Eliza ANDERSON. Married, June 2, St Michael’s, Rev Richard BICKELL & Eliza, daughter of late John ANDERSON, esq., of Clifford's, Island of Jamaica. 7.6.1819

Mr Henry BASTABLE, merchant, son of Mr E. Bastable, of Bristol, died Dec 6, at Kingston. Obit 16.2.1822

Mr Richard BOWZER, eldest son of the late F.W. Bowzer of Bristol, died Dec. last. Obit 16.2.1822

John Stockdale BROWN esq., died Clifton, Jul 29, of Sportsman’s Hall, Trelawney, Jamaica, Obit. 2.8.1819

Charles James CLARKE, esq, of Jamaica to Jane, eldest daughter of late Thomas PIERCE, esq., married at Clifton. 1.11.1819

Elizabeth Ann CLARKE, died Jul 16 at Hotwells, in her 21st year, only dau of Josias Clarke, esq., of Jamaica. Obit 25.7.1825

John COXON, aged 18, died April 24 aboard the brig “William” (Captain WELLER), on a passage home from Jamaica which he left in good health on the 18th, son of Joseph Coxon of St James Place, Kingsdown and grandson of Captain Coxon of the “Grosvenor” East Indiaman which was wrecked some years ago off Cape of Good Hope. A young man of first rate talents and sanguine expectations, master of French, German & Spanish, just embarked in employ of Mr ANGUS, merchant of London, dutiful and affectionate child, loss will be long felt by family and friends. Obit 6.6.1825

Letitia Maria GALE. married March 18 at Tewkesbury, Alfred son of Rev Dr ESTLIN of Bristol & L.M. Gale, only dau of late James Gale, esq., senior of Saltspring, St Elizabeth, Jamaica. 21.3.1825

Elizabeth GORDON, died May 15, at Wellington Place, aged 81, Elizabeth, relict of Larchin Gordon, esq., of Jamaica. Obit 23.5.1825

William HAMMONDS, esq., died May 20, Kingston. Obit 1.8.1825

Captain HODDELL, of the ship “John” of Bristol, died Apr 12, at Montego, after a fatal accident when he was thrown out of a chaise. Obit 5.6.1820

William HOPKINS, died Mar 20, at Montego Bay, aged 29, son of Mr Ralph Hopkins of Old Market Street. Obit 14.6.1824

Mr Frederick HOWE, aged 25, died of fever on Dec 28, at Martha Brae, brother of Mr Howe of Dolphin Street. Obit 23.3.1822

Rev D.G. HAGUE & Mrs. HAGUE. died lately at Kingston after a very short missionary labour, Rev D.G. Hague eldest son of Mr Hague of Bristol and a few days afterwards, his wife, to whom he had been married only four months. (Two others from the same church, unnamed, also died at the same time, suggesting an outbreak of fever?) Obit 21.11.1825

Henry JACKSON, died lately at Jamaica of yellow fever, the 3rd son of Mr William Jackson of Upper Easton. Obit 27.3.1820

Herbert Jarrett JAMES, of Jamaica, a daughter born to “his lady”. 17.11.1823.

W. KERBY, died Sep 21, at Kingston, Jamaica. Obit. 4.12.1820

James LEMAN, esq of St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica to Charlotte, only daughter of late John SCOTT, esq, solicitor, Bath, married Walcot. 18.11.1822

Mrs LEWIS, widow of James Lewis, esq., formerly of Jamaica, died at Clifton, Dec 13. Obit 23.12.1822

John LYON. died at the residence of his brother at Kingsdown, 4th son of the late James Lyon, esq. of Jamaica, of an abscess on the lungs. Obit 3.7.1820

John MAIS, senior, esq., at his lodging, Kingsdown Parade, late of Jamaica. Obit 23.8.1819

Jane MONTAGUE,  Oct 1, at Blower Hall, parish of St James, Jamaica, wife of Edward Montague, esq., Her loss sincerely lamented by her affectionate husband and numerous circle of friends. Obit 17.1.1820

Joseph PARROTT, esq., July 29, at Cathay, at an advanced age, a native of Jamaica. Obit 2.8.1819

Elizabeth PENDRILL. married Jun 5 at Bathwick, Rev Geo. Ingram FISHER, rector of Winfrith-Newburgh, Dorset to Elizabeth 2nd dau of John Pendrill of Bath and granddaughter of late William CAMPBELL of New Milns, Jamaica. 13.6.1825

Captain Edward POWELL, died April 8, at Kingston, of the ship “Union” of this port. Obit 5.6.1820

William PRICHARD,  in his 22nd year, 2nd son of Mr Henry Prichard of Queens Parade, died at Spanish Town, Dec 17. Obit 16.2.1822

Abraham ROOM of Bedminster, died Mar 26 at New Peru, St Thomas in the East, Jamaica, three weeks after his return to the island, regretted by all. Obit 11.7.1825

Mr John Morgan THOMAS. died lately, in a passage from Jamaica, aboard the “Ann” (Captain VIBERT) aged 31, eldest son of Mr John Thomas, iron merchant of this City. Obit 7.2.1820

William Couch TUNNICLIFFE. died lately, within six days sail of Jamaica, on the outward voyage, in the 30th year of his age, Second mate aboard the “Ann” (Captain GARDEN). Obit 18.2.1820

Captain WATERS, of ship “Charlotte” of Bristol, died Sep 4 at Port Antonia, Jamaica. Obit 14.11.1825,

Mr Joseph WINE, at Trelawney, Jamaica, aged 39, Mr Joseph Wine, son of Mrs Sarah Wine and brother of Mr John Wine, chemist & druggist, Temple Street. Obit 9.8.1819. (Baptised Temple 1.8.1779,  son of John & Sarah)

And one who didn’t:

Dorothy THORP. On March 15 at Batchelor’s Hall Estate, Hanover, the PROPERTY (my italics) of Philip John MILES, esq., Dorothy Thorp, a black woman, at the advanced age of 103 years. Her children and grandchildren amount to 25 in number, one of whom, a Quadroon, is married to a  respectable tradesman in Scotland. She retained her faculties and her teeth entire to the last and attended to her goods and went to market within a few days of her death. Obit. 3.7.1820

All the above entries are taken from the Bristol Mercury.

It’s a great name. Some time ago I tried to find the birth/baptism records of Alexander Falconbridge “born ca 1760 to a family with Bristol connections”.  According to the Editor of “The Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone During the Years 1791-1792-1793", (see below) he was, like his wife, born in Bristol. If this is the case I would be delighted if anybody could produce a baptismal record! Falconbridge is well known as an abolitionist and author (“An Account of the Slave Trade on the West of Africa” [1788]) and as Thomas Clarkson’s guide in Bristol when he came to the City to gather evidence for the abolition of the trade, but his ancestry to the time of writing remains elusive.

Valerie Price-Currer of New South Wales is a descendant of the Falconbridge family and would dearly like to make the connection between her ancestors and “the famous Alex”. She says “When Falconbridge gave evidence to the British Parliamentary Committee, it appears he had “spent a year studying medicine at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1779-1780, but financially unable to set up a medical practice he signed on as a slave ship surgeon and went on four voyages to Africa. Becoming increasingly disillusioned with what he saw and experienced Alexander left the trade in 1787 to work as a pupil with a Bristol Doctor. It was around this time that he met up with members of the growing abolitionist movement, and Thomas Clarkson seems to have held him in high regard. Alexander spent the year 1779-1780 at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, too poor at this time to start a medical practice, he signed on as surgeon on slave ships.  He left in disgust in 1787 and worked as a pupil with a Bristol Doctor. It was at this time that he became interested in the abolitionist movement and met Thomas Clarkson.”

I have been unable to find the primary sources for the above which is repeated over again in a number of books. To Clarkson he was able bodyguiard, describing him as "an athletic and resolute-looking man", (Clarkson 1.318.) Falconbridge’s book giving an account of the slave trade was presented as evidence in the Parliamentary Hearing into Slavery.

Alexander Falconbridge and Anna Maria Horwood were married at Easton in Gordano by banns on 16 April 1788, witnessed by one of Anna Maria’s sisters and George Falconbridge. (Apart from the appearance of Alexander himself, this is the first time I have found a Falconbridge in Bristol.) 

The Horwood family were local, well established in the Parish of All Saints, Bristol.

Charles Horwood, Anna Maria’s father was a silversmith and also a clockmaker. (A long case 8 day clock with his name can be viewed on line.)

The children of Charles & his wife Grace, nee Roberts, were baptised at All Saints Church as follows: Mary Anne, 24.11.1760, Grace, 5.4.1762, (bur 13.2.1773), Anne, 5.5.1763, Charles, 25.1.1765, (bur 1785), Christian Jane, 17.10.1766,and Anna Maria, 13.7.1769

Grace Horwood, the wife of Charles was buried 6.1.1774.

On 13.4.1779: Charles Horwood, junior, silversmith & Martha Cox were married, by licence, witnessed by Charles Horwood, senior, & Edith Bayley. The licence states: “Charles Horwood of All Saints, silversmith & Martha Cox, spinster of St James.” This is a puzzle as Charles cannot be the Charles baptised in 1765 above, as he would still be a lad of 14, so I am led to believe that there was Charles s.o. Charles s.o. Charles and both weddings refer to the same man, Anna Maria’s father!

Charles and Martha went on to have the following children baptised at All Saints: Martha, 7.5.1780, (inf. bur 11.1.1780), Martha, 4.4.1781, Elizabeth & Charles, 9.6.1783, (Charles bur 8.5.1788) Simeon, 9.3.1785, (bur 9.8.1785) Charles Bird, 25.4.1787 (bur 30.4.1787) 

A Charles Horwood senior was buried 4.8.1787 and Martha “from Dowry Square” on 16.3.1791

Alexander was supposedly 28 at the time of his marriage to Anna Maria who was nineteen. Valerie believes that the Horwoods were a well to do family and that they disapproved of the marriage, “possibly because they were involved in the slave trade and disliked the anti-abolitionist movement. It is known that Anna’s brother in law to be was the captain of a slaver”, and the location of the marriage, well out of town, may suggest a clandestine arrangement.

In 1791, Alexander was selected by the Anti-Slavery Society to sail to Sierra Leone with the intention of reorganising the settlement of freed slaves in Granville Town and the married couple, with William Falconbridge, presumably another brother, sailed for the colony on a slaver, “The Duke of Buccleuch” under Captain Maclean.  Alex signed an Inventory dated 1792, Sierra Leone, with other signatories, James Watt and Richard Pepys, Members of the Council.

Anna Maria must have been very brave and feisty and was obviously well educated as can be seen from the book she co-authored about her travels: “The Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone During the Years 1791-1792-1793", which was published in 1794. She writes with the benefit of hindsight “it was surely a premature, hair-brained and ill-digested scheme to think of sending such a number of people all at once to such a rude barbarous and unhealthy country before they were certain of possessing an acre of land.”

The Sierra Leone scheme was a failure, as was the marriage. The couple separated. Alexander fell out with his brother William who was also employed by the Sierra Leone Company. William moved to Bance Island where he became ill with a fever and died. Alexander, who had taken to drink, was dismissed by Mr Thornton of the Company, and very depressed died on 19 December 1792. Both he and William are believed to be buried in Sierra Leone but the site of their graves is unknown.

Within a few weeks, on 7 January 1793, Anna Maria married Isaac Dubois, in a private ceremony, requesting that the officiating clergyman keep the matter secret (for obvious reasons!) The marriage was probably Isaac’s second, for a man of this name married Jemima Blake at St Martin’s in the Fields, London on 17.11.1784. He also worked for the Company and kept a diary for Thomas Clarkson. Though some sources say he was a plantation owner from North Carolina, or a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, I wonder if either is correct and feel that his connections are more likely with London, and particularly St Martin’s in the Fields where an Isaac Dubois of the Strand, St Martin’s in the Fields, chaser and print seller, insolvent debtor, was imprisoned in The Fleet, 22.10.1748. (London Gazette). Perhaps he was Isaac’s father or grandfather?  The  newly weds celebrated aboard Anna's brother in law's slaver and later returned home to England via Jamaica.

Anna includes in her book details of meetings she had on her return with Thornton who had sacked Alexander. She mentions Alexander’s will which has never been located and alludes to a possible child. This is the only reference she makes to her dead husband apart from his bad temper and drinking habits.  She gave birth to a son Francis Blake Dubois on 27 December 1801 and died shortly afterwards probably from the complications of giving birth. She was just thirty three years old. Her son was christened at St Martin in the Fields in November 1802.

Sadly it seems that Anna Maria wavered when it came to the abolitionist movement and after Alexander's death she seems to have had doubts about the possibility of abolition coming about, she in fact questioned whether it was a good thing.

So what are the Bristol connections? As shown above George Falconbridge was a witness to the marriage of Alexander and Anna Maria.  On the 16 February 1791 he married at St Philip & St Jacob’s, Mary Hedges of Castle Precincts. The marriage was by licence, presumably because the bride was just eighteen and needed the consent of her father, Thomas Hedges, a hatter, of St P & J. George was  a bachelor and by trade a chymist, (sic). All parties signed.

The next Falconbridge on the scene is Samuel, a chemist, of the City of Bristol, who made his will on 10 February 1795. He leaves:

“to my son George Falconbridge, a house now occupied by Earl Pearce, potter, in Avon Street, St Phillips with £200 stock in 5% annuities, household furniture, books, my best black coat and all necessaries in my dwelling.”

“to my brother, William Falconbridge, if living at my decease, interest of £200 in stock &c and at his death one half to be paid to Samuel Falconbridge, his son and half to Mary Falconbridge, his daughter.”

“to my grandson Samuel Falconbridge, £50 in stock.”

“to my wife’s mother Susanna Boyd the interest on £100 in stock for life provided her son George Boyd give her £10 a year for her life, otherwise the legacy is void. And at her death to my grandson Samuel Falconbridge jointly with his brother and sisters, £30 to him and £70 between his brother & sisters.

”to John Griffiths, my wearing apparel except my black coat.

“to John Read £10 and any surplus money I may die professed (sic) of after my funeral expenses and debts discharged and deficiency to be made up by my son George Falconbridge. And the same John Read to direct my funeral and that he will have a flat grave stone put over my grave inscribed with my age and that of my dear wife; and John Read to be executor.”

Signed Samuel Falconbridge in the presence of Isaac Hill, Richard Pincott, William Seward.

The will was proved on the 20th May 1795.

Unfortunately, mysterious as usual, nobody by the name Falconbridge appears in the Bristol baptism & burial indexes 1754-1812 produced by Bristol & Avon FHS, nor does the gravestone appear in Ron Lewin’s index of MIs. It occurs to me that William named above “if living” may be the William who accompanied Alex and Anna Maria to Africa. If Alex is also Samuel’s brother then he is not mentioned in the will as it must have been known that he was already dead.  I have been unable to find a marriage between Samuel Falconbridge and ----- Boyd. 

So we are left with…………George.

George Falconbridge was married to Mary Hedges as noted above. They appear not to have had children and lived out their lives in St Philip & St Jacob. In the Bristol Mercury of 30.11.1830 George Boyd Falconbridge of St P & J appears named in a petition of ratepayers railing against “ruinous taxation”.

They appear in 1841 census at Lamb Street, aged 70 and 65 respectively. (I had some difficulty in finding them - “Find My Past” indexes them as “Fatcombridge”!) George died in 1845 and in the 1851 census Mary is is living at 92 Lamb Street St P  J, widow, 79, funded proprietor & house, born Bristol, with Esther Baker, 21, servant, born Gloucestershire.   In 1861, Mary is living at 40 Wade Street, still with the faithful Esther Baker, now “28”. It was probably Esther who put her mistress’s obituary in the newspaper in 1865:  November 12, at Lamb Street, after a long illness, Mary Ann, widow of Mr G. Falconbridge, aged 94, (Bs Merc 18.11.1865)

Hope Chapel was until recently used as the venue for Sunday night concerts and it was at several of these that I took down the following names from plaques on the walls. After the concerts and other community activities ceased the Chapel was threatened with closure and demolition. I am delighted to say it has been saved and now functions again as a place of worship – Hope Community Church.

http://www.hopechapel.co.uk/

ADAMS, Emma, 1864

“Jan 26, at Rownham Place, Hotwells, aged 20, deeply lamented, Miss Emma Adams, niece of Mr Lanham.” (BM 30.1.1864) Mr Lanham was born 1813 in Bath, a master baker and in 1861 was at Rownham Place with his wife and two daughters, and their nieces Emma and Ann Adams.

ATHERSUCH, E. 1914-18

(Sapper Edward Arthur James Athersuch, Royal Engineers, died 28.3.1918, aged 26, son of Mrs Elizabeth Priscilla Athersuch of 37 Ambra Vale East, Clifton Wood,  Pozieres Memorial - CWGC)

BAKER, Ann, 1798

BERDER, Elizabeth Lamplow, 1804

BISHOP, F.J. 1914-18

(Private, RAMC, 129th Field Ambulance, died 23.7. 1917, aged 21, son of Isaac & Alice Bishop, 4 Albemarle Row, Hotwells, Bard Cottage Cemetery, Belgium. – CWGC)

BUCHAN, Henrietta, 1823

DENFORD, Mary, 1851

“Feb 27 aged 63, Mary C. wife of Captain Denford, Albemarle Row, Clifton, universally regretted. Her loss will be felt amongst the poor to whom she was ever a kind benefactress.” (BM 8.3.1851). Mary Cure Denford died just before the census of 1851. In 1841 she was living at 12 Freeland Place, Clifton with her husband Charles (of independent means) and a young maidservant.

EDMUNDS, A.H. 1914-18

(Private, Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, 6th Bn, died 4.12.1917, Tin Court New British Cemetery, Somme – CWGC);

FOSTER, Henry, 1819

FRIEND, Sarah, 1791

GREGORY, Rev William, 1853

Rev William Gregory became Pastor in 1831 and his labours were “greatly blessed”. (see BM 14.7.1838) His death was announced in Bristol Mercury 19. 2.1853: “Feb 15 at his residence, The Polygon, Clifton, aged 47, the Rev Wm Gregory, for 21 years the faithful Pastor of Hope Chapel.”

GUY, Rev W.H., 1830

“April 1, the Rev William Henry Guy, pastor of Hope Chapel, Clifton, having during a long illness experienced the efficacy and truths of the Gospel he so faithfully preached to his now bereaved and mourning flock.” (BM 6.8.1830)

HARRIS, William, 1885

HOOD, C.E. 1914-18

(Charles Ernest Hood, son of Mr & Mrs J. Hood, 8 Freeland Place, Hotwells, aged 22, Royal Irish Regt, 6th Bn, died 7.6.1917, Ypres, Menin Gate. – CWGC)

HOPE, Charles, 1797

HOPE, Lady Henrietta, 1786

Lady Henrietta Hope gave £2,500 towards the erection of the Chapel but sadly died before it was completed, as did her two colleagues Lady Glenorchy and Lady Maxwell. Henrietta was buried at the Tabernacle in Bristol but her body was exhumed and brought to the Hope and placed in a vault beneath the chapel with a marble memorial erected on the spot. (see Bristol Mercury 14.7.1838)

HOPE, Catherine, 1802

LAWRENCE, Joseph, 1841

“June 14 at Rodney House, Weston-super-mare age 64 after a few days illness, Joseph Lawrence, Esq.” (BM 19.6.1841) 

LUKE, Samuel, 1865

“Oct 28 at Clifton, the Rev Samuel Luke aged 59.” (BM 31.10.1868)

POWELL, Alice, 1797

STEPHENS, T. 1914-18

(Thomas Stephens, A Coy, Glos. Regt, aged 27, died 27.8.1917. son of Henry & Frances Stephens, 270 Hotwells Rd and husband of Lilian Stephens, 13 Carters Buildings, Clifton. Tyne Cot. – CWGC)

WAY, T. 1914-18

(Private Thomas Way, South Staffs Regt. died 10.7.1916, Thiepval Memorial. – CWGC)

WIER, William Hope, 1811

YOUNG, A. 1914-18

(I believe he was either Albert or Arthur, but I cannot say for certain owing to the large numbers of men called “A. Young” on the CWGC lists.)

Notices from Bristol Mercury:

Obituaries

Rev. Joseph H. Browning, died in his 81st year at Wrington, Sept. 30th. One of the earliest students at the Countess of Huntingdon's College at Trevocca. Some time Pastor at Hope Chapel. (8.10.1836)

Marriages at Hope Chapel, 1843-52:

June 6, at Hope Chapel by Rev Wm Gregory, Samuel Backhouse, Esq., of Wells to Margaret dau of E. Fennell, Esq.. (10.6.1843)

June 28, at H.C. by Rev Thomas Winter, Mr W. Liddiatt to Miss M. Price, both of this City. (29.6.1844)

Oct 30, at H.C. Mr Isaac Hemmons of Bristol to Miss Mary Polglase of Bedminster. (16.11.1844)

Dec 27, at H.C. by Rev W. Gregory, Mr John Thorn, mason to Mary Amelia. d.o. Mr David Williams, builder, both of this City (4.1.1845)

Jan 23, by Rev H.I. Roper, Mr Wm Tilley of Bath to Anna Maria, only d.o. Mr S. Bowsey, Rosedale Cottage, Montpelier. (25.1.1845)

Mar 11, by Rev David Thomas, to Rev John Titley of Bath to Elizabeth Mary, widow of the late Henry Samuel Beer of Clifton. (13.3.1847)

Sep 18, Mr J.D. Rock of Islington to Emma, youngest d.o. late Rev John Guard. (2.10.1847)

Mar 9, by Rev Wm Gregory, Mr David Williams senior of Brunswick Place, Hotwells to Mrs Mary Powell of Montague Hill. (17.3.1849)

Feb 25, by Rev Wm Gregory. David Morris, lithographer, Commercial Street, Newport s.o. late Rev T. Morris, Baptist Minister, to Jane, youngest d.o. late Mr Thomas Morgan of Nelson Place, Clifton, (9.3.1850)

Feb 12, by Rev J.T. Beighton, Mr Matthew Dunlop of Wellington Place to Jane, only d.o. Mr Samuel Frost of Cumberland Terrace. (14.2.1852)

Misc:

Declaration by Ann Wall, wife of Thomas Wall, draper, 11 Wellington St., Clifton relating to death of William Hayman, 1815, and his burial at the Hope Chapel. Clifton. (81/PWT/120/1 1837 Plymouth & West Devon Record Office)

Sometime ago I was sent the following information about a family called Blatchley who with various friends had strong Bitton connections. I had not come across them before and therefore they do not appear in my KINGSWOOD INDEX.  I was reminded of them following my recent posting concerning the Box Tunnel. This is the letter I received from Mr Guy Hirst:

“BLATCHLEY

“The Blatchleys came to the area in the 1820s from the Longleat Estate.

William the father (1771-1854) was an Innkeeper and may have been the 'William Blatcham' who appears as landlord of the Tennis Court Inn at Deanery Road, Warmley in Pigot's Directory of Gloucestershire, 1830. He had retired back to Longleat to a rent free cottage by 1839.

Charles Blatchley, (elder son), (1796-1879), Half Pay Lieutenant RN - paid off from the navy in 1825, began a new career as a railway civil engineer possibly at first with the local Bristol & Gloucestershire Railway from Coalpit Heath. His first child was born at Mangotsfield in 1828. Charles went back to sea 1830-4 and then returned to Kingswood, where his second son was born in 1836.That year Charles found a job with Brunel on the Box Tunnel and left to live at Box. Charles’ lifetime friend and colleague William Glennie was living at Bitton in the 1830s and also moved from the Royal Navy to Brunel. Glennie's wife was the daughter of the great art publicist Henry Aston Barker* (inventor of the panorama and son in law of Captain Bligh of the Bounty) who retired from London to Bitton at this period.

John Blatchley, (younger son), (1803-1862), was a butcher. He married Ruth Fudge in 1828 and had 3 children at Kingswood Hill. Ruth died in 1834. By 1836 the family had moved to Newport, Monmouthshire. When his second wife died in 1847, John and the children struck hard times and ended up in 1851 in the Keynsham Workhouse as John seems to have had a 'settlement' at Oldland. After another spell in Newport he died back in the Keynsham Union House in 1862.

Clara, John's eldest child born 1829 at Warmley remained in the area and appears not to have gone to Newport. In 1851 she was servant to the Moravian Minister Peter Cornelius West at Siston. She married in 1858 at Bitton and left for Liverpool in the 1860s.

John's second wife was Mary Ann James (1809-1847) daughter of George James (b Mangotsfield c1779) and Hannah Ponting (b. Stapleton 1778)

George James was a pork butcher and moved to Newport in the 1830s probably from Bristol where he had lived since his marriage in 1802.

Finally Sophia Grace nee Blatchley (1794-1880) sister of John and Charles, lived from about 1821 to 1835 at Warmley, Bitton, Kingswood with her Exciseman husband William.

“Kind Regards

Guy Hirst.”

I was intrigued by the connection with Bligh of the “Bounty” and decided to check out the information provided.

WILLIAM BLATCHLEY (1771-1854)

William Blatcham is listed as the Landlord of the Tennis Court in 1830. see warmley history. It seems clear from the note concerning John Blatchley (below) that he is indeed the same as William Blatchley.

William Blatchley married Joyce Scriffen Crokett at Longbridge Deverill, Wilts, 4.12.1792.

In 1841 William Blatchley and his wife Joyce aged “69 & 67” respectively are living at Horningsham, Wiltshire. William is said to be of independent means. In 1851 they are at Cock Road, Horningsham, as follows:

William Blatchley, 80, occupation “Old Huntsman” born Bath, and Joyce, otherwise Joycey, his wife aged 71.  The death of William Blatchley was registered at Warminster, Wilts in 1854 and that of Joycey at Kensington in 1859.   

CHARLES BLATCHLEY (1796-1879)

C.B. promoted Lieutenant, RN, 2.4.1824, “Morning Post”.

Charles Blatchley & Charlotte Gale married Kingswood, Bristol 18.12.1827.

(Yet to be checked: Blatchley baptisms at Mangotsfield.)

In 1841 living at Box, Wilts:

Charles Blatchley, 41, Navy Half Pay, born Wilts

Charlotte, 38, not born in Wilts, with Frederick, 5 & Alfred, 4, plus a maidservant.

In 1851, Charlotte, aged 50, born Southleigh, Oxon., is living at Ivy Cottage, Victory Parade, Dawlish with Alfred, her son aged 13, born Box whilst

Charles, 55, born Longbridge Deverill, now a Civil Engineer and Charles, his son, 22, also a Civil Engineer are living at Chipping Campden, Glos.

I can find no trace of any of them in 1861. Charlotte, wife of Commander Blatchley, RN,  died on 31.12.1864 at Saltash (obit 6.1.65, Royal Cornwall Gazette) and in 1871, Charles, a widower, aged 75, Greenwich Pensioner, Commander retired, was living at St Germans.  

His death at Saltash, Cornwall, December 3, 1879, “Commander, RN, aged 84” is recorded in the R. Cornwall Gazette 5.12.1879.

Frederick Blatchley esq, of Port View Saltash, s.o. the late Cdr Blatchley married Mary Kate eldest d.o. Rev Edward Polwhele, Rector of Pillaton. (Morning Post 13.7.1882)

JOHN BLATCHLEY (1802-1862)

“the son of the Landlord of the Tennis Court Inn” gave evidence at the Inquest on Isaac Gorden who was murdered after leaving the pub. (see Morning Chronicle, 6.12.1824) James Caines Bush and Mark Whiting of Kingswood were later hanged for the crime.

John Blatchley makes no further appearance in newspaper articles. I have yet to check his marriage to Ruth Fudge or the baptisms of his children. 

In 1841, described “brewer” (not butcher) he is living at Charles Street, St Woolos, Newport, aged 38, with his wife Mary, 32, and children William, 4, Mary 16 months, and Emma, aged 10, who must be the child of his first marriage.

In 1851, he is not in Keynsham Workhouse but in premises belonging to William Williams, a shipping labourer, and is described as a “painter, journeyman”, born Crockerton, Wiltshire. With him is his son William aged 14, “painter’s boy”, born Newport.   However, in the Keynsham Workhouse are Mary A. Blatchley, 11 and Charles Blatchley, 5, “pauper scholars”, birthplace unknown.

In 1861 John is not in the list for Keynsham Workhouse, but William, now 26, seems to have gone to Droylsden, Manchester, where he says he was “born Gloucestershire” and is living at 9 Durham Street, with his wife Jane aged 25. In 1871, William is still living in Lancashire, now aged 35, a shopman, and says he was born “Monmouthshire”. He has a different wife, Eliza, and five children. Things are looking up for they have a servant, Eleanor Ascroft, aged 15.

It is intriguing to notice the contrast in fortune in the lives of the brothers Charles and John Blatchley.

CLARA BLATCHLEY, (ca1829-1903) the daughter of John Blatchley was a maidservant at the home of the Moravian Minister, Peter Cornelius West at Potters Wood, Kingswood in 1851.

She married Robert Stone, junior, a paper maker, and in 1861 they were living at Oldland Common with their baby son, Frederick, aged one. By 1871 they had moved to Everton, Liverpool where Robert was now working at an india-rubber factory and the family had grown to six children. In 1881 he was an outdoor officer for the Local Marine Board, and in 1891, a Restaurant Manager! A Jack of All-Trades! Robert died aged 56 in 1892 and in 1901, the widowed Clara was staying with her son William, his wife Ethel and their large family at Lambeth. She died in 1903, aged 73, back home in Liverpool.

SOPHIA GRACE, nee Blatchley (1794-1880)

sister of William & Charles Blatchley, married William Grace and in 1841 was at Husbandman’s End, Shipton on Stour, Worcs. William aged 50, (born ca 1791) not born Worcs, Sophia aged 45 (bca 1796) not born Worcs, and their ten children!

In 1851 they were at 12 Caroline Place, Marylebone:

William Grace, 63 (b.1788), retired Inland Revenue Officer, born Enford, Wilts

Sophia, 57 (1794) born Longbridge Deverill

Eliza, daughter, 15, born Cirencester, plus a visitor, nine year old William Hurford, born Brighton.

In 1861, they are still at the same address: William, now 73, “Officer Inland Revenue” though the family business seems to be taking in washing: Sophia, now 66, Louisa, 35 (b.Bitton), Caroline, 28, (b. Kingswood Hill) and Eliza, 25, (b. Cirencester) are all described “laundress”, whilst so Thomas, 25, “assists at home.” The only exception to the enterprise is Maria, 26, (b. Kingswood Hill) a governess.

Sophia Grace, 85, died in London in 1880.

WILLIAM GLENNIE

On Nov. 26 at Bitton, Lt. William Glennie RN  to Elizabeth Catherine eldest daughter of Henry Aston Barker, esquire of Willsbridge. (Marriage announcement Bristol Mercury 12.12.1833)

1841 census at Box, Wiltshire:

William Glennie 40 Lieut RN & Civil Engineer, Not born Wilts

Elizabeth Catherine, 30, Not born Wilts

& 4 children, Walter, 6, Harriet, 5, William, 3 & Catherine Sophia, 1, & 2 servants

1851 census at 23 Devonshire Terrace, St Andrew, Plymouth

William Glennie, 53, (1798) Lieut RN, Half Pay, b. Camberwell

Catherine Glennie, 45 (1806) b. St Geo. Southwark

William, 13, scholar, b. Bitton, Catherine, scholar, 11, b. Bitton, Isabella, 9, b. Sampford Arundel, Som,

Alexander W. 7 b. Sampford Arundel, Mary E. 5, b. Dawlish, Margaret G. b. Plymouth.

Marriage announcement: INGLES/GLENNIE. On 8th inst at Stoke Church, Devonport, Lieut John Ingles RN & Catherine Sophia, 2nd daughter of the late Lieut William Glennie RN of Nelson Villas, Stoke, Devonshire. (Hampshire Chronicle 20.1.1866)

HENRY ASTON BARKER 

Henry As(h)ton Barker & Harriet Maria Bligh married 1802. (Harriet Maria, daughter of William & Bligh and Elizabeth Betham was baptised at Douglas, Isle of Man 14 November 1782.

Henry Aston Barker Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, Southward Volunteers, 26.8.1807 (announcement, Morning Post)

The following comes from Wikipedia:

Henry Aston Barker (1774 - 19 July 1856) was a Scottish landscape and panorama painter and exhibitor, the son of Robert Barker whose business he continued.^[1]

Life and works

Barker was born in Glasgow, the younger son of Robert Barker, the famous panoramic painter, whom he assisted as a boy. When only 12 years old he was set to work making outlines of the city of Edinburgh from the top of the Calton Hill Observatory, and a few years later made the drawings for the view of London from Albion Mills. These drawings he afterwards etched.^[1]

In 1788 he came with his father to London, and soon afterwards became a pupil at the Royal Academy. Barker continued to be his father's chief assistant in the panoramas till the latter's death in 1806, when, as executor, he took over the business, and for 20 years carried on the exhibitions with great success.^[1]

He frequently travelled in the course of his work, and in August 1799 left England for Turkey, to make drawings for a panorama of Constantinople. When he arrived at Palermo, he called on Sir William Hamilton, the English ambassador at the court of Naples, and was introduced by him to Lord Nelson, of whom, he wrote, "took me by the hand and said he was indebted to me for keeping up the fame of his victory in the Battle of the Nile for a year longer than it would have lasted in the public estimation" (Barker's memoranda). The panorama of Constantinople was exhibited in 1802, and the drawings were engraved and published in four plates.^[1]

In 1801, Barker went to Copenhagen to make drawings for a picture of the battle, and while there he was again received by Lord Nelson. In May 1802, during the Peace of Amiens, he went to Paris and made drawings for a panorama of the city. After this many other panoramas were exhibited, the later ones being chiefly from drawings by John Burford, who shared with Barker the property in a panorama in the Strand, purchased in 1816 from Mr. Reinagle. Barker, however, still travelled from time to time, and visited, among other places, Malta, where he made drawings of the port, exhibited in 1810 and 1812; Venice, of which a panorama was exhibited in 1819; and Elba, where he made the acquaintance of Napoleon.^[1]

After the battle of Waterloo, Barker visited the field, and went to Paris, where he obtained from the officers at headquarters all necessary information on the subject of the battle. A series of eight etchings by Mr. J. Burnett from Barker's original sketches of the field of battle were printed and published, as were also his drawings of Gibraltar. His last grand panorama was the coronation procession of George IV, exhibited in 1822. Of all the panoramas exhibited, that of the battle of Waterloo was the most successful and lucrative. By the exhibition of this picture Barker realised no less than £10,000.^[1]

About 1802 he married the eldest of the six daughters of Rear-admiral William Bligh, who commanded the Bounty at the time of the celebrated mutiny. By her Barker left two sons and two daughters. In 1826 he transferred the management of both the panoramas to John and Robert Burford, and went to live first at Cheam, in Surrey, and then in the neighbourhood of Bristol.^[1]

Barker died on 19 July 1856 at Bitton near Bristol. A list of most of the panoramas painted and exhibited by Henry and Robert Barker were published in The Art Journal (1857, p. 47).^[2][1]. His brother, Thomas Edward Barker, though not an artist, also ran the family business, but later set up a rival panorama exhibition with artist Ramsay Richard Reinagle at 168/9 The Strand, London.^[3]

Panorama of Constantinople (1813, aquatint)

The Morning Post of 1.1.1823 contains the following: “Mr Henry Aston Barker has completed his magnificent panorama of the coronation of the present king. It is one of the most happy as well as undoubtedly the most splendid of his performances and (establishes) him as the first artist of the day in this line, The picture is exhibited  in the Great Circle at Leicester Square occupying 10,000 feet of canvas and between 30 & 40 thousand figures.”

1841 census: at Golden Valley Bitton

Catherine Barker 90 (1751) b.Ireland

Henry Ashton (sic) Barker, 66 (1775) b. Scotland

Harriet Barker, 58 (1783 b. Scotland* (*presumably there was no column for the IOM)

Mary Barker, 25 (1816) b. Glos.

Catherine Barker, Henry’s mother, and the widow of Robert Barker, died at Bitton in 1842.

On July 29 at Bitton, North Prichard esquire, of Norwood Surrey to Mary, youngest daughter of Henry Aston Barker, of Bitton. (Marriage announcement, Worcester Journal. 5.8.1847)

In 1851, Henry, & Harriet were still living at Golden Valley.

Harriet Maria Barker died at Bitton in the spring of 1856 and Henry survived her by only a few months. His obituary appears in “the Standard” of 24.7.1856 ”the 19th inst at Bitton, Henry Aston Barker, in the 83rd year of his age.”

I have to say I had never heard of Messrs John Hare & Co of Temple Gate until I saw a news item in the Bristol Evening Post of 30 August which refers to a Penny Black stamp on an envelope addressed to the Bristol firm of linoleum and floor cloth makers. The envelope was posted in Sherborne. Dorset on June 11, 1841 and 170 years later was due to go under the hammer at the Spink Stamps and Postal History sale in London on September 9.

Prior to the reform  of the postal service letters had to be paid for by the recipient and were left at poste restantes awaiting collection and payment. The Penny Black, Britain’s 1st adhesive postage stamp was introduced on May 6 1840. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Black

The firm seems to have been an early fan of the new country wide system for on June 15, 1844 when the Bristol Mercury published a subscription list under the heading “Penny Postage – National Testament to Sir Rowland Hill”, the second name in the list of subscribers, after the Dean of Bristol is John Hare & Co. Like the Dean, the firm contributed 2 guineas to the fund.

John Hare & Co had been in the news before on October 30, 1841 when they were publicly thanked by Mr Jasper Westcott, a brass founder,  for the speedy deployment of their engine when fire broke out at his premises in Redcliffe Street. Like the Penny Post, the Fire Service was a Victorian invention http://www.fireservice.co.uk/history/ and along with Hare & Co’s contraption, fire engines were sent out by various insurance companies and the police. Thanks to their combined efforts the fire at Mr Westcott’s was contained and his stock and patterns were undamaged so that he was able to continue work with little interruption.

At the time of the letter John Hare and his brother Sholto Vere Hare along with other members of the Hare family were running the company which had been started by their grandfather, John Hare. The younger John Hare became Mayor of Bristol in 1861 and was in the van at the mourning procession which took place following the death of the Prince Consort that year. His brother Sholto followed him as Mayor in 1862. Sholto took a great interest in the church of St Mary Redcliffe and endowed a stained glass window as well as erecting at his own expense, the statue of the boy poet Chatterton in the churchyard.

A full administrative history of the company together with genealogical and family information 1799-1994 may be found at Bristol Record Office under reference 40785.

In November 1842 at the British Embassy in Naples, John Hare married Jane, the daughter of the late Edward Strachey, esquire, of the Bengal Civil Service. Jane was the niece of Sir Henry Strachey, baronet, of Sutton Court in Somerset. In 1841, Sir Henry lived in London at a rather grand address, St George, Hanover Square. Sadly, John and Jane’s first child, a daughter, was stillborn in October 1843, but by the time of the 1851 census the couple were living at “Rosemont” in Clifton Park with two more children, sons John and Charles aged five and one. There were four servants, a nurse, a cook, a housemaid, and a seventeen year old “page”. John Strachey, aged 27, of the East India Company’s Civil Service was a visitor. Perhaps he was a brother or cousin of Mrs Hare.  Another son, Sholto, named after his uncle, was born in 1852.

Towards the end of their civic year in October 1862, John and Jane Hare attended the wedding of Jane’s niece Miss Olivia Strachey at Clifton Parish Church. Olivia was the daughter of the late Richard Strachey of Ashwick Grove, Shepton Mallet, cousin of Sir Edward Strachey, baronet. The groom, Captain George Law of the Madras service, arrived in the full dress uniform of his regiment. The bride wore a white moiré antique dress, carried orange blossom, clematis and white roses and from her “elegant coiffeur” fell a lace train. The bridesmaids were her four sisters, the Misses Minnie, Charlotte, Kate and Isabel Strachey, friends Miss Kate Doveton, Miss Symonds, Miss Williams, and Misses Charlotte, Ada and Sydney Law, relatives of the groom. All wore dresses of white tarlatan with sashes of scarlet silk, and on their heads wreaths of mountain ash berries and leaves. The outfit of Jane Hare, the Mayoress, was also described:  a gown of moiré antique silk in a shade of lavender with black lace flounces, a white muslin shawl edged with black and the piece de resistance, a bonnet of Terry Velvet trimmed with pink roses. (a little OTT perhaps?)  No fewer than 14 carriages, including the Mayor’s state coach carried the assorted guests to the reception at the residence of the bride in the Mall, Clifton.

The following month Mrs Hare attended the wedding of George Strachey to Miss Kate Doveton, both of whom had attended the previous nuptials, Kate as a bridesmaid. George was a secretary of Her Majesty’s legation at The Hague. “Light tripped the party, gay as gay could be” warbled Bristol Mercury’s scribe, despite the intense November cold. In December 1862, Mr & Mrs Hare were guests when Miss Kate Strachey married Lieut J.F.M Winterscale of the 3rd Battalion Prince of Wales’ Own Rifle Brigade. He and his best man, Willoughby Wallace of the 60th Rifles came in full regalia as did a host of other military gents. The Hares also went to the wedding in August 1863 of Miss Mary Strachey to Charles Elton. And in January 1864, at Farleigh Hungerford, they attended the wedding of Miss Annie Stancomb, daughter of the Lord of the Manor of Trowbridge to Mr George Lawrence Keir, an officer in the Indian Army. Although all these  fashionable events are described in lavish terms which equal the first, Mrs Hare’s ensemble, regrettably, is not.

Strangely enough, when John and Jane’s eldest son John married Annie Bell Ford, the second daughter of H.B. Ford, I could only find a simple announcement. (on August 21, 1869.)

In February 1874, a Mr & Mrs John Hare attended the wedding of Miss Catherine Dorinda Ludlow and Mr Francis Rhode Carbonell of Usk, but it is not clear whether this is the senior or junior couple of this name. In a turn which would put the wind up most people, a long list of the wedding presents given is printed with the names of their donors. Aspiring TV producers of Victorian plays could do worse than consult Bristol Mercury of 14.2.1874 and then furnish their set. It is like stepping into “Cranford”.  Mr & Mrs John Hare, somewhat dull,  gave a drawing room clock. 

Jane Hare died aged 72 in 1886 and John aged 84 in 1897. An obituary of Sholto Vere Hare appeared in Bristol Mercury on 24.3.1900.

When conducting this experiment to see how far a little information on an envelope would take me, I came across the names of the following long serving employees of the company whose obituaries appeared on the dates mentioned. 

Charles Cook, 55, Feb. 1, at East Redcliff Crescent, upwards of 40 years in the employ of John Hare & Co (4.2.1860)

Daniel Thatcher, 67, Apr. 19, at his son’s house, White Hart in Lower Maudlin Street, nearly 40 years in the employ of J.H & Co as engineer (14.4.1860)

Charles Colville Watkins, 71st year, Mar. 1, at Langton Street, for 57 years the confidential servant of J.H & Co of Temple Gate. (4.3.1865)

James Franklin, Dec. 4, at Frogmore Street, after a long illness, upwards of 50 years in the employ of J.H & Co. (9.12.1865)

Joseph Richards, 84th year, Nov. 29 at Hebron Terrace, Bedminster, formerly Bath Parade, upwards of 60 years in the employ of J.H. & Co. (6.12.1873)

John Prowse, 74, Jan. 21, at 5 Guinea Street, 54 years in the employ of J.H. & Co. (23.1.1875)

Some years ago I found a number of  bottles in what I believe was at one time a rubbish tip in Brislington. For the present I am not divulging the whereabouts of the site in the hope that I can have a proper dig one day soon, now that I am retired (! Ha! I seem to have more to do than ever!) They are all fairly small and some have glass stoppers. Two are green, ink bottles, I think, and several others, all clear glass,  have embossed writing: i.e.

Grossmith & Son, Perfumers, London; (obvious)

Pascall, London, (who I think manufactured sweets)

Eiffel Tower Lemonade, Foster Clark Ltd, Maidstone 

Bisurated Magnesia, Bismac Ltd, London; (Indigestion!)

Edwards' "Uzon" Brilliantine; (remember antimacassars?)

Langdale's Cinnamon.(a herbal remedy, still going strong.)

Judging from my very basic research, I think they were made in the 1920s. I have informed Brislington Archaeology Society and I hope that soon they will be professionally photographed for the Society’s on-line museum. Watch this space.

Hardy’s classic novel The Mayor of Casterbridge opens when Michael Henchard, in later years the eponymous mayor, but then a poor hay trusser, sells his wife in the public market with tragic consequences. Though by no means usual, in the absence of divorce, (except for the very rich), such proceedings were far from unique and local papers of the 18th and 19th centuries report a steady stream of these events often in lurid detail.

The “Bristol Mercury” of 17th August 1833 records that a man called James Stradling offered his wife for sale at Lansdown Fair before a large concourse of rowdy spectators. She was brought forth “dashingly attired” and with a halter round her neck covered in silk. Before the sale could be concluded however, Stradling was arrested for causing a disturbance and conveyed to the Bath lock up. The following Monday, he was discharged by the magistrates with a reprimand.

It appears that the happy couple returned to the marital home, where at the very least, relations must have been strained. There seems to have been another attempt at a sale, followed by imprisonment of the husband, but even worse was to follow.

On the 4th October there is a report under the heading “Horrid Attempt at Murder”.

“On Friday, Louisa Stradling gave information at the Guildhall, Bath of a most nefarious premeditated attempt made by her husband, James Stradling, shoe maker of Campden Street in this City to take away her life, the previous night. Our readers may remember that that this man who had about twelve months since sold his wife for five shillings at Lansdown Fair again exhibited her for sale in our public market place.  A warrant was issued against him for a breach of the peace and he was committed to prison for six months. Since that period, the parties have lived together only six weeks.

“On Thursday last, Stradling, with apparent kindness proposed to his wife to take a walk with her along the banks of the canal adding that he intended to catch some eels. She consented and they proceeded to the canal at the back of Sydney Parade when he placed Mrs Stadling between the lock gates and desired her to throw the hook and line into the water while he sought for a worm. After a short while, he returned and the inhuman villain pushed her into the water, a fall of about twelve feet and then ran off, leaving her in this perilous position, no doubt expecting she would soon be a corpse.

In falling however, the woman’s clothes became inflated and she was buoyed up in the water for upwards of ten minutes and her cries attracted the attention of some persons, and a station of the humane society being nearby, a pole and rope were procured to save her from a watery grave. Because of her exhaustion and failure to hang on because of the weight on her wet clothes, one of the persons, a strong swimmer, was let down by a rope which he placed about her waist and was able to extricate her.

“She was conveyed to the White Hart at Widcombe in a senseless state but was shortly restored.

“Stradling was apprehended next day and the above facts sworn, He was fully committed for trial at the next Somerset Assizes.”

And then, at the Assizes…………… reported 11th April 1835:

“James Stradling, indicted for maliciously attempting to drown his wife. According to the prosecutrix, she and her husband had been drinking at a public house and they went to the canal to fish and she fell in. But in her examination before Magistrates she had said that her husband pushed her in. This she now denied and said she knew not what she was talking about at the time, she was so much agitated.

“Mr Justice Patterson told the Jury there was not sufficient evidence to commit the prisoner and ordered his acquittal, at the same time addressing the prisoner, telling him there was no doubt his wife committed wilful perjury in order to save his life.”

(Even in those days, an example of the Police frustrated in their attempts to bring a case in a “domestic”. )

a cartoon of a wife sale

In 1841 at Beaufort Square in Walcot, a James Stradling aged 55 is listed along with an Elizabeth Stradling aged 60. Their names are separated by two men called Targett, as though Mr and Mrs lived in separate parts of the house.

I assume Louisa died and the “inhuman” James took up with Elizabeth (unless they are one and the same woman). So far I can find no death for Louisa and no remarriage for James. (He is not the James Stradling who married Jane Jenkings (sic) at St Michael’s, Bath in 1837 who was a baker and lived in Wellington.)

In 1851, at 4 Skines Place, Walcot, the couple are shown in the more usual way. James,  a cordwinder, (shoemaker) is 67 and his wife, 71. Their granddaughter, Elizabeth Arthur, who had been in the house in 1841,  aged 8 is still with them, but is now young woman of 18.

Priscilla Lydia Sellon, 1821-76, was a Anglican nun who played a part in the English Catholic Revivalist movement of the 19th century and founded an Order called the Sisters of Mercy. Devoutly religious, she had intended going abroad as a missionary but instead was “called” to work amongst the poor naval families at Devonport, being particularly active during the cholera year of 1849. She was suspected of being a convert to Rome which aroused much controversy, even bigotry. It was stated with ill-concealed satisfaction that a mob had pelted her house in Plymouth, threatening to raze it to the ground. It appears however that male churchmen, who never went into the slums themselves were active in stirring up such events. Rev Hobart Seymour denounced Miss Sellon from the pulpit in Bath, calling her “unladylike” “a petty despot” and likened her to a crafty old owl who caught her Sisters “poor little mice” in her claws. Another clergyman said “God forbid we stop the flow of Christian Charity but we much protest against the system of drawing young ladies from their homes.” As well as feeling threatened by Miss Sellon’s alleged Roman Catholicism it appears to me that newspapermen and clerics alike were even more outraged because she was a woman.

The papers were delighted when things went wrong, as when a Miss Bowring “daughter of Dr Bowring, now in China” had left the Order and returned to her mother in Exeter. It was said she had “been unhappy in the home of her adoption and is now seriously ill.”

Miss Sellon opened several houses in Bristol, at 7 Park Row (unlisted in 1851) and 14 College Green (lodging houses in 1851) when an Irish woman, Catherine Callahan, a Roman Catholic, who seems to have been taken on as a maid of all work described at length and in lurid detail, certain practices supposed to prove that the “Lady Superior” now adhered to Rome but the “evidence” becomes somewhat suspect when it later transpired that Callahan was suing the Sisters for wages which she said were owed to her. A court at Stroud awarded her £1. 5 shillings, which the Sisters appealed, saying she was and always had been aware that they did not pay wages!

In July 1854, the Bristol Mercury reported pompously “Miss Sellon, whose migrations from house to house in Bristol have been so exceedingly numerous that she must have over and over again experienced the truth of the adage that ‘two removes are as bad as one fire’ has made another change of residence and taken the large house in The Fort on St Michael’s Hill which has long been untenanted.”

For the decade 1850-60, Miss Sellon was a celebrity, as well known as Florence Nightingale. She declined to go to the Crimea with Miss Nightingale as she felt to do so might lead to a division of authority, however, the party which left for the war in October 1854 included “a number of recruits from Miss Sellon’s establishment”. 

After 1856 when there was another reported move to The Priory in Bath, Miss Sellon dropped out of the limelight.  It was said that her experiences during the cholera epidemic of 1849 had weakened her and subsequently she could only sit for short periods at a time. She often took her meals in a reclining position, eventually becoming paralytic. It is not possible to say whether this affliction was hysterical but it does seem to compare with the experience of other Victorian lady “invalids” like Harriet Martineau and   Florence Nightingale herself. Miss Sellon died at Malvern in 1876 aged 55.

Miss Sellon should have made appearances in the censuses 1841-71 but I have failed to find her. Her father, William R.B. Sellon, a retired Commander RN and a Magistrate who had changed his name from Smith because of an inheritance can be found under neither name in 1841. In 1851 he was at Gravesend, Kent, aged  60, with his second wife Martha, 43, children Anna, 33, Frederick, 16. John, 14, Gertrude, 8, Elizabeth, 7 and Melville, 4. Another daughter, Caroline aged 10, was living at the Orphans’ Home, Wyndham Place, Plymouth where Catherine Chambers, an associate of Miss Sellon was Matron. Despite her tender years, Caroline is tellingly described “Sister”. Of Miss Sellon herself, there is no sign. It seems she was determined not to be counted. The Plymouth Journal describes the woes of the enumerator who called at her establishment and was greeted by a nun, all in black, who told him Miss Sellon was away and had taken the papers with her. He called again with two forms to be completed but the same nun again refused, “determined to brave the law rather than disclose the secrets of the prison house”, he added, “there is a great mystery as to who is who in the Eldad Nunnery.”

I had not heard of Miss Sellon before I discovered that she had considered taking a house in Brislington which is one of my principal local interests. Nothing seems to have come of it, but I cannot but wonder if it was the forerunner of the Convent at Arno’s Court which became a reformatory for Catholic girls in the late Victorian era.   I think that Miss Sellon, despite the topic being unfashionable nowadays would make a good subject for someone’s dissertation!

I have been contacted by Steve Niven, the current landlord of the Seven Stars, the famous Bristol pub who writes:

"I was wondering if you know anything about Landlord Thompson of the Seven Stars www.7stars.co.uk/history.htm 1787 at the time of Thomas Clarkson's visit. I have been researching this and have found many Thomas Thompsons but can't actually determine if this was he or not. Landlord Thompson is a hero of mine due to his stance against slavery in Bristol but I think there may be a very interesting history behind this fellow. Captain Thomas B Thompson took a break from service due to the death of his uncle (Edward Thompson) in 1786. A Captain Thomson was involved in transporting the poor London Blacks to Freetown Sierra Leone, a colony for freed slaves set up by Clarkson's brother, John. He was also involved in the abolition movement, Could this be the man that Clarkson notes in his book as Landlord of the Seven Stars?"

I'm sorry to say that I don't know anything much about Landlord Thompson or Thomson. Can anyone help?

By co-incidence, I have been researching Alexander Falconbridge, the former Ships' Surgeon who accompanied Clarkson on his Bristol fact-finding tour. I will be putting this information in a blog soon.

On 6th June, 2009, I visited Tyntesfield, near Wraxall, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-tyntesfield with my daughter and three grandsons, the fabulous Boothroyd Boys, aged 3, 2 and five months.

When I visit a place I always like to know a little about the inhabitants and though the history of the Gibbs family en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyntesfield is well documented, I could not resist delving a little for myself.

On the night of 2nd April, 1871 when a census of England and Wales was taken there were two little visitors to Tyntesfield, Cyril Gurney aged 3 and William Hampden Gurney aged one. How appropriate - did they scamper, whoop and career about like our two elder boys? Did our boys' games echo those of the two ghostly boys, near enough to them in age, but separated by 138 years in time? Did they run their nursemaids ragged, romping in the lovely grounds, hiding among the daisies in the meadow or get lost among the rhododendrons and then laugh?

But sadly not. There was no fun in that April of 1871 for Tyntesfield was a house of mourning. The boys' mother, Alice Blanche Gurney, the daughter of William and Matilda Gibbs had died less than three weeks before on 12th March, aged 27.

Listed at the Tyntesfield house on census night were William Gibbs, the guano magnate, aged 80, his wife Matilda, much younger at 53, their son Anthony, Alfred Gurney, their son in law with his two orphaned boys, Miss Low, a cousin and a clergyman. Alfred Gurney had hardly registered the shock of his young wife's death, for he was recorded as "married" rather than "widowed". The family was looked after by twelve servants, starting with a housekeeper and ending with William White, quaintly titled "odd man."

By the time the next census was taken ten years later, Alfred Gurney was the Vicar of St Barnabas, a fashionable parish at St George, Hanover Square, London. He had not remarried and lived at the parsonage with his spinster sister. His two sons now 13 and 11 had been sent away to boarding school, at Mortlake in Surrey.

Cyril grew up, married Margaret Trotter and became a "West Indian Merchant". By 1901 he had his own three children aged 5, 2 and one month old. I have not located William Hampden Gurney in censuses after 1881, but know that he died in 1903, in London, aged 33 years.

By 1891, Anthony Gibbs, now a magistrate, uncle of Cyril and William Gurney, and his wife Janet were living at Tyntesfield. They had nine children at home, from teenagers to two babies, Janet aged three and Lancelot aged one, who must have played in the lovely gardens. Perhaps their Swiss nurserymaid pushed the tiny ones around in the ancient high iron pram we saw amongst the heaps of lumber piled high in the stables awaiting cataloguing and refurbishment.

Incidentally, when doing this small piece of research, I was pleased to see a name I could add to my "Kingswood Index". In 1861 when the Gibbs' family was living at 16 Hyde Park Gardens in London, among the resident servants was Mary Haskins aged 21, born Bitton, Gloucestershire.