Grandfather to Tommy, father to Obed Thomas snr
John Spargo was born to William and Mary Spargo on 17th September 1847 in Paul.
He was their 7th child and the second of two sons. Following his father, he is listed as a stonemason in the 1861 census aged 13 as was his older brother William.
In 1868 aged 21 he married Eliza Harvey.
In the 1871 census the family are living in Factory Row in Newlyn.
This part of Newlyn was demolished in 1937 under the controversial slum clearance. This was when the Gwavas estate was built. Go to this website for an interesting account of the clearance and the building of the new housing.
They went on to have nine children, five girls and four boys. Eight surviving to adulthood. Tommy’s father Obed was their third child and second son. Their living conditions must have been crowded. In the 1881 census Obed and his younger sister were staying at their maternal grandparents Marjorie and John Harvey. This might have been an overnight stay or a more longstanding arrangement. They themselves had had 12 children.
See his family tree here
John worked at Lamorna Quarry.
He was a member of the Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons and had subscribed to their funeral fund.
John Spargo, a working man trying to support a large family, a common story. That is apart from his end, which is a sad one. He is in the 1881 Census, but by the 1891 Census Eliza is described as a widow. For a long time, I could not find a record of his death and thought perhaps that he had died abroad.
Finally, I discovered a burial record – he is buried in Bodmin Municipal Cemetery. He had died in Bodmin Asylum on the 16th April 1890 aged 42, cause of death phthisis. This was another term for tuberculosis.
So, it would seem that at some point between 1885 and 1888 he was admitted to Bodmin Asylum.
We do not know if he had TB when he entered the Asylum or contracted it there. We also do not know of the type of mental illness attributed to him on admission as the admission books for that period are lost
Here is an extract from an earlier admissions book which shows the range of diagnoses from that time.
John Spargo appears briefly in the newspapers at the beginning of 1885 which may or may not be significant.
The Cornish Telegraph letters sections had 2 entries relating to John Spargo, dated 5.2.1885 and 12.2.1885
A strange correspondence, Had John written the original letter and a member of the family sent the second. Was this a sign of his mental illness?
So sad to find that he was buried in Bodmin, presumably in a pauper’s grave. The funeral fund payout did not stretch it would seem to bringing him back to Paul. Perhaps the money was used to support the family.
Tommy Spargo, his grandson never mentioned that his grandfather died in an Asylum -did he even know?– the shame associated with mental illness lived on well into the 20th Century and raised it’s head again in the next generation.
His widow, Eliza was left living in Trungle with a young family, the youngest Annie being only 4. Her brother Albert was living next door with his family. Only Obed was working, as a stonemasons apprentice. The Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons of England, Ireland and Wales was founded in 1833.Its list states paid in Full. paid out on his death, whether this was ongoing or a one off payment it is not clear.
In the 1901 Census she was living in a cross generational and extended family. with daughter Ada aged 15 who was a school teacher, granddaughter Lily Spargo aged 7 (daughter of son William John Spargo and wife Johanna, Niece Annie Ida aged 13 and nephew Leonard aged 6, the children of brother Albert Harvey who appears to be working abroad. and nephew Harry (John Henry) aged 13 – son of brother Henry Glasson Harvey. One wonders how they were managing financially. Perhaps the fathers of these children were helping out financially.
Three of the daughters went on to be school teachers- Elizabeth Jessie, Alexandra and Annie Ada (Ida) and their names appear in the minutes and reports of Paul Board School.
Eliza went on to marry Joseph Richards in 1906.
Joseph died aged 63 in 1913, Eliza widowed for a second time.
In 1925 she is living in Newlyn and Tommy’s mother Nellie mentions here in one of her letters to him. She died in 1931.