Sansford, Sylvester (1865-1914)

Transcription of obituary published in the Primitive Methodist Magazine by J.E.S.

Sylvestor Sansford, of the Dorchester Society, Weymouth Circuit, will be greatly missed. A local preacher and junior steward of the circuit, and treasurer for many years of the Dorchester trust, he was a source of strength, a fount of good influence wherever he went.

For some time he was a member of the Town Council, a man of sober and sound judgment, to whom many turned in times of perplexity for advice and help; a Greatheart amongst his fellows. He espoused the cause of the weak, and held fast to his principles at considerable cost. He has left an example worthy of imitation.

He passed tragically from us in the bloom of manhood, in the midst of great usefulness. He was followed to his rest by large numbers.

Family

Sylvester was born in 1865 at Portesham, Dorset, to parents John Sanford, who worked the land (1871), and Elizabeth (Betsy) Golden, nee Bartlett. He was baptised on 18 June 1865 at Portesham.

Census returns identify the following occupations for Sylvester.

1871 scholar
1881 agricultural labourer – out of employment
1891 poultry dealer
1901 temperance hotel proprietor
1911 temperance hotel proprietor

He married Julia Emma Bartlett (abt1870-1945) on 12 May 1888 at Portesham, Dorset. Census returns identify four children.

Frederick Edwin (1888-1954) – a school master (1911)
Lily Louisa (1892-1952) – a waitress (1911); married John W Pittfield in 1916; married George W Huxham, a valuer for Inland Revenue (1939), in 1921
Emily Frances Georgina (1895-1979) – married Thomas Henry Stone, a monumental mason (1939), in 1920
Dorothea Emma (1903-2002) – a milliner (1921); married Ernest Ralph Lesley, an employment officer (1939), in 1927

Sylvester died on 14 December 1914 at Dorchester, Dorset.

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1915/498

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

Note: The obituary spells the Christian name as Sylvestor, but I have used the more usual spelling Sylvester found in many records.