Archive for the ‘Genealogy’ Category

To James Joseph Hancock, potter, and Hannah Hancock (née Blackwell), on November 12, 1838 at Vauxhall Walk, Parish of St Mary, a daughter, Eliza Hancock.
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Jane Mary Ann Hancock, daughter of James Joseph Hancock, potter, died at 77 Princes Road, Lambeth on November 2, 1847, aged 3 weeks. The cause of death was certified as inflammation of the chest.
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Sarah Coles, wife of Joseph Coles, brazier, died at 13 Upper Ogle Street on September 26, 1837, aged 43 years. The cause of death is recorded as hydrothorax.
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Joseph Coles got married between his hospitalisation in 1817 and the presentation to the Somersetshire Society of a report into his conduct as an apprentice in March 1819 (Somersetshire Society, 1819, March 15) that said:

… subsequent to the time when he was in the hospital for the cure of the Venereal disease he had been in the habit of staying out all hours of the night sometimes all night and frequently whole days – that he had formed a connection with and had ultimately married their discharged Servant maid …

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I have finally managed to find some time to transcribe some of the documents I photographed on my recent visit to the Somerset Record Office in Taunton. The first is a report into the conduct of my 4 × great grandfather Joseph Coles as an apprentice to the tinsmith George Adcock. The report was provided to the Committee of the Somersetshire Society in London by John Moore—a copy of which was written into the minutes of the committee meeting held at Albion House on Monday, 15 March 1819 (Somersetshire Society, 1819, March 15).
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The London Metropolitan Archives are in the process of digitising their genealogical resources in association with Ancestry.com. These resources are being progressively made available, and having recently upgraded my subscription to Ancestry, searches for Benjamin Coles have uncovered some new information.
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LONDON — Today I returned to the British Library. Now that I knew the date of Benjamin Coles’ death, I reasoned that I would be better able to select documents more likely to yield a positive result. I requested five and it was in the last that I viewed that I found what I was looking for. So after four hours of searching I put in a request to have a couple of pages scanned, and I now have to return on Monday afternoon to collect my copy.
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Today I finally found a reference to Benjamin Coles in the records of the India Office held at the British Library. Benjamin was appointed as a labourer in the Tea Warehouse on March 10, 1802. His appointment is recorded as entry no. 292 in List of Laborers Appointed, 1801-1832 (IOR:L/AG/30/5). He was nominated by T. T. Metcalfe, Esq.; his previous occupation was recorded as servant; and he was 33 years of age at the time. This would reckon his year of birth as about 1769.

LONDON — This morning I went to the London Metropolitan Archives to try and find a reference to Joseph Coles in St Thomas’ Hospital’s patient admission register for 1817. Unfortunately this particular item was classified as not fit for consultation due to bomb damage suffered during the Second World War, but I was able to fill in a form to request conservation. Hopefully it will be available for the next time I visit!
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BRISTOL — This morning began with an early walk to the railway station to reserve a seat to Paddington (the advanced ticket office is closed Sundays). That done, I returned to the hotel to get the car and drive to Mells, the birthplace of my ancestors Benjamin and Joseph Coles.
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