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BLEWETT BLEWITT BLUET genealogy |
21 October 2008 |
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Dr Geoffrey Mann |
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4 Michael BLEWETT 1794-1850
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1m Ann PENTREATH 1814 2m Mary Ann BERRY 1835 |
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Michael was born in 1793 or 94 in Mousehole, the son of a fisherman; he became a fisherman like his father, joining the fishing fleet when he was no more than 10 years old. He remained a fisherman of Mousehole all his life. In 1814 he married a Mousehole girl, Ann or Nancy PENTREATH in the parish church. Three children were baptised there, but only one survived, and Ann herself died in 1821. Fourteen years later, at the age of 41, Michael remarried Mary Ann BERRY who came from Teignemouth in Devon. Possibly they met when Michael’s fishing boat put into harbour there. Two sons were baptised in the Methodist church at Mousehole and in 1841 they were all living in a stone cottage up the hill from the harbour, one of a row which still stands today. They were well enough off to have a servant living with them. At the age of 56 however, Michael died of pneumonia, and Mary Ann and her younger son had to move to poorer accommodation and survive on parish relief. Mary Ann outlived her husband by 30 years, and most of that time she lived on her own in Mosehole. However, she died in Stepney aged 79 at the home of her eldest son, Captain Henry Blewett,. The verdict was that she died of apoplexy “after eating a hearty supper”. According to his seaman’s ticket, Michael BLEWETT was just 5’6” tall with brown hair and grey eyes and he had sufficient education to be able to write. |
C=Christened
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age DATE
MB AP |
EVENT |
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14Sep1794 28Dec1794 1803 9
29May1814 19 21 5Feb1815 20 21 8Apr1817 22 23 12May1820 22 24 8Oct1820 26 27 13Apr1821 26 28 1Sep1822 27 28 MAB 29Apr1835 41 34 14Oct1836 43 35 29May1839 45 39 6Jun1841 47 40 10Feb1845 51 44 17Nov1850 56 50 30Mar1851 50 7Apr1861 60 2Apr1871 70 10Jan1880 79 |
?Michael born at Mousehole [seaman’ ticket gives birth year as 1793] C at Paul parish church, son of John Carn & Mary BLEWETT went to sea as fisherboy married Ann PENTREATH at Paul; Michael was a fisherman dau Jane C at Paul; Michael a fisherman Mary Ann C at Paul; Michael a fisherman Mary Ann buried at Paul age 3 John C at Paul; Michael was a fisherman wife Nancy (Ann) buried age 28 ?son John buried (age 3m may be error for 3y?) married Mary Ann BERRY of Teignemouth at Paul son Henry b at Mousehole; C 27Nov at Methodist church son John Berry born at Regent Terrace Mousehole with 2 sons; Michael was a fisherman seaman's ticket issued to Michael at Penzance Michael died of pneumonia Mary Ann, widow on parish relief at Millpool, Mousehole with son John Mary living alone at 10 Quay St Mousehole Mary living alone at Gurnick St, Mousehole moved to Stepney with son Henry Mary Ann died at 10 Rectory Square died of apoplexy ‘after eating a hearty
supper’ |
b=born m=married d=died
C=Christened B=Buried
From the 41 census which places Michael with his son Henry,
Michael was born between 1791 and 1796.
He died before the next census, and there is only one suitable burial at
Paul between these dates: bur. 20Nov1850
Michael BLEWET of Mousehole age 58.
This confirms that Michael was born about 1792. Michael is not a common Blewett name at
Mousehole, and there are only two possible Michael baptisms at this time (the
previous and subsequent Michael baptisms being in 1782 and 1805 respectively):
C
11Sep1793 Michael s John & Mary BLEWETT (privately)
C
28Dec1794 Michael s John Carn & Mary BLEWET
There is however
an infant burial of Michael in 1793: bur.17Oct1793 Michael BLEWETT of Mousehole
age 6m, died of flux. In fact this
burial took place 6 weeks after the baptism to John & Mary, and it seems
almost certain that 6w has been mistaken for 6m at some stage in the
records. The private baptism is a usual
sign that the child was not expected to live.
Certainly however, the burial in 1793 cannot refer to the son of John
Carn and Mary, and this child can therefore be identified with confidence as
the father of Henry-3
Michael
gave his birth date as 14Sep1793 on his seaman’s ticket (see below), but this
does not fit with either of the above baptisms. If 14 is correct, then he could not have been baptised on the 11th. If 1793 is correct, he would have been baptised
aged 15 months which seems unlikely.
The probable explanation involving minimum assumptions is that he was
actually born on 14Sep1794.
Henry-3 was baptised in the Methodist church at Mousehole in 1836 son of Michael and Mary Ann BLEWETT. It is known from family memory that he had a brother John Berry BLEWETT (he appears with Henry in the 1841 census as John and in the 1851 census as John B BLEWETT, born c1839). Johm Berry BLEWETT’s birth certificate has been obtained (see below) and shows that his mother’s name was formerly BERRY. There is a suitable marriage in the Paul parish register:
m
29Apr1835 Michael BLEWETT otp & Maryann BERRY sojourner in this parish, by
banns; w: William ANGWIN, Richard PENTREATH
Although
Michael was not noted as a widower at this marriage, he was 41 years old, and
there is reason to believe he was married previously:
m
29May1814 Michael BLUETT fisherman otp & Ann x PENTREATH otp by banns at
Paul parish church; w: Richard PENTREATH, William NEWTON
this is
the first Michael Blewett marriage in the Paul register, and there are only two
Michael BLEWETT baptisms before this date (apart from the infant who was
baptised and buried in 1793 – see BIRTH above):
C 6Apr1782 Michael s John & Jane
BLUETT (age 32 in 1814)
C
28Dec1794 Michael s John Carn & Mary BLEWET (age 20 in 1814)
from their
ages, either of these Michaels could have married Ann PENTREATH in 1814, but
there is a burial of a Michael BLEWETT in 1789: bur. 28Mar1789 Michael BLEWETT;
no age given at burial, but there is no other candidate for this burial other
than the son of John & Jane.
If
Michael-4 had previously married Ann PENTREATH, then Ann’s burial should have
occurred before his second marriage in 1835.
There is in fact no suitable burial of Ann BLEWETT in the Paul register,
but there is a burial of Nancy BLEWETT:
B
13Apr1821 Nancy BLEWET of Mousehole age 28 [b 1793]
The case
for the previous marriage of Michael is confirmed by the baptism of Nancy
PENTREATH in 1793 with no suitable baptism of Ann PENTREATH:
C
22Sep1793 Nancy d Richard & Jane PENTREATH
thus Nancy
PENTREATH was born in 1793 and buried in 1821 as Nancy BLEWETT. It is also noted that the eldest daughter of
the first marriage married James HARVEY who was closely connected to the
BLEWETT family: he registered the death
of Michael BLEWETT-4 and was master of the fishing boat Edwin on which Henry
BLEWETT-3 served (see 1851 census)
C 5Feb1815 Jane d Michael & Ann BLEWETT Mousehole fisherman; m 16Jul1835 James HARVEY otp & Jane x
BLEWETT otp bb consent of parents
w: Charlotte x RICHARDS, Richard PENTREATH
C 8Apr1817 Mary Ann d Michael & Ann
BLEWETT Mousehole fisherman; B
12May1820 Mary Ann BLEWET of Mousehole 3
C 8Oct1820 John s Michael & Ann BLEWET
Mousehole fisherman; ?B 1Sep1822
John BLEWETT of Mousehole 3m
no other
John BLEWETT was baptised between 1815 and 1825, so there is no suitable
baptism for the John buried in 1822 aged 3 months. The register entry is definitely 3 months, but possibly this
should have been entered as 3 years. No
John of suitable age was found in Mousehole in the 1841 or 1851 census
Nancy died
in 1821: bur 13Apr1821 Nancy BLEWET of
Mousehole 28
C
27Nov1836 Henry s Michael & Mary Ann BLEWETT of Mousehole fisherman b 14Oct1836 (Wes.Methodist register)
b
29May1839 John Berry (certificate)
b
29May1838 John Berry boy at 2 Pill, Mousehole, Paul
f:
Michael BLEWETT fisherman; m: Mary Ann BLEWETT formerly BERRY
r
2Jun1838 by Michael BLEWETT father of Mousehole Paul at Penzance, Cornwall
d
17Nov1850 Michael BLEWETT male 58, fisherman, at Mousehole, Paul of pneumonia
9days, diarrhea 4days
r
18Nov1850 at Penzance by James HARVEY pad, Mousehole Paul
d 10Jan1880
Mary Ann BLEWETT female age 79 widow of Michael BLEWETT fisherman, at 10
Rectory Square found dead from decay of the system
and apoplectic
tendency after a hearty supper
r
14Jan1880 by John HUMPHREYS coroner for MDX at MEOT Eastern; inquest held 14
Jan 1880
[there are no coroner’s records for this date
at London Metropolitan Archives]
Michael BLEWETT 45 1796 fisherman y
Mary BLEWETT 40 1801 n
Henry BLEWETT 5 1836 y
John BLEWETT 3 1838 y
Mary BENNETS 20 1821 female servant y
Mary
Ann BLEWETT he wid 50 1801 receiving parish relief, formerly
fisherman's wife Teignemouth DEV
John
B BLEWETT so 12 1839
mending nets Paul, CON
Mary BLEWETT he wid 60 1801 formerly fisherman's wife Teignemouth, DEV
Mary BLEWETT he wid 70 1801 annuitant Teignemouth, DEV
Michael
Blewett, born 14Sep1793 Mousehole fisherman
Height
5'6"; hair brown; eyes grey; marks none
first went
to sea as boy in 1803
Royal
Navy – no
Foreign
Service – no
Resides
at Mousehole
Can
write – yes
Issued
Penzance 10Feb1845; age 52
Michael
was baptised in December 1794, and there is no reason to believe he was one
year old at the time. It seems more
likely that Michael gave his birthday correctly but was one year out on the
year of birth when the “ticket” was prepared
Mary Ann
BERRY consistently gave her birthplace as Teignmouth in Devon about 1801. It was unusual for a Mousehole family to
marry an ‘outsider’ and it is not known how Michael met Mary Ann. Perhaps the most likely possibility is that
they met when Michael’s fishing boat put in at Teignemouth. At the time of their marriage Mary Ann was a
sojourner in Mousehole, so she had not been there long.
The IGI
has just one suitable baptism of Mary Ann:
C
31Sep1800 Mary Ann d John & Mary BERRY at West Teignmouth
these
parents also baptised William at West Teignmouth on 19Apr1798, but no marriage
or other baptisms were found at this parish in the IGI. The original registers have not yet been
examined. BERRY is a common name in
Devon, and there are several possible marriages and baptisms of John & Mary
at other parishes.