A puzzle

[grantleydawn]

I am posting this, hopefully one day I will resolve the connection.

This is all that I know.

I had assumed that the Mary in the following 1841 Census was Mary Ann SAMWELL (nee CHILLCOTT). Now I don’t know.

The mother of the Mary in the following 1841 Census was Mrs. KEY

I know that Lieut. William SAMWELL R.N. married Mary Ann CHILLCOTT on 11th Nov 1830 at Stoke Damerel, Devon (as per family knowledge & confirmed by IGI).
- I don’t know if Mary Ann CHILLCOTT was a widow or a spinster.
- I don’t know if she died & he remarried to a Mary KEY

Deaths - 27 MARCH 1840, Friday: At the house of Lieut. W. SAMWELL, R.N., Gorran Haven, Mrs. KEY, mother of Mrs. Samwell, aged 67 years.

1841 Census – Gorran, Cornwall
Name: William SAMUELL, Male, Age: 40, Occupation: Lieut RN (Chf Off Cstgd), Born in this County: No
Name: Mary SAMUELL, Female, Age: 35, Born in this County: No
Name: William SAMUELL, Male, Age: 7, Born in this County: No
Name: Mary SAMUELL, Female, Age: 5, Born in this County: No
Name: Sarah SAMUELL, Female, Age: 8, Born in this County: No
Name: Emma SAMUELL, Female, Age: 4, Born in this County: No
Name: Margaret SAMUELL, Female, Age: 2, Born in this County: Yes
Name: Mary BOWER, Female, Age: 25, Occupation: Female Servant, Born in this County: Yes
Name: Jane KEY, Female, Age: 15, Occupation: Female Servant, Born in this County: Yes
[A Jane KEY was bap 5 Dec 1824 at Tywardreath, Cornwall, England, daughter of John KEY & Jane]

Deaths - OCTOBER 8, 1841: On Friday last, at Goran Haven, aged 38 years, the wife of Lieut. Wm. SAMWELL, R. N., chief officer of the coast guard.
Death as per FreeBMD - Mary SAMWELL, registered Oct/Dec 1841 in the St Austell district, Cornwall

I know that he latter married an Emma WOOLF and a Susanna BROWN and I have him in the 1851 & 1861 Census, which isn’t much help to me.

Regards
Grantley

[alpinecottage]

The death of Mrs Key 1840 doesn't appear to be on Freebmd.  I was looking to find her first name.  She may have been widowed and remarried a Mr Key after the death of Mr Chillcott.  You could perhaps try the St Austell Registry Offfice and ask if they have a death cert for Mrs Key 1840 - you'd probably be expected to buy it though.  As well, you may make some progress on this problem by looking at the original parish registers for the Samwell/Chillcott marriage and Mrs Key's burial.

Also is the 1841 census laid out as you've typed it?  It is odd to have Mary aged 5 followed by Sarah aged 8, then Emma aged 4.  Sometimes an arrrangement like this suggests a step family.  Perhaps you need to track down the baptisms of the children 

[maidmarianoops]

http://app-calmview.devon.gov.uk/CalmView/

you should get the info here.

sylvia

[crimea1854]

I'm not sure if this helps, but a John Key was Chief Boatman at Gorran Haven from 1825 until his retirement in 1850, and would have been an immediate subordinate of Lt. Samwells'. Key's wifes name was Jane, and it looks as though the Jane who was a servant to the Samwell family was their daughter.

I'm not sure if you have done any research on the Naval career of William, but he was awarded the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp for Algiers, for his service on HMS Impregnable. This medal is known to exist, and was sold at Christies in 1986. He passed for Lieutenant on 25 Aug 1829.


Martin

[Galium]

The only death registered in St Austell district in the first two quarters of 1840 which looks possible is:

Ann KAY  March Q  vol 9 p 14

[grantleydawn]

Thankyou everyone for your help. I needed it.

As yet I haven’t seen the original Census return. What I presented was from FreeCEN. I will take your comments onboard.

In my confused state, I totally missed the burial of Ann KAY. I was too fixed on the name KEY.

To add to my confusion;
His wife Mary died in Oct 1841. He then married in May 1842 to Emma WOOLF. My Auntie (since deceased) who has been right with everything except the occasional spelling variation) said “Her wedding ring was engraved with 'Mary Kay 1842'.”

(As per "The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser", 3rd June 1842; "At Charles Church, Plymouth, on Monday, the 23rd ult., Lieut. W. SAMWELL, R.N. of Goran Haven, near Mevagissey, to Emma, eldest daughter of Peter WOOLF, Esq., of the former place.")

As a seperate exercise, I have to explore the Naval career of this Lieut William SAMWELL & his father Capt. William SAMWELL (1767-1846). Other than my Auntie’s notes, I don’t know where to look, ecconomically. I live in South Australia.

Regards
Grantley

[crimea1854]

Hi

If you have a subscription to Ancestry then you will find in their Military section O'Byrne's Royal Navy Biography 1849, this has full details of William, his father, and his uncle Peter Samwell's careers. One word of caution, I found that the search facility did not work, so had to go to the 'S' section for surnames, and there found them on page 5 of 135.

Martin

[grantleydawn]

Wow, thankyou Martin.

I wasn't chasing those details yet, so what a huge bonus.

I don't subscribe to ancestry.com but managed to download a copy from archive.org.

Now I can compare it to my Aunt's notes.

I did find on the internet, details of their medals that had gone to auction.

Thankyou
Grantley

[Galium]

The National Archives documentsonline sevice:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/

has two records of Lieutenant William SAMWELL in its Royal Navy Officer's service records collection, and also a will of William SAMUELL, of Maker, Cornwall retired Commander in the Royal Navy, proved February 1847.

If you haven't used documentsonline before, these are downloadable images - cost is £3.50 per record.