Cornel Cornell Cornwall family
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5 September 2008
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Dr Geoffrey Mann |
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5 Susannah CORNELL 1809-1858 |
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m Francis Speakman SMITH 1827 |
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Susannah was born around 1809 in Finchingfield in Essex. Her baptism has not been found but she was probably the daughter of Henry Cornell, a miller, and baptised at an independent chapel. At 18 she married Francis Speakman SMITH by licence at Finchingfield. Francis came from a farming family around Gt and Lt Waltham, and a daughter Susannah was born there in 1827. She was probably baptised at nearby Braintree in 1832 together with a brother Francis. Shortly after, the family moved to East London. Susannah bore five children at Rotherhithe
in Surrey between 1833 and 1845. They
were baptised at Rotherhithe as children of Francis and Susannah, but there
is reason to believe the father may have been Edward STEVENS who lived
nearby. In 1848 a daughter was born
to Edward STEVENS and Susannah, who now called herself Susannah STEVENS. Susannah and Edward now moved with two daughters and the son Edward, all known as STEVENS, to Kingston where Edward senior ran an oil and colour shop. Susannah died of liver disease in Kingston aged 49, Edward was present at the death. The two daughters remained there with Edward senior, almost certainly their father, helping him to run the shop. Edward jun married and also ran an oil and colour shop in nearby Surbiton. Francis remarried four years after Susannah’s death, but died the same year. Edward Stevens died in 1874 aged 72.
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age DATE SC FS |
EVENT |
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c1809 9Oct1827 18 21 1828 19 22 1830 21 24 27Jul1832
23 26 12Dec1833
24 27 30Dec1835
26 29 7Feb1836 27 30 28May1838
29 32 13Dec1839
30 33 7Sep1840 31 34 6Jun1841 32 35 2Jny1845 36 39 28Jny1845
36 39 18Jan1848
39 42 23Aug1848
39 30Mar1851
42 7Oct1858 49 7Apr1861
55 9Feb1862
56 11Aug1862 56 |
Susannah born Susannah married Francis Speakman SMITH at Finchingfield; Susannah
signed x son Francis born dau Susannah born at Gt or Lt Waltham ?Susannah and Alfred, children of Francis & Susannah SMITH of
Braintree, shoe maker, baptised at Braintree son Edward born at Rotherhithe dau Elizabeth born at Rotherhithe Edward and Elizabeth baptised at Rotherhithe dau Mary Ann born; baptised at Rotherhithe 28Nov dau Mary Ann buried at Rotherhothe son William born; baptised at Rotherhithe 1Nov Susannah at Coburg St, Rotherhithe with 5 children but her husband was
not at home. son George born;
baptised at Rotherhithe 20Sep. Francis was “in the Customs” Susannah registered
birth of George at Rotherhithe dau Susannah m at Haggerstone dau Mary Ann b at Harper St, Newington St Mary; father Edward STEVENS in Kingston with Edward Stevens and 3 children; now known as Susannah
STEVENS Susannah died in
Kingston of liver disease Francis, a widower, living in Poplar with his older unmarried sister
Ann Martha as housekeeper Francis married Margaret
McBEAN at Poplar Francis died of TB at the Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Bethnal
Green |
b=born m=married d=died
C=Christened B=Buried
Susannah’s
age both on her death certificate and in the 1851 census give a birth year of
1809. The 1841 census also implies a birth
year between 1806 and 1811. Her
marriage licence on the other hand states that she was 21 when married in
1827. This can mean 21 or more, giving
a birth date of 1806 or earlier. It
seems possible that she gave a false
age for the licence and was in fact only 18 or so when married. It is concluded therefore that she was born
close to 1809.
Susannah
was married in Finchingfield, and the 1851 census states she was born there,
but there is no suitable baptism in Finchingfield. In fact there are no CORNELL baptisms at Finchingfield between
1800 and 1815. The Essex baptism index
has the following possible baptisms nearby:
C 29Jun1806 Susannah d George & Mary
CORNELL at Felstead (8 miles from Finchingfield)
C
8Nov1807 Susan d Joseph & Susan
CORNELL at Shalford (3 miles from Finchingfield)
C 10Jun1810 Susan d William & Rachel CORNELL at Wimbish
b 27Apr1810 (6 miles from Finchingfield)
The
Felstead baptism can be ruled out, as a Susan or Susannah Cornell married
William SARGANT at Ashdon on 17Nov1825 and in the 1851, 61 and 71 census for
Ashdon Susan SERGANT stated she was born in Felstead in 1806, 1807, and 1804
respectively. The Shalford baptism can
also be excluded as the register notes that this Susan was born ten years
earlier on 10Feb1797. The Wimbish
baptism remains to be investigated.
It is
interesting to note however that there are two other Finchingfield marriages of
CORNELLs around the same time as Susannah’s, who were not baptised in the parish
either:
m25Oct1824 Richard RHODES of Hampton MDX
bch & Mary Ann CORNELL spr by licence; wit: John HART, H CORNELL
m 9Oct1827 Francis Speakman SMITH bch & Susannah x CORNELL spr both otp
by licence
m 4Sep1833 Samuel CORNELL bch & Elizabeth CLEMENTS of
Long Melford by licence; wit: H CORNELL, John WHITE clark
The 1851
census for Hampton MDX states Mary Ann RHODES was born Finchingfield 1806. The 1851 census for Susannah states she was
born Finchingfield 1809. The 1861
census for St Pancras has Samuel CORNELL born Finchingfield 1816.
The H Cornell who witnessed two of the above marriages might be Henry CORNELL, who in the 1841 census was a miller of Little Bardfield (2 miles from Finchingfield) with Emma and “Tabbot” CORNELL. From census etc, Emma was b1820 Lt Sampford, married James MILBANK in 1845 and lived in Lt Bardfield. Tabbot (?Tabitha) was b1825/30 from 41 census but has not been traced subsequently. Henry died in 1843 and his will mentions daughters Emma and Mary and five daughters unnamed, but it is not clear whether these 5 include Emma and Mary. Thus a possible family of Henry Cornell might be:
b 1806 Mary Ann m 1824 Richard RHODES
b 1809 Susannah m 1827 Francis SMITH
b
? daughter
b 1816 Samuel m 1833 Elizabeth CLEMENTS
b 1820 Emma m 1945
James MILBANK
b 1825 Tabbot
Other wills (see below) show that Henry was
the son of Henry Cornell a farmer of Lt Sampford d1820. This Henry had sons Henry, Benjamin, Edmund
(m Sarah) and daughters Sarah (m Robert TAYLOR) Elizabeth (m Norman EVERITT)
Hannah (m Samuel MUMFORD)
The
absence of baptisms of Henry Cornell’s family suggests non-conformism, and
there was an Independent Finchingfield chapel where H Cornell junior was a
member in 1814, as was Miss Emma (Milbank) Cornell of Lt Bardfield in 1841 but
few other records survive.
At
present, it seems probable that Susannah was one of the 5 daughters of Henry
Cornell, the miller of Lt. Bardfield, but proof may be difficult to find.
Francis
& Susannah's daughter, Susannah SMITH (sometimes known as Susannah Speakman
Smith) married Samuel Kilbourn in 1848, and the 1861 census of her Kilbourn family
shows that she was born about 1829 at Waltham, Essex (see CENSUS section
below). Two years before 1829, a
marriage licence and marriage at Finchingfield was recorded of Francis Speakman
SMITH and Susannah CORNELL. Although
Finchingfield is a few parishes away from the Walthams, the timing and correct
Christian names identify this marriage with confidence:
Francis Speekman SMITH bch of
Finchingfield age 21, and Susannah CORNELL of Finchingfield age 21
spinster. Susannah CORNELL had her
usual place of abode in Finchingfield for 15 days last. To marry at Finchingfield
m 9Oct1827 Francis Speakman SMITH otp
& Susannah x CORNELL otp by licence.
w: Sarah SMITH, John SMITH,
From the
1841 census (see below) Susannah & Francis had a son Francis born c1828 and
a daughter, Susannah, born c1830. The
baptisms of five further children have been found at Rotherhithe in the
dockland area of London, and a later child by a different father (see Edward
Stevens section below) born in Newington.
Both Rotherhithe and Newington are south of the Thames, in the county of
Surrey.
bc1828 Francis
bc1830 Susannah (m Samuel KILBOURN 1848)
C
7Feb1836 b 12Dec1833 Edward
s Francis Speekman & Susanna SMITH
of Rotherhithe
C
7Feb1836 b 30Dec1835 Elizabeth d Francis Speekman & Susannah SMITH
of Rotherhithe
C 28Nov1839 b 28May1838 Mary Ann d Francis Speekman & Susannah SMITH of
Rotherhithe; B 13Dec1839
C
1Nov1840 b 7Sep1840 William s Francis Speekman & Susannah SMITH of
Rotherhithe
C 20Sep1845 b 2Jny1845 George s
Francis Speekman & Susannah SMITH of Rotherhithe
b
2Jny1845 George, male at 16 Coburg St Rotherhithe
r 28Jny1845 by Susannah x SMITH, mother of
16 Coburg St Rotherhithe, SRY at Rotherhithe
f: Francis Speakman SMITH “in the Customs”; m: Susannah
SMITH formerly CORNELL
b 23Aug1848 Mary Ann, female at 33 Harper
Street
r 3Oct1848 by Ewd STEVENS father of 33 Harper St, New Kent Rd; at
Newington St Mary, Surrey
f: Edward STEVENS gentleman; m: Susannah STEVENS
formerly CORNELL
From the
1861 census, Susannah bc1830 was born in Waltham Essex, but her baptism is not
recorded in the parish register of Lt or Gt Waltham. Possibly she was baptised at nearby Braintree:
C 27Jul1832 Susannah d Francis &
Susannah SMITH of Braintree, shoemaker
C 27Jul1832 Alfred s Francis & Susannah SMITH of
Braintree, shoemaker
Although
baptised on the same day, there was no note that these were twins and no
further references to these parents were found at Braintree. Braintree is some 5 miles north of the
Walthams and on the way to Finchingfield so it seems likely that these are
baptisms to Francis Speakman Smith and Susannah. No further record of Alfred has been found so it seems possible
that Alfred is a register error for Francis (born about 1828 according to the
1841 census), thus accounting for both known elder children of Francis and
Susannah.
marriage certificate of daughter Susannah
m 18Jul1848 Samuel KILBOURN wdr, full age, carman of 21 Brunswick St
& Susannah X SMITH spr full age of 21 Brunswick St; at St Mary Haggerstone after banns
f: Samuel
KILBOURN dec carman; Francis Speakman SMITH grocer; wit: James SWEET; Harriet
GROVE
Neither
Susannah nor Francis was found in Rotherhithe in the 1851 census. Francis has still not been located, but a
search for any Susannah bc 1809 in Finchingfield gave the following
result from Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey
Edward
STEVENS he mar 49 1802 oil & colorman Rotherhithe SRY
Susannah
STEVENS wi mar 40 1811
Finchingfield ESS
Edward
STEVENS so unm 17 1834 shopman
Rotherhithe SRY
Elizabeth STEVENS da 15 1836 Rotherhithe SRY
Mary Ann
STEVENS da 2 1849 Newington SRY
The exact
correspondence of the two children Edward and Elizabeth STEVENS to Susannah’s
children Edward and Elizabeth SMITH baptised at Rotherhithe strongly suggests
that Susannah is now living with Edward Stevens and taking his name for herself
and her two children. This was
confirmed from the birth certificate of the new child Mary Ann Stevens (see
above) where Susannah STEVENS reveals that she was formerly CORNELL.
A search of the BMD indexes failed to find
any marriage between Susannah CORNELL/SMITH and Edward STEVENS. (The Susannah Smith married at Stoke next
Guildford in 1847 married Henry Potter)
Thus it
appears that at some time between the birth of her son George in 1845 and the
birth of her daughter Mary Ann in 1848, Susannah left her husband and went to
live with Edward Stevens and called herself his wife. But perhaps Francis and Susannah separate earlier. The fact that the first child born there was
named Edward raises the suspicion that he and all the children born in
Rotherhithe may be the children of Edward Stevens, even though she baptised
them as children of Francis Smith.
Edward became an oil and colorman like Edward senior and married a woman
20 years older than himself (see 1861 census for Surbiton, below)
There is
in fact no record of Francis in Rotherhithe.
He was not with the family in the 1841 census and despite extensive
search has not been found in either the 41 or 51 census. The fate is also
unknown of the eldest son Francis, and the two younger children William b1840
and George b1845. They have not been
found in any subsequent census. They
may have died, but the names too common to search for in the death
indexes. Considering their age, it
seems unlikely that William or George remained with their father.
The 1841 census (see below) shows that Edward
Stevens was living in Rotherhithe close to Coburg St, where Susannah
lived. He was then living with
Catherine Stevens, both of independent means.
Catherine was not his wife since in 1861 she was still at the same
address in Rotherhithe, unmarried, “proprietor of houses and fundholder”. In 1861 Edward was still an oil and
colourman in Kingston on his own – Elizabeth and Mary Ann were visiting their
sister Susannah. In 1871, Edward was an
oil and colourman in Hampton Wick with Elizabeth and Mary Ann his “daughters”
as assistants. Edward died in 1874 aged
72 but no will found. In 1881,
Elizabeth and Mary Ann were together in Teddington, laundress and domestic
respectively.
d 7Oct1858 Susan Ann STEVENS female 49 [b1809]
wife of Edward STEVENS oil and colour man, at Thames St Kingston
of diseased liver, jaundice and ascites
[dropsy (swelling) of the abdomen]
r 9Oct1858 by Edward STEVENS pad of Thames
St Kingston at Kingston, Surrey
the death certificate of a Susannah Smith registered in 2Q1846 in Rotherhithe is not she.
d 11Aug1862 Francis Speakman SMITH male
56, custom house officer, at Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, of phthisis in
left lung
r 16Aug1862 by H J LANCHESTER at Bethnal
Green (Green) MDX
from BMD index
d 2Q1874 Edward STEVENS at Kingston age 72
[b1802]
Susannah
SMITH 30 1806/11 N
Francis
SMITH 13 1828 N
Susannah
SMITH 11 1830 N
Edward
SMITH 7 1834 Y
Elizabeth SMITH 5 1836 Y
William
SMITH 9m 1840 Y
Francis Speakman SMITH not found in 1841
census
Catherine STEVENS 40 ind y
Edward
STEVENS 35 ind y
in a group of 6 independents: William Cuff
27, Miss Ashe 30, Hephzibah Thomas 60, Ann Gunion 40
Edward
STEVENS he mar 49 1802 oil & colorman Rotherhithe SRY
Susannah
STEVENS wi mar 40 1811
Finchingfield ESS
Edward
STEVENS so unm 17 1834 shopman
Rotherhithe SRY
Elizabeth STEVENS da 15 1836 Rotherhithe SRY
Mary Ann
STEVENS da 2 1849 Newington SRY
Francis Speakman Smith not found in 1851 census; not in Coburg St
Rotherhithe, his wife’s address in 1845
1861 Poplar, 36 Manor St, RG9/305 f100 p37
Francis S SMITH he wdr 54 [1807] outdoor
Customs Officer London Gt. Leighs ESS
Ann M
SMITH si unm 60 [1801] housekeeper Gt. Leighs ESS
Samuel
KILBOURN he mar 38 1823
labourer
Spitalfields
Susannah
KILBOURN wi mar 32 1829 Waltham ESS (daughter
of Susannah and Francis Smith))
Susannah S KILBOURN da
16 1845 Bethnal Green
Francis M
KILBOURN da 11
1850
Bethnal Green
Eugene
KILBOURN da 6
1855 Bethnal Green
Samuel
KILBOURN so 4
1857
Bethnal Green
Elizabeth
KILBOURN da 2
1859
Bethnal Green
Elizabeth
STEVENS vi 28
1833 Rotherhithe
(baptised Elizabeth SMITH, dau of Susannah & Francis)
Morgen?
STEVENS vi 12
1849 {the ? is in original} Newington (Mary Ann, daughter of Susannah and Edward STEVENS)
Edward STEVENS he wid 59 1802 oil and
colorman Rotherhithe SRY
Edward
STEVENS he mar 27 [1834] oil & colorman Rotherhithe SRY
Sarah
STEVENS wi mar 48 [1813]
Bermondsey SRY
Harriet SMITH ni unm 9 [1852] Rotherhithe
Edward
STEVENS he wid 69 [1802] oil & colorman Rotherhithe SRY
Elizabeth STEVENS da unm 28 [1843]
assistant Rotherhithe SRY
Mary Ann
STEVENS da unm 22 [1849] assistant
Rotherhithe SRY
D/ACR20/86
Henry CORNELL farmer of Little Sampford
Son Benjamin
Daughter Sarah wife of Robert TAYLOR
Son Henry
Daughter
Daughter Mary
Daughter Hannah wife of Samuel MUMFORD
Son Edmund
s21Dec1816 p29May1820 w: John CORNELL Edward CORNELL
John F….. junr
D/ACR20/320
Mary CORNELL spinster
Brother Benjamin
Sister in law Sarah wife of Edmund CORNELL
sS22Jul1825 p29Jul1827
D/ACR21/810
Henry CORNELL miller of Little Bardfield
Brother Benjamin
Daughter Emma
Daughter Mary
To my five daughters [not named]
s15Jul1843 p16Oct1843 w: Edward PERRY, William BARKER
1839 March Mrs Cornel Cattams? Farm removed+
1841 Miss
Emma *MillBank Cornel Little Bardfield
1814 25 Jan Subscribers to the meeting H Cornel Junr
Jas Coonell [sic]
+ “removed” normally means joined another
chapel.
* the name Millbank was interpolated between the words
Emma & Cornel as if it was an after thought.