June 2014 – Edition 111

Although one might have expected Big Bill’s children to blend in with the landscape in sedate Gainsborough and live uneventful lives, in some cases this is far from what actually happened. As you will see, this was the case for Big Bill’s daughter Elizabeth, the sister of my great great grandfather Thomas.

I must point out that I have previously deviated from chronological order by writing about Elizabeth’s grand daughter Zilpha, who you may remember lived for some time on French Island near Melbourne. I promise that henceforth I will keep to chronological order.

The photograph at the top of the article shows All Saints Church in Gainsborough, where Elizabeth and her siblings would have been baptised, and where Elizabeth was married. It is also likely that her father Big Bill was an elder of that Church.

Summary of Elizabeth and her descendants

Briefly, Elizabeth was born in Gainsborough and married William Small (a surgeon). They had three children and migrated to Australia in 1850. Their daughter Elizabeth died in 1865 leaving an infant daughter, however her two brothers made up for this by having a total of at least 24 children (some discovered by me), of whom at least 16 had children and, in due course, many of these had their own children and grandchildren.

The end result is that tracing the descendants of Elizabeth has turned into one of the biggest single projects I have undertaken.

In this article I will start from scratch with Elizabeth and her husband William Small, through to (but not including) their wedding. In later articles I will tell you about their wedding, the birth of their children and their migration to Australia.

I will start with William Small, born in 1800 in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Sadly, William’s parents (William b1760 and Elizabeth Harpham b1757) both died when he was only three.

William Snr was a linen draper, an occupation with no obvious occupational risks.

The fact that both parents died only three months apart could indicate that they died from the same illness, possibly emanating from the town’s water supply.

Readers should bear in mind that the connection between polluted water supply and what we now know to be water-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid and yellow fever was not made until over 60 years later. The situation would have been exacerbated by the fact that Boston was located in former marshlands with no sources of fresh running water.

Most towns had similar problems, for instance in 1832 an outbreak of cholera in Gainsborough resulted in 41 people dying out of the 223 stricken in the space of two months, the population being about 6,600.

In any case it would be difficult to imagine a potentially more disastrous situation for the five little orphans, aged from twelve down to three (Jemima 1791-1834, Samuel b1793, Joseph 1794-1864, Maria 1796, Elizabeth 1797-1859 and our William 1800-1860).

Normally the future of orphans could be bleak, the worst scenario being that they would be sent to an orphanage with unfortunate results, as happened to the Colbrook children (Jerrems Journal January 2011). The far better scenario was that orphans could be farmed out to other families, as happened to Sandra’s great grandmother Anna Jerrems, who was taken in by the illustrious Root family (Jerrems Journal November 2008).

The above drawing is of Plymouth Female Orphan Asylum, 1834.

On a happier note, although the Small children were not taken in by a family as illustrious as the Root family, I think that you will agree from my following account that they were looked after very wisely by an uncle. I will start with two of the girls, the picturesquely named Jemima and her youngest sister Elizabeth.

Jemima Small

According to the Mander family’s website Charles (1780-1853) had founded a varnish factory in Wolverhampton in 1803, the first clearcut contact of any of the members of the extended Jerrems family with the Industrial Revolution. Charles was touring in the Lincolnshire area when one day he became lost. As luck would have it he happened on Boston and the lovely 18 year old Jemima. Here is the romantic account given by the family historian:

“There was some romance in the meeting with her husband. He was travelling the eastern counties in 1809 and lost his way, which in the general absence of sign posts and A.A. men was confusing. The rider wisely left matters to his mount, and the old mare instinctively led him to Boston, where Mrs Charles Mander that was to be, dwelt, the eldest of a family of orphans, and aged 18.”

Charles came from Wolverhampton, which is a city about 200 km west of Boston, so Charles and his mare were keen travellers. The reference to “A.A.men” is probably a humorous reference to the British Automobile Association.

Possibly Charles Mander might have assumed that a guardian would jump at an opportunity to offload an 18 year old ward, but Jemima’s wise uncle told Charles that he would not consent to any marriage for Jemima until she turned twenty one. So, to his credit, the smitten Charles duly waited for three years.

Although I had heard of japanning before, I was amazed to find out that this process reigned supreme for over a century, eventually being overtaken by later technological developments like electrolytic coating and baked enamelling.

The photos show a japanned commode (aka “thunder box”) and japanned coal scuttle.

Charles became an eminent industrialist and social reformer, and the couple had ten children.

One of the couple’s notable philanthropic achievements was to purchase a bakery so that they could supply bread to the poor, bread being a staple for the poor.

Sadly, Jemima died an agonising death at the early age of 42 from typhus which she contracted while helping the poor in the Wolverhampton slums.

I feel that there is a poignant message here, of the orphan girl who had a fortunate life but never forgot less fortunate people, finally losing her life in the process.

In a romantic touch, after a very respectable mourning period of some ten years Charles married Jemima’s youngest sister Eliza, who outlived him, dying in 1859.

The family’s ongoing service to the community was recognised when a grandson (Charles Tertius Mander, 1852-1929) was made a baronet in the Coronation honours list of King George V.

Samuel, Joseph and Maria Small

I have not been able to locate any record of Samuel or Maria (perhaps they died young), but Joseph took up his late father’s occupation as a draper in Boston, married and had children.

William became a surgeon, possibly after having studied at the Boston Grammar School where he would have learned Latin, essential for someone studying medicine. This demonstrates that his guardian (presumably the same uncle who made Charles Mander wait three years to marry Jemima Small) was willing and able to give him a very good education.

It is here that I come up with the surprising theory that William could have been apprenticed to my great great great grandfather George Jepson, a surgeon ten years older than William. George’s father (also George) was the minister of Boston’s St Botolph’s Church).

Points supporting my theory are that George Jepson Jnr practised as a surgeon in Gainsborough, where Big Bill and his daughter Elizabeth lived. Boston is a long way from Gainsborough, and in the ordinary course of events it is difficult to understand why William would have gone there. One possible explanation is that he was apprenticed there to George (Jnr), and met his later wife Elizabeth Jerrems there.

Regarding her schooling, in the early 1800s there were two main schools in Gainsborough:

(a) The General Charity School built in 1813. In 1842 it taught about 200 boys reading, writing and arithmetic, while 80 girls were trained in knitting and sewing, and

(b) Gainsborough Grammar School constituted by a charter of Queen Elizabeth in the year 1589 and re-erected in 1805.

However the Grammar School was restricted to boys, so it would seem that Elizabeth may have learned to “knit and sew” at the General Charity School.

The more likely scenario is that she was tutored at home by her mother or a tutor, either instead of, or in addition to, attending the General Charity School.

In 1842 Gainsborough had a population of about 7000. The figures of 200 boys and 80 girls quoted above demonstrate the low incidence of children who attended school, either (most commonly) because they were kept at home to help out, or they were tutored at home. Also, the normal school leaving age would have been twelve (when girls could go into service) or thirteen.

It is also possible that Elizabeth helped out in Big Bill’s grocery and tea shop, but with four younger brothers and possibly a younger sister, ranging from five to fourteen years younger than her, Elizabeth and her older sister Ann probably spent most of their time helping their mother at home.