Since writing my last blog there has been some more research conducted in an effort to answer a few questions about the connections between the Linghams and the Ansells. We have not been able to answer all our questions. However some of the new information has helped get a clearer picture of their relationship and some new aspects of the events connected to the Mills at Carshalton.
Our logical starting point for our further research seemed to be with William Lingham Senior. We are interested in exactly how he made the connection to George Ansell Senior from Carshalton. This connection seemed to start around 1770 as we found a record indicating that a William Lingham was at that date working as a papermaker in Carshalton. I am making the assumption that this is our William Lingham on the basis that it would seem an incredible coincidence if it was not him, given the subsequent events linking the Lingham and Ansell families.
You will see that I am now adopting the spelling Ansell instead of Ancell as that seems to be the predominant spelling for the Ansells connected to the Linghams.
Below is an extract from a book of Surrey History which has a section on the Surrey Papermakers. The column on the extreme right includes Lingham, William CL (1770). The letters CL stand for Carshalton Lower (being the Lower Mill) as the location where he was based. The Ansell papermakers are listed in the column on the extreme left. The dates shown for George Ansell of 1776-97 reflect George's involvement with paper making only. He was in fact at the Lower Mill Carshalton from 1770 doing calico printing under a leasing arrangement. He subsequently moved to paper making at the Mill later in the 1770s.
So if this is our William Lingham did he go to Carshalton because he knew George Ansell or had he already met Sarah Ansell and was she the reason he went to Carshalton?
William married Sarah Ansell from Portsea on 9 August 1772. Sarah was born in Portsea on 10 May 1750. Sarah's mother Mary was from Portsea. However her father Francis was from Southwic, Hampshire. His father Francis Herbert Ansell was also from Southwic. Francis Herbert's father was Thomas Ansell who came from Warnford, Hampshire. The marriage record dated 11 November 1669 for Thomas and his wife Mary Mariner is below.
Below is the baptism record for Francis son of Thomas and Mary Ansell dated 27 April 1682.
If there is a family connection between Sarah and the Carshalton Ansells it most likely comes through her father's family in Hampshire. However we have not yet found the connection within the three generations mentioned above. This is probably a good outcome given that there was some intermarrying between William and Sarah's family and the Ansells from Carshalton.
In searching for connections I also came across the records below. These did not reveal any obvious connection with our Ansells but were nevertheless interesting. They also illustrate the frustration of finding numbers of people with same or similar names when doing family history research. It can soak up lots of time working out if they are family members or not!
Firstly we have a record of a Thomas Ansell entering into an apprenticeship as a cooper in London in 1717. Could he have met William Lingham through the fact both were coopers?His father is recorded as John Ansell a tobacco cutter of Cripplegate, London.
Then we have a record of a George Ansell having been admitted to the Vintners Guild in February of 1784. This is probably not George Ansell senior of Carshalton. He was born in 1728 and would therefore have been more likely to complete an apprenticeship in the 1740s. Also his record of involvement in the Mills in Carshalton starts in the 1770s. His son George was born in 1776 which means it is unlikely to be him. Is it another member of the family and did this George Ansell know the Lingham family?
We know from his indenture record that William had started his apprenticeship as a cooper in 1764 at the age of 14. The period of indenture to his master Joseph Spock, Cooper of London, was 7 years. This means that in 1770 William was still within his indenture period which ended in 1771. Being in Carshalton in 1770 would have been unusual. However it is not completely out of the question if his master gave his consent.
In my view if William was in fact in Carshalton in 1770 this seems the most likely time for him to have met Sarah Ansell from Portsea. Currently there is no other evidence of a potential meeting. There is also no obvious reason for William to have visited Portsea. It also seems that for all the other relationships that developed between the Linghams and Ansells to have arisen, there must have been ongoing family get togethers happening in Carshalton. Sarah must have had a close connection to the Carshalton Ansells. If she did not have such relationship and/or if William had not already known George Ansell how would the close connections have developed?
Below is William's Indenture Agreement.
An interesting aspect of William's indenture agreement is that it mentions a donation of two pounds "in Charity" that was given towards the cost of his training by Christ's Hospital of London. Christs Hospital was a hospital for Orphans. It is not clear why this applied to William. His father Thomas Lingham was still alive according to the records we have found. His mother Susanna may also have been alive. We have not found a date of death for her.
Thomas Lingham was born in St Helen, Worcester in 1722. He worked as a breeches maker and glover in the city of London. The indenture agreement appears to describe his occupation as "taylor". We have seen Land Tax records that indicate his business was based in the Savoy area of the city of London.
Below is the marriage record for Thomas Lingham of St Helens in Worcester and Susanna Mann of the "Precincts of the College" married on 6th April 1750 at the Worcester Cathedral.
Below is a photo of the beautiful Worcester Cathedral.
In the course of investigating William Lingham's apprenticeship as a Cooper and his involvement in the wine and spirits business I made contact with the Vintners Guild in London. I supplied them with the records of indenture for William Senior and his sons William Junior, George and Thomas. My contact who is the current archivist for the Guild advised that William Senior would not have qualified to be a Vintner as his master for training as a Cooper was a cooper not a vintner. However he confirmed that all William's sons were able to be admitted to the Guild as Vintners. An interesting aspect of their training is that William Junior completed his apprenticeship with a qualified Vintner John Barbaroux and then trained his two younger brothers in the capacity of their master.
Here is William Lingham Junior's Indenture dated 1791.
Here is George's indenture dated 1800.
Here is Thomas's indenture dated 1804.
The events surrounding the ownership of the Mills at Carshalton involve each of William Lingham's sons, with the exception it seems of George. He appears to have ceased involvement in the business inherited from his father from some time in the early 1830s. His brother Thomas remained connected to the business.
I have recently found a lot of additional information about the properties and the warehouses in Beer Lane that were owned by William Lingham. I will be writing about these in a separate blog.
Randle Hopley
Randle was a close business associate of the Linghams. In an earlier blog we have covered his involvement in the venture he undertook in partnership with Thomas and George to import seal furs and oil from Van Diemens land. We also outlined Randle's connection with William Senior through both being involved in wine and spirits businesses out of premises in the area of Beer Lane and Tower Street. In addition William Lingham Junior had joined Randle Hopley's business as a partner instead of joining his father's business.
More recently we have found that Randle was involved in the ownership of the Mills originally belonging to George Ansell in Carshalton.
This was discovered within the documents found by Kris Hardy that refer to the charitable donation arrangements applicable to the owners of the mills at Carshalton.
Here is a copy of the relevant part of the document. This describes the arrangements referred to as the Fellowes Charity. This was an arrangement originally made by Edward Fellowes. He entered into a deed of settlement on 17 March 1727 with the Carshalton Vestry, under which he agreed to an annual charitable donation of 20 pounds to be issued out of the "Carshalton Copper Mills". In return Edward Fellowes was allowed to erect a monument to his brother Sir John Fellowes in the parish church.
The above states that Mr Hopley is responsible for an annuity of 13 pounds per annum in respect of an area of seven acres of land a portion of which is used for a calico printing establishment. Representatives of William Lingham are responsible for an annuity of 7 pounds per annum in respect of a tenement with a house and garden upon which a snuff mill has been erected.
These arrangements mirror the annuities mentioned in George Ansell Senior's Will and that were applicable to his sons George and Charles when they inherited the Mills and surrounding land and buildings. George was responsible for the annuity of 13 pounds and Charles the annuity of 7 pounds.
The purchase of the mill properties by Messers Hopley and Lingham described above took place in 1815. This followed the bankruptcy of George Ansell on 20th October 1815. It seems that Randle Hopley and his business partner William Lingham Junior who had worked for Hopley & Co Brandy Merchants since the early 1800s, had purchased the respective properties on a joint basis. When William Junior died in 1818 he left his daughter Fanny all his estate which included the Mill.
William Senior was still alive when the above arrangements regarding the Mills were made. I suspect that given his wife's connections with the Ansell family he was behind the assistance provided to the Ansell family. There may also have been some pressure from George Ansell's wife Sophia who was William and Sarah's daughter.
I recently came across a Will for Randle Hopley A copy is below. This is a very short Will compared to most that I have come across from this period. Its contents are very straight forward if somewhat surprising.
Transcript of the above.
I Randle Hopley of Tower Street in the City of London Wine Merchant do hereby revoke all former Wills and do declare this my last Will and Testament and give and bequeath unto Fanny Wilmot Lingham Daughter of Thomas Lingham of Tower Hill the sum of one thousand pounds. All the last residue and remainder of my real and personal Estate whatsoever and wheresoever I give devise and bequeath unto Edward Tyrrell of Guildhall London Gentleman and the said Thomas Lingham their respective heirs Executors administrators and assigns as tenants in common and not as joint tenants subject to payment of my just debts and funeral and Testamentary Expenses and I do hereby appoint said Edward Tyrrell and Thomas Lingham Executors of this my Will in writing whereof I have thereto set my hand and Seal this thirteenth day of February 1826.
Randle's signature was witnessed by H.T Mellin of 27 Great Tower Street, William Crowley of 52 Great Tower Street and Robert Heath of 43 Great Tower Street.
The Will was proved at London of 25th November 1830 before the Worshipful John Dodson Esquire Doctor of Laws and surrogate by the oaths of Edward Tyrrrell and Thomas Lingham administrators.
Randle was buried on 22 April 1830 at All Hallows.
The components of this Will that are of significant interest are:
1. The sum of one thousand pounds is bequeathed to Thomas Lingham's daughter Fanny Wilmot Lingham. She was born 29 July 1818. She was the first born of Thomas and Sarah Lingham's children. She is only age 12 at the time of Randle's death. Thomas and Sarah also have another 8 children by 1830.
2. The "residue" of Hopley's estate is all left jointly "as tenants in common" to Edward Tyrrell and Thomas Lingham. As tenants in common Edward and Thomas are each able to deal with their individual share as they see fit. Surprisingly there is no statement of respective portions applicable to them. We do not get any indication of what is within Randle's estate at this stage but I assume it at least includes the ownership of the land and calico printing business mentioned above.
Edward Tyrrell is by then married to Fanny the daughter of William Lingham Junior. As a result of his marriage Edward Tyrrell is also effectively the owner of the Mill that had been bequeathed to his wife Fanny by her father. The history of the Mills refers to the ownership passing from William Lingham to his daughter Fanny and then to her husband Edward and on his death to their son Avery Tyrrell. There is no mention of ownership by Thomas Lingham. I have so far not been able to locate a Will left by Thomas Lingham.
It should also be noted that Thomas Lingham married Sarah Bailey in 1817. Sarah was a granddaughter of George Ansell Senior. In addition to this as mentioned above there was the marriage of Sophia Lingham daughter of William Senior and Sarah to George Ansell Junior. These relationships would no doubt have been part of the reason for William Lingham Senior ensuring that assistance was provided when the finances of the Mills became an issue.
Fanny Wilmot Lingham
Fanny Wilmot Lingham married the Rev. James Harris on 3 December 1839. See below record.
The Census below shows that Rev Harris and his family lived at the Vicarage, Wellington, Somerset in 1861. It seems that at this time they had a son James and daughters Bessie and Maria. Also with them was Mary Lingham a niece of Fanny, age 21 and shown as being Governess. There were also two house servants.
The quite grand building below in High St, Wellington, Somerset is known as the Old Vicarage and is most likely where Fanny and James lived. Most recently it has been used for emergency housing for the poor.
I think it is apparent from the content of his Will that Randle had no wife or children. Certainly I have not come across evidence of any in my time researching Randle.
Why Randle left Fanny one thousand pounds is a mystery. It could be that he simply considered her deserving of this. However I am mindful of the various money issues that had arisen from the Van Diemans Land venture that was entered into by Randle along with Thomas Lingham and his brother George. Both Thomas and George were bankrupted as a result of the very expensive court case and other financial pressures on the Lingham businesses. By bequeathing a sum of money to Fanny instead of her father perhaps he enabled the money to stay out of the hands of any creditors of Thomas.
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