PART 4 - CONTINUED
This is how the site is structured:
1 - Home Page. CLICK HERE2 - 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. CLICK HERE
5 - The early Devon Blackmores, Part 2 - later Devon Blackmores, in some detail - i.e. this page.
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
7. GEORGE BLACKMORE
(Henry's older brother)b. 19 Aug 1806 (bapt 29 Aug 1808, along with his brother Henry)
m. Elizabeth Carter, daughter of Thomas and Eliza, at Aylesbeare on 25 August 1855. [1] d. 20 Jan 1881 [2] "aged 74"
Living at 7 Staples Buildings, Withycombe Raleigh in 1851 census.
George, Henry's brother, was Parish Clerk for 50 years, having been appointed in succession to John, their father, in 1831.
He was also secretary to the local gas and water companies and was appointed deputy registrar of births deaths and marriages under the system of compulsory registration that was introduced in 1837. He was Deputy Registrar of the St Thomas Union, 2nd or Exmouth District, Littleham (the local poor law union - i.e. the workhouse) in 1837, and was also Treasurer to the Board of Health.
HCB's 1933 letter and 1945 note say George was his godfather, gave him a spoon and fork and left him �100 in his will. HCB did not remember him "and never saw his two maiden sisters Anne and Elizabeth who lived all their days in Exmouth. Auntie [Emma Louise]... threatened when I was quite young to take me to see them but never got time. She had one eye on some nice old silver Aunt Elizabeth had and I believe bought some of it at the sale which followed their deaths".
George, says HCB in his 1945 note, did not get on with his wife and went to live with his two sisters - but his gravestone only refers to his beloved sister Elisabeth, and we know from Elizabeth's will that Anne was merely her "companion". HCB said George had a son, Edwin, "who went as a missionary to China, and died either there or on the way home". [HCB's 1933 letter]. HCB plainly got this wrong - his 1945 note points out "but the tombstone of James Junior contradicts this." Duncan Furner has proved that not George, but James, (cousin of Henry and George) was the Rev Edwin Blackmore's father. Henry ll was Edwin's brother. Edwin went to stay at Henry's house at 7 Fairfax Road, Hampstead, London the night before he sailed.
George was christened at the same time as his younger brother Henry. This was often done to save cost.
HCB may have got some things a bit muddled, but he was dead right in saying poor old George did not get on with his wife. Quite by chance I came across a news item about a running battle he had with his wife, "a good looking woman of about 30 years of age". A copy of the report is given at the end of these notes.
Obituaries were not common, but here is George's, culled from Trewman's Flying Exmouth Post, Saturday June 22nd, 1881:-
"DEATH OF MR. GEO. BLACKMORE By the death of Mr. George Blackmore, whose death is recorded in our obituary, the Town has lost a respected and indefatigable public servant, and one whom it will be difficult to replace in connection with parochial and semi-official duties. He was parish clerk of Littleham-cum-Exmouth, a post which he has held for more than 50 years - having been appointed in 1831 - and which he has ever since continued to fill with zeal and fidelity; and the office having been held by his family for more than 100 years - his father and grandfather having held it before him - it was one that he took especial interest and delight in. He was likewise Treasurer of the Local Board of Health, Secretary to the Exmouth Gas Company, and in many other capacities a valued and respected worker. He was ever ready to render aid and advice to any requiring his assistance, and by all, we are quite sure his death will be greatly felt, and deeply lamented."
A board at the entrance to Littleham Church mentions George's 1881 gift of �6.14.6 annual income "for the apprentices". This resulted from �300 bequeathed in his will.
8. HENRY BLACKMORE
(ie "our" Henry - 1808 to 1883)b. 10 Aug 1808 (bapt. 29 Aug) [3] [4] Son of John and Sarah Blackmore.
m. 28 December 1837 to Mary Ann Pinsent Symons (note spelling) at St. Mark's, Kennington which is south of the river in Lambeth. [5]
d. 23 Aug 1883; bur with wife and son Harry (my great-grandfather) in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
Father of Mary Eliza Pinsent (died in infancy) Emma Louise m Arthur (Sir Arthur) Lazenby Liberty and Harry (b.1841). Grandfather of HCB. Married Mary Ann Pinsent Symons who was born about 1807 - 10.
Having recorded here what I can about Henry's early life, I shall revert to him in more detail further on in this saga but, as he is the central character to our story, it is a shame we can do no more than guess at his early life, where he went to school (as he was well educated) and why and when he left Devon. Records at that time are scarce, and I do not think there are now any more sources of information that I have missed.
Here is the coat of arms - utterly bogus - that Henry had made up for himself, together with the Latin motto 'esse quam videri', when he had become 'a gentleman'. It includes hunting horns, as he used to hunt in Dorset, and (dare I say it, in this age of thought police and political correctness) blackamoors' heads !
9. ELIZABETH
(1811 - 1891. Henry's younger sister)b 5 Dec 1811 (bap. Littleham 29 December 1811) d 11 Oct 1891 [6]
It is quite possible that Henry's first daughter Eliza (who died in infancy) may have been named after her aunt - Eliza and Elizabeth were used interchangeably in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", for example. She was described in the 1851 census as a seamstress, living at 7 Staples Buildings, Withycombe Raleigh.
It is interesting that, although described as a seamstress (never a well paid occupation) in 1851, she later (when HCB was a boy) had some silver that Emma Louise Liberty was after. Things may have been looking up by then, but it is quite likely that the items Emma Louise coveted, and acquired in the sale following her death, included the christening mug belonging to her brother George, and also his beer mug which was left to me in my father's will.
10. MARY ANN PINSENT BLACKMORE
(n�e Symons - Henry's wife)b. c1807 (Her tombstone says she died in 1872 aged 65. She was possily born on 18 July 1807 - see below)
bap 26 Sept 1811 at Teigngrace
married Henry Blackmore 28 December 1837; see above
d.5 July 1872
Mary Ann's father, William Symons, was a farmer according to her marriage certificate, so even if the Blackmores do not come from a long line of farming stock, at least Henry married a farmer's daughter. This may possibly provide a clue to the question I have not been able to answer - how did Henry manage to set himself up in business in a fashionable part of London?
A search through the IGI (Mormons) microfiche gives the following entry, "F" meaning female and "C" a christening:-
"Symons, Mary Ann Pinson William Symons/Mary F.C. 26 Sep 1811 Teigngrace"
Teigngrace is between Bovey Tracey and Newton Abbot. One should not be put off by the spelling 'Pinson' - that sort of error was normal. Her mother's name was also Mary Ann.
Emma has a china cat which was passed on to her by my father HB. A note in his writing underneath it says:-
"This cat I have had ever since I was 3 years old - take care of it. Given to Emma Louise Blackmore (married to Arthur Lazenby Liberty) probably by her mother the wife of Henry Blackmore ne� Mary Ann Pinsent Simmons [sic] who was born c1810, her mother was Mary Ann Pinsent, daughter of Joseph Pinsent of Bovey Tracey and she would have been born around 1785 - I do not know who wrote "Dale about 1790" HB 11 April 1974."
There is nothing there about 'Dale' - he must have been copying from something else. But had he made a mistake - did he mean 'Gale'? Why was my brother christened John Gale Blackmore? I have always assumed it was to perpetuate an old family name, as seems to have been the custom in this family for ages (e.g. my grandfather Harold Close B and my aunt Lois Pinsent B). But I let Aunt Lois, my mother Florence Olive [Simpson] and my father die, and of course John himself, without asking them, and Aunt Margaret (who was my god mother, but was very close to John) didn't know.
I wish I knew the answer. We have six really beautiful silver desert spoons with the 'G' monogram, hall-marked 1826 and 1827 (including a matching but truly enormous silver serving spoon) and yet I have no idea why, other than that they came to me from Aunt Lois. Alas, someone who shall be nameless let one of them go down the waste disposal unit, damaging the handle!
There are, however, some fairly strong pointers. First, a Mary Anne Gale was the owner of cottages in Bovey Tracey in the 1890s, where the memorial now stands, and we know that the Pinsents were also property owners there, so it is possible that the two families may have had a fair amount in common,but there is certainly no proof of an inter-marriage. Secondly, Duncan Furner came upon a marriage of John Gale to Agnes Weeks at Teigngrace on 22 July 1792, and the baptism of Edward, son of Edward and Ann Gale, at Teigngrace on 21 September 1800. There was also a family of five Gales born to a labourer at Kingsteignton (nearby) between 1836-46. A James Gale of Taunton St Mary's was tried at Taunton and hanged at Porlock in December 1685 for his part in the Monmouth Rebellion, and two other Gales were transported to the West Indies, but I doubt if there's any provable connection. Mr McPherson tells me that various Gales were baptised at Teigngrace between 1690 and 1880. So there were plenty of Gales in that area.
I've not yet come across any Gale clues elsewhere in our story so, as a betting man, now that we have proved the Symons connection with Teigngrace and our connection with the Pinsents at Bovey Tracey, it would not surprise me if it turns out that the area around Bovey Tracey and possibly Teigngrace is where my brother John's second christian name Gale came from.
The question of the spoons could, actually, be of some importance to us in our quest for the source of Henry's wealth, and who backed him in setting up his first business. Not only did the Gale family have enough wealth to have a full set of sterling silver table-ware, but in terms of entertaining at least, therefore, they must have been a family of some significance locally, and it seems to me to be a reasonable bet that the source of Henry's wealth lies in that direction.
My first assumption was that 'Gale' would have been the maiden name of someone who married a Blackmore - but there are no spare female "slots" in our direct line, as we know all their maiden names, although a second marriage could be a possibility. The relationship might lie a generation or two further back, or maybe there was a Gale aunt - maybe a Blackmore daughter who married a Gale. Did one of Joseph Pinsent's daughters marry a Gale and, having no surviving children of her own, leave the Gale family silver to Mary Ann Pinsent Blackmore, the daughter of her sister Mary Ann Symons? Or, perhaps, was Henry's mother-in-law, Mary Ann Symons, left a widow and remarried into the Gale family? The proof would only come from tracing the Gale and Pinsent family trees to see where they coincide.
John, Mary Ann Pinsent Symons' brother, was christened on 30 June 1811, and Mary Ann herself was christened on 26 September the same year. This sounds a bit odd, but they were both the children of William and Mary Symons and it was only a tiny village, so it would be most unlikely that there may have been two families with the same names. (One must not lose sight of the then attitude to spelling - Symons, for example, could equally well be written as Simmons or Simonds, especially if someone else was writing it.)
At Bovey Tracy, Duncan Furner found the marriage in 1773 of Joseph Pinsent to Mary Berry, both of the same parish. He also found the baptisms of Thomas Pinsent on 19 May 1776, Sarah Pinsent on 6 March 1779 and Mary Ann Pinsent (the original owner of the china clay cat now in Emma's possession, who married William Symons, and who was therefore Henry's mother-in-law) on 18 August 1781, all children of Joseph Pinsent. HCB wrote in 1933:
"There is a Pinsent or Simmonds [sic] Will somewhere among my possessions which deals with some respectable sums of money and land at Bovey Tracey and also a feather bed....Lois has the Pinsent samplers and a picture of one of the ladies who was responsible...."
My brother, Richard, has one of the Pinsent samplers. It contains what looks like a biblical text, as well as the alphabet (in both capitals and lower case) in very fine but totally faded needlework, and ends up "Mary Pinsent, her sampler, April 4, 1794, aged 13 years", which means that Mary Ann Pinsent, who married William Symons and became Mary Ann Pinsent Blackmore's mother, was born in 1781.
I have the other sampler. On the back is a note, signed 'E Louise Liberty', which says 'This sampler belongs to Lois Pinsent Blackmore and was worked by her Great Grandmother' - i.e. Mary Ann Pinsent Symons, who married Henry Blackmore.
The motto is 'Virtue is the universal charm'. It portays the usual upper and lower case alphabet which is interesting because it shows our 26-character alphabet but in the lower case with a 27th as well - the 'f ' of the period
as an alternative 's'. The sampler is unfinished and the bottom half is badly stained, which probably explains why. Did it fall into the 'under-jug'?
The grief of 'Mary-Ann Pinsent Symons July 18th 1817' on having to abandon her labour of love must have been considerable. This is the only time that I have found her Christian names Mary-Ann hyphened together; it may be that 18 July 1817 was her 10th birthday.
For the sake of completeness, this is the text of another note by Aunt Lois;
"The enclosed wedding ring, keeper ring, & ring composed of a moss agate surrounded by a setting of garnets, & rose diamonds, belonged to my great grandmother Mary Anne Pinsent Blackmore, ne� Symonds [sic], Emma Liberty's mother & HCB's grandmother, who died about 1860.
The moss agate was found by my great grandmother in its natural state, & was then made into a ring which I wore for many years, & had reset as the surrounding stones were accidentally falling from the original setting - but the new one proved equally shallow, & unsatisfactory, & I was advised by a jeweller to discontinue wearing it."
James has two silhouettes dated 1823, on the back of which Emma Liberty wrote that they represent 'My Grandmother', i.e. Mary Ann Pinsent, who married farmer Symons, and her second husband called Evans. That of Mary Ann is exactly like my older brother John as a young boy, long nose and all. Funny that the family likeness should be passed down five generations.
The portrait of Emma Louise in the Liberty boardroom shows her wearing what looks like two rings on the fourth finger of her right hand, and they could well be these ones. She is also wearing a substantial pearl pendant, but I've never seen that; it was probably nicked by the Stewart-Liberty family!
Reverting to Emma's cat, it is funny to think that it may, in fact, in some minute way be responsible for the rape of Twinyeo. The white china clay, "ball clay" they called it, was formed millions of years ago by the decomposition of the Haytor granite. It lies in some places as much as 500 feet thick in the Bovey valley, and has been dug for centuries. They established a pottery at Bovey but it was fired by the local lignite, a poor substitute for coal, and the quality was always very poor so the pottery did not run profitably and eventually closed, but not before a lump of local ball clay had been made into Emma's cat!
11. JOSEPH and MARY PINSENT
(Henry's wife's grandparents)A gravestone in Bovey Tracey churchyard, directly south of the corner of side chapel, about the second gravestone in from the side, reads:-
"Mary, wife of Joseph Pinsent died ?3 Feb 1825 aged 74, also Joseph Pinsent departed this life Dec ?22 1837 aged 89. Also Thomas the son of the above who died ?March 8th 1856 aged 80".
Duncan Furner found the baptism of another son, John Pinsent (i.e. Mary Ann Pinsent's brother) at Bovey Tracey on 30 November 1773 and a further baptism on 24 March 1775, but he reports that the page is torn and the name cannot be seen.
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FOOTNOTES
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1. Local paper - 2 July 1857 - and Duncan Furner's research.BACK TO TEXT
2. 21 April, according to Probate. BACK TO TEXT
3. The copy of the register of baptisms available on microfiche at Exeter is for the parish of Littleham, whereas the note produced by "Henry ll", in response to HCB's letter of 22 Sept 1926, gives "Exmouth" as his place of birth, but it should be remembered that it was a combined parish of Littleham-cum-Exmouth. Likewise, his father is given by Henry ll as John Barat Blackmore (as opposed to plain John B)but it is far more likely that Henry II wrote from memory and simply got it wrong.BACK TO TEXT
4. "Lived in the main Street" (HCB's 1945 note) but this must refer to his father John. BACK TO TEXT
5. The 1841 census gives it as Battersea, but I do not know whether Union Place was in the parish covered by St Mark's. BACK TO TEXT
6. George's gravestone (to the south of two yew trees, in line with the altar) says "...and also Elizabeth Blackmore his beloved sister." BACK TO TEXT