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London & Middlesex Lookup Requests / Re: James Cecil
« on: Monday 19 September 11 02:25 BST (UK) »
It is probable that Charles Cecil would have had some connections, as apprenticeships at the Bridewell Hospital were much sought after and on completion the apprentice was given enough money to start his own business (Locks gift) and given the Freedom of the City of London. It also would not have been unusual for the Cecil's to have lived in Westminster as that area had it's fair share of slum dwellings in the 17th/18th Century, the area also boasted the only free hospital for the poor in London which was situated at Petty France close to what is now the passport office, so even if the family lived in Spitalfields at that time they may still have been born in Westminster hospital which is only about two miles from the City of London.
Charles would have not been a poverty stricken labourer but a Master Weaver who probably employed several weavers including the family of Judith Raby who as Huguenots were not allowed to be master weavers but were officially designated the title of 'Stranger,.
It was not until many years later that the weaving industry was destroyed by introduction of machinery which put thousands of these erstwhile artisans onto the scrap heap where they were forced to take on menial work as dock labourers or bootmakers . . . . That is the period in which Bethnal Green became infamous for it's poverty and social deprivation.
I descend from Charles Son, George, who was a mater weaver and his son William who became a publican and at one time managed the Eagle in City Road, made famous in the nursery rhyme 'Pop goe's the Weasel'. Followed by his son George and then yet another George who were both labourers. His daughter Mary-Ann Cecil was my Great Grandmother.
Most of their descendents ended up working in the docks but my generation have done much better thanks to the values inculcated into us by our ancestors.
I believe it is quite possible somewhere in history that we descend from the aristocratic Cecil's but it really doesn't matter as they were a devious nasty family. More interesting is a look at the Old Bailey records for that period (1600s/1700s) where we find Henry Cecil, John Cecil as regular defendants for petty thieving, and then there is Richard Cecil hanged when he was only twenty for burglary.
An interesting family, and there are thousands of their descendants scattered all over the world.
Charles would have not been a poverty stricken labourer but a Master Weaver who probably employed several weavers including the family of Judith Raby who as Huguenots were not allowed to be master weavers but were officially designated the title of 'Stranger,.
It was not until many years later that the weaving industry was destroyed by introduction of machinery which put thousands of these erstwhile artisans onto the scrap heap where they were forced to take on menial work as dock labourers or bootmakers . . . . That is the period in which Bethnal Green became infamous for it's poverty and social deprivation.
I descend from Charles Son, George, who was a mater weaver and his son William who became a publican and at one time managed the Eagle in City Road, made famous in the nursery rhyme 'Pop goe's the Weasel'. Followed by his son George and then yet another George who were both labourers. His daughter Mary-Ann Cecil was my Great Grandmother.
Most of their descendents ended up working in the docks but my generation have done much better thanks to the values inculcated into us by our ancestors.
I believe it is quite possible somewhere in history that we descend from the aristocratic Cecil's but it really doesn't matter as they were a devious nasty family. More interesting is a look at the Old Bailey records for that period (1600s/1700s) where we find Henry Cecil, John Cecil as regular defendants for petty thieving, and then there is Richard Cecil hanged when he was only twenty for burglary.
An interesting family, and there are thousands of their descendants scattered all over the world.