Esther UREN

[HeatherC]

May be of use to somebody

From - The West Briton and Cornwall Advertisers 20 October 1848

ESTHER UREN was charged with stealing, on the 8th of September, three sheaves of oats, the property of RICHARD TRATHAN. The prosecutor has some fields at Tredinnick, in the parish of Gulval, whence the sheaves were stolen, and traced to an outhouse a short distance from the prisoner's residence. Being accused of the robbery, she confessed it, saying she would as soon go to Bodmin as not; she wished herself dead every day. She received a good character from Mr. MILDER, a farmer of Sancreed. Guilty, but recommended to mercy by the jury. - Fourteen
Days' Hard Labour.

[cowdogsam]

Hi Heather.

I found reference to this in the quarter sessions on the CRO search yesterday.

I have a Esther Uren nee Cock from Madron in my tree. She was married to William Uren, a tin miner in Gulval and was residing in that area at this time.

Esther Uren from what i've seen so far doesn't appear to be a very common name, and i fear i may have something to do with this rascal

[Cornish Terrier]

Why 'fear' a 'rascal' in the family?

Remember that conditions then were not like they are now and many people were, for one reason or another, driven to things they might not otherwise have done.

However, I am not sure that this will be 'your' Esther.

William UREN of Boskedna, age 26, married Esther Cock of Boskedna, age 21, 8th June 1839 at Gulval.

He was son of William and she daughter of John.

In 1851 there is the following family living at Boskednan, Gulval:-

William UREN, head, mar, 40, working in mine, born Gulval
Esther do., wife, mar, 37, born Madron
Elizabeth do., daur., 11, born Gulval
Margaret do., daur., 8, born Gulval
Ananina do., daur., 6, born Gulval
William do., son, 4, born Gulval
John Cock do., son, 7 mths, born Gulval


The transcript of the marriage suggests Esther was only 21 when she married (born about 1818) but in 1851 she is 37 (born about 1813) so I think either there has been an error in the transcription and 21 should be 27 or, as is often the case, a slight mistruth has been uttered at some point.

The children of William and Esther:-

Elizabeth bp. 22nd March 1840 at Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Boskednan
Margaret Jane bp. 30th October 1842 at Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Boskednan
Anna Maria bp. 18th July 1845 at Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Ding Dong (private baptism)
Anna Maria bp. 11th January 1846 Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Ding Dong, Gulval
William bp. 29th November 1846 at Gulval s/o William and Esther Uren of Boskednan
John Cock bp. 27th October 1850 at Madron s/o William and Esther Uren of Ninnis

The record of conviction does not tell us the age of Esther so it is possible she may have been the wife of William.

And there is a gap between the baptisms of William (1846 at Gulval) and John Cock (1850 at Madron).

Perhaps William was away from home during some part of the intervening years but he was certainly home by 1850.

So was William perhaps overseas seeking a better life for his family and Esther became desparate enough to steal?

She would have been risking having to leave her children after all.

Or was there another Esther Uren involved?

There does not appear to be another Esther/Hester in Cornwall in 1851 so perhaps it was the same person.

The question is - why?

Did William disappear for a while?

The answer may not be easy to find but if the 'culprit' was your Esther then you have another interesting saga to add to your family history.

CT

[cowdogsam]

Eveving CT

I've just posted the outline of what i have on the Surname Interests board, and you have confirmed a lot of my own research in your post.

I wonder if by the time of this conviction Esthers husband was not in good health and they may have been struggling to make ends meet.
I have an 1851 Census where they are all together, by 1861 Esther is a widow and her and her children are all working as Tin Dressers. I've also located a death of a William Uren in 1851 shortly after the census, and believe this to be him.

By 1871 Esther was living with her daughter Margaret and her family, then in 1881 she shows up in Yorkshire with another daughter Anna Maria and her family. She appears to have died in 1897 in Yorkshire with a rough birth year of 1819.


Fear a rascal... no not really, i've got a couple of others in the family too..... they made the quarter sessions for riot and assault in Derbyshire, but i still need to find out more about that.


This part of your post interests me.....

Anna Maria bp. 18th July 1845 at Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Ding Dong (private baptism)
Anna Maria bp. 11th January 1846 Gulval d/o William and Esther Uren of Ding Dong, Gulval

I had found the 1845 one, but not the 1846 one.... i will look into that. And also look for a burial for one of them. Thank you for that.

[Cornish Terrier]

You will find both entries for her on the OPC site.

First one is recorded as AnnA Maria Uren.
Second one recorded as AnnE Maria Uren.

Notice that the July 1845 baptism was a 'private baptism'.

So although it is not specified I would think the January 1846 event is likely to be the 'public' baptism where she was 'received into the Church'.

CT

[cowdogsam]

Hi CT,

I don't know why i didn't find both of those the first time i looked on the OPC
I did another search yesterday and both of them showed up straight away. Who whows, maybe i used different search criteria.

I did a check for burials, just in case but none show up, and there appears to be nothing in the BMD index relating to death, so it would seem it is the same person.

Would an initial private baptism be indicative of the child being ill and not expected to survive, or is it fairly common for there to be private and public baptisms for the same child?

[Cornish Terrier]

You will find many children baptised privately who die soon afterwards so to a certain extent the answer would be yes that the child was born ill and not expected to survive.

However I don't know that it would be reflective of all private baptisms given the amount I have found where the child has grown to a ripe old age.

And not all private baptisms seem to have been followed by a Church baptism either.

You will sometimes also see a 'private baptism' appended with the words 'Rec'd into the Church ... (date) ...'

CT

[cowdogsam]

I'll keep my eyes open for that one as I progress.