Nursey v. Rowlett
Claim for 23 weeks rent, 1861
Nursey v. Rowlett. Claim £1 3s. 10d., for 23 weeks rent of
cottage, at Desborough.
—Defendant said she was a poor widow woman, with a family, and was
certain she only owed 18 weeks rent. She knew she owed that, and would
pay when the opportunity came, but a present she was receiving 2s. and
two loaves a week from the parish, and it was a mere trifle she could
earn at the frame lace, which was almost next to doing nothing.
—His Honour, on looking over plaintiff's accounts, said they have
been kept in a very irregular manner, and as defendant, on oath, had
said 18 weeks rent was all she owed, and plaintiff was not prepared to
satisfactorily prove otherwise, he should give judgment for £1
1s., in 1s. monthly instalments.
Northampton Mercury,
Saturday 27 July 1861
Note: The only widow Rowlett in Desborough in 1861 that I
know of to date is
Sarah Rowlett, nee Tomkins. Sarah had five children by 1861, two of
whom were born subsequent to James Rowlett's death - one in Kettering,
and one in Desborough. By 1871 Sarah was housekeeper to
William Nursey,
with three more children. Sarah and William married in 1872. By the 1881
census most, if not all, of Sarah's youngest five children were going by
the surname Nursey. There is no certainty that Sarah's landlord was the
man she later married ...