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)

An article, taken from the Somerset Guardian of 23^rd December 1927, perfectly illustrates the conditions and life-style of a family living in Timsbury between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:-

Mr. And Mrs. Henry Harris, of Bloomfield, Timsbury, will on Sunday next (Christmas day), celebrate their "Radium" Wedding, having been married 70 years ago, at the Parish Church of St. Mary’s, Timsbury, by the Rev. Richard Hill, M. A. , on December 25^th. 1857.  They are both nearing 90 years of age. Until a few months ago the venerable couple enjoyed good health, but of late Mrs. Harris has been an invalid.

Mr. Harris was born at Timsbury in the year 1839, and has never lived out of the parish. Mrs. Harris, whose maiden name was Charlotte Bridges, was born in the adjoining parish of Farmborough, but was brought to Timsbury when quite a little girl, and has lived there practically all her life. Mr. Henry Harris had two brothers and three sisters, and all but one are living still. The eldest brother, Mr. Job Harris resides at Wellington, Co. Durham, and the youngest, Mr. Moses Harris, lives at Farmborough. The three sisters are Mrs. Joyce Amesbury, of Timsbury, who died six months ago; Mrs. Hulbert, of Bath; and Mrs. Clara Tyte, of Timsbury.

Mrs. Harris was one of a family of eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bridges, also a Timsbury family, but she is the only survivor of eight.

There were six children of the marriage of Mr. And Mrs. Henry Harris – three sons and three daughters – and all are still living. The eldest daughter, Miss Anna Maria Harris is a permanent invalid, and resides at home. The second daughter, Mrs. Laura Searle, is the wife of Mr. Robert Searle of Timsbury. The youngest daughter, Sarah Jane, resides in South Wales. The eldest son, Mr. George Harris, of Stanley Terrace, Radstock, is 68 years of age; Mr. Henry Harris, of Bristol, 66, is the second son; and the youngest son, Mr. John Harris, 60, resides at Towlaw, Co. Durham.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Harris have 26 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

The aged couple has led lives of wonderful activity and both had to work hard to bring up their family of six children in the days of low wages and high prices.

Mr. Harris started work when eight years old, at the old Hayeswood Colliery, Timsbury; where he was employed until the colliery was flooded out many years ago. The relics of the old colliery premises can still be seen adjoining the main road between Timsbury and High Littleton. After a period of apprenticeship at shoe making with Mr. Fear, of Timsbury, Mr. Harris was employed as a sawyer at Timsbury Colliery. In a similar capacity he worked for eleven years in the yard at Radstock Collieries, walking the nine miles between his home and work every day in all winds and weathers. An opportunity occurred for him to go back to his old job at Timsbury, which he did, and here he finished up a life of hard toil of 72 years’ when nearly 80 years of age. For the most of his life the working day consisted of 12 hours or more, which did not give him much time to attend to private affairs.

For many years Mr. Harris cultivated 35 perches of allotment garden, in addition to a large cottage garden, so as to provide the greater part of the food for the home. Upon scores of occasions he has been seen working in his garden at night with the aid of moonlight, and the winter evenings he occupied his time when at home in repairing boots, so as to earn money to help maintain the home.

His wages at Timsbury were only 14 shillings per week, but when at Radstock he received 15 shillings per week, and for this he walked nine miles per day, and stood on his feet all day long at his work. Being promoted to a more responsible post, his wages at Radstock were increased to 19 shillings per week, and for a week or two he actually received 20 shillings per week, but at no period of his 72 years work did his wages exceed 20 shillings per week.

In their earlier married career, apart from what was earned independent of the husband’s wages at his employment at 12 hours per day, Mr. and Mrs. Harris maintained a household of eight on 14 shillings per week, which averaged 1s. 9d. per week, per member in the family, or exactly 3d. per day. From this, rent, clothes, boots, food etc., had to be found. Whilst Mr. Harris toiled in his garden, Mrs. Harris for many years baked bread and sold it, in addition to turning her hand to other things in order to help supplement the meagre income of the home.

During the many years the Primitive Methodist connection had a Chapel at Timsbury, Mr. Harris was one of the trustees, and both he and his wife were teachers in the Sunday School. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris are now in receipt of the old age pension of 10s. per week, and the combined sums are more than Mr. Harris received as wages at any period when he was bringing up his family of three sons and three daughters.

Although the Conygre Collieries accident was a terrible shock for the village of Timsbury, there was a more severe disaster in the village, at Hayeswood Colliery, almost 50 years to the day previously, when seven men and four boys were drowned when the pit flooded on the 4^th.February 1845. Two weeks earlier, seven men were injured at the same colliery, by being drawn over the winding wheel, due to carelessness. A similar accident happened at the Withy Mills Colliery in the same manner, when the winding man was drunk on duty, and several miners were killed by being wound over the wheel. This occurred in the 1850’s and the winding man was jailed for two years.

Coal mining in Timsbury ceased in 1916, with the closure of upper Conygre due to encountering major geological faults; Lower Conygre had closed in 1914 when it was flooded out. Little remains of these once busy pits except their spoil heaps and concrete shaft caps.

Notes:

In 1851, Henry was aged 11, living at Bloomfield, Timsbury with his parents, John, a coalminer and Ann, plus three siblings. Charlotte Bridges was living nearby with her parents Samuel, also a coalminer, and Mary, plus 7 siblings. The move from Farmborough was the only one she ever made throughout her long life.

Mr. & Mrs. Harris are listed in the censuses 1861 to 1911 at Timsbury. In the latter census Mr. Harris was still at work, as a “sawyer at colliery” at the age of 71. In the census of 1871, their son George, then aged 12, was working as a coalminer.

Charlotte died aged 89 in 1928 and Henry aged 93 in 1932.

The story of the Hayeswood disaster of February 1845 appears in my book “Killed in a Coalpit, Volume 2, The Mines of Mendip.” Those killed were John Flower (52), George Palmer (41), John Carter, (widower, 2 children), Joseph Gullick, (leaving 3 children and a pregnant wife), Daniel Pickford, (a wife and 2 children), William Cleaver (leaving a wife and 6 children two of whom worked in the same mine) James Evans (wife & 2 children) Mark Brice, George Lewis, John Collins, William Walter (boys between 14 & 16).

The earlier accident was on 23^rd January 1845 but I have been unable to find specific details of the casualties. The Conygre colliery was flooded in 1914 which led to its closure.

My father in law went to sea at the age of fifteen. A note in his log book says “Daddy asked me to get him a monkey.” As he could not find a suitable monkey, he brought back an ethnic water jar made of thick pottery, slightly listing to one side, with two jug eared handles sticking out from the neck.

“Daddy”, our grandfather, Arthur Lindegaard, a naturalised British citizen who had returned to his native Denmark was pleased with the souvenir and commemorated the voyage by writing “MED “MINSK” TIL ALGIER 1923” in black ink round the swelling of the bowl and drew imagined scenes from North African life round the belly. Long after, in the 50s or 60s, somebody attempted to turn the pot into a table lamp: the result of this regrettable enterprise, a broken electrical plug, is still stuck in the neck. Aesthetically, the thing is hideous. So far so ordinary.

The 1960s come and we inherit the pot. In between Arthur’s decorations, his squatting Arabs, donkey riders, camels and so on there is tiny faded writing. We can see dates, starting in 1940, and recognisable words: Curfew, Mussolini, Afrika, “Kbhn”, Casablanca, Leningrad…..

An English-Danish Dictionary is called for. On 20^th March 1940 the “Minsk” was torpedoed and sunk; Arthur wrote it on the pot. He expands his idea globally. He somehow manages to listen to the BBC news. He writes notes, one after another on the pot. It becomes a history of the Second World War. Armies march across Europe and Africa and around the pot. Stalingrad, Tunis, Casablanca, Tripoli, Naples…. Then “Invasion Normandiet 6 Jun 1944” he records, followed by a verifiable list of Allied successes: “Rumania, 23 Aug, Paris 24 Aug, Bulgaria, 26 Aug, Athens, 14 Oct, Belgrade, 20 Oct.” Only “Finland 3 Oct” seems out of place in the world picture. It is easy to check. Arthur seems to have been shocked that on this day three “Soviet infiltrators” were shot in Helsinki. He was happier on 20^th October when Yugoslav partisans and the Red Army occupied Belgrade.

The entry for “15 Nov 1943” is particularly poignant. “Kirke Kionkerne i Englund Ringede” he writes. It is “Ring the Bells”, Churchill’s order after El Alamein, when church bells were rung for the first time since 1939. Churchill famously said it was “not the beginning of the end but the end of the beginning”. Tears come to my eyes.

So I see Arthur crouched over a crackling wireless set. It is in occupied Denmark. It is our grandfather’s little resistance in a mad world. My thoughts run riot.

How did he even come by a radio? Where did he hide it? Where did he hide the pot? His courage astounds me. I worry for what could have been.

Sadly, Arthur died suddenly on 14^th March 1945, aged 68. He never knew the end of the story.

I received the following from Bob Lawrence:

As promised, here is some information about the BALLIN family of the Bristol area. I have no personal connection to them - this research started because one of them married a Sargent from Winchelsea in Sussex, and my Sargent ancestors also come from that area. I have not listed all the Ballins I have found, nor all the details, but these can be found on RootsWeb World Connect at http://wc.rootsweb.com.

I have come across a number of other Ballins in the area, but have not been able to link them in with this family. There seem to be a lot of cousin marriages, which makes me think that Isaac Samuel Ballin and his wife Maria Ballin were cousins. Isaac Samuel seems to have been a practicing Jew, and his daughter Ada, who was a well-know author and is listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National biography, also published a Hebrew grammar and won a Hebrew Scholarship at university. Samuel Ballin I, on the other hand, was married and is buried in an Anglican church, and his children were baptised as Church of England. It is perhaps the unusual surname, the choice of first names, and the occupations followed that means one assumes they were Jews.

There is no obvious connection between the Ballins and the Joseph Cohen who committed suicide in the Bridewell, but he was also a Jew who married a Christian. I wonder how common that was, and how it was considered in the Jewish community. Judith Samuel's book on the Jews in Bristol makes great use of the synagogue records, and so concentrates on practicing Jews.

Here are the details:

Isaac Samuel BALLIN

Isaac Samuel Ballin was born in 1811 at Wells, Somerset, England. He was in partnership with Frederick Maggs as a fur manufacturer in 1832 at 26 High Street, Bristol, but this partnership was dissolved in the same year. Between 1833 and 1845, he was a fur manufacturer, wholesale and retail, at 45 Wine Street, Bristol. He married Susanna Ballin, daughter of Samuel Ballin and Elizabeth Whittern, and possibly his cousin, on 25 Sep 1833 at the New Synagogue, Bristol.

From 1836 to 1858, he traded as a fur manufacturer and importer at Wine Street, but also operated at Redcliff Street and Park Street at different times in addition. He is also recorded as a straw bonnet maker and wholesale straw plat dealer. At times, he shared premises with I. Cohen. His wife Susanna died in 1849, and in 1858 Isaac sold his Bristol business to Messrs Lodge & co and he moved with his family to London. He married Annie Moss in 1860 and died on 1st December 1897 in London, having been a furrier and straw hat dealer in Woburn Place and Tavistock Square. His daughter Ada, born 1862, was a well-known author and journalist on health and childcare.

Samuel BALLIN I

Samuel Ballin I was born in 1776, place of birth unknown. He married Elizabeth Whittern, daughter of William Whittern and Elizabeth Shellard on 22 Nov 1813 at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Somerset, England. They had previously had six children who had been born at Wotton under Edge, but baptised at Hawkesbury, the birthplace of Elizabeth Whittern. Samuel worked as a silversmith at Bradley Street, Wotton under Edge, although his marriage record describes him as an ironmonger. He was declared bankrupt on 27 Feb 1826. He died in 1830 and was buried at St Mary's, Wotton under Edge.

Samuel BALLIN II

Samuel Ballin II was born in 1809 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the son of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern, and was baptized on 8 Oct 1809 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. In 1830, he and his sister Susanna were straw hat makers in Wotton under Edge, but by 1832 he had moved to 2 Old Market Street, Bristol, where he was in the same business with his sister Ann. He married Maria Sargent, daughter of William Sargent and Susannah Whittern, on 1 Dec 1834 at Winchelsea, Sussex. Maria was his cousin, and her father William Sargent was a miller and later Mayor of Winchelsea. In 1836, he was a fur manufacturer at 2 Redcliff Street, Bristol but by 1841 was living at 6, Corridor, Bath, described as a fur manufacturer. He remained there and at 16 Union Street, Bath, until his death on 21 May 1879.

Ann BALLIN

Ann Ballin was born in 1808 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern and was baptized on 11 Dec 1808 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. She was the daughter of Samuel Ballin and Elizabeth Whittern. From 1832, she was in business with her brother Samuel as a straw hat maker in 2 Old Market Street, Bristol. She married Arnold Beeston, son of John Howton Beeston and Alicia on 9 Jun 1835 at Horfield, Bristol, but Arnold died in 1836, and Ann returned to her previous business, moving to 13 Peter Street, Bristol. She married James Thomas in 1842, but was a widow again by 1851.

Elizabeth BALLIN

Elizabeth Ballin was born in 1800 at Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Samuel Ballin I and Elizabeth Whittern and was baptized on 23 Mar 1800 at St Mary's, Hawkesbury. She married John Box on 13 Sep 1821 at St Mary's, Wotton under Edge and their first two children - Henry Oborne Box and Mary Box were born at Wotton under Edge. Subsequent children were born at Dursley, where John was in business as a watchmaker. Elizabeth died at Dursley in 1887. Their son Edward married his cousin Susanna Sargent Ballin, daughter of Samuel Ballin II and Maria Sargent, and Edward's sister Frances Anne Box married Robert Ashton Lister, the well-known Dursley industrialist.

Joseph COHEN

Suicide in the Bridewell. On Wednesday night, Joseph Cohen, a prisoner in the Bridewell, charged upon remand with having a quantity of cloth in his possession, supposed to have been stolen, hung himself in his cell. An inquest was held upon the body on Thursday before the Coroner, J.B.Grindon Esq., and from the evidence adduced it appeared that the deceased had formerly been of the Hebrew persuasion; but having married a Christian, he had not for some years attended upon the religious worship of that people. His business lay a good deal among public-houses, and he was, to some extent, addicted to habits of intemperance; but he was described by his father-in-law and mother-in-law (his wife having been dead some years) as kind and considerate to them, and careful of, and affectionate to, his daughter, a girl of about 15 years old. He was last seen alive at half-past six o'clock, when, in compliance with the rules of the Bridewell, his supper was left with him, and he was locked up for the night. After his cell door was closed, the turnkey on duty in the passage heard him moving about as if walking up and down, but after a time the sounds ceased, and it is supposed that he must then have hanged himself, for on his cell-door being opened at about nine o'clock he was found suspended from one of the bars of his cell-window by a silk handkerchief. His feet were about five inches from the ground, and the handkerchief was so loosely tied that upon the officer lifting the body, he was enabled to remove it without difficulty. Medical assistance was promptly obtained, but the unfortunate man was "beyond the skill of surgery", and had evidently been for some time dead, as his body had begun to stiffen. His supper was untouched. The jury having attentively considered the testimony adduced, returned a verdict that the deceased - who had appeared both frightened and grieved by his detention in prison - "Hanged himself while in a state of temporary insanity."

Bristol Mercury, 22nd March 1851

Joseph Cohen married Sarah Totterdown at St Peters on 30th September 1833. Their daughter Elizabeth Mary Cohen was baptised at SS Philip & Jacob on 7th December 1834.

1841 Census

Waterloo Place, SS Philip & Jacob, Bristol

Joseph Cohen, 27, Tailor

Sarah Cohen, 24, Tailoress

Bob Lawrence