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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: wendygreatorex on Friday 16 August 13 21:47 BST (UK)
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My daughter-in-law has an ancestor reputedly an MP of this name who met with a fatal accident on London Bridge when his horse bolted. I've looked on FindMyPast newspapers to no avail...any thoughts how to access this info would be appreciated. (Not the artist Richard Cosway).Thank you roots chatters ;)
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;D Any idea when the horse bolted ie year?
Keyboard86
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and my contribution , what was the starting price and was there a stewards enquiry . ;D ;D
are we talking 1780ish or a bit later .
regards
trevor
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thanks for your replies :) No idea Trevor but will let you know if I find out ;) As it was seemingly pre car's that must mean 1800's to 1900's . sorry to be so vague, this has been told to me by my d-in-laws grandmother, bless her, who wants to know if it's true.
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Can't see him on the list of former MPs whose surnames begin with the letter C-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_MPs:_C
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Tweaking a few details, might this be relevant?
G. Cooper of Canterbury, English monumental mason active in the mid-19th century in Kent. Memorial to Sir William Cosway Monument, a stone obelisk located quarter mile west of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Bilsington, Kent. Cosway was a Member of Parliament for Kent “who fell off a stage coach here in 1835, and was killed. G. Cooper of Canterbury fecit. Struck by lightning” in the 1960s and thereafter threatened with demolition.
From John Newman. West Kent and the Weald. The “Buildings of England” Series, First Edition, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and Judy Nairn, eds. (London: Penguin, 1969), p.165
..according to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monumental_masons
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A sign near the monument itself:
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1274536
states that Sir William Richard Cosway died in a coaching accident in London in June 1834, in his 51st year.
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Sir William Richard Cosway, Kt, aged 50, of Bridge House Place, Newington, was buried in the parish of St Martin in the Fields on 14 June 1834.
Newspaper reports of the inquest show that on 7 June 1834 he was a passenger on the Criterion stagecoach travelling from London to Brighton. Sir William had boarded it at the Half Moon in Gracechurch Street. At about 4pm, on the southern end of London Bridge, the stagecoach came into contact with a dray, causing a blow to one of its wheels. A little way further on*, the coachman had to pull the horses up suddenly in order to prevent a collision with either another horse on the road which had shied, or its rider who had been unseated. This broke the pole on the stagecoach, the broken parts of which swung against the horses' hind legs and sent them out of control towards Elephant & Castle at high speed.
Eventually, after desperate but futile attempts by the coachman and onlookers to calm the horses, the stagecoach overturned near the Artichoke Inn, Borough, and Sir William (a "very fine, stout, portly man"), who was trying to climb from the box to the roof of the stagecoach at the time, was propelled head-first onto the street, sustaining gruesome head injuries. He was carried to the house of Mr Lever, a surgeon, in Bridge House Place, Newington, but died of his injuries shortly afterwards (reports vary from 15 minutes to an hour and a half after the accident).
Sir William was the only fatality, though other passengers were injured. The Coroner's jury attributed no blame to the coachman for the accident.
Sir William's friends wanted a likeness cast from his corpse before burial, but once the inquest was completed the body was too decomposed for this to take place, and his coffin was soldered with lead for burial in the family vault.
*As to the precise location of the stagecoach at this time, - one witness puts it at the junction of Lant Street (which still exists) and Blackman St (now Borough High St). Another describes it as "nearly opposite St George's Church" which would be about the junction of Mint St (now Marshalsea Rd) and Blackman St/Borough High St.
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Here's a family tree of Sir William Richard Cosway: http://www.009.cd2.com/history/images/family_tree.jpg
And on the same site a brief history of the Halliday family - Sir William married Elizabeth Halliday.
http://www.009.cd2.com/history/hallidays.htm
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More info from the newspaper reports - Sir William is said not to have been an MP but to have been an unsuccessful candidate for the East Kent constituency.
He was born in Devonport, son of a baker. He entered the Navy and worked his way up to the position of secretary to Lord Collingwood, who thought so highly of him that he offered him his daughter's hand in marriage. The daughter was not unwilling, but before a marriage could take place the unfortunate William was seriously injured in a horse and gig accident near Temple Bar in which both his legs were broken when the shafts of a cart penetrated them. The young lady waited three years for him to recover (physically and mentally) but eventually gave up on him and married someone else. When he did recover he married the daughter of Mr Halliday, a partner in the banking house of Harries, Farquhar & Co.
Summarised from an entry in the Kentish Gazette, 17 June 1834.
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What can I say....a VERY big thank you to those who burnt the midnight oil giving me most helpful information. This will make an elderly lady very happy. Roots chatters will rule the world :-*
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do I take it all bets are off now ::) , I particularly liked the bit in the account of the accident that goes - this broke the pole on the stage coach , the broken parts of which swung against the horses hind legs and sent them out of control towards elephant and castle at high speed .
I have this vision of a pair of hind legs out of control heading to the elephant and castle ;D ;D ;D .
sorry my silly sense of humour :P .
regards
trevor
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I HAD A POST BUT IT'S 'GONE MISSING'!!
Having helped me find Sir W R Cosway, does anyone know of his Family Tree? I'm now trying to link him (or rule him out) of my lovely Daughter in laws tree. Her Cosway's were George Cosway born 1824, Tiverton. He moved to Yorkshire after the death of his first wife. Any suggestions? I have contacted Devon FHS as they have a pamphlet about the Cosways.
I hope other 'chatters'(like me) are outside in the lovely sun today! :)
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Hi again, fascinating story re Sir W R Cosway!
So we know just who George is, and who he married, is this him in 1881?
George 57 occ Manager Woolen Mill b Tiverton
Jane E 48 b Halifax
Residing in Dewsbury
Census ref RG11/4560/66/27
Keyboard86
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Yes keyboard86....spot on....any other info? ;)
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:) OK in 1851 is he:-
George 27 occ Clerk Woolen ? Factory b Tiverton
Ann 26 occ Grocer b Truro
George 2 b Tiverton
John W 6 months b Tiverton
HO107/1889/280/23
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OK not sure what info you have re both marriages, but their is in 1871 a George Cosway 73 occ Woolen Manufacturer (Retired) aged 78 Widower b Tiverton
Census ref RG10/2171/54/3
Possibly this one in 1841
George 40 occ Woolen mrf?
Sarah 45
Phillipa 20
George 15
Residing at Angel Hill, Tiverton
Census ref HO107/255/6/6
1851/61 for George snr?
Keyboard86
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Hi again, so the 1861/71 for George possibly jnr:-
George Cosway 37 occ Clerk in Woolen Factory b Tiverton
Jane Elizabeth 28 b Dewsbury
George 12 b Tiverton
John 10 b Tiverton
Residing at Calder Grove Terrace, Dewsbury
Census ref RG09/3409/25/10
1871 census
George Cosway 47 occ Manager Blanket mrf factory b Tiverton
Jane Elizabeth 38 b Halifax
George 22 b Tiverton
Percy Lee Cosway 7 b Dewsbury
Residing at Calder Grove, Dewsbury
Census ref RG10/4601/47/18
1891 George 65 Widower Percy Lee 27
Census ref RG12/3732/46/14
Marriage George Cosway to Jane Elizabeth Lee Sept qtr 1860 Halifax 9a 509
Keyboard86
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Thank you keyboard 86! I have most of that (sorry!) but need to go backwards to try to link these Cosway's (my d-I-laws family) to the Sir WR Cosway branch. I'm thinking he may be a brother of her ancestor somewhere along the line. Both families originate in Tiverton Devon so although this will take some time I'm cautiously optimistic! and quite happy to be proved there is no link either! Joys of genies :D
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Thank you keyboard 86! I have most of that (sorry!) but need to go backwards to try to link these Cosway's (my d-I-laws family) to the Sir WR Cosway branch. I'm thinking he may be a brother of her ancestor somewhere along the line. Both families originate in Tiverton Devon so although this will take some time I'm cautiously optimistic! and quite happy to be proved there is no link either! Joys of genies :D
;D Good fun this, any idea of where George snr is in 1851/61?
Keyboard86
PS Appreciate you have all I have given, but not only for me, but others searching, need to see dates of birth etc!
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Here's a baptism for WR Cosway:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J3XL-YF9
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Here's a family tree of Sir William Richard Cosway: http://www.009.cd2.com/history/images/family_tree.jpg
And on the same site a brief history of the Halliday family - Sir William married Elizabeth Halliday.
http://www.009.cd2.com/history/hallidays.htm
The photo of "Sir William Benjamin Halliday" bears a striking resemblance to Albert Einstein.
Sir William Richard Cosway and the Halliday family appear on the FamilySearch tree with some more detail and sources included.