Is this Mr Ware; and who is he?

[Richard Knott]

Robert Pratt's niece married a Daniel WACE, so it is tempting to think that he (Robert) might be a clerk to Daniel's father, Richard Wace, a rich butcher; but I think this entry says he is a clerk to a Mr WARE (compare the '...re..' in Margaret in the line below.

If it is a Mr Ware, is it too fanciful to think it might be possible to trace him who this Mr Ware is? Although there are several Mr Ware's around (eg the surgeon James Ware) the best candidate I can see who is likely to have had a clerk is a solicitor (George Ware) in Southwark, but one wonders why the baptismal entry would refer to the name of someone who isn't in the same district/parish. The baptism is in 1792 in St Ann(e)'s, Limehouse (Robert Pratt is paying rent in Thee Cock Street, St Anne, Limehouse in 1792) but he and Rebecca than had seven children in Greenwich from 1794 - 1811. He was referred to as a clerk in every baptism but a 'gentleman' on his 1791 marriage licence, and on two of his children's burial entries). aApart from feeling the need for a licence, he went on to leave nearly £30,000 of property and investments in 1836, which seems a lot for a mere clerk.

Richard

[amondg]

Robert George Pratt appears to be the son of Robert and Rebecca Mather, the original on ancestry.

[Lily M]

Not much help, but I read that as Mr. Hare

[ShaunJ]

It's possibly the surgeon James Ware's father Martin Ware who was Master Shipbuilder at the Royal Dockyard at Deptford around that time. There are contemporary newspaper reports of people being appointed to positions in the dockyard "in the room of Mr Ware".

[Richard Knott]

Robert George Pratt appears to be the son of Robert and Rebecca Mather, the original on ancestry.

Thanks for replying. Yes, that's the attachment on my original posting.

It's possibly the surgeon James Ware's father Martin Ware who was Master Shipbuilder at the Royal Dockyard at Deptford around that time. There are contemporary newspaper reports of people being appointed to positions in the dockyard "in the room of Mr Ware".

Now that is an exciting possibility; thanks. Robert Pratt's father-in-law was a successful shipwright (Christopher Watson; probably the one who built two of the ships in the First Fleet to Australia and then invented the floating dry dock), so that looks a real possibility. He isn't mentioned in Martin Ware's will (although two of his servants are witnesses), but I'll follow it up.

Richard

[janan]

I would read it as clerk to W^m Hare - the M of mister doesn't look like the one in Margaret and the W doesn't look like the one in Waterman. Although if its W^m the W doesn't look like the one in Waterman either so could be Mr Hare

Jan

[Lily M]

That's how I read it too Jan.   The H is the same as the Henry who is on the original page.

[Richard Knott]

Yes, thanks; you may be right. And there is a Richard Hare who was a brewer in Limehouse (and left a long will in 1776 to several sons), so I will certainly follow the Hares up.

Richard

Added: one son, Richard, sold the business to a Mr Taylor (of Taylor Walker beer fame) and moved to Bath in about 1792, the same year as Robert Pratt moved from Limehouse to Greenwich, so this remains a possibility.