Hannah Armstrong of Cople

[wdurham]

Another Armstrong stray!

The Cople Armstrongs arrived in 1766, in the person of cordwainer's apprentice (thanks, JohnP!) William Armstrong b 1754 in Wilstead. He married Mary Robins in 1799 and they had 6 children in Cople. Mary died in 1801. He then had a liaison (and got as far as calling the banns in 1802!) with Mary Tatman, which produced a son Henry in 1803, who was baptised as an adult in Cople in 1826, according to the IGI extraction, under the name of "Henry Tatman or Armstrong".

I've now been contacted by the descendants of a Hannah Armstrong, b 1806 in Cople according to census returns, who believe Hannah to be the sister of Henry. I've managed to locate her and her husband John Bassett in the census returns, and have identified the baptisms of their Beds-born children on the IGI in Cardington:  George in 1828, Thomas in 1830 and Benjamin in 1832. (Member entries, sadly, rather than extractions, but full dates are given, so plausible....) There should also have been a Mary in about 1835, but she seems to be missing, not baptised or of no interest to the church member doing the lookups! In the census returns, the birthplace of John and the above Beds-born children is given as Fenlake, less than spitting distance from Cardington.

I cannot find a baptism for Hannah in Cople on the IGI under Armstrong or Tatman.  I even checked all the Hannahs in the IGI batches for Cople, on the assumption that William may have taken up with another lady....no luck. Nor can I find a marriage for any Hannah Armstrong (or Tatman)  with any John Bassett anywhere - much less in Bedfordshire - on the IGI. I've tried other sources available on Ancestry and The Genealogist as well without luck.

But though I can find no evidence, this looks like another of those circumstantial Armstrong things... There were only two Armstrongs baptising children during the late 1700s-early 1800s in Cople - William Armstrong and his two Marys, and - a little later - Henry Tatman/Armstrong.  If Hannah WAS born in Cople, there is only one father she could have belonged to, and her birth date suggests she's either a full sister to Henry Tatman/Armstrong or perhaps a half-sister if old William had found another ladyfriend!

There's a naming pattern, too - Henry Tatman/Armstrong and his putative sister Hannah both named sons George and Benjamin, and Henry named his eldest daughter Hannah. These do not seem to have been family names from earlier Armstrong generations. George is a common enough name, but Benjamin only crops up again once in our huge Armstrong tree, in Thurleigh many years later. Hannah only crops up in this branch once more too, again in Thurleigh and again, many years later, daughter of Charles Armstrong and Sophia Partridge.

Can anyone help, or give me any clues on where to look next? I have more or less run out of ideas....

Wendy

[bedfordshire boy]

.... the birthplace of John and the above Beds-born children is given as Fenlake, less than spitting distance from Cardington.

Fenlake was a hamlet of Cardington

.... He married Mary Robins in 1799 and they had 6 children in Cople. Mary died in 1801

That's going it! Six children in two years??


If Henry wasn't baptised until he did it himself at the age of 23, then there's every chance that Hannah, if they were full or half siblings, wasn't baptised as an infant either. Where did she marry Mr Bassett? Cardington? In which case I'd be checking Cardington parish register

David

[wdurham]

Doh!

I meant 1779, David!

I don't know when or where Hannah married John Bassett. Given the family history one can't even be sure that she did.  Bedfordshire Armstrongs were dab hands at extra-marital jiggery-pokery, whether they were the posh lot or the church mice.

I have asked my correspondent for more information but nothing heard as yet. As he doesn't have info on the marriage, I am assuming he got her maiden name from the birth cert of one of the post-1837 children.

Looks like Cardington is the best bet.

Thanks for the input!

[Bunnygirl]

hi wdurham,
I have checked Cardington Parish register which is up to 1812 and no baptism for Hannah under name of Armstrong or Tatman, also checked Cople Willington and Great Barford as all same area and nothing there either, all end in 1812, have also checked Cotton End Congregation and Baptist from 1806-37 as people from  Eastcotts are in this register  but nothing,   so maybe an adult baptism after all?     Looks like a records office job !!!

Hope this helps
Bunnygirl

[wdurham]

Many thanks, Bunnygirl -

I suspect Hannah simply wasn't baptised at all, like Henry - but it's good to have confirmation that she certainly wasn't baptised at birth! Or not in Cople and surrounding area anyway. And as the Cople records from 1813 to 1865 are on the IGI, she doesn't seem to have been baptised there as an adult, either.

The only Armstrong baptisms in Cople are children of William and his wife Mary Robins, Henry in 1826 as an adult, children of Henry and his wife Maria Cambers, and John Nottingham Armstrong, the illegitimate son of Henry's daughter Hannah.

The only readily available record of Hannah's birthplace and year is in the 1851 census, where it is written as "Copal". In 1861 she only admits to Bedford, and is living with son George whilst her husband John Bassett is a boarder in Kent! I've lost them after that as the family moved around so much - children born in Fenlake/Cardington, Birmingham, Liverpool, Buckinghamshire etc etc! Then in 1851 (and Hannah in 1861) they are in Portland, Dorset.

Interestingly, and possibly unconnected, there is also a Cople burial in the NBI of a Samuel Armstrong, infant, on 18 Jan 1814. There's no baptism for him on the IGI, either. It looks possible that there were several unbaptised children born to William and his ladyfriend? In 1814, old William would have been 60, but if Mary Tatman were even 10 years younger, an 1814 child is quite possible, as well as several in between!

[bedfordshire boy]

It doesn't look to me as though Mary Tatman ever (re)married, as there's a burial in Cardington on 26 Nov 1828 of Mary Tatman age 57. Could she have been the wife/widow of Thomas Tatman? They baptised a daughter Mary in Cople in 1796, and this Mary married Joseph Hartop in Cople in 1817.

I now see that the marriage to William Armstrong couldn't take place because "Mary Tatman has a husband living at Gt Staughton Hunts"! Perhaps he was the Thomas Tatman age 59 buried at Lt Staughton on 13 Aug 1825.

But though William and Mary couldn't marry because she was already married, it wouldn't have stopped them having further children together.

If Mary really was 57 at burial, giving a birth of c1771, she could still have been the mother of Samuel buried 1814, when she would have been 43.

David

[wdurham]

Hmmm. Thanks, David!

I had found that burial of Mary Tatman some time ago, but disregarded it because it was in Cardington. That was before I fully realised how close Cople and Cardington were to each other! And of course, at that time I wasn't looking for further children between her and William Armstrong and trying to work out how old she was - LOL!

William died in February of 1828. Did Mary move to Cardington after his death?  If she was William's common-law wife, it's quite possible she got turfed out of the family home in Cople on his death...William had two sons who had both made their homes elsewhere by then, but perhaps wanted their "inheritance"? If the property was rented or a tied cottage, it would have been even more likely that she would have been evicted.

Hannah had married John Bassett, a Cardington/Fenlake man, prior to 1828 - their eldest son George was baptised on 10 August 1828 in Cardington. Perhaps Mary went to live with her daughter after the death of William? If she is the right Mary, there is every possibility that she was the mother of Henry, Hannah and poor little Samuel.

However, the point at issue is who did Hannah belong to? She stated on a child's birth certificate after 1837 that her maiden name was Armstrong. She was born around 1806, probably in Cople, according to the census returns, but definitely in Beds.  If that is correct, she can only have belonged to William - there is no other putative Armstrong father in Cople. There were no other Hannahs of any other surname baptised in Cople around 1806. In which case her mother was probably Mary Tatman - and she did name her first daughter Mary (though it's a common name!). She named two sons George and Benjamin, as did her putative brother Henry. And Henry named his first daughter Hannah. Then a Mary Tatman died in Cardington whilst Hannah was living there with husband John Bassett.

Circumstantial evidence is very heavy. A Cardington marriage around 1826-1828 between a Hannah Armstrong/Tatman and a John Bassett would just round it all off neatly!

I will advise my distant "cousin" accordingly - a visit to the records office is a must.

Thanks for everyone's help on his behalf!

[bedfordshire boy]

I agree Wendy, that all of the Armstrongs/Tatmen were probably children of William Armstrong and Mary Tatman. Interesting that there's a Thomas Tatman aged 24 buried on 19 March 1813 at Cardington, whose baptism I can't find. Thomas and Mary were possibly the marriage at Northill on 6 Jan 1792 Thomas Tatman of Blunham and Mary Crawley by licence.

Mary Tatman the younger also lived in Cardington, where Joseph Hartop, her husband, was born. It's equally possible Mary senior went to live with this daughter after William died.

David

[johnP-bedford]

Hello Wendy

Just been to Beds Archives & I'm going to type in my many various findings & I'll leave it to you (& David) to sort it all out....

The 6 DEC 1826 baptism at Cople states he is the illegitimate son of William Armstong, labourer & Mary Tatman, lacemaker.  I could not find a late baptism for Hannah (Tatman or Armstrong) at both Cople or Cardington up to her marriage in 1827.

Cardington parish records has the banns on 18/11/1827, 25/11/1827 & 2/12/1827 for John Bassett, bach & Hannah Armstrong, spinster, both of this parish
It also has their marriage on 25 DEC 1827 - witnesses Joseph HARTOP & Joseph White (who is on lots of other marriage entries)

From the Cople marriage on 19 JAN 1817 of Joseph Hartop, bach of Cardington to Mary Tatman spinster of Cople, we have witnesses John Armstrong & Sarah Cox   
Could this John be William & Mary's son christened 24 APR 1796 ?

Baptisms at Cardington, children of Thomas & Ann Bassett, labourer of Fenlake
1 OCT 1826 Eliza Christina age 19&half years
8 OCT 1826 Samuel age 8 years
8 OCT 1826 Joseph age 5 years
8 OCT 1826 John age 18 years

Baptisms at Cardington of children of John & Hannah Basset, labourer
10 AUG 1828 George - abode Cardington
17 JAN 1830 Thomas - abode Fenlake
25 MAR 1832 Benjamin - abode Fenlake

No baptism found for Mary - but there is a Cardington burial of an unbaptized child of John & Hannah Bassett of Fenlake on 8 MAR 1832 - no age given
Also a Cardington burial of Thomas Basset of Fenlake on 134 Jan 1832 age 2 years

Thomas Basset of Fenlake buried at Cardington on 11 SEP 1828 age 55

Mary Tatman of Fenlake buried Cardington on 26 AUG 1828 age 57

Thomas Tatman of Cardington age 24 buried there on 19 MAR 1813

For the Northill marriage, from marriage licence Thomas Tatman,  labourer of Moggerhanger to Mary Crawley of Northill, age 21&over; surety given by Willian Linnell, farmer of Northill

Think that's all of it..

cheers John