Delia Dengate
KEY DATES:
Birth: 5 November 1805, Crowhurst, East Sussex
Registered: 12 August 1811, English Presbyterian Great Meeting Unitarian Chapel, Battle, East Sussex
Married: 24 August 1823, Crowhurst Parish Church, East Sussex
Died: 4 March 1865, Hollington, East Sussex
Buried: 11 March 1865, Church in the Wood, Hollington, East Sussex
BIOGRAPHY:
Delia Dengate was born 5 November 1805 to James and Sarah Dengate of Crowhurst. Along with three of Delia's siblings, her birth was registered on 12 August 1811 at the (non-conformist) English Presbyterian Great Meeting Unitarian Chapel in Battle, East Sussex.
Aged 18, Delia Dengate married William Spray on 24 August 1823 in Crowhurst Parish Church. The couple had eight children; Fanny, Seth, William, Charlotte, Delia, Emily and Sarah Spray - all baptised in Crowhurst Parish Church.
The 1861 shows the family living in Crowhurst, where William worked as a blacksmith and also inn keeper of the Plough Inn, where his daughter Sarah worked as barmaid. The Plough Inn remained in the Spray family for over 100 years.
The Plough Inn, Crowhurst, 2004
Delia Spray died 4 March 1865, aged 59 years. She was buried 11 March 1865 in Church in the Wood, Hollington. William Spray died aged 90 years on 30 July 1878 and was buried with his wife in Church in the Wood, Hollington.
Delia and William Spray's grave, Church in the Wood, East Sussex
The grave inscription reads, 'Sacred/to/the memory of/Deley, wife of/William Spray/born November 5th 1805/ died March 4th 1865/also/to the memory of/William Spray/born May 12th 1788/died May 20th 1878/My Hammer and my anvil lie declined/My Bellows too have lost their wind/My fires extinct my forge decayed/and in the dust my vice is laid/My coal is spent my iron is gone/My last nail driven my work is done'
CENSUS:
Grateful thanks to Chris Spray for the photo of Delia and William Spray's grave and for additional information on the family.
© Copyright N. Goodwin MMII