Saggers surname study

New Beginnings….bittersweet

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Once again for 2021, there is a Guild of One-Name Studies Blog Challenge. Hashtag – #guildblogchallenge

The prompt for March is “New Beginnings”.

Recently in discussing the hazardous trips many families and individuals took in emigrating to North America, and indeed, across America, and to many other places, I said I thought they, especially the women, were brave – to leave all the familiar places, no matter how desperate for a new start, to realize you likely could never return. I realize some would see it as an adventure, others might be optimistic for future benefits, but to many, including those left behind, it must have often felt overwhelming.

A while ago I read a short understated note in a newspaper about my great aunts that brought this home for me.

From The Essex County Chronicle (Chelmsford Chronicle), 26 April, 1907, page 4.

“Among others from North Essex who have emigrated to Canada are the three daughters of Mr. D. Saggers of Burton-End Farm, Stansted… The scene when the Misses Saggers left Stansted Station was very affecting.” Accessed originally at FindMyPast.

Now this might also be a warning not to take newspapers too literally. Four Saggers sisters left England bound for Vancouver in March, 1907, Constance, Ethel, Elsie and Dora. Ethel had been to Canada before though, and her entry was stamped “Ret’d Canadian”. Had she spent her time back in England convincing them all to leave England for Vancouver, promising them similar weather, great gardening, beautiful beaches and snow capped mountains too? (And on the quiet, mentioned the many eligible bachelors of Vancouver?)

If so, she was successful.

Very soon after, her father and mother followed with her brother, Charles, and the remaining sisters, Florence, and Sarah, my grandmother. (Brother Herbert had gone ahead, alone, some years before. That’s another story.)

But without their journeys, I wouldn’t be here! Or my Saggers study.

Those of you who’ve visited Vancouver will like this glimpse of the busy, growing city the Saggers family came to – in an enhanced version of the first film of Vancouver, taken Tuesday, May 7, 1907 by photographer William Harbeck.

1907 Tram Ride in Vancouver (Granville Street). #Restored​ in #4K​, #60FPS​, #Colorized​, #Stabilized​ with Sound by regnittuB.

Or see it at Vancouver is Awsome: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/history/incredible-restored-film-of-vancouver-in-1907-is-basically-time-travel-video-3354402

“Taking Up the Challenge”

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The latest edition of the Guild’s Journal of One-Name Studies (April-June 2020) has an article “Taking Up the Challenge” by Melody McKay Burton about the 2020 Guild 10-Blog Challenge which the Saggers Study particlpated in. One of the first Saggers articles is mentioned – on Sarah Saggers’ Christmas Pudding. Goodness! Christmas seems almost another time and place now that many have been ‘staying home’ for so long.

In May, I added my own great uncle Bert Saggers to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s “Wall of Remembrance”.

The most recent challenge the Saggers Study has been involved in is the 21 Day Connections Experiment over at my personal genealogy blog, CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane’s Your Aunt. See more about this Experiment here. One of the Experiment blog articles (Day 12) was about Sarah Saggers’ photograph album. If you would like to see her photos, contact me via this website. I have scanned the album and would be happy for you to see them if you think there might be a connection. And quite a while ago, I transcribed her last address book and put the names online, so you might find a connected name or a familiar address there. (Rogers-Saggers, Vancouver, BC – 1940s-1950s address book.)

Sarah Saggers Photograph Album – A page.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Best wishes for health and happiness.

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  • A half Irish grandma’s Irish Beleek pig – family collection.

I’ve been working on the few Irish connections I’ve seen for Saggers families and would be happy to hear from anyone with a Saggers individual or family who lived or worked in Ireland or had Irish parents or grandparents. Please contact me via this website or at: canadagenealogy @ shaw.ca

My own Saggers families have no Irish connections made (yet) but I do have lots in my Irwin families – mostly from County Cavan as far back as I can see at the moment.

There is one Irish Elin Saggers in Canada that I’d like to know more about. She’s listed in the 1861 census as a widow, 46 years old, so born about 1815, in Dublin, Ireland. She cannot read or write. She is living on a 1/4 acre with an Alfrid Clarke, age 12, born in London, Canada West. Both are Church of England.

Alfred may be the Alfred A Clarke, aged 1, born in Canada, listed in the 1851 census with John F. Clarke MD, 25 years old, born in England, and Susannah Clarke, 23 and Joseph W Clarke, 3, born in Canada, If so, I know more about this family, although not about Susannah’s parents. Dr. John F. Clarke was well known at the time.

Library and Archives Canada has Elin and Alfred indexed in the 1861 census as Elin Laggers and Sophia Clarke, as does Ancestry, but I believe that’s incorrect. Findmypast has them as Elin Saggers and Alfred Clarke. Library and Archives Canada 1851 census entry:

Census Year: 1861 Item Number: 1494954
Surname: Clarke Given Name(s): Sophia Age: 12
Province: Canada West (Ontario) District Name: London (City)
Sub-District Name: Ward no 11
View digitized page of Census of 1861 (Canada East, Canada West, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) for Image No.: 4391537_00665
JPG (Image No.: 4391537_00665)
PDF (Image No.: 4391537_00665)

LAC Index page: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/results.aspx?k=London+AND+cnsSurname%3a%22clarke%22+AND+cnsAge%3a%2212%22+AND+cnsProvinceCode%3a%22CW%22

Organizing the Saggers Surname Study – 2020 style

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January (or late December) is usually the time we take a look at what was accomplished in the previous year, and plan for the year ahead. The Saggers One-Name Study is one of several projects I have on the go so my plans for the first quarter of the year were specific, but not too grand.

Two members of the Guild started a blog challenge though in December and I did join in quite happily. So far I’ve kept up with my own goals here and I’ve written a couple of blog posts to hold back as ‘insurance’. If you are a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies and want to join us, there’s still time! Follow this link to the GOONS Blog Challenge 2020 on Facebook.

One goal for this year was to organize the references I do have for Saggers families in South Africa and to develop that information into a new Saggers tree. I still intend on doing that but!

What I didn’t quite count on was this particular wrinkle. Ancestry announced pretty suddenly that it’s discontinuing all its Rootsweb e-mail lists as of 1 March 2020. I’m the administrator for a number of those lists, including a SAGGARS surname list, so like the other Rootsweb list volunteers, I’ve been spending time deciding on a new home for my lists, and moving them away from Rootsweb. Most of my lists now will have a new home at Groups.io. It’s been an interesting process and I can see advantages for us there in the future.

So if you’d like to join the new SAGGERS Surname e-mail list, please click here to join. This is a free mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding families associated with the Saggers surname and variations (e.g., Sagars, Sager, Saggars, Sagger, Saggers, Sagers, Saggus…) in any place and at any time.

I’m editing this post a bit as I forgot to say that this is entered in The Genealogy Blog Party this month. How could I forget?! The theme for January: ORGANIZE AND PRIORITIZE. Very appropriate for the beginning of the year. And something all genealogists strive for – so do follow this link and have a look at all the other ideas and articles submitted for this month’s challenge hosted by Elizabeth at MyDescendantsancestors.com And if you’re a blogger or post about genealogy on social media, join the Party!

Now I’m really rolling on back to my 2020 plans!

A young cousin in Vancouver, BC, Canada on his Piggly Wiggly wagon. 1920s.
One of my Saggers family cousins in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Late 1920s? Personal collection.

Is a Saggart a Saggers? – short answer, No.

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I was asked at one event about other surnames that might be similar to Saggers or Saggers, the focus of my one-name study. And how I’d decide whether to add another to this study.

One surname I certainly see in search results is Saggart which on viewing often does turn out to be obviously Saggars – or Taggart. Taggart/Taggert I soon learned could be an accepted variant of Saggart which comes from Old Irish – sacart, priest, from the Latin sacerdōs.

There is a DNA project at Family Tree DNA for “MacTaggart or Taggart, for all spellings. (And 9 other possible projects listed.) I do not yet see a one-name study for Saggert/Taggart or any variations. It seems to me it would be a smallish study and quite interesting.

But this surname I am certain has quite a different derivation than the Saggers surnames so I won’t be adding it to my study. But if I found a Saggart/Taggart in my own tree, I might be quite eager to study these families!

Recently I noticed this entry in the Irish Newspaper Collection results (Findmypast.com) mentioning a Saggart Village in Kildare, Ireland. I thought I’d investigate just a little.

The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Ireland,

Thursday, 17 December 1868, page 3.
Sporting Intelligence, Hunting Appointments. December.

Kildare Hounds—17th Bray: 19th, Hollywood; 21st, Kilcock; 23rd, Spratstown Bridge; 26th, Dunmurry; 28th, Donadea Castle; 29th Saggart Village; 31st Dunlavin. At 11. “

I found that Saggart Village was once known as Tassagart/Tassagart. Its name comes from a 7th century monastery Teach Sacra (House of Sacra founded by St Mosacra) that once was there. For more about Saggart, see the South Dublin County History website: http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/content.aspx?area=Saggart&type=history

And then there are the Ballysaggartmore1 follies, the Towers near Waterford.

Ballysaggartmore Towers Gatehouse
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Hywel Williams – geograph.org.uk/p/2868574

Learn more about Ballysaggartmore on the Discover Ireland website: https://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/ballysaggartmore-towers/49230

And if you are a Saggart/Taggart2 and decide to start a One-Name Study, do let me know.

REFERENCES

  1. The Very Rev P. Canon Power translates their name as “Baile na Sagart “Priests’ Town.” (The Place-Names of Decies, Second Edition, Cork University Press Oxford, B.H. Blackwell, Ltd. 1952, his revised Edition published after his 1951 death. No page numbers. His original version, 1907.) Available free on the Waterford Libraries/ Leabharlanna Phort Láirge website (http://waterfordlibraries.ie/local-studies/ ): http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/106325/106325.pdf
  2. For McTaggart, et al. in brief, see The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure (Oxford University Press, 2016), page 1808 for McTagart, McTaggart, and McTaggert; page 2617 for Taggard, Taggart, and Taggert. Available for searches at Google Books: https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Family_Names_in.html?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

SAGGERS / SAGGER / SAGGAR / SAGGARS on Wikipedia

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So far most are involved in sports! (Updated as of 12 January 2020)

  • Kenneth Saggers (1936-2014) South African cricketer
  • Mark Leonard Saggers, English journalist, broadcaster
  • Martin John Saggers, English cricket umpire; retired as a cricketer in 2009
  • Robert Saggers, former Australian footballer
  • Ronald Arthur Saggers (1917-1987), Australian cricketer
  • Jainti Dass Saggar (1898-1954) Scottish physician and Dundee politician. Saggar Street in Dundee, Scotland was named after him posthumously. His biography, Dr Jainti Dass Saggar – from Deharru to Dundee was written by Kamala Stewart, John Stewart & Rosemary McKnight (2015).
  • Shamit Saggar CBE, Professor, Honorary Research Fellow, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education, School of Social Sciences and Director, Public Policy Institute, University of Western Australia.

Thomas Saggers – coursing at Chelmsford, Essex

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“Thomas Saggers Jun was charged with using a greyhound to take a hare at Sandon.”

On the 8th he had been seen on with a greyhound and another dog on Mr. Bewers’ land. Thomas had “turned the attention of the dog to a hare”, encouraging it to chase it, and then he had taken the hare. “It being proved he had no authority for coursing he was convicted and fined £5 and costs.”

To course is to use greyhounds to hunt small game by sight (not scent) – for sport. I did have to look that up in the Oxford.

I believe this is Thomas (Junior), the son of Thomas and Mary (Turner) Saggers,  thus the grandson of Thomas Saggers and Rosetta (Dorman) Saggers. I believe I have seen the father, Thomas, named as Thomas The Younger.

In 1861 the family was living at Great Baddow with four other children, Roberts, Sarah Ann, Rosetta and Harriet. I believe though that Thomas Senior was married to two Marys: Mary Turner – mother of Thomas and Robert and Mary Daniels – mother of Sarah Ann, Rosetta and Harriet.

Quotes above concerning the coursing charge are from the “Chelmsford Petty Session – May 17”, The Essex County Standard and Eastern Counties Advertiser, Colchester, Essex, England, Friday, 24 May 1861, page 2. Located via Newspapers.com, January 2019.

Double Saggers marriages, May 1868, Westwood, Tasmania, Australia

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LUKUS, SAGGERS, WILSON

LUKUS—SAGGERS.—On 7th May, at Alstonton, Westwood, by the Rev. J. Waterhouse, John, only son of Wm. Lukus, Esq., of Ballarat, Victoria, to Martha Elizabeth, second daughter of Mr. R. Saggers, of Rocklands, East Tamar.

[English papers please copy.]

WILSON—SAGGERS.—On 7th May, at Alstonton, Westwood, by the Rev. J. Waterhouse, James Gibbons, eldest son of the late James Gibbons Wilson, Esq., of Dublin, to Violette Harriett, third daughter of Mr. R. Saggers, of Rocklands, East Tamar.

From the Launceston Examiner, Tasmania, Australia, Thursday, 21 May 1868, p. 5.