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Messages - jonwicken

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1
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Wednesday 01 May 24 00:40 BST (UK)  »
I have now emailed the Seafarers Hospital Society.

I have asked if they do indeed know anything about the records for Falmouth.

I will let you know when I hear anything back.

Thank you for all the contributions and help along the way.

Jonny

2
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Tuesday 30 April 24 22:36 BST (UK)  »
I have also had this reply from National Maritime Museum Cornwall:

From the research I have undertaken, it is unclear where these records are located.

After being built in the late 1770s, No.3 Bank Place became the Royal Cornwall Sailors’ Home and Hospital in 1852. Previously it was a residential townhouse. The Royal Cornwall Sailors’ Home ran there for over a hundred years, from 1852 to 1956.The building in Bank Close was later turned into a YMCA and is now an apartment block. I have attached a report from the Falmouth Packet dated 18 January 2023 that explains the history of the building in more detail.

I have also been able to read up on the history of the British Sailors Society in Falmouth and, although they were not directly associated with the hospital, their chaplain did visit once a week. It is possible the records may have been transferred to the Seafarers Hospital Society. I have attached contact details in the link below.

https://seahospital.org.uk/contact-us/

It is also possible that the records may be held by Kresen Kernow] (formerly Cornwall Record Office). Their catalogue holds an entry for Cornish hospitals and contains a number of unidentified collections.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13530781

I have attached details in the link below.

Records of Cornish Hospitals: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/8272a99d-51b7-4cbc-a0a9-216f5f2a949b

There is also a brief reference to the hospital in the British Journal of Nursing from November 1906. https://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/volumes/37/Volume%2037%20Page%20359

An early edition of Kelly’s Directory covering Cornwall states the following ‘The Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home and Infirmary for Seamen of all Nations, at Falmouth, established May 17, 1852, is a large structure of brick, available for about 60 patients, Alfred Benjamin Duckham, supt. and sec’.

If you have not already done so, I suggest that you try and track down a copy of the recent book by Christopher Holwill, ‘The Royal Cornwall Sailors’ Home: Falmouth 1852 – 1956’ (Tothill Publications, 2014). It is possible that the author may have been given access to records or be aware of their location. I attach a link to the book below.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/royal-cornwall-sailors-home/christopher-holwill/christopher-holwill/9780957568310

3
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Tuesday 30 April 24 22:27 BST (UK)  »
Hello all, I have had another reply from
Falmouth History Archive @ The Poly:

I've managed to do a little more research into the Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home and Hospital but there is some confusion that I have not yet sorted out.

The first reference we have is c. 1750: "Merchants' Hospital established under Act of Parliament (George II, 20th) for relief of maimed or disabled seamen (& widows of such as are drowned or killed in the Merchant's Service): to support it, every seaman belonging to a Packet or Merchant Vessel, registered in Falmouth, paid 6d per month."

The Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home was established at 3 Bank Place on 17 May 1852. We have a number of interesting snippets from the local newspapers that record the number and nationality of its inmates, and references to various committee officers. Lake's directory of 1882 gives it the title 'Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home and Infirmary for Seamen of All Nations'.

The British (& Foreign) Sailors' Society, the 'Bethel' (with a sailors' rest on the Quay) was established in Quay Hill in 1848. In 1936, this was in 'Armyn House' on The Bar.

The confusion comes when checking the local directories. Both Kelly's 1873 and the PO Directory 1873 record the Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home being on The Bar. Kelly's 1889 records the RCSH being on the Quay. Kelly's of 1893 goes one step further and records 'Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home, Seamen's Bethel' on the Quay.

4
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Friday 05 April 24 16:22 BST (UK)  »
Hello all, I have had the below reply from
Falmouth History Archive @ The Poly


Many thanks for your email to the Falmouth History Archive regarding the records for the Falmouth Sailor's Home and Hospital.

I regret that the Archive does not hold any original documents relating to these organisations.

However, we do have a couple of photographs of the Home/Hospital in Bank Place, attached, that may be of interest.

The photo from Brian Osborne's collection is dated c. 1900, and we can date the one showing the passengers from the wrecked SS Paris which went ashore at Lowland Point, Coverack on 21 May 1899 (another Osborne photo - their studios were in Arwenack Street, just up the road to the right) - everyone was rescued safely!

I am fairly sure that the Archive has some references to the Sailor's Home on Bar Road (Armyn House) and will try to look these out when next in the Archive on Tuesday morning. I'll report back.

I'm sorry that we cannot help with the records but hope this is of some help.

5
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Friday 05 April 24 16:22 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: AlanBoyd on Thursday 04 April 24 08:36 BST (UK)
If this did come to fruition it would be in time to explain the mentions of such a hospital in the 1827 accounts listed in your original post. Note that there is no mention made of replacing an existing establishment.

24 April 1818: West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser
Quote
We are informed that the Merchant Seamen's Committee at Falmouth have it in contemplation to purchase a part of the materials of the temporary barracks at Pendennis Garrison for the purpose of erecting a Merchant Seamens' Hospital at that port. The spot, however, on which we understand it is intended to be erected, is not perhaps the most unobjectionable.

Thanks Alan.

Think I need to make a timeline.


6
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Wednesday 03 April 24 20:40 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: AlanBoyd on Wednesday 03 April 24 20:33 BST (UK)
Here is a strange reference to ‘the former Sailor’s Home’ in the 1871 census. Is this just a relocation of the Royal Cornwall Sailor’s Home? Probably, but I’m adding this here for information.

Thanks Alan. Let's see if the answers can be found to all this and the establishment dates and various locations and closure dates.


7
Cornwall / Re: Falmouth Seamen's Hospital and records
« on: Wednesday 03 April 24 19:42 BST (UK)  »
Hi I have had the following incredibly helpful reply from Kresen Kernow and while it helps understand more, the answers I am looking for are yet to be be fully found. I will keep this forum updated.



I have searched both catalogues for a collection relating to any seamen’s hospitals in Falmouth, but without success. I can certainly see the difficulties faced in determining the construction of any sites. I undertook searching on the British Newspaper Archive (BNA), as I cannot find any index reference for the 1750 date in Susan Gay’s ‘Old Falmouth’ (1903). If using the BNA results, it appears there are two separate hospitals.

The Royal Cornwall Sailor’s Home & Hospital which was built at Bank Place in 1852 (Whetter, J., The History of Falmouth, pg.77), and this does appear on Ordnance Survey mapping from the 1st ed. (c1880s) onwards – it also ties in with the expansion of the Seamen’s Hospital Society to open branches at ports, rather than operating hospital ships before the Seamen’s Hospital Bill in the 1860s closing the founding Dreadnought ship.

We do also know that the Seamen’s Bethel and Institute appears to have been built around this timeframe (which would have likely served patients within the hospital), newspapers dating it’s construction in 1849 in Quay Street, and can still be seen today.

In regard to an earlier hospital, there are BNA mentions of the potential building of a Merchant Seamen’s Hospital, of which the ‘…purchase of materials of the temporary barracks at Pendennis Garrison’ (West Briton, 24 Apr 1818), however, this is predated by an article from, which mentions ‘…a hospital is about to be erected for the Garrison at Falmouth’ (Royal Cornwall Gazette, 8 Dec 1804) – both articles attached.

The Falmouth Dispensary and Humane Society appears to open around this time too, in 1807, so it is hard to determine whether these two latter hospitals would have had designations / provisions for mariners needing treatment / seeking health rehabilitation. We hold a collection for the dispensary, and you would be very welcome to view any items from this, should you wish to view it for your research – archive ref. HC16.

I certainly don’t think this comprehensively answers your question and the lack of referencing for Susan Gay’s 1750 date makes this somewhat trickier. Therefore, I would recommend contacting the NMMC in Falmouth (Bartlett Library) to see if they can further signpost you to local records (i.e., harbour masters log books that note seamen needing treatment upon arrival) or organisations that might have undertaken similar research projects over the years, such as the Falmouth Local History Group at the Poly.

As the Seamen’s Hospital at Bank Place would have been most likely part of the Seamen’s Hospital Society, it might be worth contacting the Seafarer’s Hospital Society to determine where wider historic collections are held - https://seahospital.org.uk/.

I hope this helps a bit and best of luck with your research (I will continue to search for a reference for Susan Gay’s 1750 date and if anything surfaces, I’ll get back in contact).


8
London and Middlesex / Re: Brick Wall Help - Blamé and Moore families 1700s City of London/Southwark area
« on: Sunday 31 March 24 15:41 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: BushInn1746 on Sunday 31 March 24 15:20 BST (UK)
"My ancestor was John Thomas Moore (1780-1862) who was a Waterman who was born in and lived his whole life in the Southwark area. He married Jane Hemmings in Greenwich in 1800 and from 1812 until his death lived in Pitt's Place, Bankside in Southwark."

Will listed
This chap left a Will Proved 1862, Wills can sometimes reveal bits you don't know, but for Ł1.50 (via Online ordering) it might be worth getting?

If you go to the Official gov.uk webpage.

Type in the Search box ... Probate Wills (within the official site), it will take you to some links and from one of the links you can Register (was free) search and order Wills.

A few official Wills Index (Calendar) pages sometimes have a folio number written adjacent to the relevant entry as well, if so, include this in the relevant box with the details from the brief Wills Index (Calendar) description.

Mark

Thanks Mark. I actually did indeed get this will a long time ago and it certainly helped fill in some gaps and that he owned properties in Pitts Place in Bankside.

It is funny when you revisit a line that you have not looked at for a long time. You have to get back in the zone for the branch!

I would love to know where his money came from as I expect he inherited from someone, but no luck yet. I have not found a will for his father George, who seems to have died in 1821.

I hope something may emerge at some point!

9
London and Middlesex / Re: Brick Wall Help - Blamé and Moore families 1700s City of London/Southwark area
« on: Sunday 31 March 24 10:37 BST (UK)  »
Thanks very much for this article. That is interesting indeed.

I wonder if George Moore and Martha Mackey Moore were siblings and so George named a son after his brother-in-law.

However despite her unusual name, I cannot find a baptiam of a Martha Mackey Moore.

Some people on ancestry have put George's parents in and identifed his baptism, but George Moore is a common name.

I need to look more into this.

Thanks again for posting,
Jon

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