Sarah Mytton Maury

Sarah Mytton Maury (1 November 1803 - October, 1849) was an English authoress, born in Liverpool to Bridgit Nelson and William Hughes.^[1] Sarah had a sister named Elizabeth Hughes who lived in the United States. Sarah graduated from school in Liverpool in 1821 and later married William Morris Maury, the eldest son of "Consul" James Maury(son of the Reverend James Maury and an uncle of Matthew Fontaine Maury.)

Sarah Mytton Maury and William Morris Maury had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters.

1. James Maury b.1829
2. Harriet Van Ness Maury b.1830
3. William Morris Maury Jr. b.1831 (called affectionately, "the Doctor")
4. Anne Fontaine Maury b.1832
5. Rutson Maury b.1834
6. Matthew Fontaine Maury b.1835
7. Sarah Fanny Maury 1836
8. Charles William Maury 8 Dec.1837 - Oct 1857 (remains lie in Straits of Sunda)
9. Mytton Maury b.1839
10. Walker Maury b.1840
11. Tobin Morris Maury b. England 9 Oct 1841 d. Bridgeport CT

(source: "The Maury Family Tree" by former Yeoman 2/c United States Navy W.A.V.E.S Sue C. West; printed and published privately for family members.)

Sarah Maury emigrated to the United States in 1846 on a Packet ship that was crowded with steerage passengers, among whom the Smallpox had broken out on the third day from Liverpool.

Upon her arrival in America Sarah Maury labored successfully for the passage of an act of Congress requiring that sanitary provision should be made on emigrant vessels. On her return to England she procured the passage of a similar act of England's parliament.

Upon her return the London Times wrote of her --

" We can easily account for Mrs. Maury's enthusiasm for America. Such a man as her father-in-law, the late James Maury, the friend and play-fellow of Thomas Jefferson, was one whose merits could never fail to be appreciated by any; he maintained the honour and interests of his country in England for fifty years. Some of Mr. Maury's earliest impressions of America must have been derived from her communications with that excellent man, and the inheritors of his name, and not less of his amiable qualities, and these, together with the pleasure he must have had in her friendly communications with the many agreeable and intelligent American families residing in Liverpool, would naturally give her a more favourable impression of the people of that country. The courtesy with which everyone bearing the name of Maury, and especially a lady, would be received in the United States must have made her visit to Washington delightful, and have cast a couleur de rose on everything that she saw. Add to this, that America is full of objects calculated to excite the admiration and respect of every intelligent traveler, and we cannot wonder that Mrs. Maury has come back more American than the Americans themselves."

Sarah Mytton Maury is the authoress of "Etchings from the Caracci " (Liverpool, 1842) ; "An Englishwoman in America " (1846) ; "The Statesmen of America in 1846" (Philadelphia, 1847); and "Progress of the Catholic Church in America " (1847).

She died of typhus fever contracted from an infected well and was buried in the city cemetery of Fredericksburg, Virginia beside her husband William Maury.

The following information was copied from their tombstone in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

In Memory Of

William Maury of Liverpool, England
Born February 5, 1799
Died October 15, 1849

Sarah Mytton Maury
Born November 1, 1801
Died September 21, 1849

Charles William Maury
Born December 8, 1837
Died October 30, 1857
Whose remains lie in the Straits of Sunda

Footnotes

1. ^ Maury, 314

References

• Maury, Anne Fontaine, ed. Intimate Virginiana: a century of Maury family travels by land and sea. Richmond, Va: Dietz Press, 1941.

Sources

• Appleton's Encyclopedia vol. 4 p. 266

• "An Englishwoman in America" (free online .pdf book via "Google")

• "The Statesmen of America in 1846" (free online .pdf book via "Google")

Persondata
Name	Maury, Sarah Mytton
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 November 1803
Place of birth
Date of death	1849
Place of death