George, baptised on 11th May 1817 at Bexhill, was the first of nine children born to George Lovel Harmer and Elizabeth Barber. He was therefore John Harmer’s oldest brother. You can read more about the family’s life in Heathfield here.
Marriage
On Christmas Eve 1842 George (25) married Sarah Payne (17/18) at Heathfield. Sarah was born around 1825, also at Heathfield. Unlike his parents and siblings, George did not move to Brighton during the 1840s.
In the 1851 census he was still living at Heathfield, at ‘Alley’, was aged 33, and was working as a shoemaker – a profession taught to him by his father. With him were his wife Sarah (26), and their children John Leonard (7), Sarah Ann (5), and Emily (1). Also sharing the family home were Henry Smyth, 39, a journeyman shoemaker from Ditchling who worked for George; a 16 year old apprentice named Charles Cornford who was born at Mayfield; and a 14 year old lodger named George Payne, an agricultural labourer from Heathfield who was probably Sarah’s brother or cousin.
Thanks to the wonderful Heathfield locals over at Heathfield, Horam, Hellingly & Villages in old photographs on Facebook, I have learned that Halley Road, which is very close to Quarry Brook where George was living with his parents and siblings in 1841, was previously known as Alley, or The Alley. The local vernacular in this part of Sussex insists upon dropping ‘H’s, and it was not until the 1960s that the Local Authority gave the road its ‘H’ in written form. Between 1852 and 1859 another three children came along; George, James, Walter and Mary Jane.
Moving to Brighton
In 1859 or very early 1860 the family moved to Brighton and in 1860 were living at 51 Newhaven Street, as we learn from a newspaper article in which George is quoted as a witness to the theft of some items belonging to his brother John. At this time George was working for John as a labourer.
In 1861’s census George (44) and Sarah (36), along with John Leonard (16), James (7), Walter (5) and Mary Jane (3) were living there at 43 Albion Street. There is no sign of baby George. George was once again working as a shoemaker, and John Leonard had become a carpenter.
This view of now-demolished Albion Street in 1956 is not so different from how it would have looked at that time:
(c) The Regency Society
It seems that the family were still at 43 Albion Street in January 1865, as this was where Sarah Ann was living when she married. She was still there in March 1870, prior to her admission to St. Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath (the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum) in that month. Sadly she died there on 1st July 1870.
In 1867 John Leonard married and presumably moved out. A different family appear there in the 1871 census, but by 1881 John Leonard was back at the house. In 1873 Emily also married, but we don’t yet know where she was living prior to her wedding. Walter was living at Caterham, Surrey, by June 1877 and may have left Brighton much earlier than that.
Death
So far it has not been possible to definitively state when George and his wife Sarah passed away. I have not been able to locate either after the 1861 census. Two candidates who require checks are:
George Harmer who died at Brighton in March Q 1863. George would have been 46 in this year.
Sarah Harmer who died at Brighton in 1877, aged 52.
Tragedies, mental health issues and mysteries
We know of eight children born to George and Sarah. Baby Esther, born in September 1845, died in September 1846. Of their five children whom we know to have survived to adulthood, one committed suicide and one died in a lunatic asylum. They were not the only descendants of George Lovel Harmer and Elizabeth Barber to experience extreme mental illness; I have written a little about this subject here. Thus far neither the Harmer Family Association nor myself have found any trace of George (b. 1852) post-birth, or of James (b.1853) after the 1861 census; no marriage, death, residency or immigration records whatsoever. Do YOU know what happened to them? If so, please get in touch!
Children
John Leonard Harmer (1844 – 1907)
Tragically John Leonard hung himself in an outbuilding on 13th February 1907. He was 62 years of age.
Esther Harmer (1845 – 1846)
Sarah Ann Harmer (1846 – 1870)
Sarah Ann was 23 when she died at at St. Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath (the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum).
Emily / Ellen Harmer (1849 – 1932)
George Harmer (1852 – ????)
George may have died between 1852 and 1859 as he does not appear in the 1861 census. A George Harmer did die in the Hailsham registration district in 1852.
James Harmer (1853 – ????)
James may have been the James who died in 1864 at Brighton; he does not appear in the 1871 census.
Walter Harmer (1855 – 1915)
Mary Jane Harmer (1858 – 1942)
