Newbury 1851 TWITCHIN and variations

[joboy]

dee-jay ......... I am guilty of not checking my records before using my fingers on the keyboard.
Hannah LEWIS was not a widow when she married Benjamin.
She was a daughter of James LEWIS a Brewer.
This info gained from an old handwritten family tree and she died 1911 at Newbury aged 77.
Hope I have'nt misled you.
joboy

[dee-jay]

Not to worry, adds to the thrill of the chase!  However, are you aware of James LEWIS's parentage? 

[joboy]

No unfortunately ......... my records of Hannah illustrate the fact that she married Benjamin and that they had seven (known) children twixt 1861 and 1874.
I have plotted most of these.
joboy

[newburychap]

Ann TWITCHEN, Daur,  , 12, F,   , Newbury Berks - note "Parents on river in barge"

In my research on Newbury pubs I have obviously come across Twitchens as landlords of the Black Bear and Coopers Arms but I have recently discovered an Anne Twitchen in another all too common role in pub history - prostitute. I was wondering if this could be the same Ann(e)?

In 1859 she was involved in a case of theft that resulted in the jailing of the landlady of the Brunswick Arms for a year's hard labour - for instructing Anne to steal from a customer she was taking upstairs (and taking the proceeds). This incident ultimately led to the closure of the pub. The landlady, Mary Ann Groves (nee Skinner) and her husband, Thomas, were resident at the Black Bear in 1851 - leading me to wonder if there was any family connection between them and the Twitchens?

[joboy]

That is interesting ...... I make the assumption that the Anne you mention would have been a daughter of the bargeman Joseph and her disposition brought about by long terms of loneliness whilst her father (and perhaps mother) were sailing the canals.
I did find an extract from 'The History of Newbury' written by Walter Money wherein he said;
'The Bear was shut up for some time and never again opened as an inn in consequence of a murder supposed to have been committed in some altercation between the mistress and her cook when one or the other of them was thrown downstairs .... it no longer exists'.
The Groves,Skinner and Twitchen connection would be worth investigating ... thanks.
Joe

[joboy]

Not to worry, adds to the thrill of the chase!  However, are you aware of James LEWIS's parentage? 

Hi dee-jay ..... now that newburychap has stirred up this topic again I have found a little more about Hannah Lewis from an account written by a Twitchen researcher who died a few years ago .. she said;
'Benjamin married Hannah Lewis a much younger woman of 26 with two sons of her own Walter and George.In the 1861 census they were living at 50 West Mills Newbury.
Joe

[dee-jay]

Many thanks, joboy. 

As a consequence of your information, I believe Hannah is a contender for a niece of the Sarah LEWIS who married 'my' William WESTALL in 1820.  In Toomer's 1815 Census James LEWIS 17 and Sarah 12 are recorded in the household of Francis & Sarah LEWIS at West Mills.

At last I'm inching towards a breakthrough into 18th Century Berkshire on one branch of my family ..... 

[joboy]

Yeah it's good when you start to see daylight ....... means more digging though .... but we enjoy it.
Joe

[newburychap]

'The Bear was shut up for some time and never again opened as an inn in consequence of a murder supposed to have been committed in some altercation between the mistress and her cook when one or the other of them was thrown downstairs .... it no longer exists'.

The last record I have been able to find of the Bear dates from 1734 - while there is another business on the site in the 1780s.  So it closed sometime between - whether Money's tale has any basis in fact is as yet undetermined (though I have spent a fair amount of time fruitlessly trying to find some evidence of such a murder).  In truth I suspect the Bear was simply too old-fashioned and couldn't compete with the new inns springing up to cater for the coaching trade along the Bath Road. A court case such as described might have accelerated the end, but it was probably doomed anyway. The current building on the site was built in the mid 1700s - replacing the old Bear with modern accommodation.