Emily Matthews
Born: 1868
Died: 1st March 1891
Author: Linda Martin
EMILY, DAUGHTER OF A FISHERMAN OF SELSEY
Selsey, also known as Selsey Bill or Seal Island, is located on the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, eight miles south of Chichester. It overlooks the English Channel to the east and south of the point.
To the west is the entrance to the Solent. This is a busy shipping lane to Portsmouth and Southampton docks, with views across to the Isle of Wight. Selsey was an ancient settlement and an important location during early Christianity, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
It is said that the Mixon reef (a limestone outcrop approximately one mile out to sea) was quarried in Roman times. Selsey is known for its arable land, now largely growing lettuce and potatoes, but some of the land has been lost to sea erosion.
Selsey is also known for its crab and lobster fishing, visits from seals (hence being known as Seal Island), and smugglers – two of whom were executed there. The plaque below is situated on the east beach, part of the heritage trail.
Emily’s birth
Emily was the youngest of seven children born to George Matthews and Julia Redman. Her birth was registered in the second quarter of 1868, and she was baptised on 17th May 1868 in the parish church of St. Peters in Selsey.
This was just two years after the church was moved – stone by stone – from its original position in Church Norton, two miles north. Its new location was on the village high street, and the church was consecrated on 12th April 1866.
St. Peters Church, Selsey
Emily’s parents
Emily’s father George was a fisherman, and he was born in Selsey in 1830. George’s parents were Edmund Matthews, a farm labourer, and Lettice Woodland.
Emily’s mother Julia Redman was born in 1831 in East Wittering, a coastal village west of Selsey. Julia’s parents were William Redman, a wheelwright, and Ann Shepherd.
Emily’s parents married in Julia’s parish of East Wittering on 20th June 1855. The register shows that George was a Volunteer in the Coastguard for West Wittering. Both were of full age (21 years or more).
THE CHILDREN
Emily was born in 1868, in Selsey, and was the couple’s youngest child. The other children were:
- Anna, born in 1856 (East Wittering)
- Harriett, born in 1857-1858 (East Wittering)
- Unnamed daughter, born in 1859 (East Wittering)
- George Edward, born in 1860 (Selsey)
- Kate, born in 1862 (Selsey)
- Ellen, born in 1865 (Selsey)
Sadly, Harriet died on 21st October 1858, aged one, and the cause of death was “Convulsion”. George registered her death, and the record reveals he was illiterate, signing with the mark “X”.
An unnamed girl was born on 17th March 1859, registered as female. There is also a death record on Ancestry for a female child with the surname “Matthews” in Westhampnett, (Volume 2b, p.231).
However, when I searched for this information in the GRO (Government Records Office), I only found a record for the birth, so the cause of her death is unknown.
I also checked page by page in the East Wittering and Selsey baptism books, but I could not find an entry for her.
CENSUS RECORDS
1861
The 1861 Census reveals the family had made their home in Fish Lane, Selsey. It records:
- George, aged 30, Fisherman
- Julia, aged 30
- Anna, aged 5
- George, aged 1.
- Richards Burns, (a lodger), aged 67, Shepherd
The Selsey map of 1878 (below) shows Fish Lane, leading to the beach. It also show the Lifeboat Station and the Coast Guard. The road is off the High Street, travelling towards the east without any buildings along it.
The Fisherman’s Joy public house is marked with a cross. This is approximately halfway along the road, with other properties nearby. Further housing was built later.
The first part of Fish Lane from (the high street side) was later called East Street, and the section after the Fisherman’s Joy was renamed Albion Road.
1871
The 1871 Census shows the family were still living in Fish Lane:
- George, aged 40, a Fisherman
- Julia, aged 39
- George, aged 11
- Kate, aged 8
- Ellen, aged 6
- Emily, aged 2
George, Kate, and Ellen were all at school.
Anna, the eldest daughter (aged 15), was with her maternal grandparents (William, aged 74, and Ann Redman, aged 70) in East Wittering. William was a wheelwright, employing three men. Their son George, aged 46, was a carrier, as was their grandson Henry, aged 20.
In the 19th-century, carriers operated horse-drawn wagons to transport goods, produce, and passengers, serving as a vital link between rural villages and market towns.
Anna was working as a domestic servant. I should imagine this is within the household helping her grandmother.
1874
Tragically, Emily was only six when her mother Julia died of pneumonia, age 43.
1881
Now we look at the 1881 Census.
This records the family living at 7 Fish Lane, with:
- George, aged 50, now a Widower, Fisherman
- George Edward (son), aged 21, Fishermen.
- Kate (daughter), aged 18, Housekeeper
- Emily, aged 12
- A scholar.
EMILY’S ADMISSION TO SUSSEX COUNTY ASYLUM
What happened to Emily in the nine years from the last Census to 10th July 1890, when she was admitted to Sussex Asylum, is unknown. Sadly, less than eight months after her admission, Emily died.
Her death was recorded on the 1st March 1891, and the cause of death was “Decay of Epilepsy”. There had been no mention of Epilepsy on the Census returns. Google AI was asked about “Decay of Epilepsy” and came up with the following description:
“Decay of epilepsy” on a historical death certificate (typically from the 19th or early 20th century) is an archaic term used to describe a gradual physical or mental decline attributed to chronic, long-term epilepsy. It signifies that the deceased likely suffered from ongoing, uncontrolled seizures over many years, leading to a general wasting away of health.
It appears that poor Emily probably suffered for much of her life with Epilepsy and her family would have witnessed her suffering.
It’s known from James Gardner’s book on the Sussex Asylum, Sweet Bells Jangled Out of Tune, that there were 85 epileptic and 46 suicidal cases in 1890, all requiring constant supervision. At that time the asylum was greatly overcrowded, and as a result Emily’s care and treatment would have been poor.
At present, I have no Sussex Asylum records for Emily, so we don’t know if she had any visits from her family. I imagine her family was unable to bury her in the Selsey cemetery for financial reasons.
Emily was laid to rest on 5th March 1891 in an unmarked pauper’s grave in the Sussex Asylum Burial Ground.
Emily’s entry in Sussex County Asylum’s Burial Register
EMILY’S FAMILY AFTER HER DEATH
Emily’s father George never remarried and remained in Fish Lane, later renamed Albion Road.
He died in the summer of 1906 and was buried in the Selsey cemetery, Church Norton on 22nd August, age 76.
Siblings
Anna
Anna married William Henry Stephens, a house joiner in Portsea, Hampshire in 1877. They made their home in Portsmouth. The 1911 Census tells us they had five children, three of whom had died. There is a possible death record for Anna in Portsmouth in 1932, aged 76.
George Edward
George Edward, the only son, changed occupation several times. In 1891 he was no longer a fisherman and was working as a grocer’s porter. He was a married man with a young family, so perhaps he felt being a grocer’s porter was a safer option.
George Edward married Sarah Ann Arnell in Selsey on 28th April 1885. By 1901 he had changed roles again, now working as a butcher at 1 Nelson Terrace, High Street, Selsey. In 1911, the family settled in 7 Foresters Terrace, North Road, Selsey, and George was working as a coal carter.
The Census return shows they had 9 children by this time, who were all living. A decade later, in 1921, George was working as a gardener. By 1939, he had retired, and was still living at 7 North Road.
Kate
Kate married Edward John Pennycord in 1889 in Portsea. He was a fisherman who lived a few houses away on Fish Lane. The couple had two daughters. Sadly, Kate died five years later, aged 32. She died of pneumonia, like her mother before her.
In the 1901 Census, Kate’s husband Edward was recorded living with her father George and her sister Ellen, along with his daughters. Edward never remarried and died in 1947.
Ellen
At the age of 47, Ellen married Edward Charles Barnes, aged 45, a farm labourer. He was her brother George’s neighbour on North Road. The wedding took place in the parish church of Selsey on 13th October 1912. The couple had no children. Ellen died in St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester in 1945.
Selsey Burial Ground, Church Norton.
All Emily’s parents and siblings are buried here, apart from Anna. I believe she died in Portsmouth.
When the church was moved to Selsey village the chancel was left behind; and in 1917 it was renamed St Wilfrid’s Chapel.
St Wilfrid had come to Selsey to preach Christianity to the south Saxons, and it is said the church was situated on the site of St Wilfrid’s Cathedral/Monastery, which he built in 680-686. It was later left due to sea erosion, replaced by the Cathedral in Chichester in 1075. The site also has the remains of a settlement from when the Normans landed on the south coast at Pevensey and travelled along the south coast.
AUTHOR’S THOUGHTS
Unfortunately, there is very little information on Emily herself.
She was born into a close fishing community, and the names in her family tree are still present today in Selsey. Woodland, Arnell, Jinman, and Pennycord being some. Woodland Road and Pennycord Close in Selsey were named after members of the family.
During World War Two, the Coxswains, Leslie Pennycord and Bert Pennycord, both received a Silver Star Medal for their courageous service on the Selsey Lifeboat. The lifeboat launched 50 times, 38 of these in response to downed aircraft.
I hope Emily’s life was happy within a loving family, especially as she died from “Decay of Epilepsy”, suggesting she may have suffered frequent seizures for a long time. This would have caused her family great concern, but they must have taken good care of her to keep her out of Sussex Asylum until she was in her early twenties.
Emily only survived for about eight months after she was admitted to Sussex Asylum. Sadly, her last few months within the Asylum setting were not kind.
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