PART - 4 - THE EARLY BLACKMORES IN DEVON.

This is how the site is structured:

1 - Home Page.  CLICK HERE

2 - Introduction.  CLICK HERE

3 - The Search for our Roots.  CLICK HERE

4 - The early Devon Blackmores, Part 1 - brief details of the very early family members - i.e. this page

5 - The early Devon Blackmores, Part 2 - later Devon Blackmores, in some detail.  CLICK HERE

6 - "An interesting Sideline".  CLICK HERE

7 - Newspaper items, Gravestones and Memorials.  CLICK HERE

8 - INFO EXCHANGE messages seeking or giving further information about Blackmore relations.  CLICK HERE

NOTE: THIS PART HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO TWO.
This is the first part.

The main character in this story is Henry Blackmore, my grandfather's grandfather. But it starts, not with Henry, nor even his grandfather William (to whom I refer below as "William Jnr") who I found in 1989, but with that William's father. He was also called William, and he was a church warden at Littleham from 1754 - 1758. As he was the father of William Jnr (who lived from about 1742 to 1797) we can suppose that this William might have been born around 1720.

The records going back beyond the 19th century are limited. It is not easy to prove that two people are in fact father and son, but there is usually a link - for instance they may occupy the same grave, and the Littleham burial records seem to be in reasonably good order - but parish registers gave no address or occupation, and births were not registered. Baptismal dates are no certain guide to dates of birth, as children were frequently baptised some years after they were born.

There is also a gap in the records. A note by John Blackmore (Parish Clerk from 1797 - 1831) dated 16 September 1829 - in atrocious writing, which must have been his - in the new register of baptisms, states that it was "provided....in the second year of the reign of our most gracious sovereign King George IV" [1821] and continues;

"I John Blackmore Clerk of the parish of Littleham and Exmouth do hereby certify that I have been Clerk of the said parish for the space of 34 years and that the register book of marriages for the end of the year 1705 to July 2nd 1744 the register book of baptisms from June 10th 1704 to March 27th 1744 and the register book of burials from April 7th 1678 to April 29th 1744 were lost before my admission into the clerk's office. I have likewise heard my father make the same statement who was Clerk of the said parish before me".

And who was vicar of Littleham at the time and, therefore, ultimately responsible for the safe-keeping of the parish records? For most of the period covered by the gap, none other than our ancestor the Rev Edward Southcote!

With this gap in the records, and the loss of other records in the bombing of Exeter, it may well be impossible to go any further back with any degree of certainty.

It is also unfortunate that not even the British Museum Newspaper Library has much relating to Devon prior to the 1830s. Indeed, the public library at Exmouth has more. In those days, much of any local or regional paper, i.e. the parts carrying national and international news, was printed in London and rushed to the provincial cities and towns for the banner and local news to be added locally. Eight pages was normal and obituaries were, surprisingly, not.

I must have pretty well exhausted all available sources of news items about our family and distant relations in the early days, and reproduce below most of the items I have found. Alas, I could find no trade advertisements etc, so we shall probably never know very much more about the early Blackmores and what they did, but local and national history books can give us a good understanding of the sort of lives they would have lead.

A cutting from the Exmouth Herald for 24 June 1983 records that a relic from over 100 years ago had been uncovered - the shop facia of Gus Blackmore's business at 36 Rolle Street as auctioneers, funeral directors insurance agents, loss adjusters, etc. The article is of interest as it said that the Blackmore family date back to the 16th Century; on what evidence I do not know but it is unlikely we shall ever be able to prove it.

1. WILLIAM BLACKMORE

There is no firm proof of the first William's parentage, but we can make an intelligent guess. The IGI shows the baptism of a William Blackmore on 8 August 1717, son of George and Sarah, at Topsham (near Exeter) but there is no proof that this is our William, and there are no other traces of his parents.

But there is also a baptism of a William, son of 'Samuell' and Susanah 'Blackmoor', at Withycombe Raleigh on 25 December 1724. Withycombe Raleigh is the next parish to Littleham and is now all part of Exmouth, so we can be reasonably sure that this particular William was our ancestor.

Samuel and Susanah Blackmore also had a son Samuel, baptised in 1723, and a daughter Loveday, baptised in 1729, who would then have been William's brother and sister. [1] We have no other information about his parents or when or where they married, but they were presumably themselves born around 1700.

All we do know for certain about the first William is that he married Elizabeth Rew at St George's, Exeter on 13 July 1742 and that he was church warden [2] at Littleham from 1754 to 1758. He seems to have had four children:-

1. William (called "William Jnr" - ie the William who was "our" Henry's grandfather and John's father) baptised in 1742.

2. Elizabeth (bapt. Littleham 2 Sept 1747)

3. Samuel ( - do - 25 July 1753)

4. James ( - do - 29 July 1757)

We are unlikely to find out much more about the first William or his wife Elizabeth Rew because of the missing parish records. On the 1742 marriage entry, found by Ronald Blackmore, he and his bride both gave their residence as 'Littleham' (probably to save expense) and he is described as a 'gunsmith' of Littleham. The marriage was by licence, rather than banns, which was more expensive and normally the preserve of the upper classes.

William was only young (if he was, indeed, the son of Samuel and Susanah, he was only 17 or 18 at the time) and presumably was not flush with money, so it looks as if his bride was pregnant and they wanted to get on with it. Their first son, William, was baptised that same year, so it is quite likely that there was some degree of urgency! The licence was based on a 'Marriage Bond and Allegation' in which William and Jonathan Whiteway, a Littleham shop-keeper (possibly a friend of his) jointly accepted liability to pay �200 if it should later be established that William and Elizabeth Rew were not, in fact, free to marry.

The reference to William being a gunsmith is interesting, as it seemed to me at first to suggest that the family had been sliding down the social scale somewhat when later generations were simply described as 'smiths'. However, William does not feature in the lists of known gunsmiths, each hand crafting beautiful sporting shot-guns with carefully blued and engraved barrels and lovingly carved stocks.

I subsequently found out that at around that time or a little later (during the 'War of American Independance - what they prefer to call their 'Revolutionary War') the army had great difficulty in obtaining enough of it's standard 'brown bess' muskets, which could not be turned out fast enough from the government ordnance factories. A large number of small local metal workers and craftsmen were therefore called in to solve the problem, each making parts only, which were then checked and assembled into the final article. There was thus a flourishing cottage industry making parts for the musket, and it could well be that this was William's occupation at that time.

Searches of all other available records by Ronald Blackmore have turned up very little else, so maybe this is as far back in our family history as we shall ever be able to go, but there are one or two other mentions of Blackmores [3] that may, or may not, relate to our direct line. Likewise, William's bride Elizabeth Rew is a shadowy figure behind whom we cannot go with any certainty.

2. WILLIAM BLACKMORE ("Junior")

This is the William I had already found out about in 1989 - ie Henry's grandfather, and John's father. [4]

b. 1742 [5]

d. 1797

William married Sarah Elson at Littleham on 21 February 1763 (banns called on 6th, 13th and 20th February 1763 at Littleham). He died on 22 March 1797, aged 55 (or possibly aged 52 - see note 11) and was buried on 27 March 1797. He was appointed Parish Clerk in 1772, and held that post for 25 years.

Described as "William Blackmore Junior" on the calling of his banns and again on the registration of his marriage. He had eight children:-

William (bapt. Littleham 29 Sept 1764 m. Ann Pincombe at Littleham 22 Sept 1783)

Sarah ( - do - 27 Jan 1767. Married John Wills, from whom Duncan Furner is descended, at Littleham 13 Nov 1800)

Elizabeth ( - do - 18 June 1769 m. William Hatchell at Littleham 11 Jan 1791)

JOHN ("our" Henry's father - see below) bapt 1 Jan 1773 at Littleham

George (bapt. Littleham 28 May 1775 m. Sarah Webber 26 May 1795 bur. Littleham 22 Nov 1796)

Samuel (the sailor in Nelson's navy) born in ? June 1776, bapt Littleham 10 November 1777. Died at Dover 30 September 1854 and buried there. See my book 'Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, A Devon Lad's Life in Nelson's Navy' published by me in 2002, ISBN NO 0-9543674-0-5 for the full and rather exiting story of Samuel's life, or visit www.press-gang.net for a summary.

Grace bapt 20 February 1783 at Littleham. m. James Scott there on 1 December 1803

James (grandfather of Henry II)

William's wife's parents, John Elson and Sarah Blagdon married on 10 August 1741. Their first child, Sarah, was baptised on 18 October 1736, but she died and was buried on 10 August 1741. Next, Robert was baptised on 19 September 1737 and then Sarah was baptised on 23 March 1743 or 1744. It ispossible that their father had previously been married to Sarah Wanhill on 22 November 1726 and that they had two children, Elizabeth baptised in 1729 and Henry in 1734.

The 'Overseer's Accounts' (under the old poor law system) [6] show payments to William Blackmore in 1761, which suggest that he was in some way employed by the 'Overseer'. They are signed by him as a receipt for the payments. These include 4s 6d (22p) 'for a journey at Topsham & a journey at Exeter to summons the Otters Mens ac & to give an acct of their settlements' (whatever that may mean ) and 2s (10p) 'for a journey to Mrs Beavis being summoned on acct of Sarah Crawley'.

3. REV EDWARD SOUTHCOTE

(or Southcott - spelling was of no importance then)

b about 1696

d 30 May 1748

Father of Thomas Southcote - Sarah's father. Grandfather [7] of Sarah, wife of John Blackmore [8]

Vicar of Littleham-cum-Exmouth. Induced 1722, and succeeded by John Fortescue on his death in 1748. [9]

As all vicars had to have university degrees, and there were then only two English universities, it seemed reasonable to spend a little time researching him. A heavy tome in the Society of Genealogists called "Alumni Cantabrigiensis" Pt l to 1751, vol IV records:-

"Southcote Edward MA from Kings 1733. Son of Henry, of Stoke, Devon. Matric (Exeter Coll Oxford) Apr 1, 1712 age 16, BA Oxford 1715. Ord deacon Exeter Feb 26 1715 priest, June 28 1719. Chaplain to the Earl of Islay Vicar of Littleham, Devon, 1722 vicar of Colyton Rawleigh, 1733."

The corresponding Oxford book "Alumni Oxonienses" vol 4, Early Series, repeats most of this, but says his Cambridge degree was from Queens, not Kings; another book gives the Cambridge college as "Regal." in latin, which must explain the confusion.

Getting his MA in 1733 is a bit of a mystery, until one remembers that a priest could and often did perform his parish duties "vicariously" and put someone else there to do the job for him - which may also explain how he came to have not one but two livings from 1733. The memorial tablet in the south aisle of the Littleham parish church says that he was "26 years vicar of this parish and with it 16 years vicar of Colaton Raleigh at which last vicarage he died May 30. a.d. 1748."

There is also this entry in the Oxford book:-

"Southcote Henry, of Kilmington, Devon. Matric Exeter Coll 7 May 1675 aged 18. BA 1678 MA 1681 brother of George 1659."

This is very likely to have been Edward's father, who seems to have been born about 1657. If so, he may be the oldest ancestor we are ever going to establish with any degree of certainty.

There's an interesting little story here. There used to be a small chapel in Exmouth, a "chapel of ease" I think it wouldhave been called, for the use of sailors for whom the "mother" church at Littleham would have been too far away. It was closed in 1744 by the then vicar, who let it as a dwellinghouse and pocketed the rent until the bishop found out. Who was the vicar? According to the dates quoted above, our illustrious ancestor must have been the vicar in question!

In the Littleham chuchyard, there is a group of graves at the bottom, to the south east of the church - see the Appendix. One is in memory of Thomas Southcote, son of the Rev Edward Southcote, died 24 December 1786 aged 48, and Sarah his wife (Sarah Oates, whom he married in 1762) who died Feb 14 1826 aged 86. In the same grave is Louisa, "daughter of James and Elizabeth Blackmore and great-grand-daughter of the above" who died 4 Feb 1834 aged 5.

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A DISTANT COUSIN, TREFOR ROSCOE, HAS KINDLY E-MAILED ME WITH MORE INFORMATION WHICH I SET OUT BELOW. I'M SORRY FOR THE FORM IT TAKES, BUT I HAVEN'T YET HAD TIME TO SET IT OUT PROPERLY IN THE CORRECT HTML FORMAT:-

According to your site, you were unable to trace the Southcott's back any further than his father Henry who had a brother George, also in Holy orders. Looking on the IGI, it seems that someone else has done more research. There is (uncorroborated) evidence going back to 1500.

The listing is as follows

Ancestors of Rev Edward SOUTHCOTE - 11 Feb 2005

FIRST GENERATION

1. Rev Edward SOUTHCOTE was born in 1696. He was Vicar of Littleham and Caolton Rawleigh between 1722 and 1748. He died on May 30, 1748.

SECOND GENERATION

2. Henry SOUTHCOTE was born about 1657 in Kilmington, Devon. He was born on May 7, 1657 in Calwoodleigh, Devon, England. He was buried on April 26, 1706. Henry SOUTHCOTE had the following children:

1 i. Rev Edward SOUTHCOTE.

THIRD GENERATION

4. Thomas SOUTHCOTT was born about 1615 in Calwoodleigh, Devon, England. He died on March 8, 1663. He was married to Mary SHAPCOTT on August 30, 1640 in All Hallows Goldsmith St, Exeter, Devon, England.

5. Mary SHAPCOTT was born about 1619 in Of, Exeter, Devon, England. Thomas SOUTHCOTT and Mary SHAPCOTT had the following children:

i. Thomas SOUTHCOTT was born about 1642 in Calwoodleigh, Devon, England. He died.
ii. Thomas SOUTHCOTT was born in 1644 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England. He died on December 3, 1715.
iii. George SOUTHCOTT was born about 1646 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England. He died on July 11, 1698.
iv. Elizabeth SOUTHCOTT was born about 1648 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England. She died.
v. Joan SOUTHCOTT was born about 1651 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England.
vi. Dorothy SOUTHCOTT was born about 1655 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England. She died on August 27, 1677.
2 vii. Henry SOUTHCOTE.
viii. Mary SOUTHCOTT was born about 1660 in Calwoodleigh, , Devon, England. She was buried on May 5, 1731.

FOURTH GENERATION

8. George SOUTHCOTT was born about 1583 in Calverleigh, Devon, England. He died on October 19, 1657 in Dulcishayes, Kilmington, Devon, England.

9. Joan or Mary FRY was born about 1585. George SOUTHCOTT and Joan or Mary FRY had the following children:

4 i. Thomas SOUTHCOTT.

10. Thomas SHAPCOTT.

11. Urith. Thomas SHAPCOTT and Urith had the following children:

5 i. Mary SHAPCOTT.

FIFTH GENERATION

16. Thomas SOUTHCOTT was born about 1555 in Calverleigh, Devon, England. He died on November 20, 1621. He was married to Mary CROCKER about 1578 in Calverleigh, Devon, England.

17. Mary CROCKER was born about 1559 in Of, Calverleigh, Devon, England. She was born about 1560. Thomas SOUTHCOTT and Mary CROCKER had the following children:

8 i. George SOUTHCOTT.
ii. MARY SOUTHCOTT was born about 1579 in Calverleigh, Devon, England.
iii. ELIZABETH SOUTHCOTT was born about 1581 in Calverleigh, Devon, England.
iv. RICHARD SOUTHCOTT was born about 1585 in Calverleigh, Devon, England.

SIXTH GENERATION

32. George SOUTHCOTT was born in 1525 in Calvery, Devon, England.

33. Frances ROBINS. George SOUTHCOTT and Frances ROBINS had the following children:

16 i. Thomas SOUTHCOTT.

SEVENTH GENERATION

64. Thomas SOUTHCOTT was born about 1500. He was married to Grace BARNSHOUSE on February 5, 1543 in Bovey Tracey, Devon, England.

65. Grace BARNSHOUSE. Thomas SOUTHCOTT and Grace BARNSHOUSE had the following children:

32 i. George SOUTHCOTT.

Like all trees from the IGI submitted by others, it needs taking with a pinch of salt, but it looks worth persuing.

TREFOR

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I CAN ONLY REPEAT TREFOR'S CAUTION, AND HAVE NOT CHECKED ANY OF THIS MYSELF, BUT IT DOES LOOK VERY INTERESTING.

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4. JOHN BLACKMORE

(father of "our" Henry)

b. c.1771

bapt 1 Jan 1773 at Littleham

m. 21 Aug 1792 Sarah Southcote [10]

d. 17 Nov 1834 "aged 63" [11] at Withycombe Raleigh

Parish clerk for 35 years from 1797 to 1831. Brother of Samuel the sailor.

Parents: William and Sarah (Elson)

Children:-

1. Susannah (bap 10 March 1793; m Thomas Williams 7 Dec 1813 at Withycombe)

2. Samuel (bap 7 June 1795; m Sarah Cawley 27 March 1815 at Littleham. Blacksmith living at Exmouth in 1815, later described as whitesmith and later as plumber [12] living at Withycombe Raleigh in 1851 census).

3. John (bap 5 Sep 1797. Father of Eliza Barrat, see below).

4. William (bap 18 May 1800; died in infancy, b. Littleham 6 Dec 1801)

5. William (bap Littleham 28 June 1802, m Mary Swannell; Ronald's great-great-grandfather)

6. James (b.15 Oct 1804, bap Littleham 26 Dec 1804; m Elizabeth Swannell on 10 July 1825 at St Mary's Newington, London.)

7. George b. 19 Aug 1806 (bapt 29 Aug 1808) d 21 Jan 1881

8 HENRY b. 10 Aug 1808 (also bapt 29 Aug 1808) d 23 Aug 1883; father of Harry and Emma Louise, HCB's grandfather; bur Kensal Green, London.

9. Elizabeth b. 5 Dec 1811; bap 29 Dec 1811; d 11 Oct 1891; bur Littleham.

Ronald Blackmore's research shows that John was apprenticed to William Blackmore (whether that means his father or grandfather there is no means of knowing, but his father, i.e. 'William Jnr' is more likely) as a gunsmith in 1783. He would have been aged around 10 or 12 then, so his schooling was probably limited to the 'three Rs'. This seems to be the last reference to gunsmiths - the business probably died with the end of the Napoleonic war.

This is born out by the certificate of Henry Blackmore and Mary Ann Pinsent Symons' wedding on 28 December 1837. It states that John was a plumber, which rather puts paid to any notion that we come from yeoman farming stock, although the certificate says his father-in-law (Mary Ann Pinsent Symons's father, William) was a farmer. Pigott's Commercial Directory for 1830 lists John Blackmore & Sons, under Blacksmiths, at Staples Buildings, Withycombe Raleigh, which is technically another parish but it is all part of Exmouth. An advertisement for an auction at the London Inn, Exmouth on 23 September 1819 said details could be obtained from Mr Blackmore, plumber, Exmouth. According to HCB's 1933 letter, John Blackmore took a great interest in church affairs.

In the 1851 census his son Samuel was described as a plumber and smith living at 6 Staples Buildings, Samuel's son John had the same address, his son Edwin (plumber, smith and gas fitter) lived at no 9 and John's daughter Elizabeth (Henry's sister) also lived at no 7 Staples Buildings.

The letter from my grandfather HCB to Henry ll of 22 Sept 1926 said he thought there were a total of nine or ten children. HCB's 1933 letter says he thought Henry was the youngest child, but clearly his sister Elizabeth was younger than Henry. He thought Henry was christened along with his brother George; they were in fact both baptised on the same day, 29 August 1808 - probably to save expense. Whole families were often baptised at once for this reason.

The note by Henry II in response to HCB's 1926 letter seems to suggest that John had a second Christian name - Barat. The use of this obvious surname as a second Christian name may be a clue as to the maiden name of an earlier female relative, whose name John's parents wished to perpetuate. There is no other evidence of this second Christian name. However, I think Henry II was confused by the second John; as HCB's 1933 letter says, John had another son, also called John, who married Susan French. This John was the father of Eliza Blackmore who, as HCB said, married Sam Barrat"and became the mother of my cousins [i.e. second cousins] Harry and Walter Barratt [who] lived opposite my grandfather in Fairfax Road, Hampstead and I used to play with them when I was little". Eliza Barrat might very well be the contributor to Emma's "Album" who signs herself "Eliza B". I suspect that Henry ll knew of this relationship and got a little confused between the two Johns, father and son, in suggesting the elder John had a second name; he probably meant to indicate that the younger John's daughter married a Barrat and simply got it wrong.

HCB's 1945 note says John (he means the son of Henry's brother John) was the police constable at Sidmouth. HCB also names John, Elizabeth (I've included her in the list of children given above) and Anne as being John's children, but Anne turns out from his sister Elizabeth's will to have been merely her "companion". HCB says that Henry and George "seem to have been a fresh litter, so to speak...." but he was wrong on that.

James, according to HCB's 1945 note, had a son also called James who was father of the Rev. Edwin Blackmore who went as a missionary to China and died in Ceylon, now called Shri Lanka (he says on the way home or in Colombo in his 1933 letter) and HCB adds "James junior's tombstone is in the Littleham Churchyard quite close to that of George Blackmore". This is one of the gravestones I have noted in the Appendix. John and Sarah had a son called William, but he died in infancy so, as was the custom, their next son (from whom Ronald Blackmore is descended) took on that name in order to perpetuate John's father's name. Lady Nelson is buried at Littleham. When she brought her dead son and his children back to be buried at Littleham, they arrived too late for the two-mile journey to Littleham so they stayed the night at Exmouth. John, as parish clerk, would certainly have had a part to play in this little backwater of history. The bier, the hand-drawn vehicle on which bodies were taken from Exmouth up to Littleham to be buried, is on show in the Exmouth museum.

Here is John's brief obituary in Trewman's Flying Exmouth Post:-

"27 Nov. 1834 Exeter. Died. Nov 18, at Exmouth, aged 62, Mr John Blackmore of Exmouth, Clerk of the Parish Church of Littleham and Exmouth"

Was my brother John Gale Blackmore (23 December 1929-16 March 1971) named John after him at my grandfather's suggestion? Quite likely, I think.

5. SARAH BLACKMORE

(n�e Southcote - Henry's mother)

b. c 1772 (bap 1772) bapt 19 March 1772 at Littleham.

m. John Blackmore 21 Aug 1792 d. 8 Feb 1855 "aged 83"

Granddaughter of Rev Edward Southcote, vicar of Exmouth.Daughter of Edward's son, Thomas, and Sarah Oates, his wife whose gravestone is in the Littleham churchyard. Mentioned as being the owner of "a house and yard" occupied by one John Dixon in a Land Tax assessment at some time in about the 1830s; my notes do not give the exact date. Living as a widow at 7 Staples Buildings, Withycombe Raleigh (an adjoining parish, now part of Exmouth) in the 1851 census.

6. SAMUEL THE SAILOR

(Samuel Blackmore, John's brother,

bapt. at Littleham on 10 November 1777, but probably born in Exmouth in about June 1776. Died 30 September 1854 at Dover and buried there). My grandfather HCB said in 1933 that Samuel, one of Henry's uncles;

"....was on the Victory at Trafalgar in 1805, three years before my grandfather Henry was even born....He ended up as captain of the Dover to Calais packet boat which he used to run clad as to his feet in carpet slippers".

A later note by HCB, who had told me Samuel was "on the lower deck" (i.e. not an officer) said that Samuel was,

"....an able seaman on the Victory at Trafalgar in 1808 [got his dates wrong there!], captured at some later date by the French & imprisoned as a prisoner of war at Calais. One of his war medals [13] returned to him with the seal of the City of Calais is in Hilary's possession."

He attributes the story about the carpet slippers to his Auntie Emma, and he adds that Samuel was a bachelor. My father thought he was captured by the French at Toulon during a raid there. Whether this was a red herring I did not know, but I do dimly remember my grandfather saying Samuel had been captured by the French during a raid - I thought he had mentioned Cadiz. As even I knew Cadiz is in Spain and not France I did not see the relevance of this. History never was my strong point!

Much of what my grandfather had said turned out to be inaccurate, but there was enough substance there for me to track Samuel down. A small amount of work by me, much help from others and, as usual, more than my fair share of luck revealed Samuel's true story, much of which (if related by a competent story teller) would almost make C S Forester's 'Hornblower' books seem dull by comparison.

I have produced his story in what was to have been called 'Samuel Blackmore, a Sailor in Nelson's Navy.' For the sake of a wider readership, however, the book has as its title RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH, a Devon Lad's Life in Nelson's Navy' [ISBN 0-9543674-0-5] - an apocryphal quotation from Churchill giving his views on naval tradition. See WWW.PRESS-GANG.NET

The book is on sale (with all the sale proceeds going to charity) at �12.50 inc p&p. To order your copy, please go to the PRESS-GANG web site.

Samuel seems to have been injured and quit the navy when his frigate, la Minerve, was paid off when the temporary peace came in 1802. When the war against France resumed in 1803 he did not rejoin the navy. I do not know for certain what happened to him until near retirement age, when I found him again, working as 'mailman' on a Post office packet boat sailing between Dover and Calais, but he seems to have been again taken prisoner by the French and held in France for several years.

He was living at 3 Princes Street, Dover when the 1851 census was taken. It says he was a 'retired mariner' aged 74, [14] born in Exmouth. Also living there were Margaret his wife (born in Folkstone) aged 77, an unmarried daughter Ann Jane, aged 33 and a servant. Samuel and Margaret must have married around 1812, as they produced James Richard in about 1813; he was aged 17 when he died in 1830.

Ann Jane was baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Dover in June 1817. Next came Elizabeth who was, according to the Parish Register, born there on 11 March 1819 and baptised there on 4 April. Margaret was, by then, aged 46! I don't know when their third daughter Sarah (mentioned in his will) was born. James Richard, Ann Jane and his wife all died before him. Samuel himself died on 30 September 1854 and he, Margaret and Ann Jane were buried in what is now called Cowgate cemetery. [15]

His will of 19 June 1854 appointed his nephew Henry Blackmore his sole Executor. This suggests to me that he and Henry, at least, kept reasonably closely in touch (why else should he chose his nephew as his only executor?) even if not all other members of the family did. He left his 'silver......' to his grandson Samuel James Rogers; alas, on the copy obtained from the Public Record Office I cannot read what the 'silver......' is, but it certainly isn't a silver medal. Everything else went in equal shares to his three daughters Sarah Pinbar (wife of Charles Pinbar) and Margaret Morris and Elizabeth Rogers, both widows.

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FOOTNOTES

1.  Duncan Furner has found the names Love and Loveday repeated in his own direct ancestry, which could be further evidence that we have established William's parentage. BACK TO TEXT

2.  Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries Vol XXXII(1971-73) BACK TO TEXT

3.  In those days one had to have an official authorisation from the magistrates - a 'Settlement' - to move to another parish, for fear of becoming a charge on the rates. Entries at The Devon Records Office for 1768 and 1775, show that a Wm Blackmore of South Molton, described as a mason on the first occasion and no occupation is stated on the second, was examined by the magistrates before being allowed to move to Littleham. This cannot be "our" William, as he was already firmly established in Littleham by then. BACK TO TEXT

4.  We do not know where he lived. A land tax assessment for 1781 shows a William Blackmore as both owner and occupier of a "house" at Littleham. Although most were assessed at 3s2d [16p] (and were for a "house and garden") his was only 1s7d [8p], suggesting his was one of the smaller houses. None were assessed at less than this. So far as I could see, he is not named in the next assessment, which is for 1784. This particular William was almost certainly not "our" William; there were a lot of William Blackmores about at the time. BACK TO TEXT

5.  Or, just possibly (if there had been two Williams, one of them dying in infancy) in 1745. His gravestone says he died aged 52, but Mr Tuckett's note says 55. Exeter record office, M/F PR2,3 col 14, row K, (burials for 1797) says his Memorial is in south aisle of Littleham Churcch. BACK TO TEXT

6.  A 'settlement' usually means someone's right, under the poor law, to reside in that parish. If they could not establish a 'settlement' there, they were sent back to the correct parish of settlement where the rate-payers of that parish would be responsible for supporting them if necessary. BACK TO TEXT

7.  HCB (1926 letter) thought he was Sarah's father, but there was a generation between, Sarah's father being Thomas Southcott and her mother being also called Sarah. BACK TO TEXT

8.  Memorial in South aisle of Littleham church. BACK TO TEXT

9.  HCB's 1945 note, and letter attached from vicar, quoting from "Memorials of Exmouth". BACK TO TEXT

10.  Microfiche No PR9 p61 no 186 (1792) at Exmouth reads: "John Blackmore, Littleham, Exmouth and Sarah Southcote of the same parish married in this church by banns 21st August 1792 by me Barwood Tucker. Signed John Blackmore and Sarah Southcote in the presence of Thomas Hutchinson Snow and William Blackmore". BACK TO TEXT

11.  Memorial in south aisle. "35 years clerk of this parish". BACK TO TEXT

12.  'Whitesmith' means tinsmith, 'a maker of utensils, especially for a dairy'. 'Plumber' meant someone who worked with lead, laying roofs and making fall-pipes etc. and, being in a seaport, doing similar things on ships. Other members of the family were 'smiths'. Water-closets, taps and running water were virtually unknown then. Lead didn't come in sheets from a builders' merchants, as it does now; you had to cast your own. A plumber's apprentice, casting his first sheet, had to pay for drinks for all concerned. BACK TO TEXT

13.  1,613 clasps were awarded to Trafalgar veterans when the Naval General Service Medal was granted in 1848 with bars to survivors of 200 selected naval actions from 1793-1815. Only 115 out of Victory's complement of 837 at Trafalgar survived till 1848 to receive the clasp - not surprising, as sometimes 30 per cent. or more of a ship's crew would not survive a 'commission' which may have lasted from a few months to many years. BACK TO TEXT

14.  This indicates he was born in about 1776, but the Muster Book of HMS la Minerve suggests 1773 as it says he was aged 22 when he joined her in 1795; he probably over-declared his age on joining the Navy to avoid being paid as a 'boy'. BACK TO TEXT

15.  Then called St Mary's new burial ground, Plot BG33, now closed and totally overgrown; no inscription is recorded. James Richard was buried in St Mary's churchyard, plot P35. BACK TO TEXT