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Post by greyroamer on Apr 18, 2016 22:24:55 GMT -5
G'day from Oz.
I am seeking any information on my 3rd great-uncle, BENJAMIN BLEWETT, born (I think) in 1830 in St. Erth, Cornwall. He married ELIZA EDYVEAN on 4th Nov 1850 in St. Erth and Eliza died in Booleroo Centre, South Australia on 3rd June 1913. My information is that they had 3 children, John William, b. 1850, Benjamin b. 1852 and Eliza Jane, b. 1854, all in or around St. Erth. I have searched OPC and can only come up with a record for Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane married my 2nd Great-grandfather, James Richard TIPPETT (baptised 17 Jul 1842 in Crantock) on 8th Feb 1873 in Moonta, South Australia, so obviously the family emigrated prior to that date.
I would like details of Benjamin snr's birth and death details if anyone has them. Did he emigrate to Australia or did he die in Cornwall before Eliza emigrated? Are the details of their two sons correct?
I would be most grateful for any information you could provide.
Thanks
Mike
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 19, 2016 5:04:18 GMT -5
Mike - I cannot answer all your questions but I think I am now at least able to answer some of them. Benjamin Blewett and Eliza Edyvean were both minors when they married so had to be under age 21. Baptisms for both are as follows:- Benjamin son of John and Mary Blewitt of St Erth, miner, baptised 10th October 1830 at St Erth (not able to determine identities of parents or their marriage at this state) Eliza daughter of Ann Edyvean of St Erth spinster baptised 30th December 1832 at St Erth - John Trevean putative father The children:- John - age 10 at 1861 Census but does not appear in the 1851 Census therefore born probably one of two born in the June Qtr of 1851 Benjamin - his place in the family can only been inferred but probably the Benjamin BLUEAT registered in the December Qtr of 1852 and died 1856 (Benjamin Bluett of St Erth age 4 buried 18th November 1856 at St Erth) Eliza Jane - we have her baptism But then if you have a look at the 1861 Census you will find that there was at least one more child - HENRIETTA born 1865 or 1866 at St Erth! In the 1861 Census Eliza Blewett is at Little Mill, St Erth with son John, daughter Eliza and her mother Nancy Edyvean. In the 1871 Census Eliza is at Start, St Erth and again her mother is with her. But also in the household is Henrietta Blewett, daughter, age 5. From here on there are problems. I have not been able to find baptisms for any of the children except Eliza Jane and I cannot find a Birth record for Henrietta UNLESS - she 'could' be the Henrietta Matthews baptised at St Erth in 1866 to Henry Matthews, mariner, and Eliza. The birth and baptism both appears as Henrietta Matthews Matthews and this is the ONLY record of a child to Henry and Eliza Matthews between 1861 and 1875 which suggests the possibility of an illegitimate birth. My next major problem is the death of Eliza Blewett (nee Edyvean) whom you claim died at Moonta 3rd June 1913. I cannot find any record at all of this event in the South Australian Death Index, the Australia Death Index (Ancestry) or in any of the South Australian Cemeteries records (including those for Moonta and district)! Finally - you asked for death information for Benjamin Blewett. Well I don't actually have that but I do have an idea of where he was. The 1860 Census for Michigan, USA shows a Benjamin Bluet, miner, age 31 (indexed as Blust) at Houghton Township, Michigan. I would suggest that might be Eliza's husband but so far I have not been able to find any trace of him after this. It is possible he died in the US and it is also possible that, even though he still had a wife in Cornwall, he may have married again. I have at least to Trewhellas who left wives and children back in England and travelled to the US where they married again (one of the twice!) and had more children. And I have found similar occurrences in the Curnow and other families. CT
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Post by zibetha on Apr 19, 2016 19:34:10 GMT -5
Hi, Mike and CT -- I have this family connected via the Kittos, with Benjamin and his brother, John, known as Blewett also Kitto? Mother Ann Blewett (daughter of Bennett Blewett and Elizabeth Sincock) and father, John Blewett. A little different from your info CT, and I see the conflict re: the mother's name and sense an interesting discussion beginning! After John's death, Ann married Henry Kitto. That could be the inspiration for naming a child Henrietta. I have no notes/information to offer re: identifying John Blewett's parents. Ken Stewart has done a lot of work on the Kitto family. I will add a link and suggest searching "blew" or "blewett" to get to the people under discussion. Kitto PenzanceZib
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 20, 2016 4:22:23 GMT -5
Aha!!! - the murky waters begin to clear ............... and I also now know why I could not find Benjamin Blewett in the 1841 Census! The first clearing of the waters begins with the realisation (from the hint provided by Zibetha) that I have been dealing with yet another error in the Parish Registers! Benjamin Blewett's baptism records him as the son of John and MARY when instead the mother's name should be Ann. And I could not find Benjamin in the 1841 Census because his mother had remarried and he, along with brother John Blewett, were both recorded in that Census as KITTOWE!!! So now I can go over my information again and make the necessary adjustments/amendments after which I will know more about the father of Benjamin. CT
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Post by greyroamer on Apr 20, 2016 23:52:32 GMT -5
CT, I wait with bated breath ! ! !
I double-checked my info and you are perfectly correct about Eliza's death. I somehow transposed Eliza CARTHEW's death date onto Eliza EDYVEAN's record. So I now have no idea when Eliza died. I have checket the SA, NSW and Vic BDM's with no luck - perhaps she didn't emigrate with her daughter and died in Cornwall.
I am a bit suspicious about those census references. Her "mother" is listed as Nancy, but I am fairly sure her mother was Ann (according to Eliza's OPC baptism record) and her age of 38 would give a birth date of c. 1823. She could still have been baptised in 1832 I suppose, but I believe this was pretty rare at that time.
I'm starting to think this may be one for the "TOO HARD" basket Mike
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Post by greyroamer on Apr 20, 2016 23:58:46 GMT -5
I just had a look at the 1851 census and found a Benjamin 21 and Eliza 19 Blewet (one "T") in Uny-Lelant, Parish of St. Erth with son John 1. The ages and location look right. I might try following this avenue and see where I get to.
(Later) I found a reference in the 1861 census for St. Erth, Penzance that seems plausible - Eliza Blewett (two "T"'s) with son John 10 (my records show a John William born 1852) and daughter Eliza Jane (which could be a clincher) but it includes a mother Nancy Edyvean, which is a puzzler. Husband is shown as being in American Mines, which could tie in with your comment above. I can't find any reference to Nancy on the OPC website or in the 1841 census - where did she spring from?
I think I might have to just give up on Benjamin, but I would still like to know where eliza Edyvean died.
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 21, 2016 1:22:26 GMT -5
Mike - the first issue to deal with here is regarding Eliza Edyvean's mother. What you don't appear to realise is that Nancy, Nanny and Ann/Anne all relate to the same name. Just as Molly or Polly are nicknames for Mary and Peggy or Meg for Margaret then Nancy or Nanny are variants of Ann. You also appear to be a little mixed up with Eliza's age which, if you check the 1851 Census again, was 19 and thus indicates a birth about 1831 or 1832. Also note that in 1851 ANNIE Edyvean is with Benjamin and Eliza and is recorded as an unmarried Lodger. Annie Edyvean was, in fact, Eliza's mother and, as you have noted, she can be found in the 1861 Census as Nancy Edyvean. Next point of note from the 1861 Census is that Eliza's age has been transcribed as '23' but is actually an error and should read '28' which puts her birth at about 1832 again. (If you have access to Ancestry and can see an image of the original Census you can check the age by comparing other numbers on the same page. The '3' and '8', although appearing a little similar, are actually noticeably different. If you now look ahead to the 1871 Census you will find Eliza Blewett, age 38, still living at St Erth. Mother Nancy Eddyvean is also there as is a new daughter, Harriet age 5. Eliza's mother died at St Erth in 1882 and appears in the St Erth Register as 'Nanny Edyvean of St Erth age 88'. I can still not find any trace of Eliza after the 1871 Census and also still no sign of Benjamin Blewett. But it does appear that Benjamin's father John may be the John Blewett of Phillack age 27 buried at Crowan in 1832. I am not 100% convinced of this but of the options available this is the only burial that fits. If this is the same John then there are at least two or three possible baptisms for him and the only way to determine which might be the right one would be by a process of elimination. CT
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Post by greyroamer on Apr 21, 2016 3:35:26 GMT -5
Many thanks CT, I'll run with that
Mike
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Post by zibetha on Apr 21, 2016 20:47:31 GMT -5
CT,
I, too, have my doubts about the John Blewett under discussion being the man from Phillack who was buried at Crowan. I have that John Blewett pencilled in as the son of Edward Blewett and Eleanor Pooley who married Elizabeth Bastian and had 3 daughters: Eleanor, Elizabeth and Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bastian Blewett then married miner William Trudgeon in Crowan on October 8, 1835.
Zib
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 22, 2016 2:02:56 GMT -5
Hi Zib - that certainly adds to my concern which initially was based on the anomaly of a man married and having children at St Erth suddenly being 'of Phillack' and buried at Crowan. The Crowan burial is of no great concern as Crowan may have been John's 'home Parish' but to be 'of St Erth' when married and then baptising children in that Parish suggests any reference to Phillack should be thoroughly checked.
The only other possible burial in the OPC records is for a John Blewett in the Stannary Prison at Lostwithiel in 1832 but he was age 47 so would have been born about 1785. He 'could' be the John Edwards Blewett baptised to John and Eliza. at Crowan in 1785.
I will have a look at the various John Blewetts and try to eliminate as many as possible via marriage and burial. If I can narrow the field a little then we might have a chance of solving this problem.
CT
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 22, 2016 7:10:50 GMT -5
I have been working my way through the various John Blewett/Bluett BMD entries that might be relevant to our present problem and having some marginal success. However the problem has just become more difficult due to the marriage at Phillack in 1824 between a John Blewett (signed Bluett) and Honour Rodda. There was a daughter, Mary Ann, baptised to this couple at Phillack in 1825 after which the family seems to simply disappear! They do not appear in the 1841 Census (at least not that I can find) and there appears to be no burial for either John or Honour. As John was married in 1824 he could have been born anytime from possibly the 1770s right up to around 1806 and with the witnesses at the marriage both being Hockins I have absolutely nothing that might help identify him. Consequently this makes the identification of 'our' John Blewett that much more awkward. CT
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 22, 2016 9:52:06 GMT -5
Zib - I am inclined to agree with you now that the 1832 burial at Crowan of John Blewett age 27 is much more likely to have been the husband of Elizabeth Bastian. That he named his first daughter Eleanor certainly suggests he was the son of Edward and Eleanor and his wife Elizabeth remarried in 1835 to William Trudgeon. That, of course, returns our original John Blewett back in limbo unfortunately. CT
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Post by zibetha on Apr 22, 2016 11:39:13 GMT -5
CT,
John and Honour wound up in the USA. He died in Schuykill County, Pennsylvania in 1852, and Honour died in Nevada, California in 1863. Honour's great-grandparents were Honour Hockyn and William Semmons, my 6th great-grandparents.
Zib
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Post by zibetha on Apr 22, 2016 23:28:01 GMT -5
Nothing new on father John, son Benjamin or his wife Eliza, but I have traced B & E's son John Blewett 1851-1893 to the USA. He married Lemeniah Carlyon from Breage, and their son William John Blewett was born in New Jersey in 1873. The family was in Ishpeming, Michigan in 1880 with John keeping a saloon. They moved on to Colorado and eventually Montana. Lemeniah filed for and was granted a divorce in Deer Lodge Co., Montana in 1888. She was also given custody of their son. She remarried (William Oates) and died in 1947. Their son, William John, returned to Ishpeming and married Mary Harris -- eleven children found for them so far. John 1851 next married Julia Dwyer in Montana in 1889. A few hiccups on the certificate: his father is listed as Benjamin "Dyer" and mother Eliza Blewett maiden name "Edvaine" but I'll call this a match It indicates he was not married previously. I am wondering if Benjamin 1852 baptized at St Erth to Benjamin Bluett and "Nancy" was Benjamin and Eliza's son (and the boy who died in 1856?) That could be the reason there seems to be no further trace of him. Z
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Apr 23, 2016 5:09:54 GMT -5
I have found John and Honora in the 1850 US Census and I think I can now probably identify John. But first - from her age Honour was born about 1804 and the most likely baptism I can find suggests she would be the daughter of Benjamin Rodda and Grace Ralph. But then John and Honor had a son named Joseph which could potentially mean Honour may have been the daughter of Joseph Rodda and wife Dorothy. Can you confirm her parents for me and the link back to William Semmens please? Now back to John - I see from the 1850 Census that there were other children born in England - John about 1827 and Martha about 1831. I have not found any record of Martha but I did find a baptism for John and for another daughter at Tywardreath. John son of John and Honor Bluett of High Way baptised 8th July 1827 Tywardreath Mary Ann daughter of John and Honour Bluett of High Way baptised 17th August 1828 TywardreathI also found their first daughter buried there:- Mary Ann Bluett of High Way age 1 buried 30th September 1825 Tywardreath
The 1850 Census indicates John was born about 1803 but none of the John Blewett/Bluett records I worked on last night can be him. But then I started thinking about that sudden move to Tywardreath ..... and the penny dropped! John and Honour were both 'of Phillack' when they married in 1824 and their first child, Mary Ann, was baptised at Phillack in 1825 but then buried a year later at Tywardreath where subsequent children were baptised. I had also noticed when checking through the Tywardreath register that a William and Catherine Bluett were baptising children around the same time. That prompted a look at earlier Tywardreath records which produced the baptism of John:- John son of John Blewett and Anne his wife baptised 9th October 1803 TywardreathI still have not identified Mike's John Blewett but at least now we can eliminate this man from the equation. Yes! - I had not picked up on that baptism but yes, it certainly makes sense with 'Nancy' (Ann) being the name of Eliza's mother. CT
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