Ancestry - Plymouth and Plympton

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Ancestry

Record office in Plymouth

 

I wanted to look for something my great-grandfather, John Stevens, had apparently written. To get to the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office I walked through the Barbican and crossed the swing bridge near the aquarium to the part of town known as Coxside.

The record office is in a non-descript building in an industrial looking area.

They had what I was looking for, as well as information I wasn't able to obtain back home.

It was a thrill for me to hold this record in my hands...

... and to see, presumably, my ancestor's handwriting.

Churchyard in Plympton

It was afternoon when I finished at the record office but there was still time to take a bus out to Plympton (a suburb of Plymouth about six miles from my hotel) where I was hoping to find an ancestor's headstone in St. Mary's churchyard. I believe it was my g-g-g-g-grandfather, John Stevens, and possibly his wife, Sarah (Lee) Stevens. I knew it would be like finding a needle in a haystack though because we had only a vague description of where it should be. Parts of the yard were quite rough and some stones were covered in ivy or branches, toppled over or just plain unreadable. I was unable to find what I was looking for.

I did find some family names which may have nothing to do with our family. I take photos of such stones anyway because ancestry research is probably never complete.

 I don't think these Stevens are related to me.

Luscombe is a name in our family. I don't know of these people being related but it's interesting that my great-aunt's name, Kate Winifred, was the reverse of the above.

Ford Park Cemetery revisted

Plymouth

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

 

Ancestry

Also on this day, I hiked across town to the Ford Park Cemetery again. On the way I stopped at a grocery store to buy a banana. Cereal seemed a bargain at one to one & a half pounds a box. In Victoria they’d probably be $4.50 - $6. The banana cost only 17p!  

 

I was surprised when I submitted the form at the cemetery that the women did the search then and there. The result was also surprising. The vault of my great-great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Mary Maddick Stevens, is at the front of the property, close to the street.
 



It’s a double vault and there are two markers. I never would have found this on my own because I barely did when standing right in front of it. The office woman explained that these people would have been related or at least known one another but there are last names I’ve never heard of: Ambrose, Acford, Martin, Barker and Dingle. The one named Martin is Thomas' sister - Anne Stevens married to Solomon Martin. The print-out shows names of only people who are buried there. I wrote what I could see but some of it is unreadable. Interestingly, there is no mention of Robert White Stevens who, we thought, was supposed to be buried here.

It was also odd that Mary Maddick Stevens wasn’t mentioned but she was named on the stone so I reported that to the office. The woman there said I did them a favour because the info was on the computer; they just didn’t know where she belonged. Someone is in the process of transcribing this information.

They do tours of notable people so she was interested when I mentioned that Thomas had been mayor of Plymouth. She asked that if we ever figure out the reason for the double vault to please drop them a line. I don’t know how we could ever figure that out, unless we discover they’re family members - sisters who married and got different last names, for instance. One of the Pardews is named on the Stevens stone.

#7 on my list - Angelina Green Stevens (don't know where the name Green came from) is one I would have liked to have met. There she was, listed in censuses as living in Horrabridge, Devon, which, granted, is only 11 miles north-ish of Plymouth, but her life seemed quite different from the rest of the family. She boarded with a couple as a gardener and poultry keeper, then lived with the head of a private school, and later was in a cottage, living on her own means.

___________________________________________________

On the internet I found a picture of a separate stone for Elizabeth's husband, George Acford, who died February 7, 1845 at age 40. 

Who are these people and how do they relate to our family? We may never know. I thought perhaps that Elizabeth was someone in our family but it seems not.

 

On the internet I found this:
George Acford, born about 1806 in Devon. Grocer. Married to Elizabeth Hutchens, November 25 (my Glenn's birthday), 1832, Stoke Damerel (now a suburb of Plymouth). There is a Mr. William Thomas Hutchens in the probate for their daughter Selina. Well, who the are the Hutchens? The plot thickens.

  ___________________________________________________

 

In the vicinity of the vaults were stones with names that appear is my family, Hearder and Pepperell, though these might not be related. I took photos of them anyway, just in case. 

The Guildhall in Plymouth

Plymouth

May 14, 2012

 

Ancestry research

I went over to the Guildhall, which was mostly rebuilt after the war, but was dismayed to see the bunch from some tattoo event there cleaning up. Apparently they'd be there all day, so I had to tread carefully over floor cloths and around tables while burly guys toted equipment out.

 

I wasn't too sure what I was looking for. There is supposed to be a window there dedicated to my great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Stevens the mayor. I found three in one room that were like stained glass church windows. In a main hall were windows with pictures painted on - quite amateurish. There was also supposed to be a coat of arms. A shield/crest is in that room but no one in the building could tell me what it was for. There was writing on the wall below it but it was all covered by portable walls. I asked when they might come down - thought about going back the next day but was informed that some do for the mayor was being set up when the tattoo people were finished so the Guildhall would be closed all week. Luckily a helpful, non-tattooed man came along and moved the walls away for me. Didn't see anything related to my family there.

 

 

These pictures appear to be stuck on the glass, like Mac Tac.

Carvings on the ceiling supposedly depict the labours of Hercules.

The shield and panels were all behind the movable walls before the nice man moved them aside. The top part of the design on the shield is like part of the town's coat of arms.

I would think the window was lost when the building was gutted in the war, but can't find any info to confirm. Somewhere was stated that the Arms was formerly in the guildhall, and was in the window. I would have liked to have seen it. Apparently it had (a?) chevron azure and two eagles. In searching on the internet I learned something about colours used in heraldry...

There are five colours and two metals that may be used in heraldry, called tinctures. They use French names and are:

• Or (gold)
• Argent (silver)
• Gules (red)
• Azure (blue)
• Vert (green)
• Sable (black)
• Purpure (purple)
  
  
• Less common tinctures include:
• Tenne (orange or light brown)
• Sanguine (dark red)
• Murrey (dark purple)
• Bleu Celeste (light blue)
• Carnation (flesh coloured)
• Cendree (grey)
  These are, however, much rarer than the seven above.

Not related as far as I know, but Tozer is a name in our family. This man, Clifford Tozer, was alderman in 1952.

Outside, not far from the Guildhall, sit the remains of Charles Church, shown here with the mall in behind.

Thomas Stevens, mentioned above, was born in Plymouth in 1799 and was baptized in Charles Church on January 3rd, 1800.

First full day - Part 5 - Mannamead

Plymouth
May 13, 2012



Ancestry research

It seemed unlikely that I would find anything else astounding at Ford Park Cemetery on this visit so I stopped in at the office on my way out and picked up a search form.

Since I was already north of the city, and the Mannamead area was probably only about a mile to the east, it was easier to walk than trying to find a bus.

 

I think Mannamead took off as a residential area in the mid 1800's.

My great-great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Mary Stevens, (I'll call him Mayor Thomas to differentiate him from his son, Thomas Jones Stevens who was also married to a Mary) may have been the first in the family to move up to Mannamead from the Barbican (3 Parade). But where? Sometimes houses had names not street addresses. Street names can change over time, or disappear entirely if, say, the road got bombed out during the war. The 1861 census shows them living in Mannamead. Would that be Mannamead Road, Avenue, or just the general area? Probably one of the first two, judging by the census form. A probate record for then widowed Mary in 1876 states that she was living at Sunny Bank, Mannamead.

Next, my great-great-grandparents, Thomas Jones & Mary Stevens (he being the one who looked like a sea captain) lived in Mannamead, along with their son, John, among others, in 1871. The 1881 census shows them living at Woodbine Villa, Mannamead. This address is also mentioned in London Gazettes in 1874 and 1879. They must have liked living there because they later named their house in Oxford 'Mannamead.'

My great-grandparents, John and Eliza Stevens, lived at 12 Seymour Terrace in the 1881 census (This is also mentioned elsewhere in 1879). Seymour Terrace was the only address in Plymouth that I remember Dad taking about. The trouble is, there doesn't seem to be such a terrace. There is a Seymour Road, Drive, Park. Even on old maps I haven't found a Seymour Terrace.

I headed along Hermitage Road towards Mannamead Road. 

Row houses and more row houses (I was informed by an English person that they should be called terrace houses with bay windows), but they end at a rock wall. I crossed Mannamead Road over to Mannamead Avenue.

And here is where I realized I didn't know what I was looking for. It was confusing then and it still is.

I wandered along Mannamead Avenue but didn't find a building called Sunnybank - just a couple of named places, such as Windsor Lodge. Also a Mannamead Rise.

It just now occurred to me that I should have walked the length of the larger Mannamead Road, but I was probably getting tired. Instead, I walked to Seymour Road next door.

The neighbourhood was quiet and lacking people. I'm sure it was nice in its day but I felt it was a bit run down and even slightly seedy.

I'm still not sure I'm on the right road but I find a 12 Seymour.

What goes on here with multiple addresses and the Old School House?

I got quite a surprise when I looked next door to the right. Up until now, I'd only been able to walk these streets on Google.

What is this at the house (which appears to be divided into two) next door to the right? Oho! The name Woodbine! Could it be that T.J. & Mary Stevens lived next door to their son, my great-grandfather, John?

I wondered if the part of the building closest to the road was actually the back of house.

I suppose the only way to find out who lived at these properties would be to see a list of former owners like the sheet of information I was given by the owner of their house in Oxford. I don't know where one gets such a thing. Until then, this is really only speculation - this road could have nothing at all to do with our family.

Property details for Woodbine, Seymour Road, Mannamead
Semi-detached, Freehold, 7 Beds, 3 Baths, 4 Receps
Estimate: £810,839

Woodbine and Bryntirion, Plymouth

Description: Woodbine and Bryntirion
Grade: II
Date Listed: 19 November 1997
Listing Text

PLYMOUTH

SX4856SE SEYMOUR ROAD, Mannamead

740-1/38/336 (South side)

19/11/97 Woodbine and Bryntirion

GV II

Unequal pair of villas. Mid C19. Stucco with stucco detail;

dry slate hipped roofs with moulded eaves cornices, the

cornices to front blocks with modillions; stuccoed end stacks

with moulded cornices. Double-depth overall U-shaped plan.

EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; entrance fronts at left and right-hand

returns the front blocks with central porches. Original sashes

with glazing bars within moulded architraves on bracketed

sills to right-hand entrance front of Bryntirion; pilastered

porch with moulded entablature; pilastered openings left and

right of doorway with moulded hoods on brackets. Woodbine has

larger porch with balustraded parapet. Garden front is 4 bays

with triple round-arched windows at left and paired sashes at

right over canted pilastered bays with moulded cornices; other

windows within moulded architraves with sill brackets above

pilastered doorways with moulded hoods on brackets. Road front

is rear of the house with 2:2:0 window range.

INTERIOR: not inspected but likely to be of interest.

Part of a good group of villas in Mannamead which was

developed after 1851.

(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:

669).

First full day - Part 4 - Ford Park Cemetery

Plymouth
May 13, 2012



Ancestry research

To me, cemeteries in Devon were like adventure parks. It was fun to see so many family names, whether related or not, and thrilling to find stones for actual ancestors. Each new piece of information is like finding a puzzle piece. And, after the devastating loss of Glenn, feeling connected to my ancestors gave me some comfort. It was a privilege to be in this place where family members were born, lived and died, and maybe that was one reason why I felt so at home in Devon.

This was across town beyond the train station.

Don't remember what this building was that I saw in passing.

I came to a large park, Central Park, and walked along an edge of it. Magpies seem to be everywhere in England.

This sign is at the front of the cemetery.

However, I came in through the back but even then didn't immediately grasp the size of the place. I didn't know which family members, if any, might be buried here, and only had some of my notes on hand. There was a family vault somewhere in Plymouth... but with 250,000 graves at this site, finding anything relevant seemed unlikely. So, I did what my sister and I did when we were trying to find St. Mary Lake on Saltspring Island - I followed my nose.

Turning right off the lane, it quickly became apparent that it would be easy to fall or twist an ankle on the uneven ground obscured by grass. I kept to the right side, paralleling the lane toward the front of the property.
Nearer the front I turned left...

And there it was. To my left I saw the name Stevens. My thoughts ranged from - 'Oh there you are' as if I'd been led right to it, to wonderous disbelief that I was looking at a stone for my great-grandparents. My grandmother's parents died too young, of TB. She barely would have known them, but their deaths caused her life to go in a different direction, to Canada. Maybe she would have stayed in England otherwise.

I had no idea such a stone existed anywhere. John Stevens is my great-grandfather.

The stone reads:

JOHN STEVENS
BORN JUNE 21st, 1847
DIED DECr. 21st, 1885
ERECTED BY A FEW OF HIS OLD FRIENDS
ALSO ELIZA, WIFE OF THE ABOVE
BORN SEPt. 17th, 1854
DIED JUNE 29th, 1887
GEORGE HERBERT, THEIR CHILD
BORN JANy. 14th, 1879
DIED APRIL 13th, 1881 

It wouldn't surprise me that friends of John's would erect a stone. He was involved in a lot of things: the Volunteer Rifles, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and the Conservative Assoc., treasurer of the Plymouth Lifeboat, secretary and treasurer of the Fisherman's Insurance Society. etc. But are any bodies actually buried there? I later got a disk on Ford Park but the information may not be complete - their names aren't listed. Why didn't I just pay the £10 (or so) fee for a search?

If the birthdate for Eliza is correct, then that means she was married on her 23rd birthday. We don't know a whole lot about Eliza Huxham (Stevens). It's unfortunate that for some reason John Stevens' parents weren't inclined to give their kids middle names. I'm not sure that Eliza had one either. We know that she was from Ivybridge (or Ermington), Devon and that her father, William Henry Huxham, was a butcher. If we're looking at the right census records, then her mother was named Jane (from Calstock, Cornwall) and she had a brother, also named William Henry who also became a butcher, and the family moved to Plymouth when Eliza was a child. 

My Great-grandparents and their children

The information on this stone that doesn't fit with ours is the death date for the child, George Herbert Stevens, child number 1 on the page above. We believe the date on this stone is wrong. It definitely says 1879 - 1881 on the stone, but our family info has him at about age 6, not 2, when he died of whooping cough.

It's curious that the males in the above photos all have light hair, while my Grandma and Kate didn't.

I would learn that when one stone is found for a family member, it's good to check nearby to see if there are any more.

As far as I know, these people aren't related but the stone on the ground next to John and Eliza's is of interest because of the name Pardew. Susan Fowler Jones Stevens married into a Pardew family. She was a younger sister of my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Jones Stevens. We know that her husband, Arthur, was a ship owner. I assumed, perhaps erroneously, that his father, John (1803-1861), was too as there was a ship or two called the John Pardew. 

TO
THE HONOURED
AND
EVER LOVING MEMORY OF
OUR DEAR MOTHER AND FATHER
PRISCILLA NICHOLLS PARDEW
WHO PASSED AWAY 10th OF MARCH 1933
JOHN ANDREW PARDEW
WHO SUDDENLY PASSED AWAY
13th APRIL 1910 AGED 54
ALSO OF
FRANK ARUNDEL PARDEW
YOUNGEST SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION
9th SEPTEMBER 1918 AGED 26
BURIED AT DERNANCOURT, FRANCE
ALSO OF THEIR YOUNGEST DAUGHTER
NINA MARGARET PARDEW
WHO PASSED AWAY
16th APRIL 1916, AGED 21
IN MEMORY ALSO OF
ELIZABETH PARDEW
WHO DIED 18th MARCH 1885 AGED 71
SAMUEL PARDEW
WHO DIED 24th JANUARY 1888 AGED 78

This John Pardew may have been the one was a music teacher, choirmaster, organist and violin soloist. From the net: John Pardew, was a well-known classical violinist in Plymouth during the 19th century. He taught the Prince of Wales the violin, but died at just 53 after a large dinner, having drunk two pints of water which apparently gave him a heart attack.

All the while, a little bird just sat there chattering and keeping me company.

I still hadn't found the vault but it seemed unlikely that I would find anything else astounding on this visit so I stopped in at the office in or next to the church (can't remember which) on my way out and picked up a search form.