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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Dorset => England => Dorset Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Descendant of Murby on Sunday 14 October 12 15:46 BST (UK)
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Hi Rootschatters
I am trying to find out more about John Drew(e) and his parents and siblings. He was born 'at sea' and christened on Jan 6 1805 in Cattistock. I think his parents are John Drew(e) and Dorothy Hunt who were married in Cattistock on 30 April 1804 (from the Family Search website... may be correct, not sure).
I'd love to know if I have his parents correctly named, any other children they had, what John's father did for a living and any info about his mother (if she is Dorothy Hunt, I can't find anything about her).
Also, why was John Drew actually 'born at sea' - (he proudly states this on various census entries). What was his mother doing 'at sea' exactly?
I know quite a lot about his subsequent life. He marries Eliza and moves to Whitechapel and is an 'excavator', dying in 1874 in Whitechapel, but I want to find out about his early life and his parentage.
Many thanks for any help or advice.
Descendant of Murby
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Buying one of the children's birth certificates would get you Eliza's maiden name (eg Edwin: Mar 1842 Bath 11 23; or Jane: Sep 1845 Medway 5 363).
The 1851 census gives Elizs's birthplace as Bedminton, Glos which could be Badminton (eg Eliza Perks, Dec 1812); or possibly Bedminster, just South of Bristol. the 1871 census doesn't add anything, but other censuses might.
Richard
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Hi,
The marriage of John Drewe and Dorothy Hunt is correct, both left their mark in register. Witnesses were John Nobbs and Joseph Nobbs.
Burial records for Cattistock:
Dorothy Drew abode: Cattistock buried: 3rd July 1836, aged 66yrs.
John Drew abode: Swanhills buried: 24th Nov. 1829, aged 55yrs.
claire
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Possible baptism of John Drewe at Cattistock:
30 Jan 1774 John Drew son of Thomas and Mary.
There is a John and Dorothy Hunt in there in the 1760s but can't find a Dorothy to them.
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Marriage at Cattistock:
29 Oct 1772
Thomas (x) Drew of this parish and Mary (x) Ford of Askerswell were married by banns.
Witnesses Joseph Nobbs, John Nobbs.
Interestingly as there are Joseph and John Nobbs witnesses to both Drew marriages in the parish:
18 Apr 1731 Joseph Drew and Mellier Nobbs were married
So possible connection between the two families further back. However, there aren't many Drew's appearing on ancestry's index so either they've been mis-transcribed or floated in between parishes (which not unusual!).
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John and Joseph Nobbs may have been related to the Drews possibly, but I suspect they may have been the parish clerk(s) at some point as they seem to witness quite a few marriages. ;)
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The marriage of John Drewe and Dorothy Hunt is correct, both left their mark in register. Witnesses were John Nobbs and Joseph Nobbs.
I don't think anyone doubts that the Drew/Hunt took place; the question is whether they are John's parents. The witnesses may help dis/prove the link.
Do you know anything about John and Eliza before the birth of their eldest known son in 1842? They would certainly have been old enough (37/27) to have had children before Edwin.
It may be worth reading this will (cost £3.36)
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/details/D134060?descriptiontype=Full&ref=PROB+11/2099/140
It is for a John Drew, collarman of Maiden Newton (very nearby), who died in 1849. He is a different person, but he had a daughter called Dorothy in 1810, so may be related as it is a fairly uncommon name.
Richard
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Rootschatters! Thank you so much for all your responses so far!
Could I ask:
Claire - for the marriage of John Drew(e) and Dorothy Hunt in 1804 - were they both 'of the parish'? I'm pretty sure John is, but I can't find much about Dorothy.
Yes, the Drew(e) family and the Nobbs family have a connection - Thomas Drew who married Mary Ford was the son of Joseph Drew and Mellier/ Melliar/ Melior Nobbs (I think - again all my knowledge is from Family Search, which is limited in its scope - but this seems to be verified by smudwhisk's info given below).
Richard - in reply to you. This is what I know about John Drew(e), born at sea, christened in Cattistock in 1805. He married Eliza who confusingly could have been born in Bedminster (as in just outside Bristol) or Badminton, South Gloucestershire.... as she is down as both in various censuses, and also sometimes a combo of the two, mis-spelt), in about 1814. They could be the John Drew and Eliza Winston married at St James' Bristol in 1837, 12th May. But this might not be them! I know I could verify Eliza's family name by buying one of her children's birth certs, but at the moment I haven't done this (as this is not my family, but that of a friend, so trying to investigate without spending my £££ if you see what I mean!).
I don't know anything very much about either of their early years (which is what I am trying to find out about here....), but they seemed to move from the West Country to Kent (Medway/ Chatham) in the mid 1840s and then to Whitechapel/ Stepney area from 1850s onwards until their deaths. I gauge this from where their kids are born and where I can find them on the censuses.
Census info for them:
I'm not sure if I have them correctly for the 1841 census frankly (maybe in Bristol, St Paul)
1851 - 2 Bell Road, Stepney. He's a Groundsman, Sewer aged 47 and she's 37; kids - Edwin aged 9, born Bath; Jane aged 5, born Chatham, Ann E aged 8 months, born Mile End New Town.
1861 - can't find them anywhere, even though I've searched extensively.
1871 - 55 Underwood St, Whitechapel. He's got 'no trade', aged 67, born 'at sea'! She's a Slipper Binder, aged 57. They are living with their daughter, Mary Ann Drew, aged 17, Box Maker (she's the person whose descendants I am interested in!) and 'grandson' Edwin J(ohn) Drew aged 11 months, born Whitechapel (I can't find him anywhere on the BMD index and he doesn't seem to be alive by 1881). Not sure whose child he is....?
1874 John Drew dies in Whitechapel aged 71.
1881 - Eliza has changed her name to Edwards (although she doesn't seem to have got married according to the BMD index!) is aged 67 and a Needleworker, Widow, a living at 5 James St, St George in the East, with daughter Mary Ann Drew, Tailoress, and Mary Ann's three children who all have the surname Drew - even though she got married to George Charles Baker in Dec 1873. Mary Ann is also listed as a 'widow'.
1891 - Eliza Edwards, widow aged 80 is living in the workhouse, St George in the East.
1893, an Eliza Edwards dies aged 81 in the workhouse and is buried in the East London Cemetry.
The children who seem to be listed on various censuses are:
Edwin Drew born Bath 1842 (married in 1866 in Stepney, John Drew is down as 'excavator' then).
Jane Drew - born 1845 Medway (Chatham is her place of birth, listed on various censuses). She marries Alfred Hollyfield in 1872 in Middlesex. Someone has added a note to the BMD index for this marriage so I know it is Jane as she is down as daughter of John Drew, excavator. They seem to have a child Martha Jane Hollyfield in 1874 who dies young and then they seem to disappear off the censuses completely. Perhaps they emigrated?
Ann Elizabeth - born 1850 in Whitechapel. She marries Louis Juchan in 1871 in Bethnal Green, John Drew is down as 'excavator'.
Mary Ann Drew - born 1853, Whitechapel. She marries George Baker in 1873 and John Drew is down as 'bricklayer'.
On Mary Ann Drew's son's birth certificate (Henry Herbert Drew) in 1885 she puts down her father John Drew as the father (as she probably doesn't want to name the real father) and his occupation at that time, 1885, is General Labourer.
I'm not sure exactly what an excavator does - apart from presumably dig holes! Sewers? Underground tunnels for the tube? What could have taken him to Chatham?
I'd love to know more about John Drew (born at sea/ excavator)'s early life and if he had siblings and more about his parents.
Thanks for your help so far, and any more suggestions or info very much appreciated.
Descendant of Murby
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Hi,
Yes the marriage record says that they are both 'of the parish'.
On www.bathbmd.org.uk there is a birth entry for an Edwin Drew born 1842, Lansdown, Bath. It states the mothers maiden name as 'Isaac'.
claire
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Here is someone else looking at the same family (including Eliza Isaac b Badminton, Glos):
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GLOUCESTER/2006-08/1154524238
I don't think the John and Eliza Drew living in Bristol in 1841 are the same couple (even though she comes from Gloucestershire and one of her children was born in Bedminster. She is a widow in 1851 (and later censuses).
Richard
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I'm not sure exactly what an excavator does - apart from presumably dig holes! Sewers? Underground tunnels for the tube? What could have taken him to Chatham?
Yes they were effectively labourers excavating probably for the London Underground around that sort of time. I've some that went into London from Hertfordshire described as the like, having been listed as labourers when in Herts.
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Thank you all again for the further useful information.
I was very interested in the maiden name of Eliza - Isaac. Would any of you have any idea why there doesn't seem to be any record of a John Drew marrying an Eliza Isaac? If Edwin was their first-born child in 1842 it seems likely that they only married a year or two before his birth.....
I also cannot find any birth record for an Eliza Isaac in Great Badminton - although there are lots of other Isaacs being born there around 1810-1815, which could be her siblings.
Also, another thought - is it a bit usual that John and Eliza don't name their first-born sons and daughters Eliza and John? They don't name any of their children after themselves.
I'll keep this topic open for a little bit longer in case anyone has any more useful thoughts or information but again, thank you all for your help.
Best wishes
Descendant of Murby