BRANSCOMBE TIMELINES
The Nineteenth Century
The header for
each year is preceded with an @ sign to facilitate searching
@1800
13 January, Newton
Ferrers: Mary Brooking, widow, makes her will. [proved 1802]
13 February,
Littleham: Thomas Branscomb buried.
March: The Lady Nelson departs Portsmouth for Sydney Town.
5 April,
St.Bride's, Fleet Street: Thomas Branscomb marries Mary Savage. (IGI)
13 April,
Meppershall, Bedfordshire: Ann, daughter of Samuel & Sarah Bransome,
baptised. [cf: 1788, 1790 - their two previous children
were baptised `Branscombe' in the register, although the Bishop's Transcript
shows `Bransome']
2 June, St.Thomas,
Exeter: Sarah Branscombe marries Thomas
Pounsford. [poss. Thomas Ponsford, carpenter, witness to
agreement between William Branscombe of Exeter & Anthony Gibbs 1808. If so,
this may indicate a family relationship between William, who married Honour
Leigh in 1799 at Dartmouth,
and Sarah. If Sarah was about 26 years old at the time of her marriage, she
could have been bp. 1774 Clyst St.George, daughter of John & Sarah
Branscomb. If so, she was the sister of a William, bp. 1770 Clyst St.George,
who may have been the William who married Honour Leigh?]
14 June: Napoleon
routs the Austrian army at Marengo. The English fleet continues to blockade France, preventing trade.
8 July: The Lady Nelson arrives at Table Bay, 99 days out from England.
October: The Geographe and Naturaliste sail from Le Havre under passport of safe passage from Britain, to explore New Holland under Captain
Baudin.
7 October: The Lady Nelson sails from Cape Town for Bass Strait, and Sydney.
19 October, St. John the Baptist, St. John's, Newfoundland: Richard, son of merchant William
Brandscomb and Elizabeth, baptised. [poss William m. 1799, Elizabeth Barnes? Poss
siblings: Leanora Sophia (bp. 1812), George Buckingham (bp. 1814), John Arthur
(1816), Sydney
(1818)? Richard d. 1849 St. John's, aged 48, when he is described as a
blockmaker. He has a widow, Mary. Mention is made of two brothers, William
& James, and two sisters, Amelia & Mary. Amelia married Dr. Winter
& Mary married Dr. Crawford. Both marriages in Newfoundland.
Richard left property in Newfoundland
and on Prince Edward Island
worth £1500. His estate in Newfoundland
was worth £900. cf: 1850 Mary Frances
Branscombe, relict of Richard, marries George James Hogsett in St.
John's]
St. John's,
Newfoundland: `The only houses that stood off Water Street (about 1800) between
McBride's Cove and Hutchings' House, at Barking Kettle, was Mr. Carter's house
on Burstheart Hill (now Carter's Hill), and Mr. Branscombe's house, which stood
back of where Mr. Smith built at the foot of Theatre Hill and a cooperage near
Lion's Square.'
November: The Harbinger departs Cape Town for Sydney; Jorgen Jorgensen is among the crew.
December: The Lady Nelson, under the command of
Lieutenant James Grant makes the first recorded passage of Bass Strait from west to east, en route from England to Sydney.
16 December: The Lady Nelson arrives, Sydney Town.
The first of two
years of poor harvests in England. The pressure of the population on food
supply becomes acute.
London's population reaches nearly 1 million.
(By 1900, it has exceeded 4 million)
The union of parliaments
of the United Kingdom of England and Scotland with Ireland.
Compton Castle is sold out of the Gilbert family, and
becomes derelict.
By 1800 the City
of Exeter was well down the list of important
provincial centres, while remaining the unquestioned capital of the south-west
... it was easier to graduate to the freedom in some [smaller] towns than in
... the larger like Exeter and Norwich. Much depended on the degree of control
exercised by the craft guilds and by the oligarchy who ruled most if not all
our towns from the medieval period onwards and probably earlier.
Samuel Waymouth,
seaman of St.Marychurch, aged 23, completes a voyage on the packet Naples from St. John's, Newfoundland to Dartmouth.
ON ENCLOSURES:
The law doth punish man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the Common
But leaves the greater felon loose
Who steals the Common
From the goose!
The Napoleonic War
and agricultural depression combine to force the men of Branscombe to join the
popular Jack Rattenbury of Beer in smuggling.
Littleham: Thomas
Branscombe buried.
@1801
January: Captain
John Black of the Harbinger names King Island, and the Harbinger Rocks. [on which Captain William Waymouth Branscombe
came to grief in 1871] Arrives Sydney Town 12th. January.
1 January: The
union between Great Britain and Ireland comes into effect. The Union flag is
altered to include the cross of St. Patrick.
6 January, Greensville County, Virginia: Patsy Branscomb marries Douglass
Burnett.
12 February:
Robert and Joanna Branscombe of Dawlish petition Trinity
House for relief.
16 March: H.M.S. Invincible wrecked off the Norfolk coast, drowning 400 crew. It was part of
a battle fleet of 53 ships assembled off Yarmouth in February under Admirals Parker and
Horatio Nelson for the Baltic Campaign. [formerly
Robert Branscombe senr. served on this ship]
22 March, Whimple:
William, fourth child of John & Alice Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [John; poss bp. 1765 Whimple, fifth child of
Thomas Branscombe & Ann (Shepherd - m. 1756 Whimple)? Poss m. 1791 Alice
Mitchell, in Broad Clyst? Poss siblings: Mary Ann (1793), Alice (1795), Betty
(1798), Thomas (1803), Petronella/Peternella (1806), Henry (1808), Sarah
(1811), all bp. Whimple. William prob. m. 1823 - Elizabeth Granger]
25 March: Czar
Paul of Russia is assassinated, in St. Petersburg.
2 April: The Battle of the Baltic. A glorious victory for
Horatio Nelson. The Danish fleet is destroyed at its moorings, in Copenhagen. [cf:
description by Jorgen Jorgensen]
12 April,
St.Andrew's, Holborn: Mary Ann, daughter of William & Sarah Branscombe of Grays Inn Lane, baptised. [poss m. 1830 Dawlish, Lewis Gregory?]
1 June: Paddington & Grand Junction Canal opens. `... the first barge arrived,
with passengers from Uxbridge, at the Paddington Basin. There were public rejoicings, and all
the north-western suburb was en fête
in honour of the occasion. Bells were rung, flags were hung out, and cannon
were fired; and one enthusiastic Paddingtonian had good reason to remember the
day, for the gun which he was firing burst and shattered his arm ... passenger
boats went about five times a week from Paddington to Uxbridge; and the wharves
at Paddington presented for some years a most animated and busy appearance, on
account of the quantity of goods warehoused there for transit to and from the
metropolis, causing the growth of an industrious population around them. But
this was only a brief gleam of prosperity, for when the Regent's Canal was
opened [1820], the goods were conveyed by barges straight to the north and eastern
suburbs, and the wharfage-ground at Paddington suffered a great deterioration
in consequence.'
4 June: George
III's birthday. At the age of 63, he has been on the throne for 41 years. He is
subject to fits of madness.
19 June,
Branscombe: William Cawley dies, aged 40. An inhabitant of Beer, but born in
Branscombe, the son of John & Sarah Cawley. ` He had been on a smuggling
expedition, and was found dead early in the morning by John Halse, in a field
of oats called Five Acres, on the west side of Markel's Hill; lying on his back
with his head downhill, and [a] cask of spirit at some distance from him,
below.' Buried on 21 June.
18 July: H.M.S. Investigator, under Captain Matthew
Flinders, departs England to survey the south-east coast of New Holland.
22 August, St. Leonard's, Exeter: Ann Crook Branscombe marries William
Pim. (IGI) [Ann is the daughter of
Nicholas & Elizabeth and was baptised 30 June 1776 in St.George, Exeter.
Nicholas & Elizabeth (Harris) were married 17 August 1775,
in Holy Trinity, Exeter.
In 1838, William Pim is a witness at the marriage of Susan Branscombe, daughter
of Edward & Ann (Starling) Branscombe, in Exeter]
1 October: An
armistice is signed with france. The British blockade of French ports is
lifted on October 22nd.
2 October,
St.Saviour's, Southwark: Thomas Branscomb marries Sarah Park. (IGI) [cf: 1802 Holborn, Sarah, daughter of Thomas
& Sarah baptised]
6 October,
Highweek: Samuel Branscombe buried. [poss b. 1730 or 1735, Highweek or Newton
Bushel or Wolborough. Poss m. 1758 Elizabeth Shapley in Highweek? She may have
died in Highweek, 1772? Poss second wife m. 1772 Mary Call? Poss third wife m.
1775 Ann Quick? According to Jones, the Branscombe family preceded the Vicary
family as the most important in Newton
Bushel's wool, cloth & leather industries, on which the economy of the town
depended. `Samuel Branscombe senior conducted his wool business from the
building on the corner of Halcyon
Road (now White's Garage). The business
failed and the owner sold out to the Vicary family, packed up his possessions,
and left town. Samuel Branscombe junior owned a tanyard in Bradley Lane but was
bought out by Moses Vicary in 1837, and thus started the Vicary's involvement
in the leather industry.']
21 October,
Dawlish: Robert Branscombe dies, aged 51. [direct ancestor]
The first national
census: the population of Britain is just under 11 million. The population
of Branscombe village is 603. In Paddington, the population is less than 2000,
but will increase to 25,000 by 1841. The population of Dawlish parish is 1424 -
in 1841 it will be 3132.
The population of
Torquay is 838 - by 1841 it will be 5982. `Torquay first began to gain repute
during the Napoleonic wars [1793-1815]. In those stirring times, war ships and
even fleets were often sent to Torbay to wait for orders - indeed it was
seldom but that representatives of the Royal Navy were at anchor in the bay. As
these ships were at times delayed for weeks and months, the officers would send
for their wives and families, and to meet their requirements, villas and
cottages were built.'
The second of two
years of poor harvests in Britain. The pressure of the population on food
supply becomes acute.
`Labour was often
hired on a family basis, particularly at harvest-time, when everybody tended to
be roped in, and this proved more than satisfactory from the farmer's point of
view, since women workers were paid less than men (and children less still).
This was certainly the custom in Dorset and, as a result of wives working alongside
their husbands in the fields `... the poor little ones are locked up all day,
or left under the care of some young girl of seven or eight years of age, who
has enough to do to mind the baby; and when the mother comes home, smashed
crockery and sullen tempers have been the result of the family left without
proper guardianship or control.' Boys in Dorset, moreover, often have to go to
work at the age of eight or earlier, forced to get up with their fathers at
four or five o'clock in the morning and then working almost continuously until
early afternoon; as a result, not only is the boy's `mind deadened, but his
poor little body is permanently injured.''
The first Ordnance
Survey map, of Kent, is published.
From 1340 to 1801,
every English monarch adopted the title King or Queen of France.
James, Lord de
Saumerez, promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral of the Blue. [to 1804]
Panshanger House
built by the fifth Earl Cowper. [Demolished 1953]
22 December, East Stonehouse [Plymouth], Devon: Richard, second son of Richard Bowden
Beard & Elizabeth, born. [bap. 1802]
The population of Exeter in 1801 was about 17,000. It will almost
double by 1851.
LONDON POST OFFICE DIRECTORY 1801
J Branscomb Lottery Office 11 Holborn
Year of baptism of
Charlotte Halsey, fifth child of fourth great-grandparents Edward & Sarah (Pratt - m.
1790 Redbourn). [siblings: Thomas (bp.
1790), Ann (bp. 1792), Edward (bp. 1793), James (bp. 1798), William (bp. 1802),
Phoebe (bp. 1806), Elizabeth (bp. 1809), John (bp. 1809), Lucy (bp. 1810)]
@1802
6 January,
Abbotsham: Catharine, daughter of Henry Brownscombe, christened. (IGI)
14 February: The Lady Nelson enters Port Phillip Bay, named after the Governor of the First
Fleet, now retired, and living in Bath on a pension of £500 a year.
April (approx):
The crew of the sealing ship, Harrington,
anchored at King Island for 2 months, encounter fresh wreckage
on the southern point of the island. It was a large vessel, never identified.
The only survivor was a cat.
5 April: Matthew
Flinders, in the Investigator, names Kangaroo Island.
7 April: Flinders
comes across the Baudin expedition, in Encounter Bay.
16 April, Stoke
Damerel: Eliza Branscombe marries William Fitzgerald. (IGI) [or 14 December?]
18 April, Venn
Ottery: Ann, daughter of Charles Branscombe & Sarah, christened. (IGI) [Charles poss. bp. 1773 Ottery St.Mary, son
of Peter Branscomb & Ann Davies? Charles m. 1799 Venn Ottery, Sarah
Hellier. cf: John Hellier m. 1749. Poss other children of Charles & Sarah:
Mary (1799), William (1804) - all bp. Venn Ottery, Sarah (1805), Lydia
(1808/1811?) - both bp. Ottery St.Mary]
The Harbinger (re-named Norfolk), wrecked at Tahiti.
West India Docks, London, opened.
16 June: Will of
Mary Brooking, widow living at Newton Ferrers, is proved. She gives everything
to her daughter, Mary Dolling of Newton Ferrers. [cf: 1841 William & Elizabeth Dolling of
Dawlish]
4 July,
Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire: Thomas, son of John & Mary Bransfield or
Bransome, baptised. [cf: 1809 Charlotte Bransfield or Branscome] The 1851 census for Sharnbrook lists a Thomas Bransome
aged 50, born in Sharnbrook. His wife, Mary, aged 50, was born in Bedford. Their daughters Ann, aged 11, and
Sarah, aged 9, were both born in Sharnbrook.
1 August,
St.Andrew's, Holborn: Sarah, daughter of Thomas & Sarah Branscomb of Charles Street, baptised.