Sarah Humphrey Burt Fagan

Sarah Humphrey Burt was born in Wareham, Dorset and christened on the 27^th May 1825 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Chichester, Sussex.  She was the eldest of five children born to Harriet née Lomer and Dr Thomas William Burt (born 1804), a distinguished member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Dr Burt held positions as assistant surgeon and surgeon in the Bengal Medical Service of the East India Company during the 19^th century.

Harriet was born in Sussex and was christened on 25 January 1796 at St Pancras Church, Chichester, Sussex. (1) Her parents were Joseph Lomer, a merchant and master draper who served as Mayor of Southampton in 1827, and Sarah, née Humphrey. (2)

 Dr Thomas Burt and Harriet Lomer married on 13 September 1824 at Holy Rood Church, Southampton.

Not long after Sarah was born, she and her parents set out for India. Life there for English families unfolded in the shadow of the East India Company and the military, which granted them sweeping privileges. They often employed Indian servants and lived in sprawling bungalows tucked behind high walls in the Civil Lines or Military Cantonments.

During this period, foreign women in India were commonly referred to as memsahibs. This Hindi term emerged around 1832 and denoted women of high social standing, particularly the wives of British officials during the colonial Raj. (3)

Thanks to the efforts of pioneers like Dr Thomas Burt, the East India Company founded the Bengal Medical Service in 1764. By 1825, it had grown into a well-organised force, tending to both military and civilian needs. This service not only cared for European soldiers and British officials but also advanced disease research and improved sanitation. (4)

On 28 February 1826, Dr Thomas Burt joined the distinguished ranks of Bengal surgeons. His journey with the Bengal 13th Native Infantry led to his well-earned promotion to surgeon-major.

While in India, their second child, Emma Georgina Freeland Burt, was born in Mymensingh, Bengal, on 20 September 1828 and christened at Mymensingh on 2 November 1829. (5) Back in 1929, Mymensingh was a prominent northern district in the Bengal Presidency of British India, nestled within the newly established Dacca Division, now known as Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Harriet and Dr Burt’s third child, William Thomas Burt, was born on 24 April 1830 and christened on 9 March 1831 in Mymensingh. He died in Dhaka at the age of one year and 17 days, and was buried on 11 May 1831. At this time, British children were buried in Narinda Christian burial ground, Dhaka. (6)

By 1833, Dr Thomas Burt and Harriet had returned to England with their two eldest children and their infant daughter, Susan Frances Burt. Born in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, Susan was privately christened on 7 January 1833 and received a second christening on 20 July 1833 at St Bartholomew’s Church in Chichester, Sussex.

Dr Thomas Burt and Harriet returned to India accompanied by their three children. Their youngest child, Isabella Josephine Burt, was born in Chittagong on 16 August 1838 and christened there on 17 November. At that time, Chittagong (now Chattogram, Bangladesh) was part of British India.  However, its borders underwent significant changes over the following century. Following the Partition in 1947, the region became part of East Pakistan rather than India.

THE MARRIAGE OF SARH HUMPHREY BURT TO ROBERT CHARLES FAGAN

Sarah Humphrey Burt married Robert Charles Henry Bains Fagan on 8 July 1846 at Christ Church, Cawnpore. Kanpur, originally known as Kanhapur and formerly anglicised as Cawnpore, is the largest city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (7)

 Robert Charles Henry Baines Fagan was born on 14 May 1823 in Fatehgarh, India, the fourth son of Agnes Baldock and Major General Christopher Sullivan Fagan, born 22 March 1781. He served in the Royal Bengal Artillery and was a respected officer and Companion of the Order of the Bath (C.B.). Major General Fagan married twice and had nine children from his first marriage and eight from his second. He died at his residence, Cannock Manor House, Devizes, Wiltshire, on 26 May 1853. (8) (9)

 The Fagan family achieved prominence as an Anglo-Irish military dynasty, with successive generations attaining distinction in the British Indian Army and the East India Company.

In 1837, at the age of 14, Robert Fagan commenced his military career as a cadet at the East India Company’s Military Seminary in Addiscombe, Surrey. Established in 1809, the seminary trained young men to become officers in the Company’s private army. Over two years, students studied artillery, infantry, cavalry, engineering, mathematics, fortification, and Indian languages. Upon completion of the program, Robert Fagan was commissioned as a junior officer, beginning as a Second Lieutenant.

Advancement to the rank of Captain in the East India Company typically required approximately twelve years of service. By 1852, Robert Fagan had attained the rank of Captain and was appointed Superintendent of Civil Buildings in Lahore, where he oversaw civil engineering projects throughout Punjab. After his promotion, he continued in this capacity until 1854, when he joined the Company’s 4th Battalion, Bengal Artillery, within the Bengal Army. In the same year, he relocated to Dalhousie, a prominent hill station in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, where he served as Officiating Executive Officer and subsequently joined the Department of Public Works.

A few weeks after the marriage of Sarah and Robert Fagan, Sarah’s mother, Harriett Burt, died in Bengal on 17 August 1846 and was buried there the following day. (10) Harriet was probably one of the many Europeans during this period that died from epidemics such as cholera, malaria, and dysentery. In addition, the severe summer heat frequently resulted in fatalities among the European population.

In 1848, Dr Thomas Burt had returned to England (11). He later moved to France, and on 4 November 1857, he married his second wife, Laura Helen Knyvett Golding, in Paris. (12) Laura was born on 2 September 1830 in Bengal to Elizabeth Palmer Mannington (1785-1852) and Bailie Golding (1803-1876). Bailie Golding arrived in India in the early 1820s and later served as Collector and Magistrate of Tipperah, overseeing revenue collection, judicial administration, and law enforcement. (13) After serving in India, Dr Thomas Burt moved to Europe and lived at No 2 Obere Promenade in Homburg, Prussia, a popular 19th-century resort for wealthy British expatriates and retirees. He died there on 19 May 1870. (14)

 THE SEIGE OF DELHI

The introduction of the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle in India became a significant factor in the growing unrest that led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rifle used paper cartridges coated in animal fat, which soldiers had to bite open before loading. Rumours that the cartridges contained both beef and pork fat caused deep concern among the sepoys – Indian infantry serving in the armies of the British East India Company – as this conflicted with both Hindu and Muslim religious beliefs.

Tensions reached a critical point on 10 May 1857, when sepoys at Meerut were imprisoned after refusing to use the cartridges. The rebellion quickly spread, and by September, the rebels had seized Delhi, marking a major turning point in the uprising. (15)

On the 19 May 1857, shortly after the birth of his son Walter, Captain Robert Fagan was ordered to Ambala, 124 miles north of Delhi, where he was instructed to report to Major Laughton. By 23 May, he had taken up the position of Assistant Field Engineer with the Delhi Field Force.

As the British forces advanced towards Delhi, Fagan was assigned to Major Edward Kay on 6 June and returned to the siege train. This formidable force of heavy cannons, howitzers and vast quantities of ammunition would prove crucial in breaching Delhi’s massive stone walls, which were being fiercely defended by rebel sepoys. The lighter field guns had already shown themselves to be largely ineffective against these formidable defences, making the arrival of the siege train a vital development in the campaign.

Captain Robert Fagan, who had survived eight wounds before the siege, was killed a day before the assault on Delhi. On Saturday, 12 September 1857, at age 34, he was shot in the head by a musket ball fired from the ramparts of a fortress built by his brother, an engineer, between 1831 and 1834. (16)

Sarah Humphrey Burt Fagan showed remarkable bravery by protecting her six children and holding her infant son, Walter, close during times of danger. She was one of many European and Anglo-Indian women who fled the city with their children to Dalhousie, a hill station established in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie. This northern Himalayan refuge offered safety from both the heat and the rebellion spreading through the plains during the months-long siege, which ended on 21 September 1857. (17)

After peace was restored, Sarah undertook a challenging, massive, multi-stage journey from Delhi to England, which typically took three to four weeks. Her primary goal was to secure a high-quality education for her six children.

By April 1860, Sarah and the children had returned to England. According to the 1861 census, Sarah lived in Tiverton, Devon, with her five children: Charles, Harriette, Robert, Mary, and Walter. In 1871, she resided at The Hall in East Farndon, Market Harborough, Northamptonshire, accompanied by her unmarried daughter Harriette, then aged 20, and three servants. By 1881, Sarah was residing at Prospect House in Bovey-Tracey, Newton Abbot, Devon. By 1901, she had moved to Bedford and lived at 47 Castle Road. Sarah named her final residence at 35 Goldington Avenue, Bedford, Dalhousie, in recognition of the refuge it offered following her escape from the turmoil of the Siege of Delhi.

The following excerpt is from a letter written by Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1832-1914), to Rev. Francis Edward Millard Girling of All Saints’ Church, Souldrop, Bedfordshire, dated 16 March 1908: “I well remember Capt. Fagan during the siege of Delhi. He was a most gallant officer, and his death in the Battery that breached the water Bastion a few days before the assault was deplored not only by his own brother officers but also by all in the Delhi Field Force who had given the pleasure of his acquaintance. Please give my best respects to Mrs Fagan. Believe me, yours very truly. Roberts.” (18)

Sarah passed away at her home, “Dalhousie”, 35 Goldington Avenue, Bedford, on 21 July 1909, aged 84 years. She was buried on 24 July at Foster Hill Road Cemetery. Section F5-61. Her daughter, Harriette Dodd, was her only surviving child.

THE SEVEN CHILDREN OF SARAH AND CAPTAIN ROBERT CHARLES HENRY BAINES FAGAN

After completing their education in England, their three sons, Charles, Robert, and Walter, relocated to India to pursue new opportunities under the British Raj. For individuals with limited financial resources, employment in the military or civil service provided stable work, social respect, and a route to independence.

Charles Christopher Thomas Fagan, the eldest child, was born on 17 May 1842 and christened on 20 July in Lahore, the capital city of the Punjab, India. The 1861 census records him living with his mother and four siblings in Tiverton, Devon. He attended Blundell’s School and later studied at St. John’s College, Cambridge. By 1873, he resided in Calcutta and received a Master of Arts degree by proxy. Source: Pall Mall Budget 24 May 1873. He joined the Excelsior Lodge of Freemasonry in Calcutta later that year. In 1880, Charles was employed by the British Government’s Ecclesiastical Department in India. As a military chaplain, he provided spiritual care to British military regiments stationed at the Faizabad Cantonment in Awadh (Oudh).

On 2 February 1880, Rev Charles Fagan married Bertha Annie Smith at Christ Church, Sultanpur, Oudh, India. Bertha was born in Pendlebury, Lancashire, in 1854 to Elizabeth and Rev Charles Felton Smith (1818-1903), vicar of Holy Cross Church, Crediton, from 1854 to 1900. (19)

Rev. Charles C. T. Fagan became the British Chaplain in Tangier, Morocco, in 1886 and remained for four years until his death at age 44 at Onetto House, Tangier, on 21 January 1890. The Western Morning News reported on 1 March 1890 that he died peacefully, with his mother, wife, and son present.

Rev Fagan’s remains were transported to England and interred on 27 February 1890 at Holy Cross Churchyard in Crediton, Devon. (20) In the months following Rev. Charles Fagan’s passing, his wife honoured his memory by commissioning a radiant stained-glass window for the north side of the Lady Chapel at the Church of the Holy Cross in Crediton, Devon. (21) Bertha Fagan died at 36 Harrogate Road, Caversham, Reading, Berkshire, on 2 October 1928, aged 76. Her burial took place on 8 October in Berkshire. (22)

Robert Christopher Felton Fagan, the only child of Rev Charles Fagan and Bertha, was born on 5 September 1881 in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, and christened at Christ Church, Mussoorie, on 9 October. He later lived at Normansfield Hospital in Teddington, Middlesex, a facility for children with intellectual disabilities from professional families, where he died on 1 August 1936.

Eliza Ellen Fagan, the eldest daughter and second child of Sarah and Captain Robert Fagan, was born on 5 November 1848 and christened on 2 January 1849 in Lahore, India. No further records of her have been found. She may have died in India before the 1857 Rebellion, as records indicate her mother later escaped to Dalhousie with her six remaining children.

Harriette Agnes Georgiana Fagan, their third child, was born on 5^th July 1850 at Danarhalke, Bangladesh.  In 1871, Harriette was living at the Hall, East Farndon, Northamptonshire, with her mother. Harriette married Rev. Edward Sutton Dodd at St John’s Church, East Farndon, Northamptonshire, on 23 October 1873. (23)

Rev Edward Dodd was born on 16 February 1844 in Middlesex, London, to Sarah and John Dodd, a surgeon. By 1851, he resided at 27 Queens Terrace, Paddington, Kensington, London, with his parents, his sisters, Mary and Fanny, and his brothers, John and Alexander.

Rev. Dodd graduated from St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1866, earning Junior Optime and Third-Class Honours in the Classical Tripos. He received his Master of Arts in 1869. In 1867, the Bishop of Carlisle ordained him as a deacon and sent him to serve at Heversham in Cumbria. Rev. Dodd became Chaplain of Cheam School in 1871. From 1872 to 1874, he worked as curate at Farncombe St. John in Surrey. He was vicar of Elmore from 1879 to 1881, and later became vicar of All Saints Church, Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire. (24)

In 1886, he served on the Bedford Board of Guardians. Source: Bedfordshire Mercury 6 March 1886. He died on 20 September 1890. His burial took place at All Saints Churchyard, Milton Ernest.

Harriette and Rev Dodd’s seven children were Robert John Sherwood Dodd (1878-1950). He was knighted in the 1931 Birthday Honours, appointed by King George V. Sir Robert J. S. Dodd was a British colonial law enforcement official who served as the Inspector-General for the United Provinces in British India. Ethel Sarah Dodd Richardson (1880-1954), Harriette Dodd (1882-1882), Marriette Dodd (1882-1882), Walter Edward Fagan Dodd (1883-1973), Harry Russell Fagan Dodd (1886-?), and Fanny Caroline Dodd (1887-1963).

After her husband’s death, Harriette moved with her children to 53 Ashburnham Road in Bedford. By 1901, she worked as a boarding housekeeper at 3 Linden Road, which had become a hub of student life and housed students from Bedford Girls’ High School. In 1911, Harriette and her daughter Fanny, a private governess, lived at 5 Linden Road. Harriette remained there in 1921, serving as secretary for the Bedford County Nursing Association, with Fanny still residing with her. Supported by Fanny and her other daughter, Ethel, Harriette also volunteered for the Homes of St Barnabas, assisting invalided and impoverished clergymen and their wives.

Harriette passed away on 14 May 1922 at Lansdowne House, Bedford. Her funeral was held at St Martin’s Church, Bedford, on 18 May 1922. She was interred alongside her husband, Rev. Edward S. Dodd, at All Saints Churchyard, Milton Ernest. (25) Their infant daughters, Harriette and Marriette, are buried nearby.

 Ethel Sarah Dodd, the eldest daughter and second child of Harriette and Rev Edward Dodd, was born in Elmore, Gloucester, in 1880. She was christened by her father at St John the Baptist Church in Elmore on 5 July 1880.

Ethel married Henry Hinde Richardson, a mechanical engineer, on 12 September 1907 at St Martin’s Church in Bedford. Since 1901, Henry had resided at 42 Clarendon Street, Bedford, with his sister Maud, aged 29, and brother Stephen, aged 20.

Henry was born on 19 May 1862 in Cumbraes, Bute, Scotland, to Martha née Parkinson and Reverend Herbert Henley Richardson, Canon of Argyle and the Isles and Chaplain to the Earl of Argyle. He was one of nine children.

The 1911 census lists Ethel, Henry, and Henry’s widowed mother at 156 Hurst Grove, Bedford. Henry is recorded as a mechanical engineer.

Henry passed away at age 56 in March 1919 at the residence of his mother-in-law, Harriette Dodd, at 5 Linden Road, Bedford. His burial took place on 7 March at Foster Hill Road Cemetery, Section E5.69.

According to the 1935 Electoral Register, Ethel lived at 21 Cardington Road, Bedford. She later moved to “Rowanberries,” Bramber Road, Steyning, Essex, where she died at age 74 on 23 December 1954. Her remains were transferred to Foster Hill Road Cemetery and interred beside her husband, Henry, on 30 December in Section E5.73. (26)

THE CHILDREN OF SARAH AND CAPTAIN ROBERT CHARLES HENRY BAINES FAGAN (continued).

Fanny Isabelle Ingilby Fagan, the fourth child, was born on 16 March 1852 and christened on 14 May 1852 in Lahore, India. She died at age eight in Tiverton, Devon, on 21 April 1860 from whooping cough. At that time, whooping cough was a common and often fatal childhood illness that caused thousands of deaths each year. (27)

Mary Katherine Amarkhalee (also spelt Anarkulee) Fagan was born on 10 February 1856 in Jalandhar, Punjab, in northern India. Her middle name refers to Anarkali (Anarkulee), a historic civil station and cantonment in Lahore, now in Pakistan, which served as a base for British forces and colonial officers. She was the fifth child in her family.

In the 1871 census, she appears as a pupil at the Royal School, Lansdown Road, Charlcombe, Gloucestershire. Founded in 1864, a girls’ boarding school that provided affordable, high-quality education to the daughters of British Army officers facing financial difficulties.

Mary married Horace Baxter, a bank cashier, on 11 November 1875 at St John the Baptist Church in East Farndon, Northamptonshire. Horace, born in Hampreston, Dorset in 1853, was the son of Mary (née Shewell) and the Rev. Arthur George Baxter. His father, then rector of All Saints Church, Hampreston, officiated at his christening on 17 April 1853. After they married, they made their home in Leicestershire. In 1881, they were living with their three children at The Woodlands, Burn Mill Hill in Greater Bowden, Leicestershire.

The 1901 census records their daughter, Daisy Lesley Mary Baxter (born 4 October 1877), who was trained as a nurse at Bedford Hospital and lived at 50-52 Harpur Street, Bedford. The 1939 Register lists her as a private nurse in Shepton Mallett, Somerset.

Mary Baxter died at 13 Evington Street, Leicester, on 24 October 1894 at age 39 and was buried in Section G.703 at Welford Road Cemetery. Horace later lived with his daughter Daisy in Oxfordshire and died there in 1921.

Robert Sydney Feltrim Fagan, the sixth child, was born on 25 October 1853 in Lahore, India and christened on 16 February 1854 in Lahore. From 16 August 1862 to 28 June 1864, he attended Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, a leading boarding school for children of British Army officers. (28) The 1871 census shows that Robert attended Lampton House School, a small private boarding school on Lampton Lane, Heston, Middlesex.

Robert married his cousin, Norah Fanny Fagan, on 27 April 1887 in Kensington, London. Norah was the daughter of Caroline Phillpott and Major Horace Christopher Fagan. Major Fagan was the half-brother of Captain Robert C. H. B. Fagan. Norah was born on 15 April 1869 and christened on 20 May 1869 in Jaunpur, India. The 1881 census records that she attended the Royal School on Landsdown Road near Charlcombe in Bath, Somerset. Founded in 1864, this institution served the daughters of army officers.

Robert spent his career working for the Indian Forest Service. In 1877, he began scientific training at the Imperial School of Forestry in Nancy, France, to prepare for his role in India’s Forest Department. After finishing his training, he worked in the teak forests of North Kanara, which was then part of the Bombay Presidency. From the 1860s to the 1880s, during the British Raj, the demand for timber grew quickly. Millions of trees were cut down, and large amounts of teak were sent to England for shipbuilding. (29)

In 1890, he worked as a fourth-grade conservator in the Forest Department of the East India Company, with assignments in West Khandesh located in northwestern Maharashtra, India and the Southern Division of Kanara. (30) Robert eventually returned to England. At the age of 50, he passed away at his home in Hove, Sussex, on 21 December 1903, suffering from the effects of a long attack of malarial fever. (31) They had no children.

 Fanny married her second husband, Lieutenant Colonel John Walter Beresford Mereweather, a widower, on

4 February 1905 at St. Andrew’s Church, Wells Street, Marylebone, London. Fanny passed away on 10 November 1923 at 8 The Beacon in Exmouth, Devon. (32)

Walter Claude Horace Fagan, the youngest of the seven children, was born on 2 May 1857 and christened on 28 December 1857 in Jullundur, now Jalandhar, India. The 1871 census records that he attended the Free Grammar School, a boarding school at 7 Free School Lane, Kibworth, Beauchamp, Market Harborough, Leicestershire. He later served as an assistant superintendent in the Punjab Police. Walter died of typhoid fever in Lahore, India, on 27 June 1882 at age 25 and was buried the next day. (33)

Researched by Linda S Ayres
Fagan Memorial Photo by Linda Ayres
Richardson Memorial Photo by Colin Woolf
I wish to express my gratitude to Colin Woolf for his assistance in locating grave references.

Sources:

(1) Registry of the Bishop of Winchester 1689-1837.
(2)Hampshire Advertiser 4 October 1824.
(3)Memsahibs: British Women in Colonial India. Ipshita Nath
(4)National Institute of Health
(5)Dacca & Chittagong Baptisms 1829.
(6)Family Search
(7)Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce Marriages 1846
(8)Source: Gentlemen’s Magazine, Volume 174, page 319, 1843.
(9)Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 6 July 1843.
(10)Family Search
(11) Allen’s Indian Mail, London. 04 July 1848.
(12) Ancestry.
(13) Internet Archive.
(14) Illustrated London News, 30 July 1870.
(15) National Army Museum.
(16) SourceVictorianVoices.net
(17) National Army Museum.
(18) The Late Mrs Robert C.H.B. Fagan, Bedfordshire Times and Independent, 20 August 1909, p. 5
(19) Devon and Somerset News 12 February 1880
(20) England and Wales Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019.
(21) Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 26 December 1890 Pg 4
(22) Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019
(23) The Royal Leamington Spa Courier. 1 November 1873 Pg 5
(24) The Bedfordshire Mercury 4 October 1890. Pg 3
(25) Bedfordshire Times and Independent 19 May 1922.
(26) The Bedford Record, 28 December 1954.
(27) Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 28 April 1860. Pg 5
(28) Blundell’s School Register.
(29) Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Volume 33, Page 351, 1885.
(30) UK Registers of the East India Company. 1901
(31) The Morning Leader, London, 24 December 1903.
(32) National Probate Calendar
(33) Bedfordshire Mercury 8 July 1882, Pg 5

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