JOHN NICHOLLS & SOPHIA HILL of Penzance

[marychown]

I am looking for any descendants of JOHN NICHOLLS (1818-1898) & SOPHIA HILL (1817-1892) who were married at Madron on 1 January 1838. Two of their daughters left Penzance and settled in Liverpool.

MARY AGATHA NICHOLLS (born Penzance 1846; died Liverpool 1934) married JAMES ROBERT DUSTIN TURPIN (born St. Helier, Jersey December 1849; died Liverpool 1928). They had nine children and were sometimes known by the surname DUSTIN and sometimes by the surname TURPIN. The couple were married twice - at Penzance in March Quarter 1867 under the name DUSTIN and again at West Derby, Liverpool in March Quarter 1874 under the name TURPIN. JAMES was in the Royal Navy before becoming an emigration agent and later an agent for Cunard in Liverpool.

AGNES NICHOLLS (born Penzance 1854) moved to Liverpool in about 1873 and married DAVID COCHRANE (born 1856 at Belfast, Northern Ireland; buried 1911 at Toxteth Park, Liverpool). They were married at St. Nicholas's Church, Liverpool on 29 November 1874. They are believed to have had eight children who were all born and settled in the Liverpool area. Several of their descendants were compositors in the printing industry.

I am wondering if there are any of the two Nicholls daughters' descendants out there maybe still living on Merseyside and trying to trace back their family tree - which may be proving particularly difficult in the case of MARY AGATHA NICHOLLS because of the use of two surnames (DUSTIN at Penzance in the 1871 Census); DUSTIN at Liverpool in the 1881 Census; TURPIN in 1891 living at 11 Edge Vale, West Derby, Liverpool; TURPIN in 1901 also living at 11 Edge Vale, West Derby.

Best wishes,

Mary Chown nee Nicholls

[hilary]

Hi Mary

Wanted to reply to this thread as it looked a bit lonely! As you now know, I am a descendent of John Nicholls and Sophia Hill who are my 3x great grand parents and the parents of my great great grandmother - Fanny Nicholls.

Lovely to make your acquaintance and I look forward to meeting one day soon!

Best wishes
Hilary

[marychown]

Thanks for your message, Hilary. It's great that we are in touch as direct descendants of John Nicholls and Sophia Hill. Trying to to find out what happened to many of their descendants has been a bit of a nightmare over the last few years.

I did manage to find a few Cochrane descendants of their daughter Agnes, who married David Cochrane in Liverpool on 29 November 1874, but I am no longer in touch with any of them. Communication with them dried up after exchanging a couple of emails.

Mary Agatha Nicholls married James Robert Dustin Turpin not once but twice (first in March Quarter 1867 in Penzance under his mother's maiden name of Dustin and for the second time in Liverpool in March Quarter 1874 under his correct surname of Turpin!). Why they should have married under the name Dustin in Penzance in the first place beats me, as James was not illegitimate and was born about eighteen months after his parents were married in St. Helier, Jersey in 1839 - and he was born in the December 1840 in St. Helier. It appears that in Penzance they were known under the name of Dustin and had their first two children, William John and Cordelia Annie, registered under the surname Dustin. The family are living in Penzance and are recorded as Dustin in the 1871 census. Their children James Robert and Mary Agatha are born in Liverpool in 1872 and 1874 respectively and their births are registered under the name Turpin. Mary Agatha Nicholls and James Robert Turpin remarried in Liverpool in 1874, and at Mary's sister Agnes's marriage to David Cochrane in Liverpool in November 1874, James Robert Turpin is named as a witness. James and Mary and their family moved for a short while in about 1876 to Bristol, where Frederick Arthur was born in 1876 and registered under the name Turpin and daughter Caroline Dustin was born, registered and baptised under the name Turpin in late 1877 at Bedminster, Bristol. The family then appear to have returned to Liverpool where their daughter Fanny Nicholls was born and registered under the name Turpin in 1879. Yet, in the 1881 census the family again appear in Liverpool under the name Dustin!!! The children Frank Thomas and Gertrude Louise were born and registered under the name Turpin in Liverpool in 1881 and 1884 respectively. In the censuses of 1891, 1901 and 1911 the family all appear in Liverpool under their correct name of Turpin.

As I have already said, I just cannot understand the chopping and changing in the use of their surnames! James Robert Turpin was an emigration agent/Cunard agent in Liverpool. In the censuses of 1841 and 1851 I have traced him as living with his parents and family in St. Helier, Jersey. In 1861 before he was married to Mary Agatha Nicholls he is to be found on board an RN vessel in Yokohama, Japan: James R Turpin, aged 21, Boy 1st class born Jersey, Channel Islands.

So, any descendants of their nine children still living in the Liverpool area or elsewhere may have a hell of a job trying to track the movements of that elusive family!

All the best for now,

Mary