Monday, January 10, 2011

Eliza Green and Thomas Esdaile's Parish Registry Entry 8 July 1809

Cousins, we see here that Eliza was sometimes called Elizabeth. The witness William Green may have been Eliza's son William Goodall Green. Or maybe not. 
This is a form they filled out. I'll put the handwritten part in italics.
from the Parish Registry of Marlebon page 34, year 1809, FHL British film 584228

No. 101 Thomas Esdaile esq of Bognor in the County of Sussex Bachelor and Elizabeth Green of this Parish Widow
were Married in this Church by Licence this Eight Day of July in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and nine By me Benj'm Lawrence Curate This Marriage was solemnized between Us Thos Esdaile Elizabeth Esdaile
in the Presence of Samuel Elliott 
Eliz Eliott
Willm Green

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Crypt at St. Martin in the Fields

     For my birthday I received Bill Bryson's book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, Doubleday, Random House: New York, 2010 (thanks Chuck & Joey!). I think anyone interested in English genealogy  will also be interested in the factual matter of this book, and Bryson is a good story teller. Bryson cites a passage describing the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields church in 1859 as being full of thousands of coffins stored every which way (p. 270-271). No footnote, but the bibliography led me to the charming book by Malcolm Johnson, St Martin-in-the-Fields, published in Chichester, West Sussex by Phillimor in 2005.
    According to Johnson, the vaults were cleaned in 1817, and in 1841 3,250 coffins were re-stacked. No new burials were allowed after 1853. In 1859 the church wardens put ads in the newspapers asking relatives to remove coffins. After 1 Feb 1859, the remaining coffins went to St. Martin's cemetery in Camden town or they (1,857 of them ) were bricked up in three new vaults in the south-east corner of the crypt under Adelaide Street and Duncannon Street.  All but 246 of them were listed by name (Johnson p. 35-36). Here Johnson cites Westminster City Archives, St Martin's Parish Records, F6102, so let's check that out!
     In 1938 three thousand lead coffins and other human remains from the crypt were taken (by night) to the Brookwood cemetery in Surrey to make way for office space (Johnson p. 62).
     If you're a descendant of Eliza Esdaile, you may also be a descendant of Richard Thomas who was buried in St. Martin's crypt in 1826. Richard's son George Thomas married Eliza Esdaile's granddaughter Kate Grant. I will think of the neatest way to document this and give you some citations in another post.












    

Mrs. Esdaile's House Moved from Aldwick

"Bognor Cottage adjoins Sudley Lodge, and was erected by Mrs. Esdaile, having been removed from Aldwick in consequence of the encroachment of the sea. It is now the property and residence of Christopher Teesdale, Esq."

The Bognor Guide, Containing the History of Bognor, and the History and Antiquities of Several Adjoining Parishes, including and Account of Goodwood, Arundel Castle, etc., etc. and the Roman Remains at Bignor , Petworth: Printed by John Phillips, 1838, page 16.

Check out the Earl of Arran's 1830's resort development plan on google books:
Bognor Guide

Eliza Esdaile hits up Her Royal Highness in 1831

A copy of a letter to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle is signed by Eliza Esdaile. It is dated "Sudley Cottage, Bognor, May 8th 1831". Eliza makes the following statements:
*She encloses documents showing that she and her family were friends with Edward Duke of Kent as of 1793 in Canada.
*Her husband, Mr. Esdaile, left her with plenty of money.
*But her house was going to be washed into the sea so she had to move it to the Earl of Arran's and now she's broke.
*And she got her husband & his friends to lend the Duke money several times, and in particular, when the Duke was going to Belgium in 1817 she lent him 500 pounds of her own of which he paid back 200 and gave his word he'd get her the other 300.
*But not in writing, and then he died.

Ref. no:RA pp/vic/1/5855

http://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheRoyalArchives/TheRoyalArchives.aspx

The registrar in 2004, Miss Pamela Clark, kindly wrote that the archives have no further correspondence with or about  Eliza Esdaile, and Miss Clark was not able to say if Mrs. Esdaile got any more money.
 
Five hundred 1818 pounds is a bit over $38.6 thousand now. http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm

I learned about the existence of this letter from the journalist Mollie Gillen's book, The Prince and His Lady, published in paperback in 1985 by Goodread Biographies of Toronto, Canada. Her book has a bibliography and footnotes, but I've found them to be either inaccurate or not detailed enough to check on. This is an exception. I found out about Gillen's book from  a cousin's husband, Steve Hayes (Thanks Steve!) at http://www.gencircles.com/users/hayesst.

Eliza Green and Thomas Esdaile's Marriage License Allegation

This is a form he filled out. I'll put the handwritten part in italics:
6th July 1809
London Diocese}
Appeared personally Thomas Esdaile Esquire and made Oath, that he is of Bognor in the County of Sussex a Bachelor and intendeth to marry with Elizabeth Green of the Parish of Saint Mary le bone in the county of Middlesex a widow and that he knoweth of no lawful   Impediment, by reason of any Precontract, Consanguinity, Affinity, or any other lawful means whatsoever, to hinder the said intended Marriage, and prayed a Licence to solemnize the same in the parish Church of  Saint Mary le bone and further made oath, that the Place of Abode of her the said Elizabeth Green hath been in the Parish of Saint Mary le bone for the Space of four weeks past. Tho Esdaile
Sworn before me ??

FHL [Family History Library] Microfilm
British Film 561593 1809-1811, Marriage License Allegations in the Register of the Bishop of London Diocese of London 1597-1900.


authors:Church of England. Diocese of London, (Main Author)
format:Manuscript/On Film
language:English
publications:Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1968-1998
physical: 279 microfilm rolls, 35 mm.











Eliza Esdaile's Will

For 3.50 pounds, you can download Eliza Esdaile's will.
Here's the link: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline
Look under "wills", and you'll find 

Description Will of Eliza Esdaile, Widow of Pagham , Sussex
Date 16 October 1835
Catalogue reference PROB 11/1852
Dept Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Series Prerogative Court of Canterbury and related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers
Piece Name of Register: Gloster Quire Numbers: 551 - 600


This will, written in 1818 and amended in 1830, establishes many relationships. Eliza is the widow of Thomas Esdaile, her daughter is Louisa Grant (amended to Aitchison), her son is Wm Goodall Green, Commissary General in Canada, her grandson is William George Green, her daughter-in-law is Margaret Green wife of William Goodall Green, her granddaughter is Kate Grant, and her brother is Thomas Green of Quebec, her son-in-law is William Grant. Witnesses are Wm Goodall of Tottenham, Middlesex, Merchant, and Sarah Dickinson and Elizabethe Farley, servants of Mrs. Esdaile of Bognor. Her executor is Sir Alexander Bryce.


Bryce's 1832 obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine may give some genealogical clues, as he served in North American in the 1790s:  http://books.google.com/books?id=d_gRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA474&lpg=PA474&dq=%22sir+alexander+bryce%22&source=bl&ots=JGTmmc9iTu&sig=yMA-lyhxWGg2Bngd2q3lTejHXoQ&hl=en&ei=-dMgTcTiKoOdlgeqtOisDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=%22sir%20alexander%20bryce%22&f=false


















Sherlock Holmes lived in Eliza and Thomas Esdaile's House

Cousins, when you saw "Baker Street at Portman Square" on Eliza Esdaile's will, 72 Baker Street on her Sun Fire Insurance Records, or on  the Old Bailey proceedings of her servant's trial for wine stealing, did you think "Baker Street--Sherlock Holmes"? Check out Peter Liddell's site:  http://www.sherlockian.net/world/221b.html

I admit this has nothing to do with primary sources! :)

Three Bottles of Wine Stolen from Eliza Esdaile

Follow this link, cousins, and explore the wonderful world of 19th century crime & punishment:

Link: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?ref=t18130113-84

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, 17 June 2008), 13 January 1813, trial of Sarah Brown (t18130113-84), consulted 2 January 2011.

Let's Get Some Primary Sources!

Dear cousins, this blogspot is named for Eliza Esdaile (died 2 January 1835) because she's so wonderfully googleable. This year I'll post links, transcripts, and, where reproduction isn't allowed, abstracts of primary sources relating to our ancestry, all with citations following Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills, available at most libraries. I hope you'll join me.

Book: Mills, Elizabeth Shown,  Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

http://www.amazon.com/Evidence-Citation-Analysis-Family-Historian/dp/0806315431/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293998021&sr=1-3