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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Topic started by: doverrog on Monday 15 October 07 11:52 BST (UK)
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Hello,
I have been trying to trace the ancestry of an oil painting which was in the possession of my family.
The back of the picture had a faded label which my mother had transcribed as:-
Henry Tritton Reaks. Born Jan-13 1790. This likeness taken Nov-18-11.
With the help of this site I have found the same picture in a website for the Reakes family, however the information and the picture were provided by a John Wrake in 2000, who I have been unable to contact.
I wonder if there is anyone who may have information about the Wrake family and who may possibly be able to help discover why my family owned the oil painting and why they always said the Henry was an ancestor?
I was always told that the person in the painting was an ancestor and possibly linked to my mothers family of Hills who were involved with Hunting.
Other family names are Hill and Matson.
My grandmothers name was Lucy Harriet Hills (nee Hill) 1871-1965, whose parents were John (aka) William Hill, 1837 to abt 1923 and Julia Hill 1849-1925. The family lived in the village of Castor near Peterborough and worked on the estate of Earl Fitzwilliam at Milton Hall near Peterborough or Wentworth, his estate in Yorkshire. My grandmother had a brother named George Thomas Hills.
Earlier I have Richard Hills 1791-1868/Harriet Peckham 1806-1879 and George Hill 1826-1905/Lucy Wilkinson 1826-1897.
William Hill abt1800-1862/Sarah Sophia 1797-1874.
I see that Stephen Barttrum Tritton was buried on 15 Jul 1851 in Waldershare, Kent and that Alfred Tritton was buried there in 1853. Stephen Barttrum Tritton was married to Miriam Hills in 1848 and I'm wondering if there is a connection via the Waldershare Estate?
I've been unable to find anything later about Miriam but have a possible entry in the 1841 census where she is aged abt 15 and her father could be a George Hills, a gamekeeper at Wooton, Kent. However that link doesn't seem to tie in and I don't have a Miriam Hills in any of my family records.
My great-great grandfather, John Hills, went from Milton to be Huntsman to the East Kent Foxhounds at Waldershare Park, (The Earl of Guilford was the Master of the Hunt and was killed while hunting). The 1881 census shows John, aged 44, at 2, The Kennels, Waldershare near Eastry, Kent. After this, in about 1882, John became Huntsman to the Badsworth Hunt Near Pontefract in Yorkshire. About 1888 he left and went into business as a Licensed Victuler in Dover where he had the ?Duke of York? and ?Old Endevour? Public Houses.
The 1891 census show John as Licensed Victuler of ?The Guildhall Vaults?, 2, Bench Street, Dover (destroyed by shellfire in WW2).
It was after running this pub that he went back to being a Huntsman and joined the East Kent Hunt at Waldershare Park. He then went to the West Kent Hunt living at the kennels in Elham. He was also for a while with the Thanet Harriers at Monkton kennels.
The 1901 census shows John as a Groom at Redcliffe Stable, Westgate-on-Sea (aged 64).
John died aged 86 abt 1923 and is buried with his wife Julia, who died aged 76 in December 1925, at Waldershare Park.
If anyone has any information I would very much appreciate hearing from them. It would be great to solve the mystery of the painting!
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Hi doverrog
Is this him - seems the right place (Kent) and social status warranting a portrait (the academy)
http://shrinkalink.com/19428
Obituary 1853
At her Son in Laws, David McDOUGALL Esq, Clydesdale Park, Edinburgh age 67
Amelia Sophia, relict of Henry Tritton REAKS, formerley of Ramsgate
This would make AmleliaSophia born about 1786 - and her spouse deceased before 1853.
http://shrinkalink.com/19429
Thanet's Private Schools 19th and Early 20th Century
High Street - Ramsgate
Henry Tritton REAKS Academy (1823)
Henry REAKS Academy (High STreet) (1826)
He is also listed on this site, circa 1828, a subscriber to either magazine, or a School of Thought - of a diet/regimen
http://shrinkalink.com/19430
Marriage: Kent
Canterbury Marriage Licences, 1810-1837
Volume 35 - fol 1 - 1812
Hy Tritton Reaks of St Jas Dover bach & Amelia Sophia Loop of St Mart Cant sp, at St Mart. 10 Oct 1812.
IGI has issue of Henry Tritton REAKS and Amelia Sophia:
Selina Anne b 28 Feb 1814 , chr 25 APR 1814 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Frederick Pyott b 20 Nov 1815, chr 11 JAN 1816 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
William Henry b 2 Aug 1817, chr abt 15 SEP 1817 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Alfred Meffen - Chr 1819 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Emma 1820 (died 1821) Kent
Henry Tritton chr 3 Jul 1822 Deal, Kent (died 1823)
Clara Sophia chr 22 Sep 1824 Saint Laurence (Thanet), Kent
IGI:
Marriage: David McDOUGALL married Selina Anne REAKS
2 Sep 1849 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian
David & Selina I can see in Scotland Census 1851 thru 1881, can't see they ever had children though. Details if you want them!
Cheers
AMBLY
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Hi doverrog !
I wonder if the John Wrake mentioned on this site ( #90 ) as an author ... maybe the one you are looking for !! there is an email address for the publisher ... possibly an email to them might bring some results !
http://www.faversham.org/pages/directory_item.aspx?i_PageID=11895
Also the Wrake family tree is here .... done by John Wrake !!
http://welander.co.uk/
And here's the Hill family !!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swelander/sets/72157601706504379/
Annie :)
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Many, many thanks to you both - Ambly and Annie. You've certainly come up trumps with some leads for me. I shall follow everything up and let you know the outcome.
At the moment I'm still looking to find the link to my ancestors Hills or Matson and why they owned the portrait of Henry and what his connection was to the family.
I wonder why and how Henry came to move all the way from Kent to Scotland?
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Hi doverrog
Is this him - seems the right place (Kent) and social status warranting a portrait (the academy)
http://shrinkalink.com/19428
Obituary 1853
At her Son in Laws, David McDOUGALL Esq, Clydesdale Park, Edinburgh age 67
Amelia Sophia, relict of Henry Tritton REAKS, formerley of Ramsgate
This would make AmleliaSophia born about 1786 - and her spouse deceased before 1853.
http://shrinkalink.com/19429
Thanet's Private Schools 19th and Early 20th Century
High Street - Ramsgate
Henry Tritton REAKS Academy (1823)
Henry REAKS Academy (High STreet) (1826)
He is also listed on this site, circa 1828, a subscriber to either magazine, or a School of Thought - of a diet/regimen
http://shrinkalink.com/19430
Marriage: Kent
Canterbury Marriage Licences, 1810-1837
Volume 35 - fol 1 - 1812
Hy Tritton Reaks of St Jas Dover bach & Amelia Sophia Loop of St Mart Cant sp, at St Mart. 10 Oct 1812.
IGI has issue of Henry Tritton REAKS and Amelia Sophia:
Selina Anne b 28 Feb 1814 , chr 25 APR 1814 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Frederick Pyott b 20 Nov 1815, chr 11 JAN 1816 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
William Henry b 2 Aug 1817, chr abt 15 SEP 1817 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Alfred Meffen - Chr 1819 Zion Chapel Last Lane-Countess Of Huntingdon, Dover, Kent
Emma 1820 (died 1821) Kent
Henry Tritton chr 3 Jul 1822 Deal, Kent (died 1823)
Clara Sophia chr 22 Sep 1824 Saint Laurence (Thanet), Kent
IGI:
Marriage: David McDOUGALL married Selina Anne REAKS
2 Sep 1849 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian
David & Selina I can see in Scotland Census 1851 thru 1881, can't see they ever had children though. Details if you want them!
Cheers
AMBLY
Hello Ambly.
I've worked through your info and yes please I would love to have the census entries for David and Selina.
I'm still struggling though as I can't find any records for Henry Tritton Reaks or his wife Amelia Sophia during the period 1833 to 1853 (the above obituary). I have found that Henry was in Ramsgate High Street running 'Grove House School' at No.13 and he was there until 1833 when the building was pulled down and rebuilt.
However I can find no entries after 1833. Do you know if there are any BMD records for Scotland or other records which may help?
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Hi Doverrog
On one hand, Scottish BMD certificates contain much much more information than the English ones! On the other hand, Scottish Civil Registration did not begin until 1855, so prior to that you have only the OPR's (Old Parish Records) baptisms, burials etc..
On one foot, you have online "instant" access to Scotlands People from where (for a fee) you can download images of Certificates after 1855 and OPR's pre 1855, and WIlls/Admons up to 1901 too. On the other foot, SP does not have any death/burial records online pre-1855.
Have a good browse of Scotlands People (SP) to see what is on offer.
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
Registration is free, at which stage you can at least login and search the indexes to try pinpoint what you are looking for. SP is great value for money if you are finding what you want, and can easily obtain the documents but it can quickly turn into an expensive excercise (especially with Census records). Smart searching of indexes prior to payment is highly recommended. Rootschat has a lot of helpful info on Scottish genealogy - generally, and county by county.
To the McDOUGALLS:
1851: Galashiels, Selkirkshire
Ref: Parish 775, ED 1, pg 19
Address: High Street Old Town No 13
Head: George McDOUGALL 37, Surgeon Edin University, b Blackburn, Lesmahagow?
Wife: Christina McDOUGALL 36, In Practice?, b Galashiels, Selkirk
Son: John A McDOUGALL 6, b Galashiels, Selkirk
Son: Alexander McDOUGALL 4, b Galashiels, Selkirk
Son: George J McDOUGALL 2, b Galashiels, Selkirk
Dau: Mary A McDOUGALL 2 months, b Galashiels, Selkirk
Mother-In-Law: Mary AIMERS 80, Millwright & Farmer's Wid , b Yarrow, Selkirk
Brother: David McDOUGALL 26, Banker, b Borthwick, Midlothian
Brother's Wife: Selina McDOUGALL 32, b D----? (Dover?) ---?, Kent
Servant: Isabella DALGLIESH 22, House Servant. b Blackbeck, Dumfriesshire
Servant: Mina KAY 20, House Servant, b Heavtre, Midlothian
Servant: Robert LAIDLAW 17, House & Groom, b Fermtay, --------??
1861: Campbelltown, Argyllshire
Ref: Parish: 507, ED 10, pg 16
Address: Kirk Street
Head: David McDOUGALL 35, Banker, b Borthwick, Midlothian
Wife: Selina McDOUGALL 36, b Dover, Kent
Servant: Janet COHILTIER? 23, Servant, b Currie, Midlothian
1871: Campbelltown, Argyllshire
Ref: Parish: 507, ED 5, Pg 20
Address: Longrow
Head: David McDOUGALL 45, Clydesdale Bank Agent Sheriff Sub & J P, b Borthwick, Midlothian
Wife: Selina McDOUGALL 47, b Dover, Kent
Nephew: David PAULIN 23, Accountant In Bank, b Irvine, Ayrshire
Servant: Flora McNEILL 35, Domestic Servt Cook, b Campletown Arygll
Servant: Janet McSPORRAN 19, Domestic Servt Maid, b Crubisdale??, Argyll
[Note: the nephew's parents were George PAULIN (PAULINE) and Ann McDOUGALL married Borthwick Edinburgh 1839 (IGI) - so he is from David's side, not Selina's]
1881:Campbelltown, Argyllshire
Ref: Parish: 507, ED 15, pg 5
Address: 21 Longrow Street
Head: David McDOUGALL 55, Honorary Sheriff Substitute & Justice Of The Peace For Argyllshire - Banker , b Borthwick, Midlothian
Wife: Selina McDOUGALL 60, b Dover Kent
Servant: Flora McNEILL 45, Domestic Servant, b Campbeltown-Gaelic, Argyll
Servant: Janet McSPORRAN 30, Domestic Servant, b Killean Gaelic, Argyll
SP shows (per free index search):
Selina Ann McDOUGALL - other name REAKS - died 1884 in Campbelltown, Arygyll.
Her age is registered as 70 (= YOB abt 1814)
David McDOUGALL - died 1889 in Campbelltown, Arygyll.
His age is registered as 63 (= YOB abt 1826)
SP shows (per free index search):
David left a Will:
David MacDougall - 25/02/1889 - Agent, Clydesdale Bank, Campbeltown, d. 27/01/1889 at Campbeltown, testate - Dunoon Sheriff Court - Ref SC51/32/37
Whilst you would need to check the originals on SP, it would seem David's age is consistent thru the Census, but Selina probably being a bit (!) 'coy' about hers and adjusted it down by 5 to 10 years!! Only at death is the true age revealed - probably by her widower who for all those Census never said a word!
Their burial
Found a link via the Resources listings on the Argyll boards in Rootschat:
http://www.ralstongenealogy.com/kilkerrannewgraves.htm
It has:-
Kilkerran, New, Graveyard, Campbeltown, Kintyre Peninsula, Argyll, Scotland
Image Nr 72, File Nr 2
McDOUGALL David d.1889 age 64 yrs
REAKS Selina Ann d.1884
Looks like Selina got the last word ;D her age may not be recorded on the headstone if the index entry is anything to go by! Also note, as is the Scottish custom Selina is marked by her maiden name - the exact wording of the headstone may or may not make it clear they were espoused.
You can email the website owner and ask him for a copy of the hreadstone image - what a wonderful service they are providing and such a lot a lot of work must have gon into it! It looks like they provide an image for free.
Cheers
AMBLY
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Ambly !
That's wonderful ! .... boy Doverrog is lucky !!
Annie :)
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Hi again!
(I keep nipping in and out - I'm supposed to be gardening on this GLORIOIUS spring day ;D)
I can't find hide nor hair of Amelia Sophia or Selina Ann in 1841 nor Amelia in 1851, anywhere Scotland or England or Wales !! ??? I just keep wondering - don't know why - if they had moved to the continent - France - ?
No mentions of Henry Tritton REAKS in FREEMD - he may have died between 1833 and Sep 1837, but then I can't find any mention of a will in the Kent records that are online either.....
cheers
AMBLY
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Aha!!!
The IGI has two entries for the marriage of Selina Ann REAKS to David McDOUGALL...
the first one, (as above)
Selina Anne REAKS, daughter of Henry Tritton REAKS
married: David McDOUGALL
on 2 Sep 1849 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
The other one:
Selina Ann REAKS, daughter of Henry Tritton REAKS
married: David McDOUGALL, son of Alexander McDOUGALL
on 11 Sep 1849 at Capel St Scots Presbyterian-173, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Both are Extracted records. Now I would be guessing, that these are records of Banns - read out in both parishes of the Bride & Groom. And perhaps the REAKS' did go abroad after all ;D but to Ireland?
Cheers
AMBLY
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Oh! But I see you already knew the Ireland connection, where her brother Alfred also married (and that Selina had married and died in Scotland and was buried with her husband!):
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,260954.15.html
You said above, you wondered "why and how Henry came to move all the way from Kent to Scotland". I don't belive there is any proof that Henry ever did. Selina certainley did (she may have met her husbvand in Ireland and followed him home. There is also no indication Amelia was permanently living with Selina in 1853 when she died - she may only have been visiting.
Cheers
AMBLY
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Oh! But I see you already knew the Ireland connection, where her brother Alfred also married (and that Selina had married and died in Scotland and was buried with her husband!):
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,260954.15.html
You said above, you wondered "why and how Henry came to move all the way from Kent to Scotland". I don't believe there is any proof that Henry ever did. Selina certainly did (she may have met her husband in Ireland and followed him home. There is also no indication Amelia was permanently living with Selina in 1853 when she died - she may only have been visiting.
Cheers
AMBLY
I didn't have the Irish Connection before so It looks as though the search for Henry now moves to Ireland where I guess he may have been at the time of Albert's wedding in 1848 and Selina's in 1849. I've looked at the IGI and found the entry for Albert and Anne Hoverton. I've 'clicked' on various options but failed to get anymore detail though.
I wonder if we can assume Henry was in Dublin in 1849 or if the banns were read there because that was were the Scottish Presbyterian church was?
Working on the assumption that Henry may have moved to Ireland directly from Ramsgate - (H.T. Reakes (Walnut Tree House a Gent's Day School) took over in 1823. Henry left in 1826 to start 'Grove House School' at No. 13 High Street now (2007) No.137 High Street - he was there until 1833 when the building was pulled down and rebuilt.) - There should be something from about 1833/4 through 1848 and 1849 up to sometime before 1853 when we know Amelia was a 'Relic' (What a wonderful term!).
I've looked at Ancestry and no luck, but it seems that they don't have much in Irish Records anyway.
So once again I'm afraid that I have to ask you guys for help. How are Irish records accessed and is there anything available for the period 1833 to 1853?
This is definitely a good detective hunt and as I think I may have said before, tracing art and it's origins is certainly proving to be more complex than I thought. I'm still amazed that Henry and his family should have moved so far from their roots in Kent. I wonder if Henry saw opportunities in Ireland to make good money by opening another school?
Incidentally in addition to Selina Ann and Albert Heffen we already had Clara Sophia born in 1824, but I believe I have found another surviving son who was given the name of the one who died in 1823 and who was named after his father - Henry Tritton Reakes christened 14th January 1829 at Tilmanstone.
As ever I really appreciate all your help and I'm really grateful to you.
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Although I know nothing of the Wrake/Hill/Matson families I can help on the Reaks/Dublin angle as Henry Tritton Reaks was the younger brother of my great-grandfather John Reaks, who was a Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade, a veteran of the Peninsular War and Waterloo, who was discharged in Dublin in 1824 where he remained until his death in 1852. Prior to 1824 the Reaks family had no connection with Dublin or Ireland.
The first record of John in Dublin (apart from the records of baptisms etc of his children between 1827 and 1835) is his appearance in Pettigrew and Oulton's (P&O) Directories for 1834,1835 and 1836 when he is recorded as the principal occupant of 30 Lower Exchange Street, a three-storey tenement comprising a shop with two rooms above and having no rear which gives an indication of his probable financial status. Therefore it is surprising to find that by her Will dated 19th June 1834, Henry's mother (nee Elizabeth Tritton) made provision for the repayment (out of her estate if necessary) of a loan of £50 (approx £5/6,000 in 2013) made at her request to the clearly affluent Henry by the probably impoverished John. This suggests that Henry may have been in Dublin as early as 1834 as if he was in England she would have surely lent the money to him herself.
Notwithstanding the 1839 entry in Pigot (which appears to be merely historical) it is certain that Henry and his family were in Dublin prior to 1839 as in there are the following P&O entries for him:
1839 - Resident at Turnham Green House, Serpentine Avenue, Sandymount ( a wealthy Dublin suburb) and running a Seminary for Young Gentlemen in Sandymount.
1841 - Still resident at Turnham Green House, Serpentine Avenue, but no entry for the School (presumably now a gentleman of independent means).
1843 - Resident at nearby Seafort Avenue
1844 - Resident at 1 Bath Avenue, still in the same affluent area.
Apparently he died in Dublin sometime between 1843 and 1845 and the residential address and Selina's marriage to a banker indicate that (despite the loan in 1834) Henry remained well-to-do, this being borne out by the later Thom's Dublin Directories for the period from 1846 to 1857 which place a Mrs Reaks ( surely Sophia Amelia, not John's widow) in the category of 'gentry' resident at Maria Villa, Rathgar Avenue, Rathgar, another desirable suburban address. As Sophia Amelia died in 1853 the later entries are probably historical only.
There is considerable evidence of a strong attachment between the two brothers and this, together with the fact that John virtually disappears from the records after Henry's arrival in Dublin raises the possibility that the two families may have lived together during the period, Henry and later his Widow, being recorded as the principal resident.
Henry's son, Alfred Miffin Reaks, described as an Army Contractor with offices in Dublin Castle (and for a short time a partner in the firm of Clare and Reaks, wine and spirit merchants) remained in Dublin until his death in 1873 and obviously carved out a successful career for himself, being resident from 1866 or earlier until his death at 68 Tritonville Road, Sandymount. After his death, his widow, Emma, continued to live at 68 Tritonville Road until her death in 1897.
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I should also add that Lucy owned an oil painting of Henry Tritton Reakes who may have known either her father John, possibly via Waldershare Park or may have had connections to the Matson family. It is also possible that as children of Henry Tritton Reakes were christened at the Zion Chapel where Lucy was married, members of the two families knew each other as members of the congregation. However Lucy’s marriage in 1894 is many years after the record of the Reakes christenings in the period 1814/16. But as yet no direct relationship has been found. Julia Kate always thought that Henry was an ancestor.
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Whoops. My previous posting seems to have disappeared
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Thank you so much Ashley. I will work through the information.
At first glance I just have one query. I have Alfred Heffen ReaKes marriage to Anne Hoverton on the 24th August 1848 in Ireland. This comes from the Mormon IGI though and may not be accurate.
Do you think that Alfred may have married twice? The name Heffen/Meffen/Miffin is unusual isn't it?
The real interest for me though is the link to the Zion Chapel in Dover where my great-grandmother Lucy Harriet Hills married William John Matson 21st January 1894.
This is what I have about the Zion chapel -
When William III ascended the throne, there were three bodies of non-conformists in Dover, the Baptists, the Society of Friends and the Presbyterian followers of the Rev. John Davies, who had been ejected from St James's Church. They met in part of an old malthouse in Last Lane.
Zion Chapel on the site of the old malthouse, at the junction of Last Lane and Queen Street, then came into existence. Apparently the small congregation of Presbyterians that had gathered around Mr. Davis had occupied the old Malthouse on sufferance, and in the year 1703, the year following the death of Mr.Thomas Papillon MP, his son Philip, who was a candidate for the representation of Dover, purchased and leased the old Malthouse to the Presbyterians who transformed it, without much structural alteration, into a chapel.
In 1708, when David Papillon succeeded Philip as Member of Parliament for Dover, he gave them the chapel and helped to improve it. But Presbyterians, being few in Dover, the congregation dwindled, and the chapel was closed from 1769 to 1771.
Then some preachers of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion re-opened it, and re-built it, with the exception of the north wall, in 1782. In 1802 the chapel was handed over to the Congregationalists, the Rev. W. Mather being the minister. In 1814 the chapel was re-built and enlarged. When the new church in the High Street opposite the Maison Dieu, was opened on 7 September 1904, Zion Chapel, the original home of the Dover Congregationalists, was disposed of to a Baptist congregation.