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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Cornwall Lookup Requests => Cornwall => England => Cornwall Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Ding on Thursday 12 June 08 04:24 BST (UK)
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I have in my possesion a jug with "Jane Trindade 1831" painted on it. Through some of my late mothers correspondence I have learned that she was Jane Gertrude Johns of Crantock. I believe she married a Joseph Lourissco da Trindade maybe in Falmouth. He is described as a Merchant on her death Cert.
The interesting part is that I believe, at some stage,she ended up in a harem, and escaped by bribing the guards with jewelery. The story goes that she was smuggled out in a wine barrel to the waiting boat skippered by a Thomas Johns.
She evidently had a dark skinned son (maybe Joseph) and lived her days out till 9 Mar 1872 in Crantock. She died at Church Farm Crantock.
I would like to know where the harem was, what happened to her husband, was the boats captain her brother and what happened to her son.
Ding
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Hi Ding,
Unfortunately I can't verify any of it. I can tell you there is no entry in the Crantock registers for this alleged son. No baptism, no burial. This article states she was a young woman but I have been over the register closely and nothing. There is no marriage listed in Cornwall, but if the story is true I doubt there was a marriage. If there was perhaps in this foreign land :-\
Jane did have a brother Thomas bap 1 May 1803. 1841 and 1851 it looks like he is an accountant in savings bank in Falmouth and in 1861 secretary and actuary Falmouth Savings Bank, so does not seem likely he was a captain. Her brother William was however a Master Mariner.
This article says she was rescued by her brother Thomas.
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CORNISH/2006-08/1156849746
Perhaps you should try to contact the author if you have not already done so. He may have further information. The burial on 14 March 1872 lists her as Jane Gertrude Trinidade aged 72 years of Crantock . It certainly is a fascinating story and it would be good to get to the bottom of it. Good Luck ............Cheers Kris :D
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Forgot to mention - the other thing that crosses my mind is this description of her husband as Joseph Lourisico Da Trinidad(e).......I wonder if his name may have been something Like Joseph LOURISICA and he was described as da Trinidad (of Trinidad) Now you have record of him as a merchant and a wealthy merchant would probably describe himself as of somewhere. Name too hard to say so for respectability she just became Jane Trinidad. True or untrue the family needed to find some respectability for Jane and her situation particularly if she did in fact have a dark skinned son and he died unbaptised and the locals knew about it. The Johns were a very respectable family. I am sure they would not have wanted it known that Jane had been used and abused in a harem........Kris :D
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Hi Kris, thank you for your replies to my post.
I hadn't seen the Brian Harris story so I have sent an email off to him including what information I have, so hope he is still at the same address.
Looking at her death cert. it could well be Joseph Lourisico. As you say maybe they never married and the name Trindade was adopted to give legitimacy to the dark child.
It was a long shot that I posted this but sofar it has been fruitful. I don't have any dates except the one on the jug (1831). I assume her ordeal happened in the early 1820's.
Again thanks, Ding
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Hi
Yes think Kris is definitely on to something with the da/de of
Up to 1800's it was very common in the registers to see surname de (Place) for many people in the parish..so this could have been a latin continuation.
Census 1871
45,,1,William Martyn,Head,U,35,,Farmer 125a Emp 3 Men 1 Boy,Crantock Cornwall,,
,,,Jane Trinidad,Aunt,W,,71,Annuitant,Crantock Cornwall,,
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kayhin/72257a.html
1861 already a widow (or stating that)
TRINDAD Jane Sister W F 61 Annuitant Cornwall - Crantock
1851 census still with father and unmarried.
JOHNS William Head W M 76 Retired Farmer Cornwall - Crantock
JOHNS Jane Dau U F 51 Cornwall - Crantock
JOHNS William Son U M 49 Master Mariner Cornwall - Crantock
JOHNS Charlotte Dau U F 30 Cornwall - Crantock
SCORSE Mary Servnt U F 20 House Servt Cornwall - Helstone
Piece: HO107/1905 Place: Padstow -Cornwall Enumeration District: 1
Civil Parish: Crantock
Makes you wonder that later that year was when she married at 51yr?
Bye
Althea
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Hi,
Here she is in 1841,
1841 HO107/149/9 f.6 p.6 Crantock
Tregunnell
William JOHNS 65 Ind
Charles " " 20 Ap Shipwright
Charlotte " " 22
Jane TRINIDADE 40 Married Daughter
Elizabeth LAWES 50 Ind
Silas MARTYNE 4
Elizabeth CHEG?DEN 22 All born in county
Regards
Daisy
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Hi everyone, thank you all for your efforts.
Its interesting to follow the census information:
1841 Jane Trinidade 41 Married daughter.
1851 Jane Johns 51 Daughter, Unmarried, Housekeeper
1861 Jane Trindad 61 Sister, Widowed, Annuitant.
1871 Jane Trinidad 71 Aunt, Widow, Annuitant.
For those of you following this post here is a section of the letter written to my mother in 1968 by a Martyn cousin in Cornwall:
" She was married to a Trinadad who I think must have come into Falmouth in the wine trade business. He married her, or so she thought, but delivered her up, we are told, to a Mosocan(?) Hareem. I feel it must have been to do with the wine trade, because when she escaped by bribing them with jewellry she was, we were told,.......down onto the Quay in a wine barrel on board a boat bound for Falmouth. The captain of the boat is said to have told her brothers and arranged the escape. She had a black child lived with her in Crantock.
She lived at home after with her unmarried sisters at Vosputh(?) built for the daughters by their father, who owned land in Crantock inherited from his mother a Martyn........My mother was taken to see her as a child. She was very tall and upright though very old. She herself never spoke of the affair. But it is history to all the family. Some members said it was the West Indies but this I do not believe - too far off. We do know however that it was the end of the French wars, and she could have been seized by pirates off the Banbury coast."
Hope this is of interest, Ding
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JANE JOHNS
JOZE DA TRINDADA LOURENZO
Marriage: 25 JUL 1821 Mawnan, Cornwall
I would think with that name he was possibly Portuguese. Trinidad is Spanish for Trinity. I don't think having Trinidad in his name means any connection to the Caribbean.
Regards
Valda
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Burial
18th June 1822
St Michael Mawnan
Joseph Lorenzo Trinidade
1 month
Regards
Valda
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Hi Valda,
A wonderful piece of detective work!!!
I did wonder if he was Portuguese. The date and area seems to fit and because of the unusual name one could almost be certain that this is the missing marriage. You could see how the name could be twisted in later years.
I wonder what happened to him?
Your second post arrived while I was typing, another mystery solved ;D
I gather from this information she was abducted into the harem between July 1821 and May 1822.
The only unanswered question is where was the harem? ???
Ding ;D
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Hi Valda,
I have just noticed that in the 1861 Census Janes 42 years old brother was born in Mawnan.
Regards Ding
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Excellent ;D
Funny Ding, I had noticed that but never really absorbed it. It is true - don't know why but they were in Mawnan for a few years. Never entered my mind they would have lived anywhere other than Crantock.
There are births and deaths in Mawgan. We are now on 15 children. ;D
Explains why I didn't have some baptisms. For some reason I just assumed they hadn't baptised the latter ones. I had wondered why Edwards age in census didn't agree with the baptism I had, which is really unusual with Gentry - their ages are usually very accurate. Really should have twigged. Funny when you know. The signs were all there, I just wasn't looking.
I can now tell you they moved between 1813 and 1814. Edward bap Crantock 23 May 1813 buried 3 Dec 1814 Mawnan aged 19 Months. Charles Henry bap 26 May 1816 Mawnan buried 21 Feb 1817 Mawnan aged 9 Months, Charlotte 21 Nov 1817 Mawnan, Edward 16 Feb 1819 Mawnan, Charles 21 July 1821 Mawnan. Looking at Mawnan burials maybe even another one. I don't see a baptism for this one but there is the burial listed for Silas 8 Dec 1814 aged 7 months.
Cheers Kris :D
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Hi everyone :)
What a great story!
I have found a few things on National Archives which may be of interest:
[no title] TLP/338 23 Apr. 1859
Contents:
Mortgage for £800 (conveyance).
Hen. Prynn Andrew of Bodrean, esq., Geo. Nicholls Simmons of Truro, gent., Eliz. Andrew of Nansough, wid., to Rich. Johns of Crantock, gent., and Wm. Martyn of Tregunnel, Crantock.Nansough manor.
Online Document PROB 11/2260
Will of William Johns Gentleman Crantock , Cornwall . Date: 1857.
will look for more
deb ;D
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The Book of Mawnan: celebrating a South Cornwall parish by the Mawnan History Group (2002)
Halsgrove, Halsgrove House, Lower Moor Way, TIVERTON Devon EX16 6SS
www.halsgrove.com (ISBN 1-84114-148-8)
Regards
Valda
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I wonder if the letter could be Moroccan Hareem (Mosocan(?) Hareem) and Barbary Coast (Banbury coast) :-\
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Coast
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-BarbaryS.html
Daisy
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The Jane Trindade file grows. ;D
I had a look at IGI for Johns christenings in Mawnan and, like you Kris, was delighted to find missing children. One slight piece of confusion is that they are all listed with father Richard, when surely it should have been William?
The Martyn cousin in Cornwall who I mentioned earlier did a lot of work trying to find the nearest surviving relative to a Marion Johns. She discovered that Charles Henry died and was followed by twins Charles & Henry. Henry emmigrated to Australia on 3 Aug 1848 on Navarino & Charles emmigrated in about 1851. She also mentioned something about a boating tragedy on the Gannel which drowned some of the children. I shall dig out her letters and have another look.
Getting back on the subject of Jane Trindade, my first thoughts when reading the letter was maybe Morocco.I am unaware if there were harems there.
Thank you for the other links I shall follow them up.
Ding.
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Good Grief - They are too Ding, :o
Very Strange. I wonder what the full entries for the children's burials say. Quite often a burial will list son or dau of ....... The burials are all after the forms appear. I would like to know about the Silas one too. I note the tree lists a Silas Edward, but having gotten used to The Martyn's baptising sons Edward but later they are Silas Edward I just suspected the same thing here. Now we do have a family in Mawnan. I think those full baptism entries are a must too. We know they are all the same family. :-[
Kris :-\
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JOZE DA TRINDADA LOURENZO
Jose is the Spanish form of Joseph so
Joseph Lorenzo Trinidade
would be named for his father.
Is it likely you would name the son for his father if you had been deserted by him and possibly sold onto a harem - captured of course would be another thing and there were certainly Barbary pirates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_pirates
Or the selling into the harem may have happened after the birth and burial of her son.
Regards
Valda
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Hi All,
It looks as if we can successfully compile an outline of the life of Jane Trindade (Johns) given the results of your research.
It appears that Jane was born in Crantock in 1799 the daughter of William Johns & Jane Johns (Lawer). They moved to Mawnan in 1813/14 and on 25 Jul 1821 she married Joze Da Trindada Lorenzo a merchant from Portugal. In May the following year she gave birth to Joseph Lorenzo Trindade, who died at the age of one month and is buried in St Michael, Mawnan.
At some stage in the following 9 years (the date on my jug being 1831) she ended up in a Moroccan harem. It appears that it is unlikely that she was betrayed by her husband Joze (Joseph being English form of Joze). She also kept her married surname on her return. The most likely scenario is that she and Joze were attacked by Barbary Coast pirates and she was delivered into a Moroccan harem. The Barbary pirates were operating until 1830. Her husband Joze has not been heard of since.
Jane was able to escape the harem by bribing the guards with jewelry and was smuggled out in a wine barrel to the boat Liberty skippered by a Thomas Johns (who may have been her uncle). She was delivered back to Crantock and lived with her widowed father until after his death when she and her unmarried sister, Charlotte Johns, moved into Church Town. She was described as a tall upright lady who never spoke of the harem affair.
Jane died on 9 Mar 1872 at Church town, Crantock. Aged 72 wife of Joseph Lourisico da Trindade (sic) Merchant. The informant, who was present at her death, was her sister in law Matilda Johns (wife of Edward Lawer Johns). She was buried in Crantock Church yard on 14 March 1872.
My sincere thanks to everybody who have helped piece this mystery together.
Ding ;D
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Hi Ding,
Great Work - Alas it does not appear to have been uncle Thomas who was the captain as he died in 1785 and was buried in Crantock on the 20 Apr 1785 :'(
Kris :D
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Hi everyone
I found this on NA and thought I would post it:
[no title] BRA1301/1 1828
Contents:
Marriage Settlement (L&R) Marr. of .(iii)&(iv)
(i) James Eddy of Truro, gent excrs, in trust of Simon Lawer of Truro, Mercer deed.
John Buckingham of Kenwyn, surgeon excrs, in trust of Simon Lawer of Truro, Mercer deed.
(ii) Elizabeth Lawer of St. Agnes, widow of Simon Lawer deed
(iii) Elizabeth Lawer of St. Agnes, spinster, dtr. of (ii).
(iv) Richard Retallack of the Borough of Mitchell, gent.
(v) Joseph Newton of St. Agnes, gent. Nicholas Francis Bassett of Kenwyn, surgeon. Trustees
(Recital of will of Simon Lawer deed. of 17 March 1808 granting (ii) annuity of £100. Residue to his dtr. (iii) (i) possessed of land etc. at Treamble, Perranzabuloe and shops and houses in Truro occ. Francis Thomas, stationer and Silvanus James, grocer for redr. of 99 yrs' term granted by lease of 29 September 1804 from Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart., to Simon Lawer (decd.) Then determinable on death of (ii) and Jane Gertrude Johns. Also possessed of part of Ryder's tenement, Kenwyn, for redr. of two terms of 99yrs. granted by Sir Wm. Lemon Bart. by two leases of 29 Sept. 1805 and 24 June 1810. Then determinable on deaths of (ii) (iii) and Jane Gertrude Johns and occ. by Phillip Sambell, merchant. By same will (iii) entitled to £817-13s-9d due by promissory note of James Eddy. £850 then due to (iv) as legatee and excr. of will of Francis Retallack; of the Borough of Mitchell gent. (his father) from Mary Norway of Egloshayle, widow. Money secured on premises in Egloshayle recited in Assignment (by way of Mortgage) of 15 September 1824. £300 due to (iv) from Joseph Hooken of Ellenglaze, esq., and representatives of John James of Truro, gent. on a bond of J. Hesken and J. James of 5 May 1819.
20 January 1828 (iii) was 22. Marriage arranged between (iii) and (iv). Annuity of (ii) charged on freehold and leasehold premises called Trevissa and Penscawen, St. Enoder.)
(i) & (ii)
With consent
Of (iii) and (iv) to (v) -- premises at Treamble, Perranzabuloe occ. Perran Hoskin, then John Hosking, then Luke Blce, then Catherine Tyggu, widow
(iv) to (v) -- £300 and £850
Trusts (iv) for life, then (iii) and child (ren) of marriage.)
3 and 4 November
Witd. Jos. Hosken James, solicitor, Truro; John Mason Pooley, clerk to Messrs, Huddy & James, solicitors, Truro; Mary Goyen.
Is this your Jane Gertrude Johns who married Joze da Trinidad?
It seems that Jane Johns nee Lawer had a brother named Simon Lawer...
re; the arranged marriage:
IGI has this; Elizabeth Lawer = Richard Retallick
28 dec 1828, St Agnes near Truro
deb
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Hi Deb, very interesting find!
It is going to take me a while to get my head around all this. My initial thoughts are that this would have to be our Jane.
1. Her mother was Jane Lawer and on the 1841 census there is an Elizabeth Lawer in the same house as Jane.
2. IGI has Simon Lawer chr. 16Jul 1774 brother to Jane.
3. The 1861/71 census show Jane Trindade as Annuitant, maybe this has some connection.
It needs some studying. :-\
Ding
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Hi Ding and Deb,
Yes it certainly is Jane,
I recognise the names. Simon Lawer is her uncle. This was the marriage settlement - I presume Elizabeth's Father's Will of 1808 had to be read as there was provision for his daughter. Simon's daughter Elizabeth (his only child) married Richard Retallick 5 Nov 1828. Richard and Elizabeth had 2 children and interestingly those children are in the home of Nicholas Basset a surgeon (also mentioned as Trustee) and his family in the 1841 census. Simon's wife was Elizabeth Tregellas NEWTON the daughter of Francis Newton and Elizabeth Tregellas. Simon and Elizabeth married 24 July 1804 in St Agnes. The other Trustee Joseph Newton I expect was Elizabeth's brother bap 19 Sep 1802 St Agnes.
Cheers Kris :D
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Hi ding
it sure is a fascinating story ... I have just reread my previous post and have noted that Philip Sambell is a merchant....
I wonder if finding Richard Retallick amd Elizabeth Lawer may reveal any other clues. Was the arranged marriage to do with money?
also , Jane Gertrude was already married to Joze Lorenzo d trinidad at that stage (1828) , was it an old will or were they ignoring the fact that she had married him? It seems to be the case also when she was living with her dad in 1851 as in all other censues she refers to herself as Jane Trinidad.
maybe the will of William Johns may help. see previous post.
ummm this does need some thinking through! Why did the story go that Thomas , her brother, saved her when it was her other brother, William, who was the master mariner?
deb :)
ps ...hiya Kris :) we are crossing wires here ...LOL
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Kris ...
That is brilliant info ! :) Do you think Jane Gertrude was around then or was she in the harem?
Jane marries in 1821 ...see Valda's post
JANE JOHNS
JOZE DA TRINDADA LOURENZO
Marriage: 25 JUL 1821 Mawnan
then she has Joseph in May 1822, she is mentioned in a will in 1828.
Did Philip Sambell know Joze ? they were both merchants.
When did her dad, William die? Do you think the will I found was his?
Online Document PROB 11/2260
Will of William Johns Gentleman Crantock , Cornwall . Date: 1857
deb :)
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That would be the will Deb. William was buried Crantock 21 Nov 1856 aged 82 years...........Kris :D
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Kris
Does Ding have the will ...it may reveal more! ;D
deb
ps ...I wonder if my Crantock rellies knew Dings?
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On closer look at the 1841 census it says that Elizabeth Lawer is 50. If it is the mother she married at 13. The daughter would be 35. ???
William was 2 years younger than Jane, would he have made Master mariner in his 20s?
If it was a Thomas Johns and related it must have been distant.
I'm having trouble keeping up.
I dont have the will.
My line is Janes sister Harriet Johns = Silas Hiscutt Martyn, Daughter Mary Jane (born in Tregunell) = Richard Grose Pollard, daughter Mary Louise (my Gmother).
Ding
Ding
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Ding
How fab to have a gr gr aunt with such a history!! :o
I will look for more on national Archives.
deb :)
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I have just downloaded the Will of William Johns. It is 5 pages of difficult handwriting so it will take me some time to read.
Ding
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hi Ding
great stuff! how great to have a will in the family.
If you need help with transcribing it , there are many people who are whizzes at doing that on Rootschat. you could start a new thread in the common room...stating that you need the will transcribed and then post the images ....
deb ;D
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Hi Deb, having trouble doing this as the file is 580k and the limit is 500k. I might have to try scanning each page to reduce the size.
Ding
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Hi Ding,
I am afraid you will not be able to post the complete file due to copyright restrictions. Only a small portion of a document may be posted for identification purposes. You will need to scan it and crop the section you are having difficulty with. Sorry about that.......Kris :'(
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ooops I don't know about the copyright restrictions ...pity about that....but surely if Ding has purchased the will belonging to the family it can be transcribed :-\
deb ...off to bed :)
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Hi All,
I have just received a reply from Brian Harris who's uncle wrote a piece about the abduction.(see early post from krisesjoint). An interesting inclusion was information on a Schooner named Liberty built at Ilfracombe in 1838. At the bottom of the document under the heading "Other details" this is written:
"The vessel was named Liberty in recognition of Miss Jane Johns escape from the clutches of Algerian pirates. She was a sister of Capt W. T. Johns."
From this it looks like the boats captain was William and not Thomas. It also seems that the ship that rescued her was not necessarily called Liberty. It also confirms that she was captured by pirates off the Barbary Coast. ;D
I am still struggling with the will of her father William. ???
Regards Ding
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Fantastic news Ding. ;D
I am pleased this has been solved. Great to know we were right with William. I didn't have a second initial for him - baptism only lists William.
Good luck with the Will.........Kris :D
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Hi
What a fabulous find! I know I have seen something on NA relating to the Liberty ...but cannot find it ... will keep looking.
In the meantime i have found this which relates to all your peeps :
NA:
[no title or date] TF/2194
Contents:
Assignment of 99 yr. lease
(1) Thos. Osborne of Newquay, labourer; (2) Rob. Sydney Oliver of Newquay, grocer, Rich. Inch of Newquay, carpenter, Wm. Vivian of Newquay, gent., Rich. Carne of Newquay, carpenter, Wm. Cook of Newquay, tailor, Wm. Carrivick of Newquay, gent., Jn. Reynolds of Newquay, watchmaker, Wm. Moyses of Newquay, schoolmaster, Silas Hiscutt Martyn and Rich. Johns of Crantock, yeos., Thos. Martyn and Jas. Tremain of Newlyn-in-Pydar, yeos., and Fred. Burdon of Newlyn-in-Pydar, miller; (3) Joseph Payne, superintendent preacher of circuit in Methodist Connexion
Recites: lease, Rich. Lomax to Thos. Osborne, piece of ground (18 yrds.) bounded on n. and w. with road to Trethellan gate, on s. with premises in occ. Rob. Sleeman, on e. with premises in occ. Rich. Hocken, part of Towan Common, 5 Oct. 1832
(2) possessed of money intended to purchase ground for building a chapel for the use of the people called Methodists
Consideration: £30 by (2) to (1)
Piece of ground (about 6½ yrds.) being 34' facing road on n. side, 62' long, being n.e. part of garden in occ. of (1)
5 Apr. 1852
deb
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Hi Deb,
There are hundreds of these conveyances. These were the Gentry of St Columb. They owned many properties. A lovely chap I have worked with on his branch of the family is in Cornwall at the moment hoping to learn more about the properties his family owned both in St Columb and other parishes once they moved on. This is the wonderful thing when tracing Gentry there is just so much documentation on them. (Wills, Bonds, Settlements, Conveyances etc) It is fascinating, but nothing compared to the story of Jane ;D ..........Kris :D
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Hi Kris
Jane is certainly one of those people I would love to have in my family... I wonder what it was ACTUALLY like for her though.... she must have been terrified!!!! Imagine if she had kept a diary :D
The Liberty was built in 1838 in honour of Jane JOHNS escape .... they still don't refer to her as Jane Trinidad :-\
deb :)
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Hi everybody,
I have been working on the Will of Jane's father William Johns. It appears that he leaves her a fair share of the estate , but a couple of interesting parts:
1. The Will was drawn up in 1847.
2. Jane is refered to in the early part of the Will as Jane Gertrude Trinadade.
3. Although she was not the only married daughter, there is a part that says ....."to my said daughter Jane Gertrude for her sole and separate use and not to be subject to the .... control or interference of her present or future husband." He does not use this clause for his other married daughter.
Just thought I would post these facts for the interest of those following this story.
Ding
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Thanks to Di, I thought you would all like to see Jane ;D
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,310842.msg2115306.html#msg2115306
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Hi Kris :)
Thanks for the photo.... How marvelous for the family to have it!
Thanks to Di too.
deb :)
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I have in my possesion a jug with "Jane Trindade 1831" painted on it. Through some of my late mothers correspondence I have learned that she was Jane Gertrude Johns of Crantock. I believe she married a Joseph Lourissco da Trindade maybe in Falmouth. He is described as a Merchant on her death Cert.
The interesting part is that I believe, at some stage,she ended up in a harem, and escaped by bribing the guards with jewelery. The story goes that she was smuggled out in a wine barrel to the waiting boat skippered by a Thomas Johns.
She evidently had a dark skinned son (maybe Joseph) and lived her days out till 9 Mar 1872 in Crantock. She died at Church Farm Crantock.
I would like to know where the harem was, what happened to her husband, was the boats captain her brother and what happened to her son.
Ding
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