Melksham Marriage - Charlotte MASON & William Cooke GILL.

[Emmeline]

Charlotte Mason & William Cooke Gill ( Linen Draper ) were married at Melksham, Wilts on 14th May 1816.

Charlotte was the niece of Thomas Mason of Broughton Gifford ( I read that this is another name for Melksham ? )

The Masons were a London family. Thomas had only one brother - Robert - but I have not been able to prove that Charlotte was his daughter.

Anyone with knowledge of  Melksham - where it was likely they were married etc - gratefully received.

I have further knowledge of the Gills - William's bankruptcy etc ., but it is Charlotte's parentage I am really interested in.   Thank you.

[AngelaR]

Hi Emmeline

I've been having a bit of a look round in the Melksham parish records for your Charlotte. Have you seen the marriage entry? It's very interesting. In case you haven't, I've transcribed it for you....

William Cooke Gill of this parish, bachelor and Charlotte Mason of this parish spinster, a minor of nineteen years were married in this church by licence with consent of Mary Mason, widow, the mother of the said Charlotte this fourteenth day of May in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixteen by me Joseph Smith, vicar.
This marriage was solemnised between us, William Cooke Gill, Charlotte Mason, in the presence of John Lidyard(?) Phillips, Fanny Grant, Caleb Angel.

I don't think I've ever seen a pre-1837 marriage with quite so much information on!

Unfortunately, I can't find Charlotte's baptism in either the Melksham or the Broughton Gifford (village just outside Melksham) records. I'll have a bit more of a sniff around and will let you know as soon as I find anything.

Hope you're keeping well. have you found Hannah(?) West yet?!

Regards

Angela

[Emmeline]

Hello Angela

How lovely to hear from you and with such exciting news .

I am really thrilled - thank you so much for doing this for me.

I have only found one child for Charlotte and William - William John Gill, c St.John, Portsea, Hampshire - c 13th June 1819.

It seems the  extended Mason family were mainly based in London but moved about a bit   -  as most of them left a will I have been able to find out quite a lot. However,  still working on which one of them was Charlotte's father !

In the London Gazette Oct 26 1822 is a listing for W.C.Gill of Melksham, Wilts, linen draper. Bankrupt and in the London Gazette  dated  7th June 1826 there is another notice - William Wilkinson & W.C. Gill of Holborn-bridge - woollen drapers. Bankrupt.

He must have moved to London to try his chances !

Angela, I now know how old Charlotte was at marriage and her mother's name and  I shall have a Cheshire Cat grin all day.

I have some small leads on Hannah West but must admit the Masons have been taking up a fair bit of my time.

Do hope you and yours are well and that you are enjoying success with your research.

It will be wonderful if you find anything more for me but I am very happy with this.

Kind regards..........

[AngelaR]

Hello again Emmeline

I found the marriage licence (dated 13 May 1816 from Bishop of Salisbury) for Charlotte but it is very little different from the marriage register. The only additional information is that the groom was a clothier, aged 21 and that the bondsman was J.L. Phillips, clothier, Melksham (presumably the same chap who was the first witness at the marriage).

I had a look in the Melksham parish records for baptisms for any of their children and was surprised not to find one immediately after the marriage (what a suspicious mind...) I did find a puzzling one though, in view of your Hampshire entry -
18th April 1818 William Mason son of William Cook and Charlotte Gill of Melksham. Clothier

Just in case, I looked for a burial before the birth of the second William but couldn't find one - not in Melksham, at least.

Still looking but may be running out of ideas!

Regards

Angela

[AngelaR]

Just a quickie....
.... I notice that Charlotte features in the Wiltshire Memorial Inscription index as 'Charlotte Mason later Gill' (no dates of course!) This implies to me that she is mentioned on a Mason family grave. Now we need to find it! Have you any idea when she might have died? After she is mentioned in a will presumably......

Angela

[Emmeline]

Hello Angela

It is very kind of you to be  spending  so much time on my enquiry - thank you.

The Will  in which  Charlotte is mentioned by her uncle Thomas was written in 1833 and  proven in 1835.

Thomas was living in Etchelhampton Cottage - Wiltshire although formerly of Southampton

He directed that five thousand pounds be placed in Government securities and the interest on dividends to be received unto his niece Charlotte Gill - wife of William Cook Gill of London.

Another of his benefactors was a cousin to whom he left his 4 houses situated in Portsmouth.

Thomas was buried in the All Saints Catacombs as requested.

It would seem that the Masons moved about a bit.........
so I was not surprised when I found the entry for a birth in Hampshire. Now I am wondering about the Melksham birth 

Please tell me about the Wiltshire Memorial Inscription and what information this gives.

One would think there must have been more children given the ages at which Charlotte and William married. I shall have to keep looking.

Thanks Angela for all your help.

Oh, by the way I found something else on Charlotte & William on Documents Online - they were contesting a Will.   I did send for an estimate on it but the cost was too much for the pocket 

It's amazing where this hobby takes one. I have recently been corresponding with the Natural History Museum in London. One of the Masons was buried in the crypt of ChristChurch, Spitalfields and during the excavations there in the 1980's her remains were taken (with others) to the NHM.

All for now Angela - hope you find this of interest. 

[AngelaR]

Hello Emmeline

It's absolutely fascinating! What an interesting family you have. I just wish that even one of my ancestors was rich enough to leave a will 

The memorial inscription index just had on it the words 'Charlotte Mason later Gill' so I thought it was probably one of those later additions to an earlier gravestone. No other information at all, so I feel a visit to Melksham churchyard coming on! I'm going to be ferretting round down there before too long anyway so I'll add it to the list!

I found a promising looking death for Charlotte on BathBMD in 1884, so checked burials in Melksham and hey presto -
Charlotte Gill - Bathford - Feb 2nd (1884) aged 86

Also found William and Charlotte in 1851 - Ref  HO107/1505 Folio 551  Page 21
at no 1 Milner(?) Place, Hackney, London

William C Gill - Head - Mar - 58 - Gentleman Fund Holder - Cumberland
Charlott Gill - Wife - Mar - 50 - - Glostershire, Bristol
Henry N Gill - Son - U - 30 - Ale & Porter Merchant - Glostershire, Bristol
Mary E Gill - Daur - U - 20 - - Midx, Dalston
Mary Evans - Serv - U - 20 - - Midx, London

Charlotte is still in Hackney in 1861 as a widow with her daughter and a couple of visitors. In 1881 she's in Bathford.

Looks like Charlotte might have left a will, too ( the Inland Revenue indexes are difficult to read as to whether there's a will or just letters of administration). Anyway, the executor or whatever is John Gill and it's in the index as 1884, so might be worth getting hold of. If someone can check the microfiche indexes of wills and admons rather than the Inland Revenue list, it should give more data. The transcription of the index is -
Testator -Gill, Charlotte; Residence - Bathford, Somt; Executors - Jno Gill; No of Affidavit - 3752; Court - PR; Register - W (hopefully for Will); Folio - (blank)

Can't find a will for William though (died 1854)

Hope that's enough to be going on with for now!

Regards

Angela

[Emmeline]

Hello again Angela

Thanks you for all you have found - I hadn't got that far yet 

As you say it is all fascinating stuff.

Must confess I am not really ' up with the play ' when it comes to wills after 1858. Is there a web-site I could look at ?

There was another family linked to the Masons living in Bath. Rebecca Mason Coyde married Luke Evill a solicitor in  Bath in 1798. Their numerous children are listed on BMD Registers (non-conformists.)

The Bristol Mercury tells that in 1826 Luke was bankrupt 

He re-married in Indiana U.S.A. in 1829 and died there in 1846.

I'm very thrilled with what you have found.

I have such  happy memories of Wiltshire where I spent many holidays as a child in a little place called Box.

Once more.......... my thanks.   

[AngelaR]

Hello Emmeline

I'm afraid I got a bit carried away! Still, some of it might be fun to follow up....

The post-1858 wills are easier in some ways and harder in others. Easier in that they can all be obtained from the same place - the York Probate Registry. harder in that there's no on-line way of doing it as far as I know.

Wills cost £5 and you apply using this form -

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa1s_0405.pdf

Unfortunately they don't accept credit cards, so you need a UK bank account or someone in the UK to volunteer to get it for you. If you do decide you'd like Charlotte's will, I'm happy to get it and send it on, but you may want to do some more researches first! Just PM me if you'd like me to do that.

Happy hunting!

Regards

Angela