The Fox brickwall - Help needed

[rocala]

My ancester is Henry Fox, abt 1778-1829.

Tax records show him living in the St George the Martyr area of Southwark 1803-12. In 1813 at St George the Martyr, he marries Ann Fox originally from Northamptonshire. They then move to Limehouse, Middlesex.

Baptism records then show Henry as a carpenter 1814 &16. A joiner in 1818. A customs house officer in 1819 and an excise officer in 1821. He died 1829.

I have found no proof of Henry's origins anywhere. I do however suspect that he is of a Fox family from Dover.
Henry's marriage was witnessed by William and Mary Fox. One of the Dover family was William Fox b.1768. In 1795 he married Mary Greatrex in Southwark, where Henry was to live.

Robert Fox the youngest of the Dover family also married a Mary Greatrex and lived in Southwark too.

Finally, there is a gap in the Dover births from 1775 to 1781, so Henry b. abt 1778 fits nicely in.

However this is all circumstantial, I cannot actually prove a thing. Anybody got any ideas?

[janan]

I would look for anything you can find about the Dover Foxes particularly wills  in the hope that  Henry gets a mention

Jan

[QueenoftheWest]

Hi rocola,

I was just looking into this for you when I realised there are actually 2 Henry & Ann Fox couples baptising children at the same time.

Henry Fox m. Ann Williams 16th January 1812 in St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Their likely children are:
- Mary Ann Fox, 3rd January 1813, in St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Father’s occupation: Builder. Abode: Lower Queen Street.
- Henry Thomas Fox, 10th July 1814 in St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Father’s occupation: Carpenter. Abode: Albion Street.

Quite a big gap here. I don't know whether I have mixed some up, but these are all the children baptised in the parish where they married.

- Thomas Henry Fox, 17th December 1820, St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Father’s occupation: ship joiner. Abode: Deptford Road.
- Isabella Jemima Fox, 20th October 1822, St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Father’s occupation: ship joiner. Abode: Deptford Road.

Henry Fox m. Ann Fox 1st June 1813 in St. George the Martyr, Southwark. Their likely children are:
- Clarissa Harris Fox, 18th August 1816, in St. Anne, Limehouse. Father’s occupation: carpenter. Abode: Limehouse.
- Henry William Fox, 18th January 1818, St. Anne, Limehouse. Father’s occupation: joiner. Abode: Limehouse.
- Mary Anne Fox, 31st March 1819, St. Anne, Limehouse. Father’s occupation: Custom House officer. Abode: Limehouse.
- Henry John Fox, 29th July 1821, St. Anne, Limehouse. Father’s occupation: Excise officer. Abode: Limehouse.

Which child do you descend from?

Queenie 

[rocala]

Hi janan, that is good advice. I added the Dover family to my ancestry tree some years ago to see what hints it would attract but so far no luck. The search continues.

Hi QueenoftheWest, as stated, I am from the Limehouse family, Mary Anne is my ancestor.

[StevieSteve]

There might be an Entrance certificate records as an Excise Officer and/or Customs House Officer

Am just about to take off so don't have a chance to check the TNA Discovery catalogue...

[rocala]

Thanks Steve but I have checked with the TNA, nothing new there.

[QueenoftheWest]

Hi QueenoftheWest, as stated, I am from the Limehouse family, Mary Anne is my ancestor.

Sorry, I should have worded my response better. I am aware that you are from the Limehouse family, but in your original post you state:

Baptism records then show Henry as a carpenter 1814 &16.

The only baptism I can find in 1814 is this one:
- Henry Thomas Fox, 10th July 1814 in St. Mary, Rotherhithe. Father’s occupation: Carpenter. Abode: Albion Street.

which is to the other Henry & Ann Fox couple, hence why I mentioned it.

You didn't mention the names of Henry's children in your original post. When conducting research, I find that listing the names of children born to the couple is useful, as people often followed naming patterns (albeit, not always).

Clarissa is not a very common name, nor is her middle name of 'Harris', which sounds like a surname. You say that Ann Fox was originally from Northamptonshire, so I am assuming you have traced her family. Do any of these names appear within her family? If not, they may come from Henry's side.

Queenie 

[rocala]

There is no obvious naming pattern with the male children. Henry had three sons, Henry William, Henry Thomas and Henry John. If the Dover connection is correct - Henry would have had three brothers named William, Thomas and John. So to an extent this reinforces the theory but they are very common names so I am uneasy about seeing it as proof.

I too was intrigued by Clarissa Harris Fox. Not just because, as you point out, it is unusual but I found there was a Thomas Harris Fox born in Southwark 1845. As of yet I have not been able to link him to the family in London or Dover.

[coombs]

So Henry Fox married a woman of the same surname as him. Due to the common surname I would say that was coincidence in your case but when two spouse of the same surname before marriage actually marrying, there was some instances of it being first cousins marrying.

You may have to try any Fox to Harris marriages in the Dover area in the 1700s.