William Wells - Boscastle/Padstow

[frogmorelodge]

Hi Ashley,

I haven't cross-checked the dates for William Jenkyn from the emails but do they conflict at all with any other known dates for William e.g. when Imperieuse was away in China/Hongkong?

I have not come across a marriage between William Wells and Lucy Jane Pullen - what led you to that? I had concluded there were two marriages, one to Amelia and a later to Jane - as per the notes I shared. But I do not insist that my piecemeal research is all correct.

I take it you have not progressed further back into Williams line yet? I'm not active on this at the moment but would you be happy to share what information we both discover?

Regards
David

[JosiahS]

Hi David

As I mentioned earlier on this thread William's father was alive on his first marriage but dead for the second.  I got that marriage off Ancestry - same signature as the one in Folkstone.

There are no conflicts in terms  of date except for year of birth - he says that his DOB is 25 July 1835 but the baptism is 27 Jul 1834 - he wouldn't be the first person in those days not to know how old he was. 

Ashley

[frogmorelodge]

That's reassuring Ashley.

I previously also found the following marriage:

1891 census
William Wells age 56 born 1835 boscastle door keeper.  Great GFather
Jane Wells age 49 born 1842 westbourne hants
Frank wells age 19 born 1872  London Groom
Harry wells age ? Could be 19 too                       London
Albert wells age 8 born 1883.    London                        My grandfather

I can't now locate this record on Freecen - maybe a coverage issue. Irritatingly I don't appear to have noted the census place or located Janes maiden name. I may have come across it when using FindMyPast in which case I usually took a screenshot of the entry - will have to search my archive. But unless I've had a complete meltdown on this, it does very much appear to be our William.

Regards
David 

[frogmorelodge]

Ok Ashley,

I found the census entry on FS:

Name:   William Wells
Event Type:   Census
Event Date:   1891
County:   London
Parish:   Kensington
Ecclesiastical Parish:   ST GEORGE CAMPDEN HILL
Sub-District:   
Registration District:   Kensington
Residence Note:   Peel Street
Gender:   Male
Age:   56
Marital Status:   Married
Occupation:   Door Keeper
Relationship to Head of Household:   Head
Birth Year (Estimated):   1835
Birthplace:   Cornwall, England
Schedule Type:   
Page:   
Page Number:   63
Line Number:   18
Registration Number:   RG12
Piece/Folio:   19/ 184


Household   Role   Sex   Age   Birthplace
William Wells   Head   M   56   Cornwall, England
Jane Wells   Wife   F   49   Hampshire, England
Frank Wells   Son   M   19   London, England
Harry Wells   Son   M   999   London, England
Albert Wells   Son   M   8   London, England

And my notes indicate the actual entry states place of birth as Boscastle.

Regards
David

[frogmorelodge]

Hi Ashley,

Further to my earlier posts today, I've been exploring the theory that Mary Wills was married (and possibly widowed) before she married George Jenkyn, and that's perhaps why the Wills name was retained in some of the Jenkyn children including William (Wells).

I couldn't locate a Wills marriage between Williams birth in 1834/35 and the 1841 census however. Looking for the marriage of George Jenkyn, the only entry I find in OPC Cornwall is George Jenkyn marrying Mary Wills in 1831 at Forrabury, interestingly well before the birth of either of the children known to have used Wills/Wells. So perhaps Mary was a strong matriarchal figure wanting her maiden name to live on?

George Jenkyn also turns up as a witness at the marriage of Elizabeth Wills to a Richard Bartlett in 1936, so there definitely appears to be a connection between the two families.

Regards
David

[JosiahS]

Hi David

Yes there is a clear link between them

Once you have accepted that the name should be Jenkyns it is quite easy to research backwards - they came up the coast from Padstow and before that from St Ives

As far as I can see the Wills family are from the Lanteglos/Advent area, but the wider family goes up into Morwenstow and also across the border into Devon

All the best

Ashley

[frogmorelodge]

Hi Ashley,

Did your research take you to:
George Jenkyns baptised Forrabury 30/3/1806
Parents Charles and Mariah nee England married Minster 1797, Charles shown as residing Lanteglos (which?)

Then there are multiple choices for Charles baptism. I favoured Padstow 1774 (right spelling, not too distant) but then checked the 'upstream' Jenkyns marriages and baptisms to find them much more southern/western Cornwall based. It sounds like you may have settled on the Padstow baptism - any significant evidence for this?

Regards
David

[frogmorelodge]

Looks like the same story on the preceding generations - several candidates to chose from. What basis are you using to identify the father's line? Are you simply using best surname match, location, or are you rooting around siblings for linking information?

Great to be able to get back beyond William though!

Regards
David

[JosiahS]

Hi David

George is clearly the son of Charles Jenkyn and his wife Maria nee England.

In the 1841 census they have a son living with them called Charles who does not appear in the local baptisms.  If you search for his baptism with parents Charles and Maria then you will find it in Padstow proving the link.  I have therefore assumed that the elder Charles was the son of Charles and Elizabeth and baptised 19 Sep 1773 as his first two children were called Elizabeth and Charles so he could be using the English naming system, it is also closer to his known age at death from his headstone information. 

The Charles whom I have assumed to be his father also used the English naming system calling his children by Elizabeth, Charles and Honor, which ties him back to the baptism in 1752 in St Ives.  His marriage to Elizabeth states that he was from the parish of St Ives.

All the best

Ashley