mother. George Bramley’s father John Bramley was a weaver and in 1841 lived at Back of the Becks in Skipton with his wife Margaret and his children [17] .

 There may be another connection through Thomas Horner’s uncle Mark, and Sarah Ann’s great-uncle William Harrison.

Thomas Horner and most of his aunts and uncles lived in Commercial Street in 1841. There was a close family tie between Thomas and his uncle, Mark Horner, who lived eight doors away from his parent’s house. For a time Mark’s son Robert had lived in the same house as Thomas. In 1841, Mark Horner and his family lived in Commercial Street next door to a certain William Watson who also worked in the factory as a cotton weaver.

This William Watson lived with his second wife, Elizabeth (nee Haworth), and two sons Isaac, aged three and William who was only a year old [23] . A Sarah Harrison, aged 50, and her daughter Mary, aged 10, also lived in the Watson household. These were William Watson’s relations by his first marriage. Isaac Watson was the son of William Watson’s first marriage to Isabella Myers, the natural daughter of Sarah Myers [24] . This Sarah Myers had later married William Harrison, Sarah Ann’s uncle [25] .

The Mary Harrison, aged ten, living in the household of William Watson in Commercial Street in 1841, was therefore Sarah Ann Harrison’s cousin. Doubtless Sarah Ann’s family in Newmarket Street would have maintained contact with the Harrison’s in Commercial Street, and Sarah Ann would have had occasion to visit there.