SEARLE FAMILY

[Buffnut453]

Found a newspaper article (Hampshire Telegraph dated Monday 15 April 1833) mentioning the death of Henry Searle in 1833.  The article notes that Henry was "many years in the employ of Mr. Knott of this town."  Now to work out what work Mr. Knott undertook. 

There's also a possible lead on the father of Henry Searle.  There was a Henry Searle born in Cowes in 1765 which aligns quite well with the age of Henry Searle buried in Portsea in 1833:

Henry Serle bapt 27 Sep 1765 Cowes
Son of Samuel Serle

[Little Nell]

Mary Searle died 19 October buried 26 October 1845 in Portsea Cemetery aged 86 was recorded as living in Landport Road.  Does that help?

Nell

[Buffnut453]

Hi Nell,

Yes, I was already tracking that burial record for Mary Searle.  The two burials line up very neatly.  The original record gives what appears to be coordinates for the grave site.  The coordinates for Henry Searle's grave from 1833 are listed as 6/25 while Mary Searle's in 1845 are 6.25 (i.e. six and a quarter)/25 which, to me at least, seems like they were adjacent graves.  It would be interesting to understand what those coordinates refer to perhaps locate the graves (I doubt there would be headstones). 

I'm pretty sure these burials relate to the family I'm chasing.  I'm still trying to work out what "Mr. Knott" did as a profession since the newspaper article makes it clear that the Henry Searle who died in 1833 worked for the said Mr. Knott.  Clearly, he was a well-known businessman in the area.

I'm also re-attacking on efforts to identify Mary Searle's maiden name and parents.  I finally feel like I'm making some headway with this family!

Kind regards,
Mark

[Little Nell]

There was a Joseph Knott who was a brewer & publican at the Union Tavern on Broad Street and a Henry Knott who was a butcher.

Nell

Added: and a Thomas Knott, yeoman of Buckland.

[Buffnut453]

I decided to look again at the 1765 Christening record to see if it tallied with "my" Henry Searle. 

In the decade either side of 1765, there are only 5 recorded Christenings for Henry Searles (or variants thereof):

Dec 1763 - Son of Matthew and Anne Serle (Meonstoke)
Sep 1765 - Son of Samuel Serle (Cowes)
Feb 1766 - Son of Samuel Serle (Cowes)
Dec 1770 - Son of John and Elizabeth Searl (Yateley)
Dec 1774 - Son of William and Ann Searle (Worplesdon, Surrey)

I'm thinking that the 1765 Henry probably died, hence the later child of the same name in 1766 may actually be "my" Henry Searle.  I suspect the date was actually in 1767...I need to view an image of the original record to confirm because transcripts are often inaccurate due to the Church of England habit of counting years from one Easter to the next rather than 1 Jan thru 31 Dec. 

Given the locations and dates, the 1766 event in Cowes seems the most likely...which gives me at least a father's name of Samuel.  There was another child of Samuel Searle, a son named Thomas, born in Cowes in 1772 which lists the mother's name as Molly or Motty. 

Of course, "my" Henry Searle may have been born somewhere far distant from Portsmouth...but if that's the case, there's no way to track him down unless I can find a relevant military service record that contains the missing info (unlikely for the 1700s, methinks). 

[Buffnut453]

So...I tried to find the cemetery.  Turns out it they were buried in Mile End Cemetery, Portsea, which today is a car park for the ferry terminal.  It seems like very few of the interments were relocated, so Henry and Mary are likely still there, (sadly) underneath the car park.

[Little Nell]

Sorry, I should have warned you that was the case.  It's a bit like the churchyard at St Mary's in Portsea - all the grave slabs were moved to the edge.  But since that is the third (I think) church built on the site, any older burials are long gone. 

Nell