Using sources to learn about an ancestor’s life.

Prior to official civil registration in England and Wales of bmds,

which commenced on July 1st 1837, the only way to learn about an
average person, ie not of noble birth, or famous, was by searching in
parish records. However, the early records are very limited as
occupations were hardly ever mentioned and they seldom include
extra information such as where they had moved from if they were not
local. By 1841 the census could be used, but neither of these sources
were much use for someone born and deceased before these dates.
Wills are the other useful source, but this virtually precludes females.

One such example of this was my cousin 4 times removed whose birth
was not even recorded by name. She was baptised in Mountnessing,
Essex, on May 15th 1796 as “female”, daughter of William and Grace,
my 3 x great uncle and aunt. It has been assumed that Sarah was the
name of this child as

“my granddaughter Sarah Samuel spinster who now lives with me as

my housekeeper” was mentioned as William Samuel's granddaughter
in his Will of 1817, Prob 11/1608.

He did not have any other granddaughters called Sarah who were old
enough to be a housekeeper. Sarah was one of his executors, together
with three men of standing. So was Sarah educated? This was
unusual in those days. I could not find her death or marriage in the
village, so after William’s death in 1818 and that of his wife in
December 1825, I looked for Sarah in East London as my 4x great
grandmother, Elizabeth Samuel, had gone there to live, and many of
her extended family gravitated there. Sarah’s parents had also
married there, in 1795. Yes, she was there, signing her own name,
and married in the Church where Elizabeth had married her second
husband, James Falconer, and where Elizabeth’s last child had just
been baptised. Was this really her though as many Samuels lived in
the East End of London? Yes it was, the proof being her witness,
Louisa Parnell, born in Writtle and wife of William Parnell. William’s
grandfather lived in Mountnessing, but he himself was born near to
Elizabeth’s home, in London, in 1784. He must have returned to

Sarah Samuel 1796 – 1832

Copyright Lorna P. Cowan 2015
Essex to find a bride, or she went to London to find employment,
although she was only 18 when they married.

What was more surprising though was that five months later Sarah
gave birth to a daughter. Her husband, like James and his son,
William Falconer, was a Master Mariner, which is how she probably
met Gabriel Whyte, her husband. The daughter, also named Sarah,
was baptised in St Vincent Scotch Church, a Non-Conformist Church
as Gabriel was from Scotland, as was James Falconer.

This child died in September 1838, aged 12, and was buried in
Shadwell. Searching for Sarah’s death prior to 1841 as I could not
find her in the census, I came across her burial back in
Mountnessing, in March 1832, the final proof that she was the Sarah
mentioned in the Will of 1818.

How many children did Sarah have in the six years that she was
married? I cannot find any more, but did discover a Will for Gabriel
Whyte, Master Mariner, which he had made in August 1838. PROB
11; Piece: 1949/26

He had remarried the previous December, to Isabella. The Will

mentions his two dear children from his first marriage, but he did not
alter this after Sarah died in September 1838. He was Master and
Commander of various ships that plied the Mediterranean, with
passengers and cargo, but as this was around the time when we were
at War with America and with France, the ships carried 10 guns. A
record of the Columbian in 1837, the ship mentioned in his Will,
showed that it limped into Falmouth, timber laden and full of water,
with main and mizen mast standing. Google books. The article did not
say if he had been shot at or just encountered bad weather. Many
newspaper accounts describe the state of ships arriving in harbour,
badly storm damaged, so it was probably caused by the weather, such
as in this account: this evening the Gazelle schooner, Gabriel Whyte,
master, from Vostizza, in the Morea, arrived here, laden with
currants, bound to London put in with foul winds. Vostizza is a type
of currant produced in Greece.

Newspapers describe the many ships he was Master of, including the
Ridley and Fox.

Sarah Samuel 1796 – 1832

Copyright Lorna P. Cowan 2015
His Will was proved on 2nd July 1841, so Gabriel had probably died
before the census. His last address, and the place where his daughter
died, was Lucas Street Commercial Road, which is where James
Falconer was living in 1835. Once again my 4 x great grandmother
proved to be central to the story of the movement of the Samuel
family from Mountnessing towards London.

Sarah Samuel 1796 – 1832

Copyright Lorna P. Cowan 2015