St. Pancras Marriage 1803/Birth 1804/5

[ian55]

In a distant corner of my Scottish family tree sits William Constable born 1771 in Cupar Fife. He was a Jeweller/Silversmith/Clockmaker in Dundee and died there in 1833.

However there is a handwritten family tree produced c1910 which refers to his first wife "Betsy Woodward Hants". The writing is not clear and I am not certain about the word Hants which may of course refer to Hampshire.

It goes on to refer to his second wife Margaret McRitchie who was said to have been born in Dunkeld Perthshire and states they were married at St Pancras Church London 2 October 1803. 

I discovered burial records in Dundee which refer to their daughter Ann Constable as being born at St Pancras London. I found a book on Scottish Clockmakers which suggests William Constable was in Dundee c1806 so I am guessing Ann Constable was born c1804/5.

Has the Old Parish Register for St Pancras for this period survived? Does anyone have access to it to look up and confirm this marriage and birth? Apart from the names and dates does the Register include any reference to status such as single or widower or occupation of the parties?

I am guessing William was in London to learn his trade but I am somewhat surprised that Margaret was in London and they did not marry in Scotland so any additional information would be very helpful.

Ian55

[dawnsh]

Hi Ian

The marriage can be found on the IGI at www.familysearch.org

William Constable and  Margaret McRichie 2 OCT 1803 Old Church, Saint Pancras,  Batch M047937

The surviving registers have been deposited at the London Metropolitan Archives.

The registers has been filmed by the LDS, ref 0598179, and can be ordered and viewed at a local family history centre

There is no mention on the IGI for a baptism (film 0597804) but that doesn't mean it is not there. I know of many instances where things have been 'missed off'.

There may or maynot be reference to status, (some entries have it some don't), there won't be ages (unless a minor), occupations or father's names unless they acted as witnesses and you recognise them.

Dawn
 

[ian55]

Dear Dawn,

Thank you so much for your help. I will try that and see what I can find.

Ian55

[dawnsh]

Hi Ian

You haven't updated your profile so we don't know where in the world you are.

If you're in the UK, do you have an LDS family history centre near you?

http://www.londonfhc.org/content/other-uk-centres

Dawn

[ian55]

I am in East Kilbride. I could get to the one in the west end of Glasgow which is only about an hour by bus. I will give them a phone and arrange a visit.

Ian55

[dawnsh]

Good luck and happy hunting 

If you have any problems let us know, I'm sure we can help you out down here, (but a lot of the fun is doing it for yourself)

Dawn

[inarcadia]

Hello Ian55,

I noticed that you were distantly related to William Constable of Dundee. I've been doing some research on him from the silversmithing side of things and was up in Dundee last week, where I took this photograph of his gravestone in the Old Howff (sorry, but I can't figure out how to attach the pic). I'd already suspected that Ann Constable was not Margaret McRitchie's daughter (the dates were wrong) and that there must have been a previous marriage. Your post seems to confirm that.

And I noticed that somewhere else in your postings you referred to Robert Robertson, goldsmith, of Cupar Fife. Is he related to William Constable at all? Or is there another connection? I thought RR had gone off to California and Australia. Did he come back?

I'll be happy to pass on any information that I have about the Constables in Dundee. Here are some of the death records of WC's children at the Old Howff. As you can see, Ann Constable was born in 1798 or 1799.

3762    Constable    Ann    28 May 1846    47    St Pancras, London         Convulsions    Daughter of the late William Constable jeweller    Nethergate     

3785    Constable    Georgina    28 Feb 1849    30    Dundee         Dropsy    Daughter of late William Constable jeweller    Nethergate     

3824    Constable    Marjory    25 Nov 1850    31    Dundee         Pulmonary consumption    Daughter of the late William Constable jeweller    Nethergate     

3829    Constable    Patrick Nimmo    9 Jun 1852    30    Dundee    Clerk    Spitting of blood from lungs    Son of late William Constable jeweller    Nethergate     

3814    Constable    Margaret    12 Jan 1853    48    Dundee         Consumption    Daughter of late William Constable jeweller    Nethergate     

inarcadia

[ian55]

Hi inarcadia,

Thanks for your posting. I have in fact already visited Dundee myself and took a photograph of of the gravestone at The Old Howff.

The c1910 Family Tree which I first mentioned is unclear on the point but does suggest to me that Ann Constable may be a daughter of the second marriage. There is the possibility that the death record giving her age as 47 is a mistranscription for either 41 or 42. I was hoping to find the record of her birth in St. Pancras to resolve this discrepancy.

I am not aware of any connection to Robert Robertson the goldsmith in Cupar. I only replied to someone's posting on the Fife Message Board because another Constable (Alexander) who became a Watchmaker and Jeweller in Kirkcaldy was born in Cupar.

I am however interested when you say you are researching from the Silversmithing side of things. I would be interested in finding out more about William Constable's career in London before he set up in Dundee. I am not sure if he went to London to be an apprentice or for experience in the trade. Although he must have been well enough off to get married for the second time in St. Pancras in 1803.

He also had a younger brother George Constable born in Cupar in 1783 who was also a Jeweller possibly in Edinburgh where he married in 1810 and/or in Cupar where his wife died in 1814. I once saw online some provincial hallmarks of his with the comment that he was active in the period 1810-1820.

Can you suggest any avenues of research for me?

Ian55

[inarcadia]

Hi Ian55,

I found the following information this afternoon and you can check it for yourself on FamilySearch.org:

A William Constable married Jane Woodward in St Bride’s Fleet Street on 6 September 1795. It’s too much of a coincidence (Betsy Woodward Hants) not to be right, isn’t it?

And IGI (Familysearch) gives a birth date of 17 June 1798 for Ann Constable, christened 11 July 1798 at St Luke, Old Street, Finsbury, London; Father William Constable; Mother Jane (no surname given).

There was a Janney Woodward christened on 29 Sept 1771 at St Mary’s, Portsea, Hampshire

As for William Constable's career in London I'm afraid I know nothing yet. George Constable marked his work sometimes for Dundee and sometimes with just his GC.C stamp clumsily and several times. This mark is also found on pieces sent to Edinburgh for assay (neatly struck!).

Their mother was Ann Thomson and one of the silver sites (http://www.silvercollection.it/SCOTTISHSILVERSMITHSCUPAR.html) lists a Robert Thomson as a silversmith (of whom I know nothing). Perhaps this family connection is the route into silversmithing for the brothers Constable.

As you probably know, William's son Alexander took over the business on his father's death in 1833, but I know of no connection of him to Kirkcaldy. Is the Alexander Constable you refer to related?

William's son Alexander disappears sometime after 1841 and intended to travel to California but I have found no further trace so far.

I'd be very grateful for any information you might have on George Constable, or on William's son William, a writer (clerk) in Edinburgh, who would have been the next in line to inherit after Janet Constable (Bruce's) death. Unless Alexander came back from California!

Or anything you might know about William in London. I'll let you know what I discover, if anything.

Good luck with your research!

inarcadia