Captain Robert MENHENNETT of Cornwall

[Billie Mendav]

My ancestor Captain R L Menhennet was a merchant seaman born in 1818 and married in St Clements, Truro, in 1839 to Mary Ann Scott.    He sailed on various ships in the home trade, and moved with his family to Hartlepool around 1855 although he continued his sea-going career.     We believe he died between the years 1861 - 1870, but have been unable to find a record of his death.    Family stories suggest it may have been an accident at sea.

If anyone can help I'd be most grateful, any information about the Menhennets of Cornwall and Hartlepool would be welcome.   

Thanks, Billie

[syd13]

 Hello Billie,
     We are not related in any way but over the years I have been helping a lady with this family.   Her husband is desended from his daughter Elizabeth Ann bn 1847 died about 1920 Hartlepool. She married a Edward Clark Young at the Independant Chapel, Hartlepool in1867.
      I also have other bits if you want them.
                                                                 syd reed
     

[Billie Mendav]

Hello Syd,

Thank you for your reply.    I and several others are trying to find out more about this Robert Menhennet, we have details of his life up to about 1860 - 70 and then he just disappears from the scene.    His wife described herself as a widow on the 1871 census.

He has no death certificate, unless his name is so badly miss-spelt that none of us can recognise it.     It's believed he may have died in a shipping accident, but if so there should have been an enquiry of some sort, but none has been found.

It would be interesting to share some information with you.

Thanks,  Billie

[syd13]

Hello Billie,
        I'll have a dig around this week end to see what I have got.
        Just as an aside I think Mary Scott's sister Tomasina born 1811(lovely name) was a nursemaid to the Ropner's who were ship owners in Hartlepool.
                                                            regards Syd.
P.S. you are right about the Reed. 

[Billie Mendav]

Thanks Syd, I think we are on the same wavelength.   I agree with you about the name Thomasina - Tamsin.   The name was used for generations, the last my grandfather's sister who sadly died as an infant around 1900.

I think Thomasina's sister or sister in law and her mother Mary Ann Scott also worked for Ropners in Hartlepool.

Thanks, Billie

[syd13]

Hello Billie,
   Have located the tree of sorts that I had built up.  I'll give you bits as I go down.

Did  Robert have a brother?
Alfred Menhennet bn 1833 Cornwall H/of Elizabeth they had a daughter Elizabeth Jane bn 1855 Cornwall married Holy Trinity, Hartlepool. 1887.  George Clarke(Wid)34yrs. bn 1853 Suffolk(Railway Signalman)
.....................................
Daughter of Robert I Menhennet.
Elizabeth Ann bn 1847 died 21/04/1920 Hartlepool.
Married: Independent Chapel, Hartlepool 11/10/1867
Edward Clark Young bn 1847 Newcastle(Bricklayer)
Died 21/05/1908.  7 Howard St, Hpool.
....................................
Son of Robert I Menhennet
Robert Isaac Menhennet bn 1844
Ships Captain
Married 1871
Died accident Sunderland 1939
.................................................
Daughter of Rbt I Menhennet
Mary Ann bn 1849 Truro
Died 1920 Hartlepool
Married: J Armstrong one child Mary J. bn 1875
he died and she married Nicholas Holman.
................................................
More later.
Some was taken from local Church records other from the local Hartlepool paper.
                                                              Syd

[syd13]

Hello Billie,
   A bit more.
Son of Rbt I Menhennet
Wm Thomas Menhennet bn.1855 Truro dd 1922 Glasgow.
married:
Elizabeth Outhwaite Hartlepool 1873 she dd 1932 Glasgow.
.................
Son of Rbt I Menhennet.
Wm Henry Scott bn 1842.
.................
Daughter of Rbt I Menhennet
Emily bn 1851 Truro married a Bavage
.................
Daughter of Rbt I Menhennet
Tomasina bn 1857 Hartlepool married a Cousins.
.................

[Billie Mendav]

Thanks Syd,

Yes William Thomas Menhennet was my great grandfather, his wife Elizabeth (obviously) my great grandmother.   We were thrilled earlier this year to find their grave in a cemetery in Glasgow.    It had been overgrown for many years but has now been cleared, to some degree.

I'm still curious about the death of Robert Isaac (or Lally) Menhennet, and something that you mentioned in your previous message could be of significance.   You wrote that Robert Isaac Menhennet born 1844 died 1939 in an accident at Sunderland.   Now I'm sure that date is wrong, I have it that he died in 1884 of heart disease.     So is the person who died at Sunderland his father, also Robert, born 1818?    He was a ship's captain and his death is rumoured to have been the result of an accident or other mishap on a ship.

No death certificate has been found for him, but perhaps his name was so badly mis-spelt, perhaps by shipmates, that we are all failing to recognise it.

We believe that this man (born 1818) was christened Robert Lally (or Lilley) Menhennet, and that the name Robert Isaac was erroneously attributed to him by his grandson Alfred Menhennet when he registered the death of his father William T Menhennet in Glasgow in 1922.   Alfred was only born in 1902 (in Hartlepool) so any information he had was second or third hand.   

The mother of Robert Menhennet (born 1818) was Mary Lilley, I'm sure he was christened Robert Lally (or Lilley)Menhennet, after his mother.

Are you able to tell me the source of your information that "Robert Menhennet died in Sunderland in an "accident"?   And do you have a definite date for this event?    It could be that this is the information I am looking for.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to post these messages, it's very helpful, and it would be great to be able to solve this mystery at last.

Billie

[lizdb]

i have no connection with this family but thought it an interesting thread, so I hope you will forgive me 'butting' in! I guess it sparked my interest as I had a seafaring rellie from Sussex who regularly sailed to and from Sunderland to transport coal.

I too would be interested to hear more about the death of Robert Menhennet in 1939 in Sunderland. I looked through the death indexes (currently free to search on ancestry) and there is not a death registered.
So it would be good to hear where this info came from - if it is just family 'hearsay' then it could well be that it was the OTHER Robert who died in this way.
By the way, there are 2 or 3  Menhennet deaths around that time that I noticed, mainly in Cornwall.