All Saints Cathedral, Wakefield, York
Alice Hardy's maternal grandparents were George Augustus Lingham and his wife Mary Teale. In the process of writing my recent blog about the Lingham family I came across some information about the Teale family that got more and more interesting the further I dug around various records.
Before getting into this story I must acknowledge a newly found cousin Andrew Millie who has been the source of an amazing amount of information on the Lingham and Teale families. Andrew is descended from the Lingham family through Augustus Lingham, a son of George Augustus Lingham and brother of Emma Lingham. Andrew has terrific research skills and keeps coming up with an amazing amount of information.
George Augustus Lingham
I need to start with George as it was while looking into his life that the Teale story started to emerge.
George was the 8th child of William and Sarah Lingham. He was born 25 June 1786 at All Hallows Barking, London. He joined his brother Thomas in working with their father William within the family wine and spirits business based in Beer Lane, Tower Hill, London. My earlier blog about the Lingham family tells more about the history of that business.
George was involved in the family business from around 1800 when he was age 15. He initially described his occupation as a Cooper. A cooper makes wine barrels. He was apprenticed to his older brother William.
On 1 February 1813 George married Mary Teale. The wedding was at St Johns Baptist Church Wakefield in York.
St John the Baptist Church, Wakefield, York
Following their marriage George and Mary initially lived at Mark Lane, All Hallows. Around 1814 they moved to 38 Crutched Friars, London. Throughout the years from 1814 to about 1829 George described his occupation as Wine Merchant. Then in 1829 he described himself as a "Gentleman" and also Vintner. At this stage he was living at Torrington Park, Hornsey Rd. London.
George's father William Lingham died in 1825. His business was left in the hands of sons Thomas and George but went into decline. We know that William's estate was declared insolvent ten years after his death and that the Public House in Beer Lane was sold.
In July of 1839 George called himself an Accountant. In 1840 this changed to Auctioneer. This was the same year that his daughter Emma married Frederick Thomas the auctioneer. Around this time is when things about George take another interesting turn.
George seems to have been an auctioneer for just a short period of time. Maybe Frederick helped out his father-in-law with a short term job? By 1841 George is again describing himself as an accountant. He has also moved to Budge Road, St Antholin, Middlesex. However he is no longer living with his wife!
In June of 1841 we find that wife Mary is living at Upper Park St, Islington. The census record indicates Mary was living there along with her daughters Ellen, Frances and Juliana. Mary is age 45, Ellen 15, Frances 12 and Juliana 9. Mary's father had died in 1832 and her mother had died in 1835.
Upper Park St is a street where Alexander Thomas had two houses. He left one of these to his son Edward and the other to his son George. It is also the street where, at that time, Mary's daughter Emma was living with her husband Frederick. Emma and Frederick had married on 23 May 1840. There first born child was their daughter Emma born in 1841, older sister to Alice.
In the 1841 census Mary does not give any occupation for herself. In1851 she is described as a "Landed Proprietress and Fund Holder" and is living at 3 Chertsy Hill, Main Street, Clapham. Her description of her occupation recognises that she is a landowner and has invested funds producing an income for her.
Mary subsequently moved to 4 Manor Terrace, Manor Street, Wandsworth, London. The description of Mary as being a "Landed Proprietress and Fundholder" is what intrigued me. Establishing how this came about is what has lead us to dig deeper into the history of the Teale family.
Here is the 1851 Census.
George had entered into a new relationship with a lady called Mary Patwell a nurse. Census records from 1841 as shown below record that George was then living with Mary Patwell at Budge Row, St Antholin. He is age 54 and she is age 21!
George started a new family with his new partner Mary. Their first born was daughter Mary on 7 May 1841 at 6 Budge Row, London. A son George was born at Walham Green, Fulham on 11 May 1843. On 23 February 1846 daughter Sarah was born at 17 Portsea Place, St Georges Fields, London. Another son Thomas was born 28 June 1848 at 134 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnall Green.
George had taken on the job of Colliery Manager at The Low, Wolverley, Worcestershire in 1851. George and Mary Patwell made a move to Worcester and were at the address of 1 Lesswell Place, Kidderminster, Worcester. Their last child Edward was born at Kidderminster, Worcestershire in June of 1853.
By 1861 George had reverted to calling himself a Gentleman again. Sadly he died on 23 July 1864 aged 78. His address then was 3 Edwins Place, Park Rd, Peckham, London.
If we then consider George and Mary Teale's children there are two daughters with interesting occupations and addresses. These are Emma's sisters Frances and Juliana Lingham. Neither married. Both have the same addresses as their mother at Upper Park St in 1841 and Chertsy Hill in 1851. By 1861 they are both at 45 Manor Street, Clapham. They both have occupations of " Fundholder". In 1871 this becomes "Railway and other stocks". Railways were a new emerging industry in the 1800s and stocks in railway companies ran hot for a time.
Here is the 1871 census.
Here is the 1881 Census- there is a note next to the occupation "Private Means". This reads "object to give any more information".
The sisters lived at 45 Manor Street until their respective deaths. Juliana died at age 71 on 23 November 1903. Frances died 21 January 1911. In the probate records shown below we can see that both Juliana and Frances left significant estates. In todays equivalent an estate of 1000 pounds is about 100,000 pounds. I suspect that the higher value of Frances estate reflected that she probably inherited a bequest from Juliana.
The "Resworn" amount referred to below is a revised value for an estate that may be established at the time probate is granted.
Mary died on 4 September 1856 at 4 Manor Terrace, Manor Street, Wandsworth. Mary's Will provides confirmation that she was indeed a woman of independent means. The source of her wealth and the possible reason why her daughters were described as "Fundholders" is revealed when we look further into her family.
James Teale, Esquire
Mary's father was James Teale Esquire of Wakefield in York. We have his Will as an insight into his wealth and the manner in which he passed this down to his children. We also have some clues as to how he may have made his fortune.
James occupation is given as Hosier. A hosier makes or deals in hose or stockings or goods knitted or woven like hose. The Teale family seems to have had an involvement in the wool and linen industry. We think that given his significant land holdings and the mention in his Will of warehouses and other buildings and equipment he probably had a substantial manufacturing business associated with woven goods. He is perhaps better described not just as a hosier but also a merchant.
James Teale was christened on 15 November 1764 at St Peters, Leeds, Yorkshire. His parents were John and Mary Teale. He married Mary Hadwen at St Peters on 20 September 1792.
James and Mary had 9 children. Mary Teale (who married George Lingham) was their first born and was christened at All Saints, Wakefield on 17 October 1793. The children of James and Mary were all christened at All Saints.
In addition to Mary the children were;
Eliza christened 25 March 1795, buried 26 May 1803.
John Mason born 29 April 1797, buried 6 June 1815.
Henry Sharpe Teale born 20 May 1800.
Ellen born 17 February 1802, died 18 July 1846.
James born 12 July 1804, died 2 April 1808.
George born 31 December 1807, died 15 July 1845.
James Francis born 24 November 1810, buried 8 December 1810.
Here is a copy of the christening record for Mary.
Wakefield's History
Wakefield has a rich history. The summary below from rootsweb sets it out quite well.
The Domesday Book entry for Wakefield in 1086 is the first written record of the settlement:
In Wachefeld with nine berewicks, Sandala, Sorebi, Werla, Feslei, Miclei, Wadesuurde, Crubetonestun, Langfelt and Stansfelt there are sixty carucates, and three oxgangs and the third part of an oxgang of land to be taxed: thirty ploughs may till these lands. The manor was in the desmene of King Edward. There are now in the King’s hand four villanes, and three priests, and two churches, and seven sokemen, and sixteen bordars. They together have seven ploughs. Wood pasture six miles long and four miles broad. The whole is six miles long and six miles broad. Value in the time of King Edward sixty pounds, at present fifteen pounds.
The 18th century
This century saw the height of Wakefield’s material prosperity. The woollen industry became even more profitable. Wakefield was not particularly a weavers’ town, but rather a trading centre for both raw materials and finished cloths. The main ‘merchant princes’ were the families of Milnes, Heywood and Naylor, who built large houses in Westgate.
Wakefield was still centred around the parish church, the surrounding streets and yards filled with shops, houses and workshops. The regular markets sold all manner of goods – from eggs and butter, to earthenware and clothing. Even wife selling occurred at the Market.
The West Riding Registry of Deeds, the first in England, was established in Kirkgate in 1704.
A new Market Cross was built around 1707, a square open colonnade with pillars supporting a domed chamber.
This was the century of charity schools, providing free education for poor children. Wakefield’s Greencoat School was founded in 1707.
Wakefield’s Cattle Market was established in 1765, and became the one of largest in the north of England.
Nonconformity flourished, and John Wesley preached in Wakefield in 1774.
Wakefield was ordered to paved from 1771. Oil lamps to light the town were introduced from 1796.
In 1793 the Wakefield Inclosure Act was passed which enabled the division and enclosure of the open common fields, ings and waste ground. This amounted to 2,633 acres.
The Barnsley Canal was opened in 1799, allowing access to the growing coal mining areas to the south of Wakefield.
Horse racing was held at Outwood and the Ings, and cock fighting was popular at the inns.
Turnpike roads were constructed – Leeds, Bradford, Aberford, Doncaster, Barnsley, Horbury and Dewsbury Roads. with toll gates such as those at Newton Bar, Lofthouse Gate and Lupset Bar. This was the age of the stage coach, and Wakefield became a major centre for travel to London. The main coaching inn was the Strafford Arms, although there were many others in the town.
At the end of the century, the St. John’s area to the north of the town was laid out as a fashionable housing development. St. John’s church was opened in 1795, to serve the growing population.
Victorian & Edwardian Wakefield
Census returns show the growth of Wakefield’s population in this period: 1801 = c.8,000; 1851 = c. 17,000; 1891 = c.23,000.
In 1800 Wakefield was still a very prosperous market town. It benefited from being on the border of the textile towns to the west, and the coalmining villages and farming communities to the south and east.
Wakefield grew in stature as well as size. It became a parliamentary borough (with one M.P.) in 1832, a municipal borough in 1848 and a city in 1888.
A directory of 1823 includes the following places as being situated in the parish of Wakefield: Alverthorpe, Brandy Carr, Horbury, Lingwell Gate, Newton, Stanley, Thornes and Wrenthorpe, amongst others.
As the administrative capital of the West Riding, Wakefield housed many major county buildings – the Court House (1810); the Lunatic Asylum (1818) and the new Prison (1848).
There were two cholera epidemics in Wakefield – 1832 (62 deaths) and 1849 (100 deaths).
In the Victorian period, burials took place, not in the overcrowded parish churchyard, but in either the Vicar’s Croft in the Springs, or, increasingly, the borough cemetery at Belle Vue - opened in 1859. In the early part of the 19th century, body snatching was quite common in the Wakefield area.
Wakefield Union Workhouse was built on Park Lodge Lane, Eastmoor in 1853, with space for 360 paupers.
The Corn Market was still very important to Wakefield’s prosperity, and a new Corn Exhange was built at the top of Westgate in 1837 (enlarged in 1864).
The traditional raw and finished cloth wool trade declined in the early 19th century, to be replaced by large worsted spinning mills such as Marriott’s and Stonehouse’s in Westgate.
The main centre of industry in Wakefield was around the river Calder at Fall Ings, Calder Vale and Thornes, with many textile and grain mills, maltkilns, chemical and dye works and iron foundries.
At the beginning of the century travel by stage coach was at its most popular. This was completely overturned by the coming of the railways. Kirkgate station was opened in 1840, Westgate station in 1867. An electric tramway system was in use in and around Wakefield from 1904, allowing greater communication with the growing suburbs.
Wakefield had many inns. In 1820 they numbered 72; in 1870 there were 107; in 1900 this had fallen to 97. There were eight breweries existing in the late 19th century, one being Beverley’s.
Wakefield’s new Town Hall was opened in 1880; the County Hall in 1898.
Wakefield’s stocks were used for the last time in 1841.
The old yards in the centre of town became crammed with slum housing. The Eastmoor, Primrose Hill and Belle Vue areas were also developed to house the working-classes.
I was fortunate in obtaining from the Wakefield Historic Society a link to a wonderful book that was published in 1886 called The History of Wakefied- The Rectory Manor by Thomas Taylor. This historic publication is very detailed being of some 600 pages in length. It traces the changes in ownership of the various allotments of land that make up the original manor lands of Wakefield. There are also some detailed accounts of events that occurred that impacted on the Rectory.
A great aspect of this book is that it has been digitised and can therefore be searched for persons of interest. I found several items about James Teale and his family. The most significant item was mention of the estates that James passed to his son George on his death.
An item I found of particular interest was about the establishment of gas lighting in Wakefield in the early 1820s. This records that legislation was passed on 3rd April 1822 to enable the residents of Wakefield who are listed to proceed to form the Wakefield Gas Light Company in order to install gas lighting in their Town.
Included in the list of residents of Wakefield are James Teale and also his daughters Frances and Ellen and his son George. John Teale who is also on the list is James' brother.
It is worth noting the long list of "by-products" associated with the gas lighting process, namely "inflammable air, carburetted hydrogen, coal, gas, coke, oil, tar, pitch, asphaltum,ammoniacal liquor and essential oil..."
Below is a map which was amongst the research files of Dulcie McClure. This shows Yorkshire in its early times. Wakefield and Leeds are highlighted as they are the towns we know are connected with the Teale family. James had properties in Stanley, Sandal Magna and Thornhill as well as other places around that general area.
Below is evidence of James Teale Esquire living at Sandal Magna just south of Wakefield.
Here is evidence of James Teale of Wakefield on the Electoral Roll for 1817 with property at Wakefield and Stanley. It is also worth noting the list includes several Teales namely Josiah, Thomas (x2) and James (x2).
James Teale's Will
James Teale's Will is 13 pages in length. As we found in the cases of William Lingham and Alexander Thomas a Will provides great insights into the lives of our ancestors. In the case of James' Will we have a document that is very lengthy, complex and handwritten in a style that is very difficult to read. There are key words such as place names and names of people, that are very hard to read.
Here is an example of one of the pages in Jame's Will.
James died on 16 April 1832. At that time only four of his nine children were still alive. His wife Mary was also still alive but would die in mid 1835. She was buried at St John the Baptist, Wakefield on 21 July 1835. Her husband James and their children also appear to have all been buried at St John the Baptist.
James Will was Proven on 22 August 1832. The Will consists of the original document signed 30 December 1829 and several subsequent Codicils. The final Codicil is dated 16 July 1832 and was probably made just prior to his death. The purpose of each Codicil was to make an alteration to the terms of the original Will.
James had accumulated a very large number of landholdings. I have not been able to establish from the Will exactly how many as often there is just reference to a general location alongside the name of the person or persons from whom he had purchased the property. It is also not clear whether the properties were houses or just land holdings. It does seem that James' intent was to invest for the purpose of generating rental income. I therefore assume that in most cases the property was either rental housing or farm land he leased out to a farmer.
James appointed a group of three trustees to manage his estate. They were charged with holding the properties and cash sums that James gifted for the benefit of his wife Mary and his daughters Mary, Frances and Ellen. The investments were intended to provide an income for life for each of these beneficiaries.
He gifted a number of properties directly to his son George "for the benefit of his heirs and assigns forever." The bequest to George enabled him to manage the properties he was gifted in whatever manner he elected. There was not the same restriction that applied to the bequests made in favour of his sisters.
The initial trustees were Joseph Holdsworth a Dyer, Thomas Barff a Woolstapler, and John Stanley a solicitor. All were from Wakefield. It seems very likely these three gentlemen were business associates and or close friends of James.
The terms of the Will prevented his wife and daughters from selling any of the properties or spending the cash gifted to them. They were only entitled to the income produced from the rental income and interest on the invested cash sums. Furthermore it seems that on the death of the daughters the specific properties and cash sums gifted for their benefit were then applied to provide an income for the benefit of their children so long as they were alive. If no children were alive then the income otherwise payable to them was to be applied as an addition to the income being paid to the other daughters. The outcome from this approach is to keep the family's assets in place for the long term benefit of future generations of the direct descendants of James Teale Esquire.
There was very specific mention that the gifts to each of his daughters were for their own sole benefit and use or for their children's sole use or benefit and not for the benefit of their husbands.
The length and complexity of the Will reflects the inclusion within it of many provisions designed to cover the variety of circumstances that might arise in the future.
The first beneficiary named in James' Will is his son George. He was the only surviving son at this time.
In the initial bequest to George there are around 8 specified properties in a range of locations. George also benefited from additional provisions made under the Codicils which are detailed later in this blog.
The second named beneficiary is daughter Mary, wife of George Lingham. She was the first born child and was christened on 17 October 1793.
Mary was gifted a sum of one thousand pounds and in addition she received some property referred to as ..."my estate at Long Houghton in Wakefield..."
The bequest to Mary is described as being exclusively for her own benefit and not for the benefit or use of her husband George Augustus Lingham.
The third named beneficiary is daughter Frances, wife of Storer Carpenter Smith. She is also gifted numerous properties and a sum of one thousand pounds with the requirements for it to be invested to produce an income for her sole use and benefit for the rest of her life.
The fourth named beneficiary is daughter Ellen wife of William Ridsdale. Again there is a gift of numerous properties plus a sum of one thousand pounds to be invested to provide an income for the rest of her life.
The final beneficiary is James' "dear Wife Mary Teale". He left her 200 pounds that was to be paid to her immediately on his death. He also left her all his household furniture, plates, linen, china, books, pictures, wine, carriages and horses for her own absolute use and benefit. Mary was also left all the remaining assets under James' estate after allowing for the sums gifted to the other beneficiaries under the Will and the payment of any other expenses of James' estate. Mary was provided with an income for the rest of her life from the investment of these residual assets by the trustees of the estate.
It is not clear to me whether James bequeathed the estate where he and Mary lived to his son George. There is a property called Woodhall which is included in the bequest to George which might have been the estate in question.
James also made specific gifts to;
The General Infirmary at Leeds, the sum of 50 pounds;
The Treasurer of the Dispensary at Wakefield 25 pounds;
The House of Poverty at Wakefield the sum of 25 pounds for the general purposes of the destitute.
James' cousin Thomas Teale, who was a surgeon, was connected to the General Infirmary at Leeds. This may have been a reason for the above donation. I have included more information about Thomas Teale later in this blog.
The Codicils to the Will
There are the following subsequent Codicils to the Will;
On 1 July 1830
The provision leaving all of James' household effects of his plates, linen etc to his wife was altered so that on the death of Mary these effects would go to their son George and daughter Ellen in proportions that are specified in the Will. These proportions are obscured so I am not sure of the exact amounts. It appears to be something other than fifty per cent each.
There is a further provision that relates to a yearly annuity of 145 pounds payable to James during the lifetime of a "Reverend Harry Chalour"- this is my best guess of this name. This is alongside a policy of life assurance also on the life of Reverend Chalour and issued by Atlas Assurance Company for an amount of 1500 pounds. James provides for the annuity to be paid to his wife Mary during her lifetime and following her death to his son George. He further provides for the life insurance proceeds payable on the death of Reverend Chalour to be payable for the benefit of his wife if she is still alive at the time or to his son George if she is not alive.
This is a very interesting arrangement that James may have entered into in the belief that the Reverend would have a long life such that the total annuity payments would provide a very good return on his investment. The life assurance policy would ensure that he still got a good return on his investment if the Reverend died sooner than he had expected.
On 6 January 1831
This is a complex Codicil that I have had difficulty in fully understanding. I believe it is intended to clarify certain provisions for his son George and George's wife Mary Jane. There is mention of an annual annuity of 250 pounds that was arranged to be payable to George during his lifetime and on his death to his wife Mary Jane during her lifetime. This annuity seems to have been secured by means of a Bond issued to James' son-in-law William Rosedale, Merchant and William Barnard , Gentleman. In other words James has granted a loan to these two gentlemen through a Bond that requires in return a payment from them in the form of the annuity.
Under the Codicil James provides for the whole of his residual estate to be available to meet the cost of this annuity instead of just the Bond. The Codicil also mentions that the Bond arrangement was made prior to George's marriage to Mary Jane. I assume the access to Jame's estate to support the annuity was made to ensure there were sufficient assets to extend the payments beyond just the lifetime of George.
Codicil 18th July 1831
This changes the provision for the household furniture so that on the death of his wife Mary the household effects are divided between George and daughters Frances and Ellen in such portions as Mary sees fit. Previously Frances was not included.
Codicil 26 October 1831
This provides for his wife Mary to receive a sum of one hundred pounds. This is in addition to the 200 hundred pounds already provided.
The Codicil also provides for all of James' Warehouses and Buildings at St Johns and Wakefield "including machinery and utensils therein and also machinery and utensils in Trade but not Stock in Trade" to be gifted to his son George for his own use. Previously these items were part of the "residual estate" that would have gone to Mary until her death.
This Codicil also removed John Stanley Solicitor as a trustee and replaced him with James' cousin Thomas Teale.
George and Mary Jane Teale
According to a history of the Rectory of Wakefield, George and his wife Mary Jane left Wakefield in 1839. They resided in London for a few months and then at St Heliers, Jersey. In 1843 they moved to Doncaster. George died there on 15 July 1845. It seems to me that George took little interest in the ongoing business built by his father. Instead he may have been a gentleman of leisure.
George left all his property to his wife Mary Jane. His friends Robert Brackenbury of Gainsborough, Gentleman and Jeremiah Rogers of Doncaster, Organist were appointed trustees of his estate on behalf of Mary Jane and their children.
Mary Jane subsequently married Mr Jeremiah Rogers in July 1846. The Census below for 1851 shows that Jeremiah (age 35) and occupation Professor of Music and Mary Jane (age 38) are living at Doncaster and that in the household there are:
A son Robert age 3;
A son Frederick age 2;
James Teale ("son-in-law") age 18, occupation Assistant Organist;
George Teale ("son-in-law") age 17, occupation Surgeon's Apprentice:
Mary ("daughter-in-law") age 14, Scholar;
Ann Teale, Servant age 25, occupation Nurse;
Hannah Teale age 22, occupation House Servant.
My assumption is that the son-in-laws and daughter-in-law are in fact children of Mary Jane and George Teale. I am not sure about Ann and Hannah Teale. I suspect they were also children of Mary Jane and George but why are they not described in the same manner as the others? This needs further research.
The 1861 Census shows the same address as 1851. Mary has now listed her occupation as organists wife. Frederick is age 12 and is a scholar, James is age 28 and is now more correctly described as a step-son, occupation is architect. There are two house servants but they are not the same names as in 1851 ie not Teale family members.
In the Census for 1871 we see that the family at home at the date of the Census is only Jeremiah and Mary plus son Frederick.
There is an interesting addition to Jeremiahs occupation. The words "Landed Proprietor" have been added to Music Teacher and Organist. Has Jeremiah come into an inheritance?
Frederick who is now age 22 has the occupation of architect.
In 1881 a Census record shows that Mary is now living at 15 Vineyards St, Walcot in Bath with her son Frederick. He is now age 32, is an architect and surveyor and is married to Alice (25). They have two sons, namely Frederick age 6 and John age 2. Mary is now age 61? Mary's age is not staying consistent with the 1851 Census when she was 38. It should say 68 in 1881. Her occupation is given as what I think should be annuitant but has been misspelled. In other words she is retired and has income from an annuity. This might be an income provided for her lifetime supported by the assets left by her fist husband George.
Jeremiah and Mary Jane along with their son Robert and his wife Minnie are buried together at the Hyde Park Cemetery, Doncaster. Here are photos of the gravestone.
The inscriptions on the gravestone read as follows:
In loving memory of Mary Jane wife of Jeremiah Rogers died April 5th 1886 aged 77.
Jeremiah Rogers 43 years Organist of the Parish Church Doncaster died January 22nd 1879. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord 150 Psalm, 6 Verse.
Robert Massingberd Rogers born April 3rd 1847 died April 2nd 1906 Organist of the Parish Church for 25 years. Thy will be done.
And of Minnie Jemima Charlotte wife of Robt. Massingberd Rogers died 6th March 1949. Abide with me.
Below is a photograph of the Hyde Park Cemetery and its very historic church.
The church where Jeremiah and his son Robert were the organists is the Doncaster Minster. Some information on this is below.
In tracking the progress of Mary Jane Teale following the death of her first husband George I had hoped to find some indication of what happened to the substantial estate George inherited from his father. I have not found anything of significance about this. However the story of Mary Janes second marriage was nevertheless worth finding. I expect she did not have any money worries and that she and the organist had a very happy marriage. Two house maids and a house full of organ music is not a bad life.
Mary Lingham's Will
Mary's Will is dated 17th July 1856. It was proved on 17th July 1857. Mary died on 4th September 1856 age 63. She was then living at 4 Manor Terrace, Manor St, Clapham.
The Will is relatively brief and straight forward. It simply provides for her estate to be shared with her children. It makes it clear that she has property of one thousand six hundred pounds that is for her own sole use and benefit independent of her husband. In the Will she states this sum was left to her by her sister Frances. She says that she is or may become entitled to other property for her sole and separate use. This is probably reference to the property left in trust for her by her father James Teale, from which she was receiving an income. On her death this income was to continue for the benefit of her children.
Mary specifically leaves to her daughters Frances and Juliana the sums of five hundred pounds each. She further leaves three hundred pounds for the benefit of her eldest son Augustus. One hundred pounds is left to her other son Randel Hopley Lingham. Mary further provides that any additional sums remaining in her estate after the above provisions are made are to be divided in equal proportions amongst all her daughters.
Mary had become wealthy and of independent means following her father's death in 1832. We know that although her husband George had inherited a share in his father's Wine & Spirits business this went into decline leaving George with the need to seek alternative employment. He was describing his occupation as accountant in 1839. Perhaps the change in fortunes is what resulted in Mary and George going their separate ways in 1840. Remember that Mary's inheritance was specifically for her own sole use and benefit. It could not be accessed by her husband George.
It seems to me that Mary had developed skills as a manager of the land and cash investments inherited from her father. Perhaps he helped to train her as he clearly had some great business skills. Mary has then trained her two daughters in the same skills. Between the three of them they have maintained what I assume was a successful funds management business over all their lifetimes.
My assumption is that this was primarily the management of the funds bequeathed to Mary that generated their income. There were a substantial number of properties that were owned by her father James and were specifically required to be held to provide income for the lifetimes of the beneficiaries, namely his wife and his daughters. They would have needed a lot of ongoing management for things such as the collection of and accounting for rents. I would not be surprised if that task was specifically given initially to Mary and subsequently also to her daughters by the trustees appointed under James' Will.
The Teale Family of Surgeons
James Teale was a cousin of a very well known family of three generations of surgeons who were connected to Leeds. James' father John Teale was a brother to Joseph Teale (1739- 1800) married to Elizabeth Bonney. Thomas Teale (1775-1836) son of Joseph and Elizabeth was a surgeon in Leeds. He was the Thomas Teale appointed as a trustee of James Teale's Will. Thomas Teale's son was Thomas Pridgen Teale (1800-31 December 1867 and his grandson was Thomas Pridgen Teale (28 June 1831 - 13 November 1923).
We found information on the two Thomas Pridgen Teales as they were both very well known surgeons.
The very fine portrait below hangs in the Leeds General Infirmary in honour of Thomas Pridgen Teale.
In total there were at least 4 generations (6 Teale family members) of surgeons or physicians.
1st Gen: Thomas Teale (1775-1836)
2nd Gen: Thomas Pridgin Teale (1801-1867) and his brother...
2nd Gen: Joseph Teale (1814-1889), sons of Thomas Teale (1775-1836).
3rd Gen: Thomas Pridgin Teale (1831-1923), son of Thomas P Teale, and his brother ...
3rd Gen: John William Teale (b.1838), was a Student of Medicine in 1861.
4th Gen: Michael Aubrey Teale (1867-1956), Physician.
That is very impressive.
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