LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive

1807, Private Rudd DEARNES — 11th Hussars

Also recorded as "Dearns".

Birth & early life

[RM/PB: Born 3rd of May 1836, and baptised 5th of June 1836 at Beeston, Norfolk, 1836, the son of a Labourer, Rudd Dearns, and his wife Lydia (nee Johnson). His parents had married in Beeston next Mileham in 1834. Both made their mark.

A "William Rudd Durnes" [possible father] was baptised 21 or 22 October 1809 in Lynn Norfolk, the son of Robert and Susanna "Durnes" or "Dairnes". There are also references to "Rudd Dairns", which presumably reflects how his surname was pronounced.

See "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J92H-C2Q : 30 December 2014), William Rudd Durnes, 22 Oct 1809; citing Lynn, Norfolk, England, reference Item 19 p 139; FHL microfilm 1,471,537.

Also "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J95C-T3T : 30 December 2014), William Rudd Dairnes, 21 Oct 1809; citing Lynn, Norfolk, England, reference item 2; FHL microfilm 1,526,838.

There are several references online to RD's father's full name being Rudd Claxton Dearns. Claxton appears to be Susanna's maiden name. One of her brothers appears to have been called "Noah". It is possible she and Robert married in Beeston in 1792, some time after the death of their first child in 1791.]

The marriage of Rudd Dearns and Lydia Johnson [parents], at Beeston next Mileham, 20th November 1834.

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Baptism of Rudd Dearns in Beeston next Mileham, 5th June 1836 (born 3rd May 1836).

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1841 Census

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1841 Census

The Green, All Saints Beeston, Norfolk.

Lyddia Dearnes, 30, Ind [Independent?].

Thos Dearnes, 9.

Rudd Dearnes, 5.

Edmund Dearnes, 2.

All born in Norfolk. [PB]

[PB: In 1841, Rudd Dearnes [father], aged 25-29, can be found in the household of Thomas Claxton and his family, in Wendling, Norfolk.

1851 Census

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1851 Census

Free Bridge Cottage, South Lynn, Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

Rudd Dearnes, Head, Married, 38, Sheppard [sic], born Beeston, Norfolk.

Lydia Dearnes, 39, East Dereham, Norfolk.

Thomas Dearnes, 18, Litcham [?], Norfolk.

Rudd Dearnes, 14, Labourer, Beeston, Norfolk.

Edmond Dearnes, 12, Labourer, Wendling [?], Norfolk.

Alfred Dearnes, 9, Scholar, Beeston, Norfolk.

Joseph Dearnes, 6, Scholar, South Lynn, Norfolk.

Mary Dearnes 6, Scholar, South Lynn, Norfolk.

Sarah Dearnes, 1, South Lynn, Norfolk.

[PB: Mary Dearns married Godfrey Goward, a Carpenter, in East Dereham on 12th November 1870. She made her mark. Her father, Rudd Dearns, was at this time described as a Tailor. Does this sound likely, given he was a Shepherd in 1851?]

Enlistment

Enlisted at Birmingham on the 14th of December 1854.

Age: 18.

Height: 5' 5".

Trade: None shown.

Service

Joined the regiment in the Crimea on the 25th of May 1855.

Discharge & pension

Discharged on the "Reduction of the Army and not likely to become efficient," from Canterbury on the 20th of November 1856.

Served 1 year 341 days.

Conduct: "good". Not in possession of any Good Conduct badges.

Medals

Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasp for Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.

Commemorations

Life after service

[PB: Rudd Dearnes probably married Susan Fenn [?] shortly after discharge.]

[PB: A son, Fountain Noah, was born to Rudd and Susan Dearns [nee Fenn?] on July 10th 1860, and baptised August 19th at Beeston next Mileham. Rudd Dearns was at this time a "Drover".

"Fountain Noah" is a remarkable name. What was its special significance? A family name, as indeed "Rudd" may have been? I notice possible echoes in a Fountain William Rudd, a soldier of the Northamptonshire Regiment born Great Bircham, Norfolk, was killed in action in "France and Flanders" 31 July 1917. ]

Baptism of Fountain Noah Dearns [son] at Beeston next Mleham on 19th of August 1860 (born 10th of July 1860). He appears with his parents in the 1861 Census but died at the age of four in 1864.

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Birth registered

Fountain Noah Rudd, July Quarter 1860, Mitford, Norfolk.

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1861 Census

Bears Cottages, Syers Rd, Beeston, Norfolk.

Rudd Dearnes is shown on the 1861 Census as aged 25, a "Cattle Drover" (a number of other men in nearby houses are similarly described). His wife Susan was then 23, and their son Fountain was 9 months old. [RM/PB].

[PB: Fountain Noah Dearns died in Gressenhall at the age of 4 years in 1864 and was buried in Longham, Norfolk on the 16th October 1864. It may be significant that Gressenhall is close to East Dereham, where his mother, Lydia was born. Gressenhall also had a large workhouse, now a museum). Is it possible FND was in the workhouse, with one or both of his parents? I have not found any other children born to the couple.]

[PB: Fountain Noah Dearns died in Gressenhall at the age of 4 years in 1864 and was buried in Longham, Norfolk on the 16th October 1864.]

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[PB: In 1867, Rudd Dearns [probably RD's father] died aged 54. His death was registered in Mitford in the July Quarter.]

[PB: By 1871, Rudd and Susan Dearns had moved away from rural Norfolk, to Sheffield, where he worked as a Labourer in an Iron Foundry in Brightside, Sheffield, an area that was undergoing rapid industrialisation and population growth at this time. See e.g. Wkipedia: Brightside, Sheffield. There is a detailed guide to sources of local history drawn up by Sheffield Libraries and Archives here.






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1871 Census

40, Adsetts Terrace, Brightside Bierlow, Sheffield.

By 1871 Rudd Dearns, aged 35, was living with his wife Susan, 33, and unmarried sister Sarah Dearns, 20. He was a "Labourer at Iron Works". [RM]






Engraving of William Jessopp and Sons, Steel Manufacturers Brightside, Sheffield, around 1860? Rudd Dearnes was working as a "Labourer in Iron Works" in the area in the early 1860s.

[PB: I'm not sure if it would ever be possible to discover exactly where exactly Rudd Dearnes worked in Brightside, but the biggest employer in the area was Jessops, who moved here in 1845 and grew rapidly partly thanks to expanding markets for the company's cutlery steel in the US. [Source: ILN? Late 1850s?]

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[PB: A rather more benign representation of the Jessops works c.1858. [Source: PictureSheffield: s09754.]

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See also a description of Sheffield's Cyclops and Steel and Iron Manufactory in 1861. It is hard to ignore certain ironic parallels to cavalry warfare — the strength of hundreds of horses embodied in great machines, the "herculean hardihood" of the men, the "Titanic" struggle, the sharp-edged steel that resulted:







"This vast establishment comprises almost a small town of factories, the premises occupying an area of upwards of fourteen acres of ground, and affording employment to over 1200 persons, the amount of whose annual wages exceeds the revenues of many a foreign principality.

After passing through an almost interminable succession of buildings occupied by swarthy workmen, engaged in their Titanic operations, we arrive at a series of very large buildings of more recent construction, consisting of rolling-mills, tilts, forges, and grinding wheels; and here the mighty power of machinery in its most gigantic proportions will astonish the beholder.

The rolling-mills are so extensive as to require the agency of a pair of engines which together exert the power of nearly 500 horses; there is also an engine of immense capability for driving grindstones and other machinery required for the general purposes of the trade, and additional engines of proportionate power for hammering, tilting, forging, and drawing.

The men engaged on these premises are models of herculean hardihood, so much does muscular exercise, even of the rudest and most severe character, develop the bodily frame. The hearing of these men is, however, frequently affected by their employment; nor can we wonder at this, for the clang of the machinery and tools is something prodigious."

[Source: http://www.classicsandclass.info/product/9/ (accessed 21.3.2017).]

[PB: Like RM before me, I have drawn a blank on RD after 1871. Where might we find Rudd Dearnes in 1881? Still in Sheffield? I have not been able to find him (or Susan) using the usual searches.]

[PB: A Sarah A. Dearns, aged 27, an unmarried "Cook Domestic Servant", born Lynn, was a visitor in the home of Abraham Poll, an "Independent Gentleman", at 10 Bye Road, Little Plumstead, Norfolk. Was this RD's sister, formerly living with him in Sheffield?]

Possible emigration to the USA 1887?

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[PB: Did Rudd Dearnes emigrate in 1887 to the US on the Cunard Steam-Ship Company's SS "Catalonia", arriving at Boston from Liverpool (via Queenstown, Ireland) on 23rd of July 1887? This seems rather late in life (RD was in his 50s), but not impossible.

Possible emigration to the USA 1887?

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See Wikipedia: SS Catalonia. There is interesting detailed information about the ship, which had been designed for the Boston emigrant service, here. There was capacity for 200 1st-class passengers and 1,500 3rd-class passengers, and the article shows the very different costs for the trans-Atlantic journey (up to $100 for a cabin passage, but very low rates for steerage).

I have yet to see the passenger lists for 1887, but this 1883 list, transcribed for the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild by Jack Murphy, gives an impression of the social character of the emigrants. As far as I can tell, the Guild has not transcribed the 1887 passenger lists, and the name "Dearns" or similar could not be found in their name index.]

Death & burial

[PB: A Rudd Dearns died aged 60 on the 4th August 1898 in Providence, Rhode Island. This is close to our RD's age. There is something very odd about the name of his wife, who is called "Lydia Amido". (Lydia was the name of his mother.) Is there a confusion between our RD and his father, also RD? I have not been able to consult the US records yet.]