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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Yorkshire (North Riding) => Topic started by: Thatman on Thursday 06 February 20 08:01 GMT (UK)

Title: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: Thatman on Thursday 06 February 20 08:01 GMT (UK)
Thomas CASS was born in Yorkshire in 1817 and went on to become a notable surveyor in the early days in the development of New Zealand.

In all of the bio's and wiki's his birth is only referred to as 1817 with no location.

I have located a possible candidate who was christened in Brafferton, York on 28 May 1817 with parents of Thomas and Elizabeth but there is no other information that would link this record to the above person.

Unfortunately Father = Thomas Cass is not too meaningful due to the large number of Thomas (and wife Elizabeth) that feature in records on FamilySearch, Ancestry and MyHeitage.

Every bio that I have read on the subject person are very vague as to the birth location and date, but all dates post that are very specific like his travel to NZ and subsequent marriage and death.

It is possible that Thomas Cass (born 1817) also had a brother and sister but again I cannot locate potential candidates.

Your input and thoughts would be appreciated.


   
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: BumbleB on Thursday 06 February 20 08:38 GMT (UK)
FindMyPast have the parish registers for Brafferton :

3 December 1812 - marriage by Banns of Thomas Cass (bachelor) and Elizabeth Ellenby (widow)

Mary - daughter of Thomas (Labourer) and Elizabeth Cass of Helperby - baptised 14 March 1813
John - son of ditto - baptised 3 October 1815
Thomas - son of ditto - baptised 28 May 1817

11 July 1818 - burial of Elizabeth Cass of Helperby, aged 38
24 March 1859 - burial of Thomas Cass of Helperby, aged 73
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: Thatman on Thursday 06 February 20 08:44 GMT (UK)
BumbleBe,

thanks for that. Now to make the leap of faith to link Thomas junior to being the same Thomas CASS, Surveyor
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 11:21 GMT (UK)
11 July 1818 - burial of Elizabeth Cass of Helperby, aged 38

Two other Cass burials at Brafferton in 1818.
10 May, John Cass, abode Helperby, age 1
17 May, Thomas Cass, abode Helperby, age 3

It's as if the boys ages/names, have been reversed. No other baptisms there to account for them.
Doesn't look too promising :-\
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: rosie99 on Thursday 06 February 20 11:25 GMT (UK)
I was also going to post what John has just mentioned about the burials
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 11:45 GMT (UK)
Great minds think alike, Rosie!
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: rosie99 on Thursday 06 February 20 11:54 GMT (UK)
I was looking at it earlier but had not seen the baptism images.  Although the burials were a week apart it is possible the register was written up at the same time.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 12:08 GMT (UK)
That's true. I have the feeling that some error has been made. Father Thomas seems to have remarried.
 
Perhaps the born in Yorkshire info is wrong. The obits (on Papers Past) say he was educated at Christ's Hospital in London.
A baptism at St Anne Soho, 31 Dec 1817
Thomas
parents Michael + Jane Cass
abode Gerrard St
father a Linen Draper
born Nov 22

Possible burial of father at St Anne, 6 February 1825?
Michael Cass
abode Dean St
age 51

Ah, he left a will
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D163415

Also on ancestry.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 12:28 GMT (UK)
Possible burial of father at St Anne, 6 February 1825?
Michael Cass
abode Dean St
age 51

So far the only baptism to match that I can find is Michael Cass in Thirsk, Yorkshire, in 1774. Father William. I have no more details.
Could it be that his dad was from Yorkshire, rather than Thomas?

Marriage
Michael Cass + Jane Thickbroom, 5 Feb 1807, St Anne Soho
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKRC-69M


Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 17:52 GMT (UK)
Have you got the NZ death certificate of Thomas Cass? What does that have to say (although info not always reliable!)

Still only the one baptism of a Michael Cass found circa 1774, the one in Thirsk, Yorkshire.
More details have arrived!
Michael Cass
Son of Willm. Cass, In Holder (meaning Inn presumably)
and mother Elizabeth Foxton (maiden name)
Born March 30
Baptized 29 April (1774)

Marriage of parents
7 April 1768, at Thirsk
William Cass, Inholder, and Elizabeth Foxton, Spinster
Both of the parish. By Licence.

The St Anne Westminster marriage, 5 February 1807
Michael Cass, of the parish, Bachelor + Jane Thickbroom, of the parish of St George Hanover Square, Spinster.
By Licence.

A baptism possibility for Jane - 28 June 1777, St Martin in the Fields, Jane Thickbroom, daughter of William + Jane.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 18:59 GMT (UK)
Auction house, Surrey, 2015
Lot 442
Thomas Cass, silver cased pocket watch of New Zealand interest

Here they say "Thomas Cass was born in Yorkshire in 1817. His father died in 1825 leaving his mother with six children including Thomas for whom she obtained a place Christ's Hospital"

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01p04/

Well, that is interesting about his father dying in 1825. But I don't know their source. It would of course tie in with the 1825 death of Michael Cass (possibly Yorkshire born!)
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 19:31 GMT (UK)
This is from the Newcastle Courant, 12 February 1825 (also in The Leeds Intelligencer, 10 Feb)
Died
Sunday week, in Dean-street, Soho, London, Mr. Michael Cass, son of the late Mrs. Cass, of the Old Three Tuns Inn, Thirsk.

So it confirms that Michael Cass in Soho was from Yorkshire. Died 1825. Had son Thomas born 22 Nov 1817.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 19:35 GMT (UK)
We have a burial at Thirsk in 1783 of William Cass, Inn Keeer at the Three Tuns
Died 13 March
Buried 16 March
Age 59

Is his widow the Elizabeth Cass who was buried there, 8 Sep 1818, age 76?


Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 20:33 GMT (UK)
Morning Chronicle, 25 November 1852 (also the Evening Standard the previous day)
Died
On the 17th inst., at her residence, 6, Hanover-terrace, Kensington-park, Jane, relict of Michael Cass, Esq., late of Gerrard-street, Soho.

Death reg
Dec 1852 Kensington 1a 34
Cass, Jane
age 73

Buried 25 November, All Souls, Kensal Green.

Here she is in 1851, with two daughters and a large household.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGTD-M3N

Baptisms of those daughters at St Anne Soho
Elizabeth, 29 Dec 1807
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBWS-FM6

Jane, 12 July 1809
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMY2-P8Q
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 20:59 GMT (UK)
Morning Chronicle, 25 July 1853 (plus the Evening Standard, 23 July, and the Hampshire Chronicle, 30 July 1853)
Married
On the 21st inst., at Lewisham, Kent, Henry Townsend, Esq., of Chelsea, and Ashmansworth, Hants, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late Michael Cass, Esq.

Might be worth looking for marriages of other siblings.
Incredibly long PCC will of William Thickbroom, Timber and Coal Merchant of Eaton Square, Pimlico, 1833. Age on burial is 62, possibly could be a brother of Jane?
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D280601
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 21:08 GMT (UK)
Perry's Bankrupt Gazette, 21 February 1829
Assignees of Bankrupts
[The Figures between the Parentheses refer to the Columns of this Gazette, where the Bankruptcy is first inserted.]
BANKRUPTS.                            ASSIGNEES.
CASS, Jane, schoolmistress, - (73) - William Thickbroom, Abingdon-st. Westminster, coal-merchant—10 list— Johnstone messenger.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Thursday 06 February 20 21:30 GMT (UK)
London Gazette, 30 January 1829
WHEREAS a Commission of Bankrupt is awarded and issued forth against Jane Cass, of Ormonde-House, Kennington-Lane, Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, School Mistress, Boarding-House-Keeper, Milliner, Dealer and Chapwoman, and she being declared a Bankrupt is hereby required to surrender herself to the Commissioners in the said Commission named, or the major part of them, on the 6th day of February next, at Twelve o'Clock at Noon, on the 13th of the same month, and on the 13th of March following, at Eleven o'Clock in the Forenoon, at the Court of Commissioners of Bankrupts, in Basinghall-Street, in the City of London, and make a full discovery and disclosure of her estate and effects ; when and where the Creditors are to come prepared to prove their debts, and at the second sitting to choose Assignees, and at the last sitting the said Bankrupt is required to finish her examination, and the Creditors are to assent to or dissent  from the allowance of her certificate. All persons indebted to the said Bankrupt, or that have any of her effects, are not to pay or deliver the same but to whom the Commissioners shall appoint, but give notice to Mr. W. F. Walker, Solicitor, Austin-Friars, London.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/18545/page/191
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/18545/page/192

And in further editions.
Hope it's the right person!
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: jonwarrn on Friday 07 February 20 20:47 GMT (UK)
Well, I can find six baptisms at St Anne Soho to Michael and Jane Cass (possibly matching the six children in the bio linked to)
Thomas and the two daughters already mentioned, plus
William, bap 12 Jan 1811, born 30 Nov 1810 (father erroneously transcribed as Richard on some sites)
John, bap 29 July 1813, born 13 June
Mary, bap 25 Sep 1822, born 29 August

Regarding those siblings, I'm still hopeful that Elizabeth who married Henry Townsend is going to be the right one. Father named as Michael Cass, Gentleman. Witnessed by William Cass.
There is also a marriage of a John Cass, Mariner, to Jane Frances Beard in Marylebone in 1845. Father Michael Cass, Deceased. Witnessed by Elizabeth Cass.

Is William the M.D. who is around later, married to Caroline from Cornwall?

On John's marriage in Marylebone, both parties have their residence in Portman Place, his is number 21.
The 1843 PO London directory has a Mrs. Cass in Portland Terrace. But not found listed in the other available years.
Where were they in 1841? Are they missing from the census?

EDIT 1861 has Elizabeth and husband Henry Townsend in Kensington. Her brother William Cass, a GP, and his wife are visitors
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-P3F7-B93S-8?i=631&cat=565670

What are your thoughts? Do you think that Thomas Cass from Soho could be the surveyor?
John
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: Thatman on Sunday 09 February 20 06:11 GMT (UK)
Thanks for all your input. I need to sit down and carefully map everything out but it appears that Thomas was one of six and his father was Michael.

Thanks everyone.
Title: Re: Thomas CASS - Surveyor born 1817 in Yorkshire, possibly Brafferton
Post by: WellHouse365 on Saturday 05 August 23 13:25 BST (UK)
Not sure if this is still live, I can confirm that jonw65 was correct, Thomas Cass was the son of Michael Cass and Jane Thickbroom.  Michael was born in Yorkshire, to a large family (he was one of eight), his parents ran the Three Tuns in Thirsk.  Michael was a Linen Draper in Soho, and he died in 1825, leaving his wife with three sons and three daughters: Elizabeth, Jane, John, William, Thomas and Mary.  John became a master mariner, and married Jane Beard. William became a GP in Cowes (Isle of Wight) and married Caroline Rowe, Thomas relocated to New Zealand he did train as a mariner first. His brother John sailed to NZ and Australia fairly regularly. The daughters became governesses, and two married after their mother died. Elizabeth becoming 'Betty Townsend', Jane becoming 'Jane Balls'.  So although Thomas had his family roots firmly in Yorkshire it is not true that he was born there, he was born in London. Hope this helps (I am a descendant of John Cass, Thomas's older brother, we have the family Bible of Michael's parents, listing all the eight children's baptisms).