A FATAL ACCIDENT IN SHEFFIELD - May 1848
In the book
Reminiscences of Old Sheffield, Its Street & Its People - R.E. Leader, Sheffield
1896 there is a section in Chapter 5 that is reproduced below (see note 1)
"REMINISCENCES OF OLD SHEFFIELD
CHAPTER V.
THE MARKET PLACE, KING STREET, ANGEL STREET.
Scene-Messrs. TWISS, LEIGHTON and EVERARD are discovered as the guests of Mr.
WRAGG. To them enters Mr. LEONAND, introducing a new member of the fellowship,
Mr. JOHNSON, a townsman of middle age.
WRAGG: I think we have almost exhausted the interest of Angel street-unless we
recall the more modern name of Maugham, and are thereby reminded of a shocking
accident which excited much commiseration. Mr.Maugham, draper, who occupied
shops here, one of which is now Dick's shoe shop, was driving into town one
morning with his wife, from Wadsley Park, when their horse took fright, and they
were both thrown from the carriage and killed. This was on the 10th of May,
1848."
As this "accident which excited much commiseration" I
checked the newspapers for the period and found the following account in The
Globe dated 13th May 1848
FATAL ACCIDENT AT SHEFFIELD,-An accident occurred at Sheffield on Wednesday
morning last, by which Mrs. Maugham, the wife of Mr. Maugham, a draper of that
town, was immediately killed, and by which he received injuries of which he has
since died. Mr. and Mrs. Maugham and their two daughters. were driving in a
phaeton from their residence, Wadsley-park, when the mare in the shafts became
restive, and ran away. It appeared that she was a large mare, and the shafts of
the carriage were much too small for her. From some cause or other, when they
arrived part of the way down the hill behind the barracks the horse started off,
and the servant, ran to the horse's head and tried to stop it, but he could not
succeed, and was knocked down; it ran as far as Infirmary- lane, down the
Philadelphia-road, when the carriage struck against 'the corner of a house, and
threw them all with terrific. violence out of the carriage, which was smashed to
pieces. The females were taken into the George the Fourth public-house, Mrs.
Maugham being quite dead at the time but the two daughters were not seriously
injured. Mr. Maugham was taken to another inn, a little further on and when laid
on a sofa showed signs of life. Medical attendance being procured, he was taken
to the Infirmary. In the afternoon an inquest was held on the body of Mrs.
Maugham,. and a verdict of accidental death returned. On Wednesday night, at
half-past 10'o'clock, Mr. Maugham also died of the injuries he had received.-
Globe
The Era dated 21st May 1848 adds some additional information under the title "FATAL AND DISTRESSING ACCIDENT." The same account also appears in Lloyds Weekly Newspaper
The accident is also mentioned in a contemporary diary -
"May 10th.
One of the most calamitous carriage accidents that have occurred for some years
in Sheffield or the neighbourhood, resulting in the death of one of the most
respectable tradesmen and his wife, Mr. & Mrs. Mark Maugham of Wadsley Park
House near this town & who for many years carried on an extensive drapery
business in Angel Street, they were proceeding from their residence to the town
in a phaston, the horse had never before been harnessed to the carriage and on
coming on the Infirmary Road the horse became quite ungovernable and dashed the
carriage against a corner of a building, killed Mrs. Maugham on the spot, Mr.
Maugham was taken to the Infirmary where he died a few hours afterwards, two
daughters were in the carriage but escaped slightly injured, the Jury returned a
verdict of Accidental Death.
The deceased’s left a family of nine children
to deplore the sad event which has so suddenly deprived them of both their
parents in one day and their unhappy feelings
may be better imagined than described. On Saturday May 13th their remains were
interred at Ecclesall Church. All the way from Westbar to South Street
(Sheffield Moor) through which the procession passed, the windows of the shops
were as by common consent closed affording a grattifying evidence of the general
respect in which the deceased was held, the procession stopped opposite his
premises in Angel Street and immense was the
crowd to see the mournfull sight of two hearses.
It was market day at 12 o’clock."
The deaths are on the Free BMD website
Deaths Jun 1848 - MAUGHAM Grace Ecclesall Bierlow Volume 22 Page 98
MAUGHAM Mark Sheffield Volume 22 Page 493
To loose both parents was a calamitous event in Victorian
England - the children became orphans and unless they were provided for, a grim
future beckoned. I have still to check the 1851 and subsequent Censuses but I
did come across the following entry when researching the article
"Maugham
- Oct 31, near Mongonui. of consumption, Mr William Maugham, son of the late
Mark Maugham, draper, of 19 Angel Street, Sheffield, aged 45 years Sept - Dec
1866"
So it appears that WILLIAM MAUGHAM emigrated to New Zealand at some stage after 1841 - I wonder if any of his sisters or even brother joined him.
A few months after I posted this article I received an
answer to this very question. A descendent of WILLIAM MAUGHAM contacted me and
stated that MARK MAUGHAM was his great great great grandfather and that he was
descended from his son WILLIAM who came to
NZ in 1862. He then kindly supplied me with the following information
"Mark Maugham had an estate at Wadsley called Wadsley
Park. From what I can find out it was sold by his executors and the site
eventually became the Middlewood hospital which is now a residential area called
Wadsley Park Village. It would appear that the original mansion house no longer
exists. After his death he left the drapery shops and the accommodation there
to his children and they are who I am currently researching - to my knowledge
none of them ever followed William to NZ but there are still a couple I am yet
to account for. You may be interested to know that after William died of TB in
1866, Sarah is wife returned to London to educate the children and then returned
to NZ where they all settled - she lived to the age of 94 (died 1928) and both
her and William are buried together at a place called Peria which is in the far
north of NZ near Mangonui. My father and his siblings recently gained access to
the property (now a farm) and restored the grave site".
Notes
1. This out of copyright material has been transcribed by Eric Youle, who has provided the transcription on condition that any further copying and distribution of the transcription is allowed only for noncommercial purposes, and includes this statement in its entirety. Any references to, or quotations from, this material should give credit to the original author(s) or editors.
2. 1841 Census -
Allin, William of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 14
years.
Broomhead, Mary Ann of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 19
years.
Maugham, Fanny of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 8 years.
Maugham, Grace of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 46 years.
Maugham, Henry of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 3 years.
Maugham, Maria of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 9 years.
Maugham, Mark of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 51 years.
Maugham, Mary of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 12 years.
Redfern, Samuel of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 25 years.
Stiving, Mary of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 18 years.
Maugham, Matilda of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 11 years.
Maugham, William of Wadsley Park, Ecclesfield/Hamlet of Wadsley. Aged 19 years.
3. George IV
216 Infirmary Road - Open 1833 Closed 1992 Span 159 Re-opened 1994
1828 William Law
1834 Kezia Law
1837 James Turner
1846 Joseph Brook
1849 Joseph Brook
1854 Frederick Law
1856 Frederick Law
1861 Robert Shacklock
1862 Robert Shacklock
1871 Charles Anderson
1901 Robert Speight
1911 Thomas Owen
1948 George Fields (Manager)
1951 George Fields (Manager)
4. http://jellabeeba3.googlepages.com/sep-dec17
This page was last updated on 13/08/13 08:55