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Topics - jbml

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37
Armed Forces / James Holcomb - which regiment, and did he serve in the Crimea?
« on: Monday 26 December 16 13:18 GMT (UK)  »
My great x3 grandfather James Holcomb was a soldier.

He was baptised in Chippenham, near Newmarket, on 20 December 1826. He was the son of the bailiff at the Chippenham Hall estate, which was owned by the Tharp family - immensely wealthy Jamaican sugar planters.

In the 1841 census James is listed at home with his parents in Chippenham, and is said to be just 11 years old.

He enlisted some time between 1841 and 1851; and given his background, it is quite possible that he enlisted in a cavalry regiment.

In the 1851 census he is listed at Hounslow Barracks (though as Holcomb, James ... so to find him on FindMyPast you have to enter "Holcomb" in the first name box, and "James" in the family name box!!!)

By 1857 it appears that he had returned to civilian life. He married in Newmarket in that year; his first daughter was born in Chippenham in 1858, and his second daughter in Bethnal Green in 1860. In the 1861 census he is listed as a railway porter living in Bethnal Green.

I am interested in uncovering a little more about James Holcomb's military service. Particularly:

(1) what regiment did he serve with?
(2) did he serve in the Crimea?
(3) if the answer to (1) is a cavalry regiment, and the answer to (2) is yes ... do I have an ancestor who rode in (and survived) the Charge of the Light Brigade???

I'm not quite sure how to go about researching these questions ... and I should be grateful for any assistance which other Roots Chatters may be able to offer on this one.  :)


38
Cumberland / The given name "Tamar", in Holme Cultram
« on: Wednesday 02 November 16 17:25 GMT (UK)  »
The given name Tamar (or sometimes Tamer) occurs in my Martindale family line, in the 19th Century.

I have hit a bit of a brick wall because I cannot find / prove the migrant. Martindale is a Cumberland name, so my line must have emigrated to London at some point ... but when?

I am pretty sure I have the line correctly traced back to my great x5 grandfather Edward martindale, who married Mary Seare at St George, Hanover Square in 1795. Their son Edward, baptised on 3 August 1798, was my great x4 grandfather. Edward the elder became landlord of the Feathers public house in Great Wild Street in 1808. But prior to this, apart from his marriage, I know nothing about him.

I decided to do a few internet searches using the names Martindale + Tamar and see what popped up, and this led me to Holme Cultram, where the name Tamar, or Tamer, or Tamor, depending upon who was spelling it, seems to have been particularly common.

I have not yet proved a link; but it is looking quite hopeful.

Tamar Waite, daughter of Thomas, was baptised in Holme Cultram on 30 January 1698/9.

Tamor Waite married Willm Martindale by licence in Holme Cultram on 17 January 1730/1. Two weeks previously, however, the village schoolmaster, who was ALSO called William Martindale, married Mary Wise.

There are then 9 Martidale children, sons and daughters of "William" (but no mother's name given) baptised in Holme Cultram between 1731 and 1743. They cannot all be one family. So both William Martindales are fathering children.

One of the Martindale children is called Tamer (baptised 7 June 1738), and I am assuming that she was the daughter of William and Tamar. She married George Chambers of Goodyhills, hatter, in Holme Cultram on 4 June 1761. The witnesses were Isaac Jefferson and John Wise.

Of the other Martindale children, only one was a boy who survived childhood. If the "Tamer" name passed down the male line from William and Tamer to my London Martindales (still an unproved hypothesis, of course) then he too must have been the son of William and Tamar, rather than the son of William the schoolmaster.

I am also assuming that this was the William Martindale who married Martha Bewley in Whitehaven on 17 February 1760. They lived in Holme Cultram and had four children whose baptisms I have been able to identify:

Betty, baptised 12 June 1763
Mary, baptised 27 May 1967 and died 30 May 1769
George, baptised 28 December 1774 and died 21 January 1781
Roger, baptised 22 May 1777

HOWEVER ... if my hypothesis is correct, and my london Martindales are descended from this family (and hence the transmission of the Tamer given name) then we should expect to see a fifth child, my great x5 grandfather Edward Martindale. Since he married in 1795, we should probably be looking for a birth between about 1770 and 1775 ... so he would fit very neatly between Mary and George.

Is this just wishful thinking, though?

I hope not ... because "Tamar" is such an unusual name in London, but they seem to be very common in Holme Cultram ... and there is a Martindale family in Holme Cultram, with Tamars in it, which could easily have provided my migrant ... except there is as yet no evidence whatever of their having had a son called Edward.

Any thoughts or insights gratefully received. This is at present no more than a conjectural hypothesis, and I am keen to tease out as much detail as I can in the hope that it will provide enough light to either prove or disprove the hypothesis.

39
Canada / Crampton family - may need some help with this one.
« on: Saturday 20 August 16 09:21 BST (UK)  »
I am trying to build a picture of the life of my great x4 aunt Martha Crampton (nee Baker)

She was the second of seven children of William and Hannah Baker of Wittersham, Kent. All of her siblings were baptized in the Tenterden Wesleyan Methodist church, but I have found no record of her baptism. It is clear from other records, however, that she was born in about 1822; and this is the only available "vacant slot" in the list of her parents' children, so I am reasonably confident of this.

I have not been able to find her in the 1841 Census.

She married a miller called David Crampton in Tenterden on 18 May 1850 (Tenterden St Mildrew Marriages 1837 - 1894; Registered Kent, Tenterden 1850 Q2 volume 5 page 584), and in the 1851 Census David Crampton and his 28 year old wife Martha are shown living at Good Intent, Ash, Eastry, Kent together with Martha's 19 year old sister Harriet Baker and her 24 year old brother George Baker (my great x3 Grandfather): HO107 Piece 1631 Folio 9 page 10

David and Martha Crampton had up to five children registered in Eastry (I've not bought any certificates yet: the two in brackets cannot be proved without, whereas the other three can be proved from Census information):

1. William Crampton. Birth registered Kent, Eastry 1852 Q1 volume 2A page 598

(2. Charles Crampton. Birth registered Kent, Eastry 1854 Q1 volume 2A page 554; death registered Kent, Eastry 1855 Q1 volume 2A page 495)

(3. Emily Crampton. Birth registered Kent, Eastry 1857 Q1 volume 2A page 654; death registered Kent, Eastry 1858 Q1 volume 2A page 473)

4. Eliza Jane Crampton. Birth registered Kent, Eastry 1858 Q4 volume 2A page 612

5. Jabez Crampton. Birth registered Kent, Eastry 1860 Q2 volume 2A page 621

In the 1861 Census Martha Crampton is a visitor in the household of Mary Crampton, a Sawyer's wife, at 12 St Peter's Street, Deal together with her three surviving children 9 year old William Crampton, 2 year old Eliza Crampton and 1 year old Jabez Crampton, all born in Ash, Kent (RG9 Piece 543 Folio 151 page 18).

What happened next is the bit that interests me ... because it seems that between 1861 and 1863 the family emigrated to Canada, where a sixth child Agnes Crampton was born in about 1863, and where their son Jabez Crampton may have died; then between 1863 and 1871 they returned to England.

In the 1871 census they are shown living at Four Dwellings, Castweasle Boro, Tenterden, Kent. The household comprises David Crampton, a 48 year old Miller born in Icklesham, Sussex; his wife Martha Crampton, a 48 year old Dressmaker born in Tenterden, Kent; their 12 year old daughter Eliza Crampton, born in Ash, Kent; their 8 year old daughter Agnes, born in Canada; and 75 year old widowed Annnuitant Hannah Baker, who is described as David Crampton's mother but is actually his mother-in-law (RG10 Piece 954 Folio 61 page 22).

I cannot see Martha Crampton in the 1881 census, but in the 1891 census she reappears. David Crampton, a 68 year old Miller born in Icklesham, Sussex is shown living at Chapel Row, Lydd, Romney March, Kent with his 68 year old wife Martha Crampton born in Tenterden, Kent (RG12 Piece 755 Folio 10 page 14).

Thereafter ... absolutely nothing. Not in the 1901 census, not in the 1911 census, and no death registrations that could be either of them. BUT ... I am searching in England.

It is clear that they were in England in 1861 and 1871, but that in between times they went to Canada.

When did they go out? Where did they live? When and where was Agnes born? Did they have any other children while they were out there, and if so what became of them? When and where did Jabez die? When did they return?

Then what about 1881? They are not on the English census ... so had they returned to Canada? If so, when did they travel, where did they go, and when did they come back?

And then ... after 1891 ... what then? Did they return to Canada once again? And is that where they died?

Lots of questions, and I've never had to do any non-UK research before so I am all at sea on tracking down the answers to these ones. If anyone is able to shed any light on any of it I'd be most grateful.  :)

40
Sussex / Birth of William Baker, circa 1790
« on: Sunday 14 August 16 20:18 BST (UK)  »
I am looking for the birth of William Baker, circa 1790 (censuses are consistent in implying 1791; age at death registration implies 1790). Probably to nonconformist parents. Censuses vary between saying Brede and Peasmarsh; but his wife was from Peasmarsh and I think they just got transposed in one - so almost certainly Brede.

Any help on this one very much appreciated  :)

41
Kent Lookup Requests / Marriage of Joseph Stoneham and Susannah Springate, Wittersham, February 1729/30
« on: Sunday 07 August 16 15:04 BST (UK)  »
FindMyPast has two different entries for this one.

One transcriber has transcribed the date 16 February, the other has transcribed it 18 February.

Hardly the most vital discrepancy to resolve ... but if anyone with access to the register or a digital copy could take a quick peep and let me know which they think it is, I should be ever so grateful  :)

42
The Common Room / Iconoclasm!
« on: Friday 05 August 16 12:42 BST (UK)  »
So there was the entry ... bold as brass ... in the 1549-1550 churchwardens' accounts for Hawkhurst. Two payments made to one of my family "for helpyng the mason".

And then I got to thinking ... what would a mason be doing in a church in 1549-50? And the answer is obvious. Almost certainly tearing down the old Catholic statuary.

And of all the things I've found in my family history, I think that this is one of the most distressing. My ancestors ... committing such acts of desecration!

It is what it is ... but ... I wish it were not so!  :'(

43
London and Middlesex / 236 Romford Road, Forest Gate
« on: Friday 05 August 16 12:33 BST (UK)  »
Between about 1922 and 1958 (when he died) my great grandfather George Vincent Burrows traded as a credit draper and furnisher from 236 Romford Road; and until 1937 or 1938 (when he purchased Ardmore House in Burkhurst Hill) his family lived there too. According to the 1911 census it had 11 rooms ... so quite spacious. But then, he DID have 11 children!!!

I went to visit recently, and found an empty plot awaiting redevelopment. Everything that once stood on the site has been demolished.

I'd be very interested in finding any images of 236 Romford Road as it once was - whether when my great grandfather was trading there, or at any other time.

44
The Common Room / Don't you just love it ...
« on: Friday 05 August 16 12:25 BST (UK)  »
... when the walls come tumbling down??

I had one great x3 grandfather that I REALLY did not think I had found the right baptism for ... but I could not find anything else that appeared to fit, so I had him tentatively marked down as the son of a man that I could trace no further.

From time to time I revisit my old "problems", to have another crack at them, and he had come to the top of the list so I had another look. And ... new nonconformist records have now been added to FindMyPast, and there he was, clear as day!

So I corrected my notes, and started following this line back ... for TEN GENERATIONS!!! The only reason I cannot go any further (for now) is that I have reached the beginning of the surviving parish registers (which is 1550 in Hawkhurst) - but I seem to be following a well-established family of yeomen there, and I'm hoping that wills and land records may survive which will actually enable me to follow this line back a bit further, and start to discover the joys of genealogy without PRs  :o

Doesn't it feel GREAT when something like that happens???  :D

45
Kent / Who did John Slowman marry? - COMPLETED
« on: Thursday 04 August 16 14:24 BST (UK)  »
FindMyPast has three sources for the marriage of John Slowman in Hawkhurst on 6 September 1568.

Two of them (Hawkhurst Marriages 1550 - 1837; and the East Kent Marriage Index) name his bride as Phines Bennett; however the third one (England Marriages 1538 - 1973) names his bride as Frances Coners!

Hmmmm ... which is it?

If anyone with access to a digital scan of the register, or Kent FHS database, or any such similar resource could take a quick look and let me know which was his bride I should be ever so grateful.

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