I’ve had an ancestry contact and reads very interesting.
Well Great Grandma Prosser’s family the Small’s. Read below so will research it. I’ve been in contact with another ancestry member and this is the reply.
Hi John - I researched JSL Small because my great great grandmother, Ann Dawson, was his housekeeper. On the 1871 census Ann is living in Westgate, Guisborough, Cleveland, working as “housekeeper” for a Mr J.S.L.Small - a young man of independent means!
John Small Lowther Small seems to have had a connection to the Dawson family via his benefactor John Small. Born John Small Lowther; as a young man he was an apprentice joiner, but at the age of 28, having acquired an extra “Small”, he was listed as an “Annuitant” (ie. in receipt of an annual income or pension) and ten years later as a “Retired Joiner”. His benefactor would seem to be his namesake, the late John Small, a Cabinet maker and Property owner (maybe John Small was a bachelor family friend who was quite well off and wanted to "adopt" a son? - the Lowther's do seem to have specifically named their son after him!) For many years, the unmarried, elder John Small, enjoyed the services of a housekeeper called Sarah Dawson; possibly the sister of Richard Dawson and aunt of Ann Dawson.. Perhaps Ann Dawson got the job of housekeeper to John S L Small at the instigation of her Aunt Sarah; a glance at the census reveals Sarah Dawson living close by. In 1874 I believe J.S.L. Small married a girl from Norton (Sarah Elizabeth Roper) and settled in the area. The Dawson family also lived in Norton. Upon his death in 1882 his executor was John Dawson; possibly Ann’s oldest brother.
After J.S.L.Small’s marriage he presumably had no need for a housekeeper and Ann would have found herself out of a job. Seemingly she must have fallen on hard times because after the birth of two apparently illegitimate children, William (1875) and Elisabeth (1880) the 1881 census sees them all as inmates in the Auckland Union Workhouse. Interestingly, Ann is listed as being married and the family name is Dodds - I think she invented an absent husband because no records of a marriage exist.
A lot of this is supposition but hope it helps.