Joseph What Curtis

[toby webb]

I take your point shanreagh. I have several instances where a christian name was used again following the death of an infant. The family Bible however shows entries up to 1857 with no new Williams or Josephs. I am confident about Joseph and think William was  a mistake. Perhaps the vicar had had a good lunch at the squire's house! T

[toby webb]

This started as a deciphering problem but has now gone beyond that to be a Dorset matter.
Priscilla's discovery of a Joseph Hawkins Curtis marriage in 1862 complicated the matter but I have now discovered that the name was reintroduced in the Curtis family a generation later so I am satisfied that the muddle of Joseph or Gm (William) is resolved in favour of Joseph.  The second name of Hoskins, Haskins, Hawkins or Austen remains to be settled.
The heart of the investigation is however to discover the marriage of the parents of Joseph i.e. William & Ann. [ Family based at Broomhill Mills near Moreton] This is one of my brick walls. Their eldest son Charles was born in 1812 ( Family Bible) and neither his baptism or that of his sister (second child), 10 years later, has been found.
I suspect that Hawkins or Haskins may have been Ann's maiden name, because of its use as a second name twice in the family, but that has not got me any where. That is as far as I have got.
Any brilliant suggestions? Thanks, Toby.

[Richard Knott]

I agree that, strange as it looks, that is the burial for Jospeh Curtis (I can at least see how the Hoskins could be misheard as Austen). There are actually two other Joseph Hoskins/Hawkins born at around the same time (in addition to the later generations).

One, b1833, was the eldest son of Charles Curtis, William's eldest son. He was with his grandmother, Elizabeth Talbot, in 1841 (HO107/279), married Henrietta Pope in 1855, and then lived in Southampton where he died in 1894.

The other, b1827/8 was the son of William Curtis, the long lived baker/innkeeper, and lived in South Perrott where he was on the jury list in 1868. He married Eliza Rogers in 1862. He wasn't baptised with the middle name but had certainly acquired it by his marriage.

Given that two different Williams had sons called Joseph Hawkins/Hoskins, the name must come from a common grandmother at the earliest I would have thought.

Altogether there are far too may Williams getting married too many times.

Richard

[Richard Knott]

Bingo (and your guess was right).

Joseph HOSKINS died on 26 Feb 1819 - aged 95! - and left a will. In his will he was described as late of Ottery St Mary, then Loxbeer, but now of Bruham (Brewham?) in Somerset; but on the back of the will (see below) it says he had moved to Winfrith.

In the will he leaves the proverbial shilling to his son, Samuel; his daughter, Jane Delve; and his sons-in-law John Hole and John Hatswell; but he leaves everything else, including all his land on Ottery St Mary, to his grand-daughter Ann Curtis, wife of William Curtis (miller) in Bruham.

Hardly a surprise that the Curtises named a son after him! (And I wonder why he fell out with his children).

Richard

Added: I found a John Hatswell marrying an Ann Hoskins in 1799 in Tiverton, and a William Curtis marrying an Ann Hold (not Hole) in Ottery St Mary in 1808. I'm not sure either is related although the second one looks interesting.

I did also wonder whether the marriage in Ottery St Mary in 1798 between Joseph Hoskins and Grace Turpin had anything to do with he family 'feud'. if it was the same joseph marrying when in his seventies, his children may not have been impressed.

[toby webb]

Ann Hold or Ann Hole does indeed look interesting and I shall persue it. thanks. Toby.

[toby webb]

rjknott and some help from the Devon site have, I think, done the trick.
The site recommended revealed a marriage between a William Curtis of the Dorset Militia / Maiden Newton parish and Ann Hold or Old!
So Old has come up as a possible surname of Ann. My William & Ann had a grand daughter named Annie Old Wills. I had never found the source of Old  but think I have now. It all seems to come together at last. My William was also born in Maiden Newton.
To conclude, am I likely to get anything about William in connection with the Dorset Militia? Toby.

[Richard Knott]

To conclude, am I likely to get anything about William in connection with the Dorset Militia? Toby.

Ancestry have records of the Dorset Militia (1757-1860) but I don't know how complete they are. There are no entries for Maiden Newton after 1758 and, while there are a few William Curtis entries for Dorchester (the centre for MN), none fits the bill very well as they are hosiers, tailors, bakers etc.

I don't know whether Dorset History Centre could help. Their catalogue is here:
http://archives.dorsetforyou.com/adlibwebapp/search.aspx


Richard