In 1813, my 4 × great grandfather Joseph Coles was apprenticed to George Adcock of Holywell Street, a tinsmith. A copy of Joseph’s indenture was written into the minute book of the Somersetshire Society following the minutes of the committee meeting held at the Turk’s Head, Strand on Tuesday, 21 September 1813 (Somersetshire Society, 1813, September 21).
Read the rest of this entry »

To Henry Boyd Coles, ironmonger, and Sarah Ann Coles (née Skene), on June 27, 1846 at 2 Hawthorndean Place, Limehouse, a son, George Skene Coles.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

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 …

Read the rest of this entry »

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).
Read the rest of this entry »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Elizabeth Coles, widow of Benjamin Coles, clerk with the East India Company, died of old age at 2 Hawthorndean Place, Limehouse on November 7, 1849, aged 77 years.
Read the rest of this entry »

I have recently been corresponding with a newly discovered cousin. Our common ancestors are Benjamin Coles and his wife Elizabeth. Robyn is descended from Henry Boyde Coles, Benjamin and Elizabeth’s firstborn, while I’m descended from Henry’s younger brother Joseph.
Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago I googled my 4 × great grandfather Joseph Coles and was pleasantly surprised to see an entry in the results that looked suspiciously like a reference to an article in a scholarly journal. Following the link proved my suspicions correct but unfortunately the full-text of the article (Keane, 1975) was not available to me online without paying a hefty fee. Luckily my local university library held the journal in print format so I was not inconvenienced too much.
Read the rest of this entry »