Author: Pyke, Sarah Leigh
Biography:
PYKE, Sarah Leigh (1763-1853: findmypast.co.uk)
pseudonym Serena
She was born on 18 Jan. 1763 at Coombe, near Taunton, Somerset, the daughter of John Pyke, a clothier, and his wife Sarah (maiden name unknown, possibly Leigh). Her religious verse was quite highly regarded in the nineteenth century and she was considered well-educated. In later years she lived with her brother, the Rev. Thomas Pyke (1770-1843), dissenting minister for over forty years at Broadway Meeting Congregational Chapel, near Ilminister. After the death of his daughter, his mental health declined--he used to leave a lantern in the shrubbery so that she would not break her wings when visiting him--and Sarah looked after him until his death in 1843. Thereafter she lived with her niece Priscilla in Taunton and the 1851 Census records her being deaf and dependent on friends. Toward the end of her life she abandoned nonconformity and was baptised in the Church of England on 26 Feb. 1852, at St. James’s, Taunton. She died on 21 Mar. 1853 at Whitehall Terrace, Taunton, aged 90. (findmypast.co.uk 26 Nov. 2021; ancestry.co.uk 26 Nov. 2021; GRO Death Cert.; N&Q 17 Oct. 1863; Somerset and Dorset N&Q 5 [1897], 202-4; Johnson, item 731) AA