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Research in Other Countries => Europe => Topic started by: Westby on Tuesday 24 May 11 13:01 BST (UK)
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My ancestor Thomas Wilmot Easthope (b approx 1822) is shown in the 1851 census to have been born in Normandy France as a British subject. In 1851 he was living in Cheltenham with his wife Eliza Homer.
I have no information about his parents, his early life, or how he happened to be born in France.
I'd appreciate any suggestions about how I can find some more information.
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http://www.familyhistorysa.info/births-marriages-deaths/marriages.html
- I see that he married Eliza in SA in 1840, which complicates things.
In 1861 it looks like (RG9/83 104/35) he's 50 (still b. Normandy) so we may want to be more flexible with ages.
There is a newspaper record on May 08 1828 recording the death, at sea aboard the ship Robarts, Frank Wilmot Easthope, aged 19, son of Captain Easthope of Norwood House, Cheltenham.
This boy is christened in London in 1809 (familysearch.org), son of Thomas Easthope and Sarah Elizabeth.
Thomas Easthope m. Sarah Elizabeth Willmott in 1807.
There is a newspaper record of the death of a Sarah Elizabeth Easthope in London in 1860, mother of Mr T. W. Easthope of the Boston Arms, Boston-street, Dorset-Square, NW.
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/21109/pages/1840
- Thomas Wilmot Easthope also had links to Cheltenham. The address of "Campden Terrace, Cheltenham" also fits with the 1841 census address of a Thomas (aged 60, "independent") and Sarah (aged 60) of Camden Terrace, Cheltenham.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/ does show a will for Thomas Easthope of Cheltenham in 1843 - might give some solid confirmation that he did have a son Thomas Wilmot Easthope.
It might be tricky to find a birth/baptism record for him in France. If they were only there for a brief period (e.g. in port, maybe somewhere like Le Havre or Cherbourg) they might have only baptised him on return to England.
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jorose
Thank you SO MUCH. This information, and the mysteries it throws up, have kept me going all day today. That familyhistorysa site is fantastic.
I haven't solved the French connection, but I have found lots of other family info. For example, from the Gazette, I've found that Thomas Wilmot snr had some serious debt problems that may have carried through to his descendants.
There certainly seem to be two Thomas Wilmot Easthopes:
Father: b 1781 d 1843 married to Sarah Elizabeth Wilmot (1780 – 1860)
Son: b 1822 d 1862 married to Eliza Homer (1822 – 1882)
The information about the death at sea also indicates Thomas snr is a sailor which could account for why his son was born in France. It would also account for why he moved around so much.
Thank you again, so much, for offering so much information. I cant believe you were able to find so much.
Kind regards
The bankruptcy notice suggests Thomas snr lived in Melbourne, Australia, so that's another avenue to pursue.
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The father 1781-1842 (will was proved in 1843 but I see his death as "Easthorpe" in Dec quarter 1842) and it's as Easthope here (http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/SimpleSearch.aspx) was just plain Thomas.
(There does seem to be another Thomas Wilmot Easthope b. 1865 - probably a grandson)
The man with the financial problems was Thomas who married Eliza Homer I think - he was the first one with "Wilmot" (his mother's surname) as a middle name. He seems to have moved in 1839 and then come back after his father's death - possibly to claim his inheritance. The list of addresses suggests that he was in Australia, came back to his parents' (mother's, if he came back after his father's death), then moved around a fair bit - perhaps busy spending his inheritance!
I think the 1861 census where he is aged 50 is probably closer to his true age than what he shows in 1851 - given his mother's age and the fact that there only seem to be two children to be found to Thomas and Sarah - Francis Wilmot b. 1809 and then his younger brother Thomas. If Thomas really was b. 1822 then there's a big gap there to be filled in with potential siblings. The will from 1843 might help there.
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Thanks, I did get a bit confused.
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I recently purchased a box of some old legal papers at an estate sale in the United States. I have what I believe is an original Probate of the Will for Sarah Elizabeth Easthope who died on Feb 25, 1860. I think it is original because it is on vellum paper and has legal seals attached. It measures about 27x20 inches. I can try to send a photo or scan of it if you would like. Ultimately, I would like to get it to someone who would really appreciate it.
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Thank you so much for making contact, and for your generous offer.
I've had a very quick look at my Easthope tree on Ancestry, and while I can't immediately place your Sarah Elizabeth Easthope, I'm sure she must be a relative.
A quick search found the listing in the National Will and Probate Calendar (link below), and while it gives her address at the time of her death, there's no information about her next of kin, beneficiaries etc.
I'd be very interested in a photo if you don't mind, or in any additional information the document might contain.
Thanks again for your generous gesture in making contact.
Regards
Fleur
http://interactive.ancestry.com.au/1904/32858_625988_3291-00010?pid=17574094&backurl=//search.Ancestry.com.au//cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc%3DMTV797%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26db%3Dukprobatecal%26gss%3Dangs-d%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26msT%3D1%26gsfn%3Dsarah%2520elizabeth%26gsfn_x%3D0%26gsln%3Deasthope%26gsln_x%3D0%26MSAV%3D1%26msddy%3D1860%26msddy_x%3D1%26_83004003-n_xcl%3Dm%26cp%3D0%26catbucket%3Drstp%26uidh%3Dbr7%26pcat%3D36%26fh%3D0%26h%3D17574094%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D1&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=MTV797&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=32858_625988_3291-00010
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Sorry, I've just found her. I didn't look very thoroughly before I replied to your original message!
She was/is my 4th great grandmother, born Sarah Elizabeth Wilmot, mother of the man who was born in Normandy and the one who died at sea - the subjects of my original query on this site.
Thanks so much for following this through. I'd be very interested in having a look at your document.
Kind regards
Fleur
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I took some photos but the size is too large for the website. They are about 2000KB each but the site only allows 500KB max. I don't have a scanner. The will itself is hard for me to read. The writing is very clear but I don't understand the writer's cursive style. Here is some information from an attached legal letter which is easier to read: "...died on the 25th day of February 1860, at No. 8 Upper Glouchester Place Dorset Square Regent's Park Middlesex, and who at the time of her death had a fixed place of abode at Chettenham..."
I will think about how to get you some of the pictures. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Best Regards,
Clay
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I was able to crop one of the photos to at least give you a look.
By the way, where are you located? I am in the state of Alabama in the US.
Clay
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Here is one more.
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Hi Clay
Thanks for the image. It certainly doesn’t look like an easy script to read.
I’m in Australia. I live in Sydney.
I wonder how this will made it’s way to the US. I’m not aware of any of Sarah’s decedents moving to the US. She only had 1 surviving son, Thomas Wilmot Easthope, who emigrated to Australia in 1839 where he married. He returned to England in the 1840s when his father died. Then Sarah’s grandson, Frank Wilmot Homer Easthope migrated to Australia (Melbourne) in 1884.
I’d be interested to know what else was in with the material you bought at the estate sale. That might provide a clue to how this document ended up with you.
I’m not sure if you are aware of Dropbox. https://www.dropbox.com You can set up an account for free, upload documents, then give me a reference so I can download documents, photos etc.
Another alternative might be one of the free online compression
http://www.imageoptimizer.net/Pages/Home.aspx
http://optimizilla.com
If all this fails, perhaps you’d post the document.
Kind regards
Fleur
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It seems to be a random assortment. Perhaps all of it came from a law office or perhaps the people that had the estate collected these from various places. Here are some of the documents and names:
Will and testament - Daniel Thayer 1834
Will and testament - Mary Agusta Domvile 1878
Will - William Constance 1831?
Indenture between William Godwin and James Pullin Hinton
Will - Lucy Coppin 1848
I see Gloucester on a lot of the documents so I think they may have come from a law office there but I have only been through a few of them. I really only bought them because they were old and unusual.
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Fleur,
I would like to post you the document. I just ask that once you receive it and see how interesting it is to have a family document like this, you send me back some kind of small gift from your country.
Clay
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Just a thought here maybe another member can answer
b around 1822
1861 census states aged 50 - so born around 1811
Napoleanic War was 1803 to 1815 - so I can't see an English sailor having a british born subject in France in 1811 ...I don't think we took over France until 1815 ...so IF - a big if - his father was in The Royal Navy he may have been stationed in France after the War finished patrolling The English Channel or off the coast of France ...that would make more sense to me - if this is the case it would suggest that 1861 census has a mistake somewhere ?? either way The Royal Navy looks a possible answer to why he was born in France - are there any records anywhere of Royal Navy personnel in 1815 -1822 in France ??
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Hi Clay
So sorry for the delay in replying to your message. I didn't receive any alert, and haven't been checking this site lately.
Thanks so much for offering to send the will by post. I appreciate your offer very much, and would be happy to send you something from this side of the world. Just let me know what kind of thing might be of interest.
I will send my address in a personal message.
Regards
Fleur
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I know this is an old post but did you find anything on Thomas Wilmott Easthope.
The reason I ask is because he's commemorated on an ancestor's tomb in Tewkebury.
This is what they say about him.
The two known sons of Thomas Easthope senior evidently did quite well for themselves. Thomas junior (1780-1842) had established himself in Cheltenham, where he is listed as ‘Esq.’ in directories of 1830 and 1842. His marriage in Worcester in 1807 was to a Londoner, Sarah Elizabeth Wilmot of Stepney, and after her husband’s death in 1842, she apparently moved back to London, where she died on 25 February 1860 at 8 Upper Gloucester Place, Dorset Square ‘in the county of Middlesex’.