Hi all,
I have a bit of a problem with my ancestor John Chambers of Moulton and Northampton in the 1790s to 1810s and am hoping that someone might be able to please help me crack it.
My ancestor Martha Chambers married Moses Mallory Cowley in All Saints Northampton by licence on 3 March 1809.
The census and death records indicate she was born between 1783 and 1787 and this took place in Moulton, Northampton.
In the non-conformist records there is the baptism of a Martha Chambers, daughter of John and Sarah Chambers, on 9 February 1796 at Doddridge Memorial Congregational Chapel, Northampton.
This records she was born in Moulton on 16 May 1791 but that her parents now lived in the parish of St Sepulchre Northampton. She seems to have later added years to her age for one reason or another.
From baptisms and burials in Moulton and Northampton I know John Chambers and Sarah had the following children:
1. Thomas Chambers 1787–1788
2. Martha Chambers/Cowley 1791–1875
3. Thomas Chambers 1793–1798
4. Ruth Chambers 1795–1796
5. William Chambers 1796–1797
6. Thomas Chambers 1799–1799
The first son was baptised and buried at Moulton parish church with all the others being baptised at Doddridge Memorial Congregational Chapel, Northampton and buried at St Sepulchre Northampton.
The burials at St Sepulchre only list the name with no family details or age, but it seems clear from the names that the burials are of their children. This also makes it likely that another two sons were the Thomas Chambers and William Chambers buried there in 1800 and 1802.
Now here come the problems which are...
A. I cannot find a marriage for John Chambers to a Sarah in the period before 1787. There is a marriage for a couple with these names in Deene, but as there were children baptised there, this must be another couple.
B. I would assume they had a child in c1789 that I cannot find a trace of.
C. I do not know for sure who John Chambers was. It would appear due to the Moulton connection that he was the John Chambers, son of John Chambers (1729-1815) and Susanna Faulkner (1733-1807), who appears to have been baptised twice at Moulton. The first baptised is 5 June 1765, but then he appears to have been baptised a second time in 1767 with his sister Mary where his date of birth is recorded as 15 June 1763. The latter however cannot be correct as his sister Ann was baptised in May 1763.
D. His assumed father John Chambers (1729-1815) had his death announced in the New Monthly magazine and the Northampton Mercury, but I have not been able to find a will or administration for him which might name his son John to prove the link for certain.
E. Adverts in the Northampton Mercury show that in January 1810 he opened a shop in the Drapery, Northampton, with his son-in-law Moses Cowley specialising in woollen, linen, hosiery, haberdashery and hats. However they closed down their business in February 1812 to Mr J. Knight. However in July 1812 Mr Knight vacated the premises and John Chambers was looking to rent or sell it which makes me assume he owned the building.
F. There is a notice of sale in Northampton Mercury 08 April 1815 at John Chambers’ house in Gold Street, Northampton. It is not made clear if these were his own possessions, but given the nature of the objects in being furniture, this seems likely. Was he in financial difficulties or was he moving away from Northampton? His assumed father John Chambers died later that month so was there a link there?
G. After this newspaper article I have found no further reference to John Chambers and his wife Sarah. Certainly by 1823 his son-in-law Moses Mallory Cowley and daughter Martha were living in Newington in Surrey. So could he have moved down to the London area? As far as I am aware, Martha was his only surviving child so this could be a possibility, but I do not know for certain.
I don’t really know where else to go to find out more and wondered if anyone might have any ideas on how to proceed with this line further. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Jon