At the age of about 19 in 1840, Sarah Ann Perry had an illegitimate daughter Frances Ann Perry and, as was to be expected, the entry for the baptism of Frances (which didn’t take place until 1845) gives no clue as to the identity of the father.

In the 1841 Census, Frances is listed in the household of Sarah’s father, Daniel, along with his wife and 6 of their children but it would seem that Sarah Ann is nowhere to be found in Woodham Walter or anywhere else. She was also nowhere to be found in the 1851 Census but Frances was still living with her grandparents.

In 1853 she married Charles Matthews at Streatham and in the 1861 and 1871 Censuses was living in Clapham.

I have shown Eleanor Ann Perry (Ellinor in 1851 and Ellen in 1861) as another illegitimate daughter of Sarah but have no definite proof for this. As with Frances, the birth was not registered and she was also living with her grandparents in 1851. Unlike Frances she does not appear to have been Christened. In the 1861 Census she is shown as niece and visitor in the household of Charles Matthews and Sarah but if my assumption is correct she would be step-daughter. When she married Richard Moss in 1874 the witnesses were Sarah Jane Perry (her illegitimate cousin) and David Bond (her brother-in-law - i.e. Frances' husband).

Frances married David Bond in 1867 and the marriage certificates for both Frances and Eleanor show the name and occupation of their father as those of their grandfather.

In view of the apparent disappearance of Sarah for many years one conjectures that both were brought up by the grandparents.