Susanah Rayment - Learning 1818

Susanah Rayment - 1818 Learning

(original sampler)

Bulmer School

When I originally shared Susanah's sampler I shared I had a difficult time conducting the genealogical research.  Fortunately a member of our guild enjoys conducting the research and has assisted many of the designers in our guild with their research.  Cindy Steinhoff was able to provide much more insight into who Susanah may be.  Based on the year and school Susanah documented on her sampler she was able to find there were two towns names Bulmer in England - one  in North Yorkshire and the other in Essex.  The focus was turned to Essex based on the number of individuals listed with the same last name or spelling variations of her last name.  Both her first and last name have several spellings and during the early 1800's census takers in many cases wrote down how they thought the name was spelled.  There were two ladies that may have potentially stitched the sampler.  Not all the details match exactly as result we can not say definitively that one or the other stitched the sampler, but one more is more likely to be the candidate.  I have included below a portion of the write-up Cindy provided and is part of the information included with the chart for Susanah's sampler.

"The 1841 and 1861 censuses both list a Susanna Raymond born about 1801/1802 in Belchamp Walter, Essex. In 1841, she lived in the civil parish of Belchamp Walter, Sudbury registration district, and sub-registration district of Bulmer. (All of these are administrative levels used in British counties.) Her birth year would be 1801, based on the age given for her, and the only other resident of the household was Robert Raymond, age 75. Since relationship is not listed in the 1841, we do not know if he is Susanna’s father, grandfather, uncle, or another relative. However, a family tree for Robert in Ancestry shows that he had a daughter named Susanna, though with an earlier birthdate (1796) than would be the case given Susanna’s age reported the 1841 census. However, we do know that the census takers in 1841 were instructed to round to the nearest 5-year increment for age; thus, ages are not always correct in this census. Robert’s occupation in the 1841 census is identified as “Farmer” and Susanna does not have an occupation listed.

The 1851 census lists this Susanna with the earlier birthdate and the last name of “Raymond.” She is the head of the household and a Richard Raymond listed as a farm servant, age 70. Other residents are a general servant named Harriete Nunn, age 19, and a visitor, Esther Hills, age 6. Susanna’s occupation is “Farmer, 66 acres employing [2 words are not clear].”

In the 1861 census, I believe that this same woman is listed as “Susana Raiment,” with a birthdate of 1802, in the same residence in 1841. The only other occupant is Richard Raiment, age 80, identified as her uncle. Susana is listed as the head of household and her occupation is “Farmer, 20 acres.” Richard is listed as a “Stockman.”

The other possibility for the stitcher is in the 1841 census. Her name is listed as “Susannah Raiment.” Her birth location is noted as Essex, England. In 1841, she lived in the civil parish of Alphamstone, Sudbury registration district and Bures sub- registration district. Her birthdate is listed as 1806, which is determined by her age – 35 years - recorded in the census. However, the actual census form contains a line drawn through the first digit of her age, making it nearly impossible to read. The other occupant of the household is Thomas Raiment and his age is clearly listed as 55 years. He, too, is a farmer. From what I can see of the first digit of Susannah’s age, it could easily be a 5, making her the same age as Thomas.

Neither of these Susanahs appears in later census records. I believe that the Susanah who appears in the 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses is more likely the stitcher of the sampler, but can’t prove it definitively. "

Cindy once again thanks so much for your assistance.