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Sallis, Arthur

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Gender: Male

Arthur Sallis sang I Went To Market to the song collector Peter Duddridge in January 1968 in Dumbleton.

Arthur Sallis came from a long line of agricultural labourers in the village of Dumbleton. His great grandfather, Joseph Sallis, was baptised in Dumbleton on 23 April 1769.He worked as an agricultural labourer and married Ann Berrick there on Christmas Day 1800. They had seven children, the third of whom, also named Joseph, was born there in 1806. This Joseph, Arthur Sallis’ grandfather, married Ann Jones, who was born in Pershore, in Dumbleton on 30 June 1833. He also worked as a labourer and by 1841 they were living in Dumbleton with two children, Leigh aged 4 and Elizabeth aged 1. They continued to live in Dumbleton and by 1851 they three more children, George aged 9, Joseph aged 5 and Aimy aged 2. Their next child, Samuel Thomas James Sallis, Arthur’s father, was baptised in Dumbleton on 3 July 1853. Two more children followed, Anny and Leigh. In 1861 father Joseph and sons Joseph and George were all working as labourers in Dumbleton and by 1871 the other children still at home, Aimy, Samuel and Leigh were also working as agricultural labourers. Arthur’s grandfather, Joseph Sallis died and was buried in Dumbleton on 25 July 1876.

Arthur’s father, Samuel Thomas Jones Sallis, married Harriet Louisa Wills, a servant born in Cheltenham, in Dumbleton on 28 September 1878 and by 1881 they were living in Dumbleton with two daughters, Ada, aged 17 months and Florence aged 6 months where Samuel was working as an agricultural labourer. By 1851 they were still living in Dumbleton where they were both working as agricultural labourers and they had three further sons, Samuel aged 5, Charles aged2 and Arthur Sallis who was born 11 July 1890 in Dumbleton. By 1901 Arthur’s father, Samuel, was working as a drayman at a coal wharf and his son, Samuel, was working as a carter’s boy on a farm working with horses. The family continued to live in Dumbleton and in 1911 Samuel had changed work and was then a market gardener working on his own account and two of his sons, Arthur and Charles, were both working as farm labourers. Samuel and Harriet had been married for 32 years and had six children, all of whom were still living.

Arthur Ernest Sallis married Ada Farley in 1911 in the Evesham registration district which included Dumbleton. His father Samuel Thomas James Sallis died and was buried in Dumbleton on 27 July 1916. Arthur Ernest and Ada Sallis appear on the electoral register for Dumbleton at least between 1919 and 1939. In the 1939 electoral register they were living at no 20 Dumbleton with four children, Geoffrey A Sallis, Arthur J Sallis, Cynthia A Sallis and John F Sallis. In the 1947 electoral register they were still living at no 20 Dumbleton. Arthur Ernest Sallis died at the end of 1978 in the Cheltenham registration district which at the time included Dumbleton. His son Geoffrey died in the Bristol area in 1987 and his son Arthur died also in the Bristol area in 2001.

Notes by Carol Davies March 2021

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