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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Devon => Topic started by: mrspeel on Monday 24 November 08 23:45 GMT (UK)
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Hello -
I'm fairly new to Rootschat, and am very encouraged by what I've been reading here. It seems like a very friendly, helpful and patient place! Just what I need. Sorry the following is so long - it's very hard to explain my messy family history in a few sentences. :P
I could use some help with finding a death record for my great grandfather Herbert William Chant. For years, my father has had a certificate that he thought was the right one, but now that I look at it, I don't think it's our Herbert.
Our Herbert was born in 1876 in Hull, Yorkshire, the eldest son of James Chant (a fishing smack owner) and Elizabeth Clappison. He married Ellen Wetherall McDermott (a widow) in in 1898 and had four children - Cyril (my grandfather), Winifred, James and Elfrida. The entire Chant family appears to have moved to Plymouth around the turn of the century - James and Elizabeth, all their younger children, and Herbert and his family. Ellen died in 1908 and Herbert married Florence Rowe in 1909. There was one son, Roy, from that marriage.
At some point. there was a big rift between Herbert and at least two of his children (Cyril and Elfrida) as they apparently left home very young and had nothing more to do with him or most of the Chant family. As a result, after Herbert's remarriage in 1909, we have no record whatsoever of what happened to him. My dad didn't grow up with his father, so he didn't get any information there. We do know that until 1909 at least, Herbert was involved in the family fishing business, and that the family was fairly well off. At some point, James and his second wife Eva moved to Paignton - however, James is buried in Plymouth, and as far as we can tell, the other children stayed there.
The death certificate my dad has is for a Herbert Chant who died at the age of 59 at the Town View hospital in Wincanton in 1935 (a doctor is the informant so no help there). He is listed as a general labourer. This certificate was given to my dad by a professional researcher some years ago. Dad wondered why and how Herbert had ended up in Somerset, but didn't really question it. Now that I look at it, I'm fairly sure that this is the wrong Herbert.
Can anyone help me with a possible place and date of death for Herbert? I've had no luck on freebmd, Ancestry etc. I can only definitely narrow it down to after Roy's birth in 1911, but he was likely still alive when James died in 1927 (based on what it says in the will). I can assume that he was dead by the late 40s when my dad was going down to Plymouth to visit his father after the war, but I can't be sure of that. Lots of secrets and falling outs in this family - he could have been living next door! It is possible that he died back in Yorkshire, as the family seems to have moved back and forth, but most likely it would be in the Plymouth, Paignton or Brixham area.
I'm in Canada, so all my research has to be online or by mail. Any thought or ideas are welcome.
Cheers,
Barbara
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Hi Barbara
You could be right about that death cert. The 1901 census has a Herbert Chant b 1876 Yeovil Somerset so it's quite possible the death was his
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Hi CaroleW -
That's what I think - hadn't had a look on the census yet though. I never actually saw the certificate until recently, so I always thought it said Herbert William Chant. It only says Herbert, and there are three Herbert Chants born in Somerset that would be around the right age:
Births Dec 1875
Chant Herbert James Yeovil 5c 448
Chant Herbert James Wincanton 5c 469
Births Mar 1876
CHANT Herbert Sherborne 5a 384
The certificate probably belongs to the Yeovil one, since it says General labourer Yeovil. There are a lot of Chants around there. In any case, I really don't think it belongs to my Herbert.
Cheers,
B
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Just bumping this up in case anyone has any other ideas for me...
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Hello Barbara
Interesting story this one.
You know Herbert was alive until 1911 at least and probably 1927 so thats good. Do you have an address for the Family in 1911? I can look them up in local directories which may help track the family.
Also do you know when his second wife, Florence died? This could help track Herbert down as Florence would be registered as Widow if Herbert had already died.
On a tangent, Ive found a marriage record of a Percival James Clappison CHANT to Ethel Eleanor Rosina QUICK at St Jude's Church, Plymouth on 19th April 1930. I dont know if you already have the details of this.
Let me know if I can help further - I live in Plymouth so am "on site" so to speak!
Graham
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Hello Graham and thanks for your reply. The latest address I have for Herbert is from his marriage certificate to Florence Rowe. At that time he was living at 6 Carmarthen Road. Previously, the family had lived at 89 South View Terrace.
I don't know much about Percival, except that he was Herbert's nephew, the son of his brother James and wife Alice, and that he had several brothers and sisters (found on Free BMD). Herbert was the oldest of 8 children, so a few of them might show up in a directory:
Herbert William 1876
Esther 1878
James 1882
Thomas 1885
John 1887
Margaret 1890
Alma 1895
Marmaduke 1898
There are some living relatives who could probably solve all this easily, but they have never gotten back to me... Sigh!
It's great that you are actually in Plymouth. I've only been there once as a young teen long before I cared much about family history. I really wish I could get over there now!
Cheers,
Barbara
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Hello - Just wanted to let you know that I finally found Herbert - in Barling, Essex. It appears that he ended his life as the proprietor of Ye Old Shoulderstick Off-Licence, and is buried in the churchyard at All Saints Church. Barling Magna.
Now if only I knew how he happened to end up on Essex - no one in the family seems to have ever lived there... he's still a mystery.