I wonder if anyone might please be able to assist me in trying to find out more about my ancestors the James family.
I know from the census and marriages that there were four siblings who were the children of a George James and a unknown spouse/s.
They were:
1. Henry James. Born Westminster 23 March 1816 (date known from his daughter's 'birthday book') Married/cohabited with Frances Hunt c1849 (no marriage found) and died in Wales in 1873. His daughters Elizabeth, Jane and Ellen went to live with his brother George Edward's family in the London area. I cannot find his baptism.
2. George Edward James. Born Fulham, Middlesex, c1823/4. He married Jane Gatcum in 1846 at St George Hannover Square and died in 1893 at The Five Bells, New Cross, Deptford, of which he was the landlord. His baptism has not come to light but the records for the period for All Saints Fulham are missing on ancestry so perhaps could be there. His marriage certificate of 1846 states his father was a carpenter.
3. Mary Ann James. Born Croydon, Surrey, c1830-1831. I have only found her with her sister Eliza's widowed husband John Poole in the 1881 census in Paddington where she appears to have taken on the housekeeper role following her sister's death in 1872. I have not found her baptism in Croydon or her in any other census.
4. Eliza James. Born London/Paddington c1831-1833. She married John Tucker Poole at St Pancras in 1854 and died in 1872. An Eliza James, daughter of George & Mary, was baptised at Old Church, Saint Pancras, London, in 1832. It is possibly this Eliza but other children baptised here make that possibly unlikely. For example there is no George born in 1824 but a George was baptised in 1835. The father on these is a boot maker, not a carpenter.
My grandfather's grandparents were John Edward Poole, born in 1854 as the son of Eliza James/Poole and Kate James, born in 1852 as the daughter of George Edward James. They were stated by my grandfather to be first cousins and this evidence is born out by George James being stated to be the father on both their parent's marriage certificates.
John Edward Poole was a self made man and originally a baker and the story goes that Kate's family did not approve as they did not think he was of a higher status, even though he was a member of the family! What is odder is that George Edward James on his marriage certificate in 1846 was a servant so he was of working class stock himself!
It makes me wonder if the James family had a rise and fall and then rose again. but the fact I am unable to find any of the children's baptisms makes it impossible to go back any further.
I would really like someone with new eyes to be able to have a look and see if someone else might be able to help me with this brick wall I hit a few years ago and have never been able to get any further with.
Any ideas or assistance would be gratefully received.
With thanks and kind regards,
Jon
