Humphery bible - Clapham Common

[Katkingreen]

Hello folks,

Can anyone shed any light on this for me at all by any chance?

We have a bible which was owned by my greatgrandmother Eva Mace (nee Selwood). Written on a piece of envelope pasted in the inside front cover is:

'Mrs Humphery 1845
30th December at 5m past 2 of Tuesday in the morning a Boy was born at Clapham Common.'

Inside the flyleaf is written:-

'Annie M Jane Humphery
Clapham Common
May 30th 1846.'

Inside is a leaflet - 'Accounts of the Royal School for the Blind, Leatherhead, Surrey, 1960' - this may not be relevant. But you never know!

I have managed to find this Humphery family in a couple of cenuses. The mother is Ann, sometimes Annie, and her husband is John. In 1861 they have 5 children and the youngest is Robert P Humphery who is 15 and would have been born c.1845/46 - the child who's birth is recorded in the bible.

But I have no idea how this family might be connected with my grandmother!

Can anyone help me please?!

Thanks!

katkingreen

[Malcolm33]

    Welcome to Rootschat, Katkin.    We all hope that you will receive many answers here.   

     It is a good idea to give as much detail surrounding your enquiry so that we can help.     It may well be that your great grandparents acquired the Family Bible from a second hand book shop.   I see that they married in 1914 at Hartley Wintney which is not a great distance from Leatherhead, so I would guess at this stage that whoever had the Bible in 1960, most likely your family, were working or helping out at the Blind School, rather than it having anything to do with one of the Humphrey Family.

     Nevertheless it is always intriguing when something like this pops up, and one just has to get to the bottom of it.

      Philip Mace and Eva Selwood married in the April/June quarter of 1914.    I think by then everyone knew that War was coming though the outbreak of war was on the 28th July.   So this looks like a marriage before Philip went to war - would that be right?

      If the Bible was handed down and not purchased second hand then either Philip or Eva could be a grandchild of any one of the Humphrey family.

[Malcolm33]

    Robert Peel or Pat Humphery was born 30 December 1846 to parents John Humphery and Anne Maria Jane.   What is interesting is that he was in Rowington Warwickshire in 1871, in Warwick in 1881, but back in Surrey - Godstone by 1901.   Not far from Leatherhead, so there may be a family connection or the Bible was acquired after 1960.

[Katkingreen]

Hi Malcolm
Thanks for your interest. Yes, it's true that the bible could have belonged to a friend and been given to Eva as a keepsake. But, as it's practically the only thing of hers we have, it could be a lead for me. And, equally it could have come via Philip's family. His father was William Henry Mace and his mother Sarah Elizabeth Suddaby. Can't see a Suddaby/ Humphery marriage or a Mace/ Humphery one.

Good thinking about the RNIB leaflet. I wouldn't have mentioned it in my message, only  sometimes the littlest things prove to be clues.

( Yes, Philip Mace was in the Army and served part of his time in India)

Cheers
Katkingreen

[Katkingreen]

Thanks for this too Malcolm, glad to have your help with this,
Katkingreen