1737 – 24 Westgate Street

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But the death of Nicholas and his wife, Hester, did not herald the end of the Lane family’s problems with the property.  In 1727, Hester junior had married a man called Herbert Pyefinch who was a ‘gager’ in the Excise, and had moved with him to live in Presteigne in Radnorshire.  John Rodway, one of the two trustees had died leaving Richard Harding as the sole trustee of the property.  Richard Harding had sold the property to one Richard Elly, an attorney of Gloucester, and, with the proceeds, paid off Nicholas Lane’s remaining debts.  Herbert and Hester Pyefinch considered that they were entitled to £50 from the remaining funds. Since they had not received this money, they took Richard Harding to court.  He in turn challenged them in a Bill of Complaint to Chancery in 1736. No final orders have been located for this and it is assumed that the case was eventually settled out of court.

During the Chancery case, evidence was presented by one Peregrine Stockdale to the effect that Eustace Lane, a surgeon on the ship ‘The Berkeley Gally’, the youngest child of Nicholas and Hester Lane, had died on a voyage between Africa and Carolina around 1733, and that he, Stockdale,  had paid for his burial in South Carolina.  So that left only the three daughters of Nicholas and Hester Lane.  In 1737, after the Chancery case, the Lane Family no longer had an interest in 24 Westgate Street.

1721 – 24 Westgate Street

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When the earliest document was created, in 1721, the property was owned by Nicholas Lane who was an apothecary.  It was in two parts, one under the auspices of the Mayor and Burgesses of Gloucester, the other under the auspices of the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester Cathedral.  The former was described as:

“All that stable, summerhouse and garden situate and being in the parish of Saint Mary de Grace in the city of Gloucester, then in the tenure of the said Nicholas Lane or his under-tenant, consisting of all that piece of ground extending from Grace Lane by the College wall to other the land of the Mayor and Burgesses then in possession of Richard Elly, gent, containing in length from Grace Lane aforesaid to a summerhouse newly built on the west nineteen yards and in breadth four yards.  And all that stable and building thereon erected next to Grace Lane aforesaid.  And after some part of the summerhouse or building standing at the west end of the same piece of ground  containing in building from east to west two yards and an half.  And also all that other piece of ground extending in length from the said summerhouse on the north to the lands of Mr Fletcher on the south fourteen yards and in breadth two yards and an half having land of the Dean and Chapter on the south and divided by a brick wall from other the lands of the said Mayor and Burgesses on the west.  Also all that part of a shop on Maverdine Lane side with the building over it wherein Mr John Palmer dwelleth containing in length from the street side to the north three yards and two foot and in breadth one yard and one inch having Maverdine Lane on the west  side and the other part of the shop being College land on the east together with a purpresture of half a yard broad the length of the shop next the land together with all ways, passages,  and appurtenances to the said premises or any part thereof belonging or in any wise appertaining.  “

The second part of the property was described thus:

“All that their shop with all the rooms thereupon built mentioned to be situate lying and being on the parish of Grace Lane in the city of Gloucester in a place there called the Mercerrow having the lands of the said Dean and Chapter mentioned to be then in the possession James Wood, mercer, on the east side, a lane or passage called Maudlin Lane on the west, the land of Nicholas Lane on the north and the Kings Highway on the south and containing on the forepart from east to west four yards and one foot and from north to south seven yards and then in the possession of John Palmer, bookseller;  And also all those their four stables now converted into three tenements with two courts or gardens to the same belonging situate, lying or being in the parish of Grace Lane in the city of Gloucester aforesaid having lands then of Thomas Lugg, gent, on the south, the lands of said Nicholas Lane on the north and west and the Kings Highway on the east which said tenements do contain from east to west nine yards and an half and from south to north next the Lane twelve yards and the courts or gardens do contain from east to west ten yards and a quarter and from north to south nine yards and a half and are mentioned to be in the possession of Robert Clarke, Thomas Haines and the said Nicholas Lane; “

Nicholas Lane was born c. 1672 and married Hester Rodway in the 1690s.  Over the next twenty years, the couple had eleven children: Mary, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Kendrick, Sarah, Hester, Lucina, Christianus, Charles, another Mary and Eustace.    Of these, Kendrick, Sarah, Christianus, Charles and both Marys died young.  Nicholas, junior, does not appear in any of the documents relating to 24 Westgate Street; it is presumed he, as an adult, was living a separate life from the rest of his family by the 1720s.  His sister, Elizabeth Lane, had married in 1714 to Richard Harding, a mercer from Tetbury, whose name is prominent in the early documents.

Over the years, at least from 1701 to 1717, Nicholas took on apprentices; Richard Yarnell, Thomas Hill, Thomas Peynard, Thomas Scott, George Wilcox and Joseph Colesbourne.  His oldest son, Nicholas junior, also became an apothecary.  But, by 1821, Nicholas was not doing well in trade and was in deeply in debt.  Fearful that he would be sent to the debtor’s gaol in Gloucester Castle, Nicholas transferred the property at 24 Westgate Street into the name of his wife and those children still living at home, Hester, Lucina and Eustace, so that they would still have a roof over their heads, should the worst occur.  The property was held in trust for them by two gentlemen; Richard Harding, his son-in-law and John Rodway.  John Rodway was also a mercer and, in 1723, became Mayor of Gloucester.  He was possibly a relative of Hester Lane, Nicholas’ wife who, before their marriage, was Hester Rodway.

The financial situation did not improve for Nicholas Lane.  In 1723, he took out a mortgage for £300 from Mary Clissold but, in 1728, he obviously had not paid all of the instalments on the mortgage, was arrested and put in gaol.  After a while, the money was raised to pay his debts and he was released but the experience damaged his health and, later in 1728, he died.  His wife, Hester, went to live with her daughter, Elizabeth Harding, in Tetbury, and died there in March 1732/3.

24 Westgate Street – Early history

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The early history of this property can be found in John Rhodes book Terrier of Llanthony Priory’s Houses and Lands in Gloucester 1443. The property was in two parts, the south-west part and the south-east part, both fronting onto Westgate Street. John lists the property as being ‘on the Girdlery and Mercery at the south east corner of Marwardynes Lone, opposite the Kynges Board, where William Eldesfield, mercer, lives’. From 1443 to 1455, William Eldesfield rented both parts of the property, as his shop and his home

Over the centuries, many different people owned and rented the property. In 1667, it was inhabited by William Lugg who left it to his widow, Hannah and son, Thomas. By 1672, it was jointly inhabited by Thomas Lugg and a Mr Bishop, both of whom paid tax on two hearths each. The place was then let to Laurence Wiltshire of Lincoln’s Inn, when Jane Higgs was dwelling there. The next tenant was George Coucher, mercer and milliner.

By the turn of the eighteenth century, in 1702, William Ailberton, mercer, lived and worked there, the tenant of another Wiltshire, John Wiltshire of Hornsey. Finally, in 1709, he leased the property to John Palmer, a bookseller. And the lease was sold to Nicholas Lane, the younger, apothecary.

This brings us up to the earliest of the documents that I have transcribed.

24 Westgate Street

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In 2016, I was given access to 77 old documents relating to the building currently designated as 24 Westgate Street. Since then I have been transcribing these documents. They tell the story of those who lived and worked in the building. The documents date back to 1721 and refer to events that occurred in 1707.

This was 24 Westgate Street in 2016.
It is situated between
the Antiques Centre and MacDonalds.

Over the coming months, I hope to tell the story of the shop and those who lived and worked there.

Unknown manorial term

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Whilst transcribing a perambulation of Old Sodbury in Gloucestershire from 1783, I came across two of the participants who were described as being ‘carnivals’.  They were listed with the steward, bailiffs, hayward and scavenger – manorial occupations of which I had heard.  But I have never seen the position of a carnival (or carnivall) before.

Does anyone know what a carnival did?

 

Can we rely on Parish Register entries?

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Looking for the baptisms of the children of John Harris in Kings Stanley, I came across these entries on a microfiche.

  • Samuel Harrisson, son of John Harrisson, baptised last day of July 1653
  • John Harrisson, son of John Harrisson, baptised 14th October 1655
  • William Harrisson, the 3rd son of John Harrisson, baptised 25 December 1657

Checking a microfilm of Kings Stanley parish register entries for the period that followed, I also found:

  • John Harries the son of John Harries was baptised the 14th day of October 1655.

I did not find baptisms on this film for either Samuel or William.  The three Harrisson entries were not on the microfilm and the one Harries entry was not on the microfiche!  So, what was the explanation?

I ordered up the original register and checked the entries, all as above.  There was nothing that I could see in any part of the book to indicate that any part had been copied at any time.  The book appeared to be organised in 4 sections.   The first section held baptisms, the second had marriages, and the third burials.  The fourth section seemed to be a general section.   At the end of the first section, I found the first three Harrisson entries just as they were shown on the fiche.   After the marriages and burials, I found the baptism for John Harries as it had been on the film.

So, all four entries were there in the registers, as you would expect from filmed documents.  So – what happened?  After discussion with the archivist on duty and another experienced researcher, we all agreed that it was extremely unlikely that a John Harries, son of John Harries, was baptised on the same day (14th October 1655) as a John Harrisson, son of John Harrisson.  We agreed that there was most probably only one family, father John and his sons Samuel, John and William.

So, which surname is the correct one – Harries or Harrisson?  From other, later entries in the registers, Harrisson or, more usually, Harrison, seems to be the most reasonable choice but – are our assumptions correct?  There were, of course, no bishops transcripts for the 1650s so we cannot check those.   Can we trust the parish registers?

Business Accounts for family historians

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This is a brand new topic for me, not one covered in either of my books, Discover Gloucestershire Ancestors.  Gloucestershire Archives has begun to catalogue two large collections of documents from Cirencester solicitors.  As the Gwinnetts do not, so far, appear to have had any connection to Cirencester, I didn’t expect to find anything of particular interest to my one-name study there, so I was very pleasantly surprised to discover about a dozen account books belonging to the Cheltenham solicitor, Theodore Gwinnett.

Most of the account books have few mentions of Theodore Gwinnett himself, except when dealing with his clients and their financial affairs, but two of the books look as though they will prove to be a treasure trove of little facts on him and his family.  For instance, on 1st April 1809, there is an entry: “Paid fare by Mail to London for Mr Gwinnett’s son.  £2 5s 0d”.  The next entry states: “Paid expenses for him to London including coachman, etc. 18s 0d”.

At this time, Theodore Gwinnett had three sons:  Thomas (1800-1810), Edwin (1803-1812) and Theodore junior (1804-May 1809).  Which could it have been and why was he going to London, apparently on his own?  Where was he going to stay?  Was he going to school or to a hospital?  None of these three boys lived beyond childhood …

Hopefully, further entries will clarify the situation and reveal further snippets about the life of the solicitor and his family.  Watch this space!

 

Filling the gaps

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Placing your ancestors on the family tree, using births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, along with the census records, is fairly straightforward.  Filling in the gaps between these vital events is not only more difficult, as little is online, but it is also much more interesting.

I did not have space in my books Discover Gloucestershire Ancestors, Volumes 1 & 2 to write about alehouse licences in any detail and it was only yesterday that I checked some of them out at Gloucestershire Archives. (Ref: GBR/GV/AV/1 – 5).  These records cover the period from 1674 to 1836 with a few gaps.

The records include the date of the application (made annually in September), the name of the person applying for the licence, the sign (name of the pub), the names of two people acting as sureties and the surety or fee that they put up on the publican’s behalf.  If the publican broke the rules of his licence, the surety would be lost.

I had known that my Gwinnett ancestors were frequently recorded as being victuallers but had no idea where they had carried out their trade.  Imagine my surprise to discover that Samuel Gwinnett, later his wife Ann and later still his brother Charles had all applied for a licence to run the prestigious 15th century New Inn!

The earliest inn known to be run by a Gwinnett was the Bolt Inn in Eastgate Street.  George Gwinnett, who died in 1739, left his inn to his sons, William and George.  William was recorded as being one of the sureties for Joseph Grazebrook in 1749 so presumably the Gwinnetts had given up the licence during the years from 1740 to 1749.  Earlier records are still to be checked.

Other inns run by the Gwinnett family in Gloucester included The Red Lyon, the Greyhound, the Golden Cock and the City Arms.

 

Confusing Dates

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Family historians have to be careful of various changes with the system of dates.  I was recently transcribing an early burial register when I came across the date of 29th February 1739 which appeared to be a leap year day but not in an actual leap year.  It made me wonder when leap years were first introduced.  Further research told me it was originally back in the days of Julius Caesar so well before 1739!  Obviously, the minister or churchwarden had made an error when entering the burial information.

But the real dates to be careful with are those around the early 1750s.  Before 1752, the new year began on Lady Day (25th March) and ended 24th March so a date recorded in a register as 1st March 1750 would nowadays be called 1st March 1751. From 1752 onwards, the year began on 1st January.  So 1751 was a very short year.  And even 1752 lost nine days …..  confused?  There is a fuller explanation in the first volume of Discover Gloucestershire Ancestors.

Settlement Examination

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When a woman was left with  illegitimate children after her partner had died, she was examined by the local overseers of the poor to find out which parish she belonged to.  Such an examination happened to Ann Howell …

On 27th April 1832, Mitcheldean Overseers of the Poor examined Ann Howell, the daughter of Evan and Mary Howell of Lampeter in Pembrokeshire as to where she had been born.  She was 47 years old and in need of help from the parish.  Her examination revealed a long story involving much travelling.

In 1813, Ann had been hired by Captain James Probert of St. David’s at £5, presumably in a domestic capacity.  After she left Captain Probert’s employ she ‘connected’ with George Sleeman Kendal, a malt mill grinder.  She never married him but lived and travelled with him.  In 1814, she became pregnant and was delivered of a male bastard child at a lodging house in Pembroke.  The child was baptised Thomas Sleeman Kendal in Peterchurch, Herefordshire.  In 1820, Ann had a female bastard child at Brockway in Hewelsfield who was baptised Mary.  In August of that year, a male bastard child called George was baptised at St Mary’s church in Swansea.

Then the family moved to Ruardean and finally Mitcheldean.  In May 1822, a son called William was baptised, the following July a daughter called Margaret arrived on the scene and, finally, a sixth child, a boy called Evan after his grandfather, was baptised at Mitcheldean in August 1825.

The following year, George Sleeman Kendal died and Ann stated that she did not know his legal place of settlement but only that it was near Penzance in Cornwall.

If it weren’t for this examination document, how confident would you be in tying the various baptisms together into one family?