The marriages of Anne Champion Crespigny (1739-1797)

Anne Champion de Crespigny (1739-1797) sister of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, portrait by Katherine Read (1723-1788). Image retrieved from Neil Jeffares, “Katherine Read”, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, London, 2006; online edition [http://www.pastellists.com/articles/read.pdf], accessed 2 September 2017. (reference J.612.171) . Original reproduction in “Painting and Sculpture” 1927 a catalogue for a sale https://archive.org/stream/paintingssculptu00ande#page/94/

Every Friday the genealogy website FindMyPast lists records newly added to its collection. On 1 September they added several volumes of English marriage licences.

Commissary Court of Surrey Marriage Licences 1673-1770 , title page

In the Commissary Court of Surrey Marriage Licences 1673-1770 I was pleased to find a record, dated 19 April 1765, which gives licence details for my 6th great aunt, Anne Champion Crespigny.

Anne was the sixth of seven children of Philip Champion de Crespigny (1704-1765) and his wife Anne née Fonnereau (1704-1782). She was born 10 October 1739 and was baptised 30 October 1739 at the Church of St Benet’s, Paul’s Wharf, London. Anne’s father Philip died 11 February 1765. He had had a successful career as a lawyer including holding the position of Marshall of the Court of Admiralty.

The Commissary Court of Surrey Marriage Licences lists Anne as a spinster of Camberwell, 21, licensed to marry Bonouvrier Glover of Camberwell, abode 4 weeks, Esq. signs, bachelor 21. Claud Crespigny, surrogate. (page 547).

The surrogate named on the licence could have been Anne’s uncle Claude (1706-1782) or her older brother Claude (1734-1818). A surrogate can take the affidavits sworn by the applicants when applying for the licence. (see paragraph 802 of http://www.oxford.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/marriage_in_the_church_of_england.pdf)

The index of licences says she was 21 but actually she was 26 and thus of full age, that is over 21. Bonouvrier was also 26. He had apparently only recently moved to Camberwell.

Bonouvrier Glover, the son of Richard and Hannah,  was born 22 November 1739 and baptised 18 December 1739 at St Lawrence Pountney, London. Richard Glover was noted poet and also a parliamentarian. Bonouvrier’s younger brother, Richard Glover (1750-1822), also was a parliamentarian. In 1756 Bonouvrier’s father, Richard Glover senior, sued his wife for divorce. At this time divorce was very rare. The divorce of Richard Glover was the only divorce in 1756 and one of only sixteen in the decade 1751-1760. (Great Britain. Parliament. An act to dissolve the marriage of Richard Glover, with Hannah Nunn his now Wife, and to enable him to marry again; and for other Purposes therein mentioned. S.n., [1755]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/5A8RA2. Accessed 1 Sept. 2017. Victorian Divorce by Allen Horstmen page 16 retrieved from Google Books)

At the time of his marriage to Anne, Bonouvrier Glover was a naval officer with the rank of Commander. On 20 June 1765, two weeks after his marriage, he was promoted to Captain. Some years later, in 1778, he commanded the Janus, a newly commissioned 44 gun Roebuck class warship. In 1780 he became ill and died of natural causes on 20 March during a fight with the French off Monte Christi on San Domingo in the West Indies.  (http://morethannelson.com/officer/bonovier-glover/)

The Argo, a sister ship of the Janus, as flagship at Gibraltar 1799. Image from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebuck-class_ship

On 3 March 1783 at St George’s Hanover Square, London, Anne married James Gladell (1746-1819), nephew of Francis Vernon, 1st Earl of Shipbrook. Witnesses to the marriage were

• Anne’s brother Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818),
• Claude’s wife and Anne’s sister-in-law, Mary Crespigny (1747-1812),  and
• Henry Reveley (1737-1798), husband of Anne’s sister Jane (1742-1829). (index to marriage retrieved through the genealogist.co.uk)

James Gladell’s uncle Lord Shipbrook died in October 1783 and James Gladell received an inheritance in the will, written 29 May 1781 and probated 7 November 1783. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills PROB11/1110)

The London Gazette Publication date: 4 May 1784 Issue:12540 Page:1 retrieved from https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/12540/page/1/data.htm

 

In May 1784, after his uncle’s death, James Gladell changed his surname to Vernon.

In 1788 James and his wife Anne were involved in an insurance case in 1788 (Description: Insured: James Gladell Vernon, Esq. and Ann Gladell Vernon, his wife, Hereford Street, Oxford Street and James Mansfield Chadwick, Piccadilly, Esq. Other property or occupiers: Finch Lane, Cornhill (Seagood and Collins, printers) Date: 24 June 1788 Reference: MS 11936/353/545158 Held by the London Metropolitan Archives)

Anne died 2 June 1797.

Died:  Friday, Mrs. Vernon, wife of James Gladell Vernon, Esq. of Hereford-Street. (“News.” St. James’s Chronicle or the British Evening Post, June 3, 1797 – June 6, 1797. 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection, tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/5A77y2. Accessed 1 Sept. 2017.)

Anne had no children. James Gladell Vernon married again in 1802. He died in 1819.

X is for destruction of a piratical fleet near Xiānggǎng (Hong Kong)

My fourth great uncle Karl Heinrich August Mainwaring  was the tenth of the seventeen children of Rowland Mainwaring (1783-1862), eldest of the eight children of Rowland’s third wife Laura Maria Julia Walburga Chevillard (1811-1891).

Karl Mainwaring was born 4 September 1837 at Mannheim in Germany. He died 21 August 1906 at Saint Helier, Jersey.

On 19 September 1856 Karl Mainwaring appointed as lieutenant in the Royal Navy.  From 1874 to 1893 Karl Mainwaring was harbour master in Kingston, Jamaica. He retired from the navy with the rank of captain.

In 1866 Lieutenant K.H.A Mainwaring was stationed in Hong Kong with the China Squadron on  HMS Princess Charlotte.

Xiānggǎng is the modern transcription of 香港 , Hong Kong, ‘fragrant harbour’.

HMS Princess Charlotte painted 1838 by James Kennett Willson from Wikimedia Commons

HMS Princess Charlotte was a 104-gun first-rate ship launched in 1825. Once the the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, from 1858 until she was sold in 1875 the Princess Charlotte was used as a receiving ship, a harbour-bound hulk used for stores and accommodation in lieu of a permanent shore base.

Kellett’s Island, looking west across Wanchai towards Central and the Peak, with HMS Princess Charlotte on the right (1869 – 71). Retrieved from Cheung, Tim. “Maritime Museum to Show Historical Pictures of HK.” Artinfo. BlouinArtinfo Corp., 15 Jan. 2014. W <http://hk.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/983316/maritime-museum-to-show-historical-pictures-of-hk>.

Hong Kong Harbour about 1868 from The China Magazine Midsummer Volume 1868, page 88,  digitised by Google books.  The view possibly shows Signal Hill.

In July 1866 Lieutenant Mainwaring was given charge of HMS Opossum.

In 1865 HMS Opossum had been engaged in attacks on Chinese pirates in co-operation with the fleet of the Manchu Qing government. The attacks were reported in The Illustrated London News of 23 October 1865.

‘Expedition against the Chinese Pirates’ from The Illustrated London News of 23 October 1865 page 409 with illustration: Fleet of Chinese junks, with HMS Opossum, preparing to attack pirates at How-Chow. Retrieved from thegenealogist.co.uk

On 18 July 1866 HMS Opossum, commanded by Lieutenant Mainwaring, together with HMS Osprey attacked pirate vessels in Sama Bay, now known as Sanya Bay on Hainan Island, 250 miles south-west of Hong Kong. The British destroyed 22 Junks and 270 cannon and killed about 100 men.

HMS Opossum was a wooden screw gunboat of the Albacore class which carried about 38 crew and four guns. (In the 1866 Navy List, the Opossum is listed as a tender to the Princess Charlotte and Mainwaring is in charge of the Haughty, also an Albacore class wood screw gunboat.) HMS Osprey was a Vigilant class gunboat with about 80 crew and four guns.

H.M.S. Osprey and H.M.S Opossum destroying Chinese pirate junks in Sama Bay from The Illustrated London News of 29 September 1866, page 313, retrieved from the genealogist.co.uk

The attack on the pirates was reported in The Illustrated London News of 22 September 1866 and followed up with an illustration the following week.

 

“Piracy in the Chinese Seas” from The Illustrated London News 22 September 1866 page  291 retrieved from the genealogist.co.uk (click on image to enlarge)

The 1866 engagement with the pirates was widely reported. The following account is from the Melbourne Leader.

 

DESTRUCTION OF A PIRATICAL FLEET BY H. M. SHIPS OPOSSUM AND OSPREY. (1866, September 29). Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 – 1918), p. 17. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196560667

Related posts

• D is for Dartmouth: Guy Mainwaring and the beagle pack concerning Karl’s younger brother Guy
• In 1869 Karl’s brother, Guy Mainwaring, visited Hong Kong when he served aboard the Galatea: Trove Tuesday: Cricket and the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit in 1867

Further reading

• HMS Osprey and HMS Opossum destroying Chinese Pirate Junks in Sama Bay. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 29 September 1866 [graphic]. Research | CSSC Maritime Heritage Resource Centre | Search Result :: Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2017 from http://www.hkmaritimemuseum.org/eng/research/cssc-maritime-heritage-resource-centre/search-result/30/50/1956/hms-osprey-and-hms-opossum-destroying-chinese-pirate-junks-in-sama-bay-illustration-for-the-illustrated-london-news-29-september-1866-graphic.html

D is for Dartmouth: Guy Mainwaring and the beagle pack

Guy Mainwaring (1847-1909),  my 4th great uncle, was the 15th of the 17 children of Rowland Mainwaring (1783-1862), sixth of the eight children of Rowland’s third wife Laura Maria Julia Walburga Chevillard (1811-1891).

Mainwaring joined the navy on 11 September 1860 at the age of 13. On the 1861 census he is recorded as a naval cadet  on the training ship HMS Brittania in Portsmouth Harbour in the south of England.

In 1878 Mainwaring, by then a Lieutenant, was serving in the the cadet training ship HMS Britannia at Dartmouth, Devon. (A different ship of the same name,  the renamed HMS Prince of Wales built in 1860.)

A picture of Lieutenant Mainwaring (standing towards the stern) with cadets from HMS Britannia, including the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of York, from The Story of the “Britannia”, by E. P. Statham, 1903. Project Gutenberg has this book.

also from The Story of “Brittannia”

One of the lieutenants wrote:

‘There did not seem much for the three Lieutenants to do. We took alternate day duty, and on those heard and dealt with minor offences. We attended at meals, looked round the seamanship classes, saw to the boys going and returning from recreation, received any applications and went rounds.’

In his book on the Britannia pack, Sir James Eberle suggests Guy Mainwaring may have been a little bored and just wanted to have a little local sport and founded a hunting pack. Jim was a terrier belonging to Mr Evans, the First Lieutenant of HMS Britannia. Jim with his son Jimson and about six other dogs formed the first pack with Lieutenant Mainwaring as master. They would hunt anything that could be found including a drag which was a rabbits skin soaked in herring oil. Other dogs in the pack may have been named Flirt, Rummager, Magpie, Bird, Beauty, Countess and Rattler. In 1879 Lucy, the first hound was purchased from a Mr Cartlich of Staffordshire. In 1880 Homeless, a beagle, was acquired from the Battersea lost dogs home.

In 1881 Lieutenant Mainwaring left HMS Britannia. He was succeeded as master of the pack by Lieutenant Furlonger.

Jim, the founding member of the pack, died in 1886. His grave is in the grounds of the Royal Naval College.

from The Story of the “Britannia”, by E. P. Statham, 1903 which can be viewed on Project Gutenberg

The pack still seems to be going strong with a puppy from the pack being named Regent by the Princess Royal in 2013.

In 2016 Bonhams Auction House sold a chest containing papers and photographs of Guy Mainwaring. The contents included a silver hunting horn presented to Mainwaring by the whips of the Britannia Beagle pack.

Sources

• Eberle, James. Jim, First of the Pack: A History of the Britannia Beagles during One Hundred Years of Hare Hunting in South Devon, 1878-1978. London: J.A. Allen, 1982.
• The Story of the “Britannia”, by E. P. Statham, 1903 retrieved from Project Gutenberg

Related posts

I have previously written about Guy Mainwaring when he served aboard the Galatea in 1867: Trove Tuesday: Cricket and the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit in 1867

B is for Borneo

My third cousin four times removed, Claude Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1829-1884), was the fourth of five sons of the Reverend Heaton Champion de Crespigny and his wife Caroline.

Claude went to school at Christ’s Hospital, London, known as the Bluecoat School. He was recorded there on the 1841 census.

Claude joined the Royal Navy, probably at about the age of 15 in 1844. He served as a midshipman on HMS Daedalus which was based in the Pacific Station from 1845 and in 1848 the Daedalus was involved in a survey of Borneo.

On 12 March 1851 Claude was promoted to Mate, and 11 January 1854 was promoted to Lieutenant. That year, during the Crimean War, he was recorded as commanding the Snap, a screw-driven wooden gunboat of 232 tons and three guns.

In 1856 Claude was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

In November 1856 Lieutenant C.A.C. de Crespigny R.N., F.R.G.S. submitted a proposal to the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain for a more thorough exploration of Borneo, Claude arguing that he should command since he had been involved in a survey of the north-west coast in 1848 and had that time learned the Malay language and had become acquainted with the native people and their customs.

retrieved from Volume 1 of the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain) digitised by Google Books

The Society was later advised that the Admiralty had given permission and resources for Lieutenant de Crespigny to make the expedition.

Proceedings page 209

In 1858 Claude reported to the Royal Geographical Society on his 1857 expedition.

Claude continued his connection with Borneo. A History of Sarawak under Its Two White Rajahs 1839-1908 by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould and C. A. Bampfylde states the late Mr C.A.C. de Crespigny was formerly of the Royal Navy, and summarises his career in the Colonial service in Borneo and Malaysia as being firstly with the Labuan Civil Service, and from 1871 with the Sarawak Civil Service. In Sarawak, Claude was Resident at Mukah, and subsequently Divisional Resident of the 3rd Division.

In 1865 Henry Adams, a zoologist and conchologist described a new genus of Land-Shells from the Island of Labuan, Borneo. He named them Plectostoma decrespignii. The present day scientific name is Opisthostoma decrespignyi and the common name is De Crespigny’s karst snail. The species is critically endangered, possibly extinct, with the last recorded sighting being before the 1960s.

Description of a new genus of Land-Shells from the Island of Labuan, Borneo by Henry Adams 1865 retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/biostor-91194#page/n0/mode/1up

Preserved specimen of Opisthostoma_decrespignyi from Wikimedia Commons

retrieved from http://opisthostoma.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/547/media

Claude spoke several times to London societies about Borneo. In 1872, for example, Lieutenant de Crespigny gave a lecture at the Victoria Institute on his “Journey to the Murut Country in Northern Borneo”. In February 1875 Claude spoke at the Anthropological Institute about the “Milan’s of Borneo”.

On 31 July 1882, while Resident of Baram, Claude referred to oil in his diary. A Malaysian blogger writes about Claude’s observations:

… Mr. C.C. (Claude Champion) de Crespigny, then the Resident of Baram, who was the first to record the presence of oil in Sarawak. The entry in his diary, dated 31st July 1882, refers to oil discovered in some 18 wells dug by hand by the local inhabitants. ‘Earth Oil’ (Minyak Tanah) was their name for it. Ever since this strange substance appeared in seepages, its possibilities had begun to be realised. They used the oil mixed with resin for chaulking boats. They also tried to use it for lighting, employing an open wick, but it invariably caught fire, usually with disastrous results to their homes. ‘Earth Oil’ soon earned a reputation of being possessed by a ‘hantu’ (ghost/spirit) with an inconvenient and insatiable desire to burn down houses.

Claude’s role as resident is mentioned in  The Pagan Tribes of Borneo by Charles Hose and William McDougall 

In 1883 a fort was built at Marudi (now officially known as Claudetown), a spot on the river-bank some sixty miles from the sea, the first spot at which in ascending the river a high bank suitable for a settlement is encountered. Here Mr. Claude de Crespigny, assisted by two junior officers, a squad of some thirty rangers, and a few native police, began the task of introducing law and order into these 10,000 square miles of dense jungles, rushing rivers, and high mountains, the scene for unknown ages of the hard perpetual struggle of savage man with nature, and of the fierce conflict of man with man. At first the interior tribes remained aloof, and the little outpost of civilisation was frequently threatened by them with extermination. But after some few years the Kayans of the lower villages became reconciled to the new state of affairs, recognised the authority of the Rajah and of the Resident, and consented to pay the small annual door-tax amounting to two dollars per family or door.

Claude never married. He died 28 December 1884. The will of Claude Champion de Crespigny formerly of Sarawak but late of Crowcombe Villa, an officer in the Service of Rajah Brooke, was proved by his brother Eyre Nicholas Champion de Crespigny.

In 1883 the fort built at Marudi, Sarawak, was named Claudetown in Claude de Crespigny’s honour.

 

The Fort at Claudetown, image from The Pagan Tribes of Borneo vol 2 facing page 264

References

• Schilthuizen, M. & Vermeulen, J. 2004.  Opisthostoma decrespignyi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T44628A10930095. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44628A10930095.en. Downloaded on 30 March 2017.

Related posts

• I is for interested in India concerning Claude’s brother Eyre de Crespigny.

 

J is for jaundiced in Jamaica

Augustus James Champion de Crespigny (1791-1825), my second cousin five times removed, died of yellow fever on board HMS Scylla. and was buried at Port Royal, Jamaica. Augustus was the third son of the second baronet, Sir William Champion de Crespigny (1765-189) and his wife Lady Sarah née Windsor (1763-1825).

Augustus James Champion de Crespigny, portrait in the collection of Kelmarsh Hall. Published on artuk.org

The monumental inscription at the Port Royal Parish Church in Jamaica reads:

Sacred to the memory of Augustus James DE CRESPIGNY, 3d son of Sir W. Chn & Lady Sarah De Crespigny, who died on board H.M.Ship ‘Scylla’, Oct. 24, 1825. Capt De Crespigny went first to sea under the patronage of Ld. St Vincent & served under the flag of Nelson, at Trafalgar. From thence he was taken under the patronage of Ld. Collingwood, who made him study the duties of a seaman, under his particular care. The above gallant officer saved no less than sixteen lives of his fellow creatures during his naval career for which he was presented with a service of Plate from his Ship’s crew, as well as a medal from the R.H.S. in the annual report of which society an account is given, the last paragraph is as follows: These are to certify to the principal officers of the Royal Humane Society that Lieutenant Augustus C. De Crespigny served with me as a volunteer midshipman from His Majesty’s Ship ‘Tonnant’ in the gunboat service in Cadiz in 1810, during which time I had opportunities of seeing his noble conduct on three very particular occasions. First, in jumping from a boat in a very strong tide way and saving a Marine, Second, a boy in the same way, and thirdly, in taking to a small boat & pulling into the very muzzles of the enemy’s guns, and evidently saving five men that were near drowning, by the ‘Achilles’ barge being sunk: his conduct on the last occasion was so truly noble that he not only gained the admiration of the whole flotilla but the envy of the French Commanding Officer, who at last ordered his men to cease firing on him. Given under my hand, this 12th Day of July 1815, West Cowes. This tribute to a father’s memory was erected by his eldest son, Sir Claude Chn. De Crespigny, BT 1841. (from findagrave.com ) 

Yellow fever is a potentially fatal viral disease, transmitted primarily by mosquitoes. It is called ‘yellow fever’, from the French ‘jaune’, ‘yellow’, because the infected person’s skin takes on a characteristic yellowish colour.

According to the caption of a photograph of the church at Port Royal taken by the International Mission Photography Archive (IMPA), the church has numerous plaques commemorating men lost in gales, killed in action or by the sinking of their ships, but more numerous than the others put together, are those commemorating men struck down by yellow fever.

Photograph of the Church of England Parish Church, Port Royal. The church is a stone built building with a red tiled roof. A number of parishioners can be seen approaching the building. The church was rebuilt 1725-1726.; Memorial tablets cover the interior walls of the church commemorating men lost in gales, killed in action or by the sinking of their ships, but more numerous than all the others put together are those commemorating those struck down by yellow fever. From the International Mission Photography Archive (IMPA) – http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll123/id/64458, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30916044

Augustus was born  6 March 1791 at Nice in the south of France. He had two older brothers and seven younger siblings:

• Claude 1787-1813
• William Other Robert 1789-1816
• Augustus 1791-1825
• Sarah 1792-1805
• Frances 1793-1793
• Patience Anne 1795-1831
• Heaton 1796-1858
• Emma Honoria Dorothy 1800-1883
• Herbert Joseph 1805-1881
• Mary Catherine 1810-1858

Augustus and his brother Claude entered the Royal Navy in the war against France.

Their grandfather, Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818), was Receiver-General of the droits of Admiralty, traditional rights or perquisites of the Crown, which included proceeds from the sale of enemy ships seized in time of war. With this connection it is perhaps not surprising that two of his grandsons were enlisted in the Navy.

Augustus first went to sea at the age of 14 under the patronage of John Jarvis, First Lord of the Admiralty, later Earl of St Vincent, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty. In October 1805 Augustus was at the Battle of Trafalgar on board HMS Spartiate.

He was later a volunteer midshipman on HMS Tonnant in the gunboat service in 1810 at Cadiz. While serving on the Tonnant he rescued drowning sailors on three separate occasions.

Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Part 1, 1816, page 609: Review of New Publications – Annual Report of the Royal Humane Society for the recovery of Persons Apparently Dead 1816. Retrieved from Google Books https://books.google.com.au/books?id=wc9KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA609 (click on image to zoom in)

from page 610 of the 1816 Gentleman’s Magazine

Augustus de Crespigny became a Lieutenant on 1 April 1811. (The Commissioned Sea Officers Of The Royal Navy 1660-1815 Volume 1 viewed on ancestry.com)

Augustus’s brother Claude died of dysentery in July 1813 on board the HMS Gorgon off Palermo. The HMS Gorgon was serving as the flagship for Vice Admiral Francis Pickmore. Commander Claude de Crespigny replaced Commander Rowland Mainwaring at Port Mahon, Menorca, in 1813. Coincidentally Rowland Mainwaring (1783-1862) is my fourth great grandfather on another branch of my tree.

Augustus’s second oldest brother William, was a lawyer and called to the bar in 1814. He served with the Surrey local militia promoted to lieutenant on 9 July 1813. He died of illness in January 1816.

Neither Claude nor William had married.

On 29 May 1817 Augustus James Champion de Crespigny, bachelor of Kensington, married Caroline Smyth, spinster, by licence, in the parish of St George Hanover Square. They had three children:

• Claude William (1818-1868) – he succeeded his grandfather as the third baronet
• Henry Other (1822-1883)
• Frederick John (1822-1887)

Heraldic Illustrations, page 84, by Bernard Burke published in 1853 repeats the facts contained on the plaque in Jamaica.

Augustus-James, Capt. R.N., gallant officer, who served under Nelson and Collingwood, and whom the latter took under his especial care. On board the Ocean, he saved no less than Gorgon, nine of his fellow subjects from a watery grave, at the imminent risk of his own life, for which he received a medal from the Royal Humane Society, and a service of plate from his ship’s crew. His last gallant feat, was his taking to a small boat, and pulling into the very muzzles of the enemy’s guns, whereby he saved five men who were near drowning by the Achilles Barge being sunk. His conduct on this last occasion was so truly noble, that he not only gained the admiration of the whole Flotilla, but the envy of the French commanding officer, who at last ordered his men to cease firing on him. Capt. de Crespigny, d. on board H. M. S. Scythe, off Port Royal, Jamaica, 24 Oct. 1825.

Further reading

• Australian Government fact sheet on yellow fever http://www.health.gov.au/yellowfever

Related blog posts

• Q is for quarrelling including a duel  from the 2014 AtoZ challenge concerning Augustus’s younger, and less gallant, brother Heaton.

A shipboard romance aboard the SS Ballaarat

After my great great grandmother Ellen Jane Cavenagh-Mainwaring, formerly Cavenagh, née Mainwaring, inherited the family property of  Whitmore in Staffordshire  in 1891, the Cavenagh-Mainwaring family sailed for England in 1892 on the SS Ballaarat to take possession of the inheritance. The family surname had been changed in 1891 to assume the name and arms of Mainwaring in addition to Cavenagh in acknowledgement of the inheritance. Of the nine surviving children, the six daughters and the youngest son, Hugh, travelled with their parents. The oldest daughter, Eva, was 24. The youngest, Gertrude, known as Kiddie, was 10.

SS Ballaarat

The Ballaarat arrived in London on 8 June 1892.  Mr and Mrs Cavenagh-Mainwaring and their children were on the passenger list. The ages on the list are mostly wrong.

from Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26. Class: BT26; Piece: 32; Item: 17 Month: 06. Retrieved through ancestry.com.au.

Wentworth Cavenagh-Mainwaring was born in 1822. On arrival he was 69 not 43 as stated. His wife, born in 1845, was 46 not 39. Eva was 24 not 19. May (Mabel) was 23 not 15. Kathleen, my great grandmother, was 18 not 14.

On 4 October 1892 the eldest Cavenagh-Mainwaring daughter, Eva, married Herbert James Gedge, a naval officer.

Eva Gedge née Cavenagh (1867 – 1941) in about 1907

The wedding was reported in Australian newspapers, including the Adelaide Advertiser of 7 November 1892, the South Australian Chronicle of 12 November 1892, and 26 November 1892,  the Melbourne Punch of 17 November 1892, the Adelaide Express and Telegraph of 19 November 1892, Melbourne’s Table Talk of 25 November 1892, and  the Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser of 10 December 1892.

Family Notices. (1892, November 25). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 – 1939), p. 19. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145710099

Herbert James Gedge (1859-1913), the son of a clergyman, entered the navy at the age of 12. He graduated from the Royal Naval College in 1879.  On 15 February 1882 Gedge was promoted to Lieutenant. In the mid 1880s Gedge was posted to the Australia Station, the British naval command responsible for waters around the Australian colonies. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser in their report of the 1892 wedding mentioned that Lieutenant Gedge had been on the Australian Station for five or six years, serving as Lieutenant of HMS Nelson and Dart.

I think for most of his posting Lieutenant Gedge was stationed in Sydney.  I checked the passenger list of the Ballaarat for his name. He was a passenger from Sydney together with five other Lieutenants in the Royal Navy, two naval doctors, and two other naval officers.

from Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26. Class: BT26; Piece: 32; Item: 17 Month: 06. Retrieved through ancestry.com.au.

I assume Herbert Gedge and Eva Cavenagh-Mainwaring met aboard the Ballaarat on the trip to England in 1892. I have found no evidence their paths crossed earlier.

Related posts

• 1892 journey on the Ballaarat
• N is for Naval husbands

Deaths at sea

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is the sea. In fact, the prompt picture of Bondi Beach inspires thoughts of holidays by the beach, but I have recently been researching several members of my family who died at sea and I was reminded that the sea is not always benign.

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault painted 1818-1819 and now hanging in the Louvre. The Méduse was wrecked off the coast of Africa in 1816. Of the 400 on board only 15 survived.

Arthur Branthwayt (1776-1808) was the second husband of my 5th great grandmother Elizabeth née Phipps (1774-1836). He died at sea in a shipwreck. He was travelling to Gothenburg and the Crescent, a frigate with 36 guns, which was lost off the coast of Jutland. 220 of the 280 aboard her died. A raft was constructed, similar to the Méduse‘s. Arthur Branthwayt’s wife, eight-month-old daughter and four step-children were not travelling with him.

Hampshire Chronicle 6 February 1809

Kentish Gazette 30 December 1808

Morning Post (London) 17 January 1809

Arthur Branthwayt’s grandson, Arthur Branthwayt Toker (1834 – 1866), my first cousin five times removed, is doubly related to me as his mother married her half-sister’s nephew by marriage, the son of Clarissa Champion de Crespigny (1776 – 1836). Young Arthur died at sea of typhoid fever while returning to England from New Zealand. He had been an officer in the 65th Regiment (later the York and Lancaster Regiment) and fought in the Maori Wars. He was unmarried.

 

from William Francis Robert Gordon’s album “Some “Soldiers of the Queen” who served in the Maori Wars and Other Notable Persons Connected Herewith”. Retrieved from the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, New Zealand

 

Wellington Independent 27 March 1866

In 1814 another shipwreck took the lives of Henry Gore Wade, his wife and children. Wade was the brother-in law of my fourth great uncle Philip Champion de Crespigny (1765 – 1851).  The Wade family were returning to England from India and died when the John Palmer was wrecked.

Morning Post (London) 31 March 1814

Morning Post (London) 1 April 1814

Gordon Skelly, who died in 1771, was my 6th great grandfather. His granddaughter Sophia née Duff (1790 – 1824) married Rowland Mainwaring (1783 – 1862). Skelly was the captain of the Royal Navy sloop Lynx stationed at Shields Yorkshire. He was drowned when his ship’s long boat, ,crossing the bar of the harbour, was overturned by breakers. At the time of his death his two children were aged four and three.

Leeds Intelligencer 2 July 1771

Entrance to Shields Harbour from The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1 by William Findon retrieved from Project Gutenberg

When I checked my family tree I found a number of others who died at sea:

• Charles Patrick Dana (1784 – 1816), my 4th great grand uncle, who died while travelling from the East Indies to England on the Sir Stephen Lushington.
• Michael Hickey (1812 – 1840), the brother of my 3rd great grandmother died on the voyage to South Australia from Cork, Ireland,  on the Birman.
• Kenneth Budge (1813 – 1852), my 3rd great grandfather, died of cholera while sailing near Elsinore, Denmark.
• Walter Wilkes Plaisted (1836 – 1871), my 3rd great grand uncle, who died of phthsis (tuberculosis) on board the SS Geelong during the passage from Singapore to Melbourne. His probate file, held by the Public Records Office of Victoria, includes an inventory of his effects, a fascinating insight into his possessions.

My great great grandfather, James Francis Cudmore (1837 – 1912) was born at sea aboard the Siren off the coast of Kangaroo Island. His mother, Mary née Nihill (1811 -1893) was travelling from Launceston to the very new colony of Adelaide to join her husband Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811 – 1891).

My husband’s great great grandmother Margaret née Smyth (1834 – 1897) gave birth to a baby boy as she travelled to Australia from Ireland on the Persian. The baby is recorded on the passenger list but it is not known what happened to him after arrival. He probably died as an infant. His death was before compulsory civil registration.

Trove Tuesday: Cricket and the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit in 1867

Duke of Edinburgh about 1867

In 1858 Alfred (1844-1900), the second son of Queen Victoria, joined the navy as a midshipman. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1863 and three years later, in 1866, gained the rank of captain, appointed to command the steam frigate HMS Galatea. In the same year Alfred was made Duke of Edinburgh in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

The Galatea sailed for the Mediterranean in February 1867 and then to Brazil on June 12 for a state visit to the emperor of Brazil. After two months at the Cape, the Galatea arrived at Adelaide on 31 October 1867 and commenced a royal tour of Australia. The Galatea visited Melbourne, Tasmania, Sydney and Brisbane.

On the Galatea were two of my relatives from two different branches of my family tree: Sub-lieutenant Guy Mainwaring (1847-1909) and Midshipman Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850-1912). When the ship arrived in Adelaide, she had 540 men aboard: 42 officers of all ranks, 46 boys, 70 marines and 382 blue jackets.¹

The Royal navy frigate HMS Galatea sits moored in Farm Cove 1868. Picture: Daniel Solander Library at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. retrieved from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au

The Galatea fielded a cricket team and Philip de Crespigny played with them in Adelaide on 8 November 1867 against the members of the South Australian Cricket Club. The South Australians won the game but the commentary favourably noted de Crespigny’s bowling and batting.²

In March 1869 the men of the Galatea, including Philip de Crespigny, played against a team of Aboriginal cricketers. The game was over two days and was a draw with the Aboriginal team scoring 331 for 9 wickets against 293 with the loss of five wickets.³

Three masted sailing ship H.M.S. Galatea, ca. 1868 from the Archer Family Photograph Album now in the collection of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/39932

Mainwaring did not play cricket but did perform in the Galatea‘s theatrical entertainment. For example when the Galatea was due to depart Sydney in March 1869, Lieutenant Mainwaring appeared as Gimlet in a comedy performed for several hundred guests. The Sydney Morning Herald reported it as a “highly creditable performance”.⁴ He also appeared as the Ancient Mariner.⁵

A fellow officer, Lord Charles Beresford, danced the hornpipe. Later in the voyage while in Hong Kong, Guy Mainwaring and Charles Beresford were photographed together in costume. (This is the Charles Beresford who as Admiral became notorious for his bitter dispute with Sir John (Jackie) Fisher, First Sea Lord. )

 

Lord Charles Beresford and Guy Mainwaring, photographed in Hong Kong in 1869 while serving on HMS Galatea retrieved from the Library of Nineteenth Century Photography . Looking at other photographs of Beresford, it would seem that the bearded man is Guy Mainwaring.

 

Guy Mainwaring was my third great grand uncle. Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny was my fourth cousin three times removed.

Guy Mainwaring retired from the Royal Navy with the rank of captain in 1895.

Philip was promoted to Lieutenant on 8 August 1874. As late as 1903 he appeared in the Navy List still with the rank of lieutenant but on part pay. He played first class cricket in England and his obituary in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack mentioned that he played played for Hampshire v. Somerset at Bournemouth in 1880, scoring 2 and 3. It also mentions that he was on the Galatea.

The Royal visit was extensively reported. There are over 6,000 newspaper articles currently on the National Library of Australia’s digitised newspaper collection at http://trove.nla.gov.au which mention the visit of the Galatea and the Duke of Edinburgh in the late 1860s.

……….

Notes
<sup>1. H.M.S.S. GALATEA. (1867, October 31). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39180042 ↩
2. DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S VISIT TO ADELAIDE.—The Cricket match. (1867, November 26). Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 – 1875), p. 10. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60819944 ↩
3. CRICKET. (1869, March 4). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5817582 ↩
4. THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH IN SYDNEY. (1869, April 21). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13179267 ↩
5. THE GALATEA FETE. (1869, April 15). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 – 1872), p. 3. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63514477 ↩</sup>

N is for Naval husbands

In 1895 my great-great-grandmother, Ellen Jane Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1845-1920), wife of Wentworth Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1822-1895), was widowed at the age of 49.  Of their ten children, six were daughters and five of these were unmarried. She saw all of them married before she died, even the youngest, Kiddie.

• James Gordon (1865 – 1938) 
• Eva Mainwaring (1867 – 1941) 
• Mabel Alice (1868 – 1944) known as May
• Wentworth Rowland (1869 – 1933) 
• Orfeur Charles (1872 – 1890) 
• Kathleen Mary (1874 – 1951) known as Kate
• Hugh (1875 – 1953) 
• Helen Maud (1877 – 1918) known as Nellie
• Alice Mainwaring (1879 – 1952) known as Queenie
• Gertrude Lucy (1882 – 1968) known as Kiddie

Ellen and her daughters were all born in Australia. In 1891 the family moved to England and lived at Southsea near Portsmouth when Ellen inherited the Whitmore estate in Staffordshire after the death of her brother Frederick (1859-1891). The estate was leased, hence The Cavenagh-Mainwaring family could not live there until the lease expired.

Christine Cavenagh-Mainwaring, writing in 2013, suggests that Ellen Jane, following her inheritance of the Whitmore Estate in 1891,

didn’t feel that Staffordshire offered sufficient suitable young men as potential husbands for her daughters, so being a very sensible and pragmatic woman, promptly took a house in Southsea, near to the naval base of Portsmouth where there were a considerable number of young naval officers and installed her bevy of girls there. (One can almost feel the approval of this strategy of Jane Austen’s Mrs Bennet. ) The girls duly obliged and in due course five of them married naval officers. (Cavenagh-Mainwaring, Christine and Britton, Heather, (editor.) Whitmore Hall : from 1066 to Waltzing Matilda. Adelaide Peacock Publications, 2013. pages 117-118)

This Jane Austen view of a bevy of girls needing husbands, on the marriage market, provides a misleading image of the Cavenagh-Mainwaring daughters. When the Cavenagh-Mainwaring women married they were not young. Eva married at the age 25 to a 41-year-old lieutenant, not a successful career officer. My great grandmother Kathleen was 27 when she married.  Helen was 25 when she married, Mabel was 37, Alice was 33 and Gertrude was 37. Perhaps their colonial Australian background hindered their marriage prospects, perhaps they were not interested marrying as quickly as possible, perhaps not all Victorian women married young and our assumptions are wrong about this aspect of Victorian  life.

My grandmother wrote on the back of the photograph that it was taken in 1908 and the names: Back row, left to right: Queenie Magee; Kate Cudmore; Nellie Millet Middle row, L to R: Eva Gedge; May Gillett Front centre: Kiddie Bennett

In 1892, the oldest daughter Eva married a naval officer, Herbert James Gedge (1851-1913). There were reports of the wedding in English and Australian newspapers. (For example A LADY’S LETTER. (1892, November 26). South Australian Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1895), p. 18. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92300620 .)

Launch of HMS Agammemnon at Chatham Dockyard from the Illustrated London News of September 27 1879

In September 1892 Herbert J. Gedge was appointed lieutenant and joined the Agamemnon. (“Naval & Military Intelligence.” Times [London, England] 24 Sept. 1892: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.) He retired from the Navy as captain on 3 May 1904. (1912 Navy List page 645) He became an adviser in Egypt with the title of Pasha, a title denoting high rank or office. In 1913 Herbert Gedge died in Alexandria, Egypt. 

Eva and Herbert had two children: Norah (1894-1971 and Edward 1895-1991).

Kathleen, my great grandmother, married Arthur Murray Cudmore (1870-1951) in Melbourne, Australia in 1901. He was the only husband of these six daughters who was not in the navy. He was a doctor, a colleague of Kathleen’s brother Wentworth. Arthur would have known the Mainwarings in Adelaide, South Australia. He went to England to study. The Cudmores had two daughters, Rosemary (1904-1987) and Kathleen (1908-1913).

In 1902 Helen, known as Nellie, married Thompson Horatio Millett (1870-1920) in Hampshire.

Thompson Millet was appointed Fleet Paymaster in September 1909. (Navy List 1918 page 130) In the 1919 King’s Birthday Honours he was made Commander of the Bath (civil division). He then held the rank of Paymaster Commander (acting Paymaster Captain). (“Birthday Honours.” Times [London, England] 3 June 1919: 18+. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.) In recommending him for the post-war award Admiral Commanding 3rd battle Squadron,  Sir E. Bradford wrote

Paymaster Captain Thompson H. Millet, was my Secretary throughout the period of my command of the 3rd Battle Squadron, from June 1914, to July, 1916. Being almost always detached from the C-in-C’s Flag except at sea, and generally having addition battleship and cruiser squadron and a flotilla under my orders was a source of increased Secretarial work, and Paymaster Captain Millet performed his duties with untiring zeal and an admirable punctuality. ( from http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28039)

Helen died in 1918 and Thompson in 1920. They had had three children, Hugh (1903-1968) and Guy (1907-1978), and a third child, who died in infancy.

“Deaths.” Times [London, England] 14 Apr. 1920: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Mabel married Owen Francis Gillett (1863-1938) on 16 April 1906 at St Paul’s Church, Valletta, Malta.

“Marriages.” Times [London, England] 23 Apr. 1906: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Elevation drawing of St Paul’s Valletta by the architect William Scamp in 1842. Retrieved from http://www.oneweekholiday.com/malta/valletta-floriana/st-pauls-anglican-cathedral-valletta-2/

In 1924 Owen Gillett retired as Vice-Admiral, and was promoted to Admiral on the retired list. His obituary in the Times mentioned his World War 1 service at the Cape, where he was senior naval officer at Simonstown for over three years. (“Admiral Gillett.” Times [London, England] 23 Mar. 1938: 16. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.)

Mabel and Owen had two children, Michael (1907-1971) and Anne (1911-?).

Alice, known as Queenie, married William Edward Blackwood Magee (1886-1981) on 14 August 1913 at St Simons, Southsea.

In December 1910, W.E.B. Magee gave his future mother-in-law a book of the first two operas of the Ring Cycle.  I wrote about the book at http://ayfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/a-christmas-gift.html

In 1917 and again in 1918, as Lieutenant Commander, William Magee was mentioned in despatches as part of the honours for the Destroyers of the Harwich Force. ( London Gazette 22 June 1917 and Edinburgh Gazette 25 February 1919) In 1920, for services in the Baltic in 1919, Lieut.-Cdr. William Edward Blackwood Magee, R.N. was made Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, for distinguished services in command of H.M.S. “Watchman.”. (Edinburgh Gazette 10 March 1920) In 1945 Captain (Commodore second class, R.N.R.) William Edward Blackwood Magee, D.S.O., R.N. (Ret.), was appointed Commander of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire for Distinguished Service in the War in Europe. (London Gazette 7 December 1945) William Edward Blackwood Magee became a Captain in 1929. (1939 Navy List).

Alice and William had two children, Richard (1915-1937) and Jean (1917-1996).

The Harwich Force Leaving for Sea by Philip Connard 1918. A view from the stern deck of a Royal Navy warship looking back at a convoy of warships arranged in two parallel lines. Four sailors stand on the deck. The foremost ships visible include light cruisers and a destroyer. The coastline is visible in the left background. © IWM (Art.IWM ART 1318)retrieved from http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/5431

Gertrude, known as Kiddie, married Edward Morden Bennett (1878-1941) on 30 April 1919 at St Thomas’s Church, Portsmouth.

In January 1919 Commander Edward Morden Bennett, R.N. was made Officer of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire. (London Gazette 1 January 1919) At the time of his death he held the rank of Captain. 
 

“Deaths.” Times [London, England] 28 Apr. 1941: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Kiddie and Edward had one daughter, Jean (1921-2009).

The six daughters of Ellen Jane Cavenagh-Mainwaring had a very different experience of marriage and motherhood to that of their mother. Ellen Jane married aged 19 and had ten children. Her daughters were aged between 25 and 37 when they married and had none of them had more than three children.

In the middle of the nineteenth century the mean age of women marrying in the United Kingdom was 25. (Woods, Robert (2000). The demography of Victorian England and Wales. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge ; New York page 82) Recent figures have age at first marriage in the United Kingdom as 28.5 for women in 2005 and in Australia at 27.7 as at 2009. (Age at first marriage. (2014, April 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:56, April 16, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Age_at_first_marriage&oldid=603021351) Historic figures for the United States show that the median age at first marriage for women was about 22 between 1890 and 1910, declining in 1920 and lowest in the 1950s and has climbed higher over the last decades to over 26 years old today. (US Census Bureau graph of Median age at first marriage by sex: 1890 to 2013  https://www.census.gov/hhes/families/files/graphics/MS-2.pdf ) The earliest figure I have for Australia is that the median marriage age for spinsters in 1921 was 25.2. This figure is not useful to compare to the Cavenagh-Mainwaring women as it is after World War I. (Vamplew, Wray (1987). Australians, historical statistics. Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, N.S.W., Australia page 46)

In composing this blog post I have realised how little I know about young women 100 years ago and my great grandmother and her sisters. I am unable to assess whether they were eager to be married or content to wait until the right person was there. I suspect they were financially able not to marry. Perhaps there was pressure on the youngest daughter not to marry and keep her mother company.

A related post  five of the girls attend a children’s ball in 1887: http://ayfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/trove-tuesday-kathleen-cavenagh-dressed.html