The following photos were sent to me by Mike Clark. Mike is a metal detectorist and he found the ring 8-10 inches below the surface of a field in Donhead St Andrew, Wiltshire.
The inscription refers to a John Warburton who died in 1845. John was the son of Thomas Warburton, the subject of my Post on Thomas the Madhouse Keeper. John’s sister Sarah married William Dansey who served as the Rector of Donhead St Andrew from 1820 to his death in 1856, a living that was acquired for him by his father-in-law. He had apparently, according to Thomas’s will, been set on a career in medicine until Thomas dissuaded him. Sarah died in 1848, three years after her brother.
The presence of the ring in Donhead St Andrew suggests it was Sarah’s ring, and she obviously lost it at some point. It is not known if it was commissioned by Sarah to honour her brother, or if the family had rings made for all John’s siblings, and maybe other family members. The hallmarks indicate it was made in 1845 in London.
It is not known if there are any living descendants of William and Sarah. When I produced the Hackney family tree, all the male lines of descent from Thomas petered out. However there were 7 children of William and Sarah present in the 1841 census and I have not investigated them further.
