Westminster christening

[geraldinebuxton]

My relative Richard Joseph Martin was christened in Westminster in 1771, and was married in1795 at St. Sepulchure, Holborn. From his will he was a man of means and had a house he rented out in Marylebone.
I have no idea what he did for a living. What would the area of Westminster been like in 1771, and what type of people lived there?
He ended up living in the Richmond area and was buried in Twickenham in December 1853.
What type of person lived a life like that?
I have no leads whatsoever.
Many thanks.

[Valda]

Hi

1851 census HO107 1698 folio 559
2 Cross Road Twickenhma Middlesex
Richard Martin 79 Head Married Annuitant St Pancras Middlesex
Ann Martin 40 Wife Married Bury St Edmunds Suffolk
Lionel Rodwell 34 Son-in-law Married Fruiterer Hungerford Berkshire
Maria Rodwell 47 Wife Married St Bennets London


A marriage in the same quarter

Marriages Sep 1842   
MARTIN  Richard Joseph     Richmond S  4 387   
RODWELL  Ann     Richmond Sy  4 387   
RODWELL  Lionel     Richmond Sy  4 387   
SCOTT  Maria     Richmond Surrey  4 387


27th July 1842 Richmond parish church Surrey
Richard Joseph Martin Full Age Widower Gentleman New Richmond Richard Martin Gentleman
Ann Rodwell Full Age Spinster New Richmond Josiah Rodwell Gentleman
Both signed
Witnesses William Brewer and Maria Scott

Gentleman was a term used to describe someone who had enough yearly income not to have to work. That might mean through inheritance or their business had done sufficiently well they could retire.

1841 census HO107 658/12 folio 13
2 Cross Road Twickenham Middlesex
Richard Martin 70 Ind(ependent) born in county
Maria Scott D? 30 born in county
Maria Scott 13 born in county
adult ages, those over 15, usually rounded down to the nearest 5 on the 1841 census.


Though a baptism at St James Westminster Richard Joseph on the 1851 census states he was born in St Pancras.

MARTIN, Richard Joseph born 5th June 1771 baptised 1st July 1771               
Parents Richard and Sarah

possible sibling baptised later at the same church

MARTIN, Ann born 8th October 1777 baptised 29th October 1777


There is a possible child baptised earlier at St Pancras

St Pancras Parish Church 12th February 1770 born same day
Henry Blayney parents Richard and Sarah


From this website

http://www.archive.org/stream/proceedingsofbat11bath/proceedingsofbat11bath_djvu.txt

'Heads of Illustrious Men (100) English and Foreign, by
Nanteuil Hollar (all very fine and some rare), Monn, from
the Heroologia, by Mellan, etc., etc. The whole collected by
Henrietta Louisa Jeffreys, Countess of Pomfret, 1730 (each
print inlaid and bordered) with Biographical sketches of the
Lives and characters, very elegantly written in compartments,
enclosed by neatly pencilled borders in gold and colours by
Herself.
At the sale this book was purchased by Henry Blayney
Martin, of Ashfield Lodge, Bury St. Edmunds, who died at
Sidmouth in 1824, leaving it to his eldest daughter, Harriet,
wife of Major Robert Fryer Phillips, R.A. She died m 1871,
at 6 Russell Street, Bath, and it passed with her property to
her nephew, the Rev. W. W. Martin, Rector of Shepperton,
Middlesex, 1876-1900, and now of 49, Pulteney Street, Bath-
wick, by whose gift it has now become the property for ever
of the City of Bath, and its Guildhall Library.'  

Prerogative Court of Canterbury will

Will of Henry Blayney Martin of Sidmouth , Devon
Date 21 June 1827
Catalogue reference PROB 11/1727 

14th January 1765 St Mary Marylebone Middlesex
Richard Martin a bachelor of the parish
Sarah Blayney a minor of St Mary Lambeth Surrey (Jonathan Blayney her father gave consent to her marriage) 
by licence
Both signed
Witnesses Jonathan Blayney and Sophia ?


Information on the parish of St James Westminster

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40541



Regards


Valda

[Ruskie]

One definition of "gentleman" from GenDocs:

GENTLEMAN
a member of the gentry, a descendant from an aristocratic family whose income came from the rental of his land.

Though as Valda said, it's often broader than that   ...

[Valda]

Hi

Gentleman from Wikipedia

'The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or "gens", and "man",.....), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English-Latin documents). In this sense the word equates with the French gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term was in Great Britain long confined to the peerage....To a degree, "gentleman" signified a man with an income derived from property, a legacy or some other source, and was thus independently wealthy and did not need to work. The term was particularly used of those who could not claim nobility or even the rank of esquire.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentleman

With rise of the middle classes from the C18th onwards who had no claim to nobility or titles the term gentleman was appropriated. As the C19th progressed even the upper working classes began to use the term if they could for anyone who had retired with sufficient income to live independently (some more fanciful uses of the term can be found on marriages for distant fathers when working class couples wanted to look more 'elevated' than they were).


In the period of Richard Joseph's parentage and his own life time the term was in broader use and did not signify just artistocracy (where some use of titles might be expected) or even necessarily descent from an aristocratic family.


Regards

Valda

[geraldinebuxton]

Dear Valda,
Thank you for the huge amount of information you discovered.
I certainly did not expect my relative to re marry at such an old age, especially to a woman so young! It explained how they ended up in Twickenham
Once again, many thanks
Geraldine