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Sarah Hornsey

Sarah Edith Hornsey was born in the third quarter of 1883 in Malton and was christened on 2nd December 1883 at Old Malton.  She was the fifth and youngest daughter of Henry and Jane Elizabeth (nee Bradbury) Hornsey who married in the Barnsley area in the second quarter of 1870 .


The 1891 census shows the family living in the Market Place, presumably over Mr Hornsey’s Draper’s shop at number 40 where Scriven’s opticians is now.Of the five daughters, the older two were working in the shop and the younger ones were at school.

1891 Census – resident at Market Place, Malton
HORNSEY, Henry, Head, Married, M, 45, Draper, Hovingham Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Jane Elizth, Wife, Married, F, 44, , Worsborough Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Mary Anne, Daughter, Single, F, 19, Milliner, West Melton Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Emily, Daughter, Single, F, 17, Drapers Assistant, Darfield Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Amy Ellen, Daughter, Single, F, 12, Scholar, Norton Malton Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Winefred Maud, Daughter, Single, F, 10, Scholar, Malton Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Sarah Edith, Daughter, Single, F, 7, Scholar, Malton Yorkshire,
LUND, Alice Jane, Niece, Single, F, 18, Visitor, Masborough Yorkshire,
JEFFERSON, Minnie, Servant, Single, F, 17, General Servant Domestic, Hambleton Yorkshire,


By 1901 the two older daughters had left home; Mary Ann had married Harold Wrangham in 1894 and Emily had maried Albert Edward Washington in 1897 and moved to York. The remaining girls were all working in the shop, Sarah as a milliner.


1901 Census – resident at 40 Market Place, Malton
HORNSEY, Henry, Head, Married, M, 55, Draper, Hovingham Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Jane Elizabeth, Wife, Married, F, 54, Draper, Worsborough Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Amy Helen, Daughter, Single, F, 22, Milliner, Norton Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Winifred Maud, Daughter, Single, F, 20, Housekeeper Domestic, Malton Yorkshire,
HORNSEY, Sarah Edith, Daughter, Single, F, 17, Milliner, Malton Yorkshire,
WING, Alice, Servant, Single, F, 18, General Servant Domestic, Weatherill Holderness Yorkshire,


By 19911 both Sarah’s remaining sisters had married; Winifred married Harold Forge Hudson in 1901 and Amy married James Tate Smith in 1902. Sarah continued to help in the business and Henry had taken on a live-in assistant.


1911 Census – resident at 40 Market Place, Malton
HORNSEY, Henry, Head, Married, M, 65, Draper, Hovingham Yorks,
HORNSEY, Jane, Wife, Married 40 years, F, 64, Assisting In Business, Worsbrough Yorks,
HORNSEY, Sarah, Daughter, Single, F, 27, Assisting In Business, Malton Yorks,
HORNSEY, Edmond, Servant, Single, M, 30, Draper Assistant, Thorpebassett Yorks,
MIDGLEY, Emma, Servant, Single, F, 20, Domestic Servant General, Duggleby Yorks,


Known as Sallie, Sarah was the only daughter left at home by the time war broke out. As a fit and enthusiastic young woman she found a warm welcome as a V.A.D. at the newly-established Arncliffe Auxiliary Hospital which seems to have been located on York Road in Malton.



At the start of the war, 35 of these hospitals, numbering 900 beds, were locally organised in the North Riding. They received patients primarily from York, Leeds or Newcastle and provided care for Belgian patients who were injured from attacks by German sources. The first hospital organised and receiving patients was Swinton Grange, in September 1914.


All the hospitals in the area were class A hospitals with the exception of Mulgrave Castle, Swinton Grange, Crathorne Hall, Ayton Firs and Sleights, which were class B. Class A hospitals were institutions that usually provided a higher standard of care for patients and received the sick and wounded straight from military hospitals. Class B hospitals received patients from Class A hospitals when they had become more convalescent. In 1917, there were 3,830 patients in North Riding auxiliary hospitals. Hospitals were managed with the upmost care and all work was carried out professionally and efficiently. On January 1, 1918, a system of food control for auxiliary hospitals in the area was implemented, with patients rationed according to a pre-determined scale by the War Office.



In August 1916 she left Malton, having obtained a post at the military hospital in Colchester, a large establishment purpose-built in the 1850s to care for the large military establishment there. Here she enjoyed the work and was popular with both staff and patients.


Unfortunately in February 1917 she became seriously ill, and was moved as a patient to Mile End Hospital. She stayed there until 15th May 1917 when she was well enough to return home. She enjoyed reasonably good health for about a year, but she suffered a relapse and died on May 31st 1918 at her parents’ home. Hedeath was registered in the second quarter of 1918 in the Malton area.


Her funeral on the following Sunday as at St Michael’s church and the nursing staff and Commandant of the Arncliffe Hospital turned out in full uniform. The service was taken by Revd. H. L. Ogle, the vicar of St Michaels’ and the service in the cemetery by Revd. W. Ingham, the vicar of Old Malton.  There is no tombstone to be found in either New Malton Cemetery or Old Malton, but, given Revd. Ingham’s input, it seems reasonable to think she was buried in Old Malton Cemetery.