Bobtails and Jersey Cars...

[bramble9]

Does anyone know anything about Bobtails? It was a St Ives-based business that two of my ancestors (which I have discovered reading a post on another genealogy forum) appeared to own and I am wondering if anyone can shed any further light on what it was and so on. I believe the two brothers who ran Bobtails - William and George Phillips - also ran a 'Jersey cars' company which provided daytrips to locals. Similarly, if anyone is able to provide anymore insight into this, I would be most grateful
I believe the brothers worked from the 1890s onwards, although the family have long been connected to horses as far as I know.
I don't really have much local knowledge, so any info would be a great help!

[phillm86]

I think the name "bobtails" might have been a nickname - rather than a business name as such. There were several groups of Phillips families involved with horse-drawn businesses.

You will find advertisments in some of the local directories. For instance:

William Phillips's Posting Establishment, Richmond Hill (near Market Place)
Landaus, Victorias and Wagonettes on Hire.
The new and well-appointed Jersey Car will leave the Queen's Hotel (weather and other circumstances permitting ..... etc ....
Drivers total abstainers

[bramble9]

Thank you!

[phillm86]

Pleasure.

I believe my own family's nickname was "chums".

[bramble9]

I've spent this evening writing down all the different branches of the Phillips tree... I have a feeling we could quite possibly be linked to every family in St Ives...

I love the Bobtails nickname! While I've been going through censuses tonight I've noticed over and over that a lot of them work with horses. What name is Chums the nickname for?

[phillm86]

I guess if you are connected to William Phillips (of the bobtails) you will be aware of his brothers - John, Joseph, Hugh Sisley, and Nicholas. I am descended from Nicholas. You are right that they have links to many other local families.

But there are at least three other Phillips families in St Ives during the 1700 and 1800s who may or may not be related. I regard one as 'the miners' - another as 'the mariners' - and a third as 'the originals' (they were there in the 1700s but seem to have moved away).

Given the number of Phillips families in neighbouring parishes - and other parts of Cornwall - I really don't think they could all be brought together in any meaningful way.

No idea about 'chums'. Might be as simple as the meaning we have today - a group of friends. But it is possible to speculate that it might have a horse related meaning - I don't know enough to be able to say one way or the other. I've seen one definition of chum which links it to fish bait!

[bramble9]

That's so interesting... So we are very distantly related then. I'm descended from Joseph (via his son Joseph). I was looking up the five brothers and all their children last night - so interesting how so many of the maiden names carried on via the second names of the children.

We've just found info on my mother's great uncle - who we've been trying to find out more about for years - and he is listed as a 'horse shoer'. Wonder if the horse work ended with his generation, or continued further on?

Out of interest have you got further back than John and Susannah Phillips at all?

[phillm86]

It is difficult. There are big gaps in the data.  For instance, have you ever found a marriage for John and Susanna?

My best guess is that the generation before them were John and Mary - who seem to have moved to St Ives in the 1790s.

[bramble9]

To be honest I haven't got further back than them being the parents of Joseph - I've always been more pre-occupied with the more recent generations!

I'd love to see some photographs of the Phillips family. Sadly the only picture we have is of my gt grandmother, taken when she was very old and living in London. I wonder if there are any archives in St Ives or similar that might have images!?

Thanks again for the newspaper tip yesterday btw. as well as the story about Joseph H we also found lots of other pieces that have added some really colour to people that have otherwise just been a name and a few dates