Mrs. Henry Bentall (nee Hawes) mother of Alexander Stewart

[tpb]

I am wondering if anyone can help confirm (or disprove) a connection between a memorial in Barbados and a marriage in Southwark, or help find out more about these people..

A memorial in St. Michael's Cathedral in Bridgetown, Barbados, reads: “Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Henry Bentall, the mother of Alexander Stewart Esqre, Collector of H.M. Customs at the port of Bridgetown, Barbados, who departed this life on the 25th June 1845, in the 71st year of her age. Also of Alexander Stewart Esqre, son of the above, Collector of H.M. Customs in this island who died on board the steamer Thames on his passage from England on the 27th Sept 1848, in the 47th year of his life leaving an afflicted widow to lament his loss. A zealous office and faithful friend.”

An announcement in the Gentleman's Magazine corroborates the date of her death and adds that she was born in 1775.

According to Benthall family records, Henry Bentall was the fourth son of William and Grace Bentall, born in Totnes, Devon, in 1785. He became a Customs Collector, died at Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, without children, before 1827, and was buried at Jamaica. The records state that he married Elizabeth Hawes, who died on the 25th June 1845. The dates match, so it sees clear that he was the second husband of the lady in the memorial, and that her maiden name was Hawes.

Looking for information about her first marriage, I have located a record of a marriage at St. Olave's, Southwark, between Alexander Stewart and Elizabeth Hawes on the 20th July 1798, and the birth of their son on 4th August 1800, baptized at St. Olave, Southwark on 21 October, 1800. The dates of birth and age at death are off by two years, so this may not be the right family, but I have not found any better match.

If it was the same famiy, then possibly the father was the same person who published an article in 1798 entitled: "Medical discipline : or, rules and regulations for the more effectual preservation of health on board the honourable East India Company's Ships. In a letter addressed to the hon. The Court of Directors, and published with their approbation. By Alexander Stewart, Surgeon in Southwark, and formerly of the Earl Talbot and General Goddard East Indiamen"

[kiterunner]

This is Henry and Elizabeth's marriage, with loads of witnesses' names that might help:

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1623/31280_194455-00421/1743002?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk %2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dlmamarriages%26so%3d2%26pcat% 3dROOT_CATEGORY%26gss%3dangs-g%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26MS_AdvCB%3d1%26gsfn%3dh*r *y%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3dbent*l%26gsln_x%3d1%26msw pn__ftp_x%3d1%26msgdy%3d1817%26msgdy_x%3d1%26msgdp %3d10%26msgpn__ftp_x%3d1%26mssng%3deli*%26mssng_x% 3d1%26gskw_x%3d1%26_83004002_x%3d1%26cp%3d0%26catb ucket%3drstp%26MSAV%3d2%26uidh%3dvm5&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults

I'm a bit confused about some of the witnesses' names, though - all that Bentall and Marshall stuff over on the right.


Henry Bentall of this Parish Bachelor and Elizabeth Stewart of the Parish of Saint Giles Camberwell Widow married at St Olave, Bermondsey, by Licence 23 Aug 1812, witnesses W Hawes, Mary Mendham, Sybilla Mendham, Mary Ann Gatley, Bentall Marshall Marshall.

Elizabeth's signatures on the two weddings have a few differences (in the first name, I mean) and the two W Hawes signatures are very similar but not identical.

[kiterunner]

There is an Alexander Stewart, 35, from St Clement Danes, buried at St John Horselydown, Southwark, 27 Nov 1801.

[kiterunner]

Here is William Hawes' will proved in 1814 and he mentions Elizabeth, Alexander and Henry:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/5111/40611_311074-00231/148935?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk% 2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dCanturburyPrerogativeCourt%26 gss%3dangs-d%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26MS_AdvCB%3d1%26 gsfn%3dwil*%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3dhawes%26gsln_x%3 d1%26msrpn__ftp_x%3d1%26msypn__ftp_x%3d1%26MSAV%3d 2%26uidh%3dvm5%26gl%3d%26gst%3d%26hc%3d10%26fh%3d1 0%26fsk%3dBEENq34IgAAT9wAGb6c-61-&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=40611_31107 4-00231

[tpb]

Thank you, Kiterunner, you are awesome.

I know I should subscribe to ancestry.something, though I am not sure of the differences between '.com', '.co.uk' and '.ca', Maybe there is advice available that I have not yet discovered.

I can explain most of the names on the witness list, and would be interested in the fine print of Bentalls and Marshalls, since those are the families that I am trying to pin down. .

Henry's father, William, born at Colchester, moved to Totnes, Devon. William's sister Elizabeth Bentall, married Thomas Mendham, a solicitor, in 1764 at Colchester. Mary and Sybilla were either their children or grandchildren, and the fact that the Devon branch was still in touch with their Colchester cousins is very interesting.

Henry's eldest brother, William Searle Bentall, married Mary Ann Marshall; his next brother, Thornton Bentall, married Margaret Eleanora Admonition Marshall, sister of Mary Ann. His sister, Louisa, married William Marshall, cousin of those two sisters, but in 1812 that couple was in Capetown. His third brother was named John. I assume that some of these are on the list.

I think I understand that, in the overall context, your comment about the minor differences in signatures does validate the conclusion that the first and second weddings at St. Olave's were the same Elizabeth, so the discrepancy in the age of her son, Alexander, is not a big issue.

[kiterunner]

If you subscribe to any of the ancestry sites, you can log onto all of them, but each individual site will offer a subscription to that country's records only or a world sub which covers all countries. Of course a sub to just one country's records is cheaper. If you want a world sub then it is worth checking the price on different ancestry sites as it is sometimes much cheaper on one than on another. Also, ancestry is available free at many libraries and at the FamilySearch centres.

But if you just want to read William Hawes's will, it can be purchased as a download from TNA for £3.45:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D217777

I am attaching the signatures from Henry and Elizabeth's marriage record so you can see what I mean about the Bentall and Marshall stuff on the right.

[tpb]

Kiterunner, thank you again.

For the record, a reply from another query confirmed that Elizabeth's first husband, Andrew, was a surgeon, so that corroborates the connection to the author of that article, and that her first husband spent several years as a surgeon on board the ships of the East India Company.

The 'Bentall' signature is probably that of John Bentall, Henry's brother, who was a solicitor, and a 'Petty Bag' in the Court of Chancery. It is just possible that it was Thornton Bentall, an older brother. Thornton was a purser on an East Indiaman ship for one voyage, but did not overlap with Andrew.

The Marshall signatures are more mysterious. An 'R. Marshall' or a 'W. Marshall' would be easily identified, but I don't have another obvious candidate. There were two John Marshalls, but neither very close.

The reference to Sybilla Mendham opened up another totally unexpected connection. She was the only child of Thomas Mendham and Elizabeth Bentall, (aunt of Henry). Her father died in August, 1812, presumably a few days after the marriage. She was his executrix, and in 1815 married C.J. Carter, who died in 1833, and she died in 1835, without children. In 1840 there was a law suit filed in the Court of Chancery: Carter v. Bentall, contesting the meaning of her Will, in the context of the entailments in her father's Will. This is positively Dickensian. The case became a legal precedent for questions about whether certain limitations were "void for remoteness".

One of her executors was that John Bentall, who was also a potential beneficiary of her Will. Her disputed Will bequeathed the residue of her Estate to the surviving children of Willam Bentall (including John) and William Adams. My research is primarily about the 'Adams - Bentall - Marshall interest' in Totnes, and the political influence that helped their family careers. So the Bentall and Marshall names are not a surprise. But her bequests to the children of William Adams implies that the influence extended further than I realized. Very intriguing (at least for me)!

[tpb]

After a closer look at the Marshall family tree, and some more research, I have names for the two Marshall signatures, which open up another intriguing line of possible research.

The signatures almost certainly are those of John and Jane Marshall (nee Campbell). According to a post on RootsWeb, John Marshall was a mariner on the ships of the East India Company, and was Captain of the 'Diana' in 1807 - 09. Elizabeth's husband had been a surgeon on some of those ships. Henry's brother, Thornton, was married to Margaret Marshall, John's sister, and had spent one season from 1801 - 02 as the Purser on one of those ships.

According to that post, John Marshall married Jane Campbell in Calcutta in 1808, and their first child was born in Middlesex in 1810. They then moved to the Cape Colony in 1815 and was President of the Lombard and Discount Bank there until 1840.

Henry's sister, Louisa, who married another William Marshall, and they were also in the Cape Colony from 1812 until about 1815, and she died in Mauritius in 1822.

The dots just keep connecting!