Jonah Beckwith (I), alias Jonas Beckwith & Jonas Raven Beckworth. Born 1700/1 or 1716 ... in USA ?. Recorded as living in Union Court, Church Lane, George Lane & finally Cross St., Hatton Garden at which time his occupation was an 'upholder'. In "A topographical dictionary of London", Cross Street is described as being off Wilderness Row "at No 12, 1st turning right (on Wilderness Row) from Goswell Road and extends into Great Sutton Street. Wilderness Row will feature in later generations.

Roger T Beckwith quotes the chief 18th century authority on the language, Dr Johnson's Dictionary, as defining 'upholder' as an 'undertaker' which is in turn defined as 'one who manages funerals'. However, the website of the Worshipful Company of Upholders (www.upholders.co.uk) states that "Upholder is the archaic name for an upholsterer" and "In 1750 an Act of Common Council was obtained in order to ensure all those practising as upholders (otherwise known as upholsterers) in and around the City should become Freemen of the Company." Priscilla Henderson points out that "while an upholder could be an undertaker, an upholder was primarily an upholsterer, often working with a furniture maker, interior decorating and/or selling second-hand furniture, etc. The undertaking bit came from 'furnishing funerals' just as they furnished houses."

PH then adds "I have a Will for a Samuel Beckwith who died in 1804. He was an upholsterer, a partner in the furniture firm France and Beckwith, who were very well known and did major commissions such as the refurbishment of Hatfield House. He was obviously a wealthy man when he died as he left an 11 page Will with very detailed financial arrangements. More interesting are his, again, detailed instructions for his funeral, his coffin and its fittings. He mentions 3 brothers, one of whom is named as John in the final paragraph in which he rewards the men who will make his coffin etc. The upholder bit would seem to associate him with Jonah but the question is, who was he?". Answers on a postcard please.

So it seems that Dr Johnson's dictionary definition wasn't quite in tune with the possible broader scope of an Upholder's work, at least within the City of London. Now back to Jonah .... 

Jonah married Ann, born 1723/4, surname unknown (RTB/PH) but it might just possibly be Shick as a marriage has been traced for a Jonah Beckwith marrying Ann Shick in Colchester on 25th July 1745 which fits well with the first child being born in 1746. (Rosemary Dearman).  

Ann died on 9th April 1805, aged 82 (PH); Jonah's death not known.

On 5th August 1767, when his son Jonah became an apprentice silver turner, the address for Jonah (snr) is quoted as Cross Street, Hatton Garden and occupation as an 'upholder' in the parish of St Andrew, Holborn, Middlesex. He is still recorded as being of Hatton Garden in 1774 when son Jonah became a silversmith and obtained his Freedom of the Goldsmith's Company by Service. (MGS). The IGI record for Jonah (jnr)'s elder sister Sarah gives the father's name as Jonas Raven BECKWORTH indicating that Jonah (snr)'s mother's maiden name could have been Raven, a local family which included silversmith Andrew Raven in 1706. Whilst Jonah (jnr) was the first Beckwith to obtain the Goldsmith's freedom, it is just possible that he was following the profession of his paternal grandmother's family (PH/MGS) 

They had 10 children (almost all at 2 yearly intervals) - see 6.5.1 

6-5.1

Offspring of Jonah Beckwith & Ann (5.1)  (baptism info thanks to RTB & PH)

Mary Beckwith - Bap St Andrews, Holborn, 17th March 1746*.(RTB) Died 1793. 

Married Humphrey HALL who died in 1811 leaving a guinea to each of his brothers-in-law, Jonah and James Beckwith, to buy a mourning ring. Humphrey was a carcase butcher and owned quite a bit of land in and around London, though he and Mary retired to Winchmore Hill, Middlesex.

They seem to have only had one son, James Hall, who married another Mary. They had 2 children, Humphrey (bap 14th Feb 1792 in Holborn) and Mary. Mary was still unmarried when her mother died in 1829. Humphrey had married Elizabeth Mary ? and they had James in 1818, Elizabeth in 1820, Mary in 1823, another Elizabeth in 1825 and Sarah in 1827. Humphrey (jnr) died some time between Sarah's conception and his mother's death (1829).(PH) 

IGI record shows father = Jonas Raven BECKWORTH and mother = Ann. (MGS)

Jonah Beckwith (II) - Born 24th Feb 1753, Bap St Andrews, Holborn 5th March 1753 and at St Sepulchre's, Holborn on 12th March (?). The first member of the family to become a silversmith and obtain Goldsmith's Freedom. His apprenticeship in 1767 was for seven years to Richard Wade, silver turner of Little Britain, London, "there being paid to my said master the sum of ten pounds of the charity of Richard Worth deceased, to apprentice forth poor boys of the said parish". He was granted the freedom just over seven years later, on 5th October 1774, at which time his own address is also quoted as Little Britain (just north of St Paul's cathedral) (MGS). It is believed that he worked for Hennells for 40 years so presumably did dot register his own hallmark (PH/Dawn Sorensen)

"The revered and ever to be lamented" Jonah died on 24/2/1816, his 63rd birthday, "at two in the morning of Astmact and Water on the Chest". (PH)

Married Mary CALENDER on 2nd Oct 1773 in Newington, Surrey. Mary was born 19/9/1753 and Christened at Bermondsey Church. Died 5/8/1806 and buried in St. Lukes Back Church yard with her son James who had died the day before. (PH). That death ref quotes his mother as Mary Ann CALLENDAR. (IGI) whilst Jonah's family bible gives her name as COLINDER. (PH)

For their offspring, see 7- 6.4

Eleanor Beckwith - Bap St Andrews, Holborn 13th Dec 1754

Lucy Beckwith - Bap St Andrews Holborn, 24th Aug 1756

James Beckwith - Bap St Andrews Holborn, 24th Feb 1758. Also became a silversmith and obtained his Freedom by Service in 1780, at which time his address was Hatton Garden. (MGS) "James, his brother (died) of madness 20/12/1796 aged 39" (PH)

Married Mary WARRINGTON  (of St John's St.) at St Andrew Holborn on 28/9/1783 (Katie de Haan)

For their offspring, see 7- 6.7

May have married Charlotte WHITE in 1787 at St Luke’s, Old Street. (PH)

NB Originally eight children were listed but PH has added 3 more - Mary, Sarah & Ann. 

Joseph Beckwith - b 11 Nov 1776 in Lillypot Lane, Bap St Mary Staining (London) 22nd Dec 1776 (RTB) 'Huggin Alley Church' (PH). Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1802 at which time he was living in Clerkenwell. 

In Grimshaw's "London Goldsmith's 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives" he appears as ref 1777 "Son of Jonah Beckwith of St Luke's in the County of Middlesex, silver turner (and brother of George and Robert) apprenticed to Edward Edwards of Goswell Street as engraver and printer, 1st Dec 1790 on payment of £7.14s.0d of the charity of the Goldsmiths Company. Freedom unrecorded. Only mark entered as a smallworker 7th Feb 1807. Address 25, Wilderness Row, St John St (? Clerkenwell)."  

Yes, Wilderness Row was indeed in Clerkenwell. It ran almost east west along the northern boundary of Charterhouse school from the Goswell Street/Old Street junction to St John St close to Clerkenwell Green. It disappeared in the late 1860's redevelopment which saw a new road - the Goswell Road - pushed through the sub-standard housing to meet Old St end-on. 

At least from the early 1820's when his 4th & 5th children were born up to about 1850 he lived at 3, Wilderness Row, Clerkenwell appearing there in the 1848 Post Office directory as an Engraver (MGS). Became a silversmith and Bonham's recently sold a silver prize medallion by him hallmarked 1805 (PH). 

On 30th June 1800 at St Mary's Islington, he married Jane PITTARD and they had five children between 1801 & 1816 - Joseph, Jane Elizabeth, Henry Samuel, Mary Ann and George - see 8-7.42 for more details.

Jane, like her husband, was born in 1776 but on 8th June and in the parish of St Botolph, Aldersgate, daughter of Samuel & Jane Pittard. The family bible flysheet says she died on 10th Dec 1840 but that may have been a mis-transcription of 1st Dec. She was buried on 9th Dec 1840 at St James, Clerkenwell. Another entry kindly supplied by Dawn Sorensen quotes "Mrs Jane Beckwith, after a short painful illness, expired on Dec 1st 1840 in the 64th year of her age ..... she was a practical economist, her domestic arrangements were a perfect specimen or order, neatness, frugality and attention to the interest entrusted to her care. She was a fond mother, an invaluable wife, a woman of surpassing excellence."

Hmm. Without the benefit of proof positive, all that will be said here is that Joseph 'possibly' then married Ann Bartholomew by whom it would appear that he had already had several children (Joseph in 1834, Ann in 1835, Jonah in 1837, Charles in 1838 and Susan in 1839) and then had some more - Alfred (1846), John (1848), George (1849) Robert (1851) and Louisa (1852). For more details see 8-7.42b

Going back to the 1841 census (just after Jane's death), Joseph is shown with 7yr old son Joseph and one of the others in the household is Ann Bartholomew, a female servant (but no mention of his daughter Ann). In 1851, he is shown (aged 74 & born "Middx St Mary") living at 77 Shoe Lane in St Brides with wife Ann (aged 38 and born 'Bishopsgate') and children Joseph Beckwith (17) and Ann Bartholomew Beckwith (15), both born Edmonton. Joseph's occupation (wrongly shown against a youngster in another household on the line above) is Engraver & Coffee House Proprietor. Just to throw a spanner in the works, the self same 1848 Post Office Directory which had listed him in Wilderness Row (above) also lists him (or his double) as Proprietor of the "Clarendon Coffee Rooms" at 77 Shoe Lane. Incidentally, in 1851 a Vincent Beckwith (aged 24, & born in Clerkenwell) who is a "1/2 brother" and a bookbinder,  is shown with the family but no other trace of a Vincent Beckwith (or Vincent Bartholomew) has ever been found.

Joseph died 3rd Dec 1860 at age 84 and was "buried in Highgate Cemetery in the same grave with my aunt Susanna Pittard. He was one of the earliest members of the London Correspondence Society and was through life a consistent and honest Radical. J.M." (family bible entry courtesy of Dawn Sorensen; JM = Jane Mollett, daughter). Not perhaps the sort of tribute one might expect from a daughter whose father had had several children by another woman while her mother was still alive.

In 1881 Joseph's 2nd wife Ann is living with her daughter Louisa Bartholomew Harradine nee Beckwith in Rotherhithe, SE London, but she is not with them in 1891 and no fitting death index record has been found for her birth year of c1814. Given the fallibility of ages on death records, the most likely is that in 1890 for a "67yr old" Ann Beckwith in Lambeth as it's the only one found which is close to where she & Louisa were living in 1881 (and to where Louisa herself is recorded as having died in 1894).   

Married James JACKSON, a watch case maker of St Lukes. (PH)

** more info to be added here**

7.44

James Beckwith - b 31st Jan 1781, Bap St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury (London) 21st Feb 1781. He was apprenticed to Robert Lyon and Gregory Watkins, "plater, founder, and ironmonger" at No. 107 Longacre, in 1801 (PH) and obtained his Goldsmith's Freedom by Service in 1803 at which time living in St Luke's, Old St. Became a silversmith. (RTB) Died 4th Aug 1806 - drowned in the River Thames 'opposite Duke's Head Landing', Lambeth. (IGI - confirms correct James by giving  parents names but quotes death date as 1st August). Buried in St. Lukes Back Church yard with his mother (Mary nee Callendar - 6.4 -  who died on Aug 5th) "leaving a wife and two children, the son later dying"

Married Mary SUMNER London (unspecific) in 1803 (IGI entry gives his birth date again to prove this is the right James, Mary's surname courtesy PH). Mary was christened at St Giles, Cripplegate, on 28th Aug 1780, daughter of William and Mary SUMNER, the former possibly being the William Sumner, silversmith, who was apprenticed to Thomas Chawner in 1763.

James & Mary's two children mentioned were:

Mary Ann - b 1804 who subsequently married a Samuel TAME (bc 1801 in Shoreditch), a solicitor's clerk and, by 1851, they had produced 7 Tame children.

James Jonah Beckwith - b 20th Nov 1806 (= almost 4 months after his father had died), Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 6th March 1807, died 27th Nov 1808. 

NB Early family trees that were compiled merely on Goldsmith's Freedom data have the offspring of this James and Mary transposed with James b1757 (= James's uncle) (6.7) & his wife also Mary ie 

• Above James Jonah Beckwith b 1806 was shown as being the son of James b1757 & Mary but this is impossible as that James died in 1796.

• Thomas Beckwith who married Sarah (7.73 below) was shown as the son of this James (b1781). This was based an estimated birth date for Thomas of after 1800 but he is now known to have been born in 1788 which makes this lineage impossible. RTB's more recent tree shows Thomas far more plausibly as the son of James (b1757) & Mary (6.7). 

Married James WALKER, a Watch Case Maker of Goswell Street. Marriage not listed on IGI, though an Ann Beckwith married a Thomas Walker in 1817 at Newington, Surrey (PH) so perhaps James was his second/popular Christian name. Ann didn't marry until after March 1816 as she is still Ann Beckwith in her father's Will of that date while the couple's first child was born in July 1818 so a marriage in 1817 seems to fit well.  

Their first child was christened on 17th January 1819 at St James Clerkenwell in a double ceremony with his cousin: 
- James son of James & Ann WALKER, Great Sutton Str, Gent, born 31 July 1818 
- George, son of George & Elizabeth IVORY, Compton Str, Silversmith, born 5 December 1818
"Note the intriguingly different ways the fathers describe their calling in life". (Katie de Haan)

It is believed that the Walkers had three children but a family bible note says "2 in 1833" presumably indicating that one had died by then. 

William Beckwith - b 3rd Dec 1784, Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 28th Dec 1784. "Died young" (RTB).This is confirmed by PH - "Born 3/12/1784 in Church Row. Died of Small Pox 16/7/1785 and buried in St Lukes Back Church yard."

George Beckwith - b 11 Sep 1786, Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 4th Oct 1786. He was apprenticed to William Hunter of East Row, Hoxton as a goldsmith 3rd March 1801 upon payment of £5/5/- (5 guineas) of the charity of the Goldsmiths Company. First mark entered as a smallworker 7th March 1804 at 6, Clerkenwell Green. Obtained Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1807 at which time still living in Islington. (RTB/MGS). Died 8/2/1844 aged 57 years and buried in the New Burying Ground of West Kirk Edinburgh (St Cuthberts Church Yard). Occupation on son’s marriage certificate was as a Silversmith. He was listed in the Edinburgh Directory of 1842 at a shop 2, Earl Grey St., Edinburgh. They must have lived above the premises from some time prior to 1840 when Robert Stevens was born.(PH)

Married c 1820 Margaret STEVENS, born 1/1/1804, and died at Spring St New York of Cancer of the Womb 20/3/1853. Buried in Greenwood Cemetery Grave # 1115 Lot # 2458. Aged 49 years two months and twenty days.(PH)

For offspring, see 8-7.47

Robert William Beckwith - b 13th Feb 1788, Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 16th March 1788. (RTB). Grimshaws quotes him under ref 2277 as "son of Jonah Beckwith of the parish of St Lukes, silversmith. Apprenticed to Samuel Hennell of Foster Lane as a silversmith, 3rd March 1802 on payment of £7. 14s. 0d. of the charity of the Goldsmiths' Company. Free 6th December 1809. Mark entered as plateworker, 27th May 1811. Address 25 Wilderness Row, as his brother Joseph above."  When he obtained his Goldsmiths' Freedom by Service in 1809, their records say that he was living in Old Street, but this is just across the road and possibly sounded more salubrious.   

In 1836, when his son became an apprentice silversmith, he is shown as living in Commercial Road, Pimlico (London SW1) while in 1841 he is shown as an 'Excise Surveyor' in West St, Pimlico. His death is recorded in Lambeth in Mar 1/4 1876, aged 87. (MGS)

Married Ann Haines (b1789/90). She died in childbirth in Jan 1833 aged 43 (PH)

For offspring, see 8-7.48

Elizabeth Beckwith - b 24th October 1789 in Church Row, Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 15th Nov 1789 (RTB & PH)  

Married  in 1815 George IVORY, a silversmith at 53 Compton Street, Clerkenwell. Elizabeth was still alive when her husband died in 1853 (in Clerkenwell) as she was a beneficiary under his Will. (PH). There are death records for an Elizabeth Ivory in Clerkenwell in Sep qtr 1855 and Jun qtr 1861. Given that one Sage Ivory - also a Silversmith living in Clerkenwell and, in view of the occurrence of 'Sage' (see below) was presumably George's brother - also married an Elizabeth and two Elizabeths died between the 1851 and 1861 censuses, it is not possible at the moment to say which was which. (MGS)

They had six children, George, Mary Ann, Charles Sage and Alfred plus two others by 1833. See 7.45 above re the double christening in Jan 1819 for George (b 5th Dec 1818) and his cousin James Walker. In his will (1853), father George did "direct and request" his eldest son George to carry on his business of a silversmith during his mother's (Elizabeth's) life. (PH) George appears to have married in Clerkenwell 1854.  (MGS)

In the 1841 census, George (snr) is listed as a silversmith in Compton Street together with children Mary Ann (age '20' - so b1817-21), Charles Sage and Alfred (both '15' so b1822-26) but no wife Elizabeth. Elizabeths do appear elsewhere in Middx, one with a daughter Jane aged 9, but none fit totally satisfactorily. The family has also yet to be traced in the 1851 census. (MGS)

William Henry Beckwith - b 16th Dec 1792,  Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 20th Jan 1793. (RTB & PH) Died 30/12/1795 of Water on the Brain. Buried in St. Lukes Back Churchyard.(PH) Parish registers quote his name as Henry Beckworth, the burial as being on 3rd Jan 1796 in St Luke's, Old Street and cause of death as 'measles' (KdH)

Charles Beckwith - b 1st Oct 1796, Bap St Lukes, Old St, Finsbury 30th October 1796. (RTB & PH)  Died 24/4/1797 of convulsions. Buried in St Lukes Back Churchyard.(PH)  

Offspring of James Beckwith & Mary (6.7)

James Beckwith - Bap St Sepulchre's, Holborn 17th Oct 1784. Probably died in infancy (PH) - see also NB(1)

George Beckwith - b16th Apr 1786, Bap St Sepulchre's, Holborn 21st May 1786.

Thomas Beckwith - b 23rd March 1788, Bap St Sepulchre's, Holborn 11th May 1788, d 29th Oct 1864. Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1821 at which time living in Bedfordbury. Lived at St Andrew's Hill, thence Crane Court and finally Bowling Green Lane (RTB)

Married c1820 a Sarah (surname unknown), b 4th Dec 1796 in Aylesbury, died in Islington Mar qtr 1868, age 71. It is just possible that her name was Sarah IVATTS but all efforts to prove this have been totally in vain. Son Thomas John records in his diary for May 1865 that Uncle Ivatts died. He has been traced to one Henry Ivatts who died in Chealsea aged 76 (so b1789) and who appears in the 1861 census as born in Aylesbury ... so both he and Sarah were from the same place and born at about the same time -  brother & sister ?? Also, of course, Thomas & Sarah's son Thomas named his first-born son George Ivatts (Beckwith).

In the 1841 census Sarah is shown as "Coffee House Keeper" aged '40' in Hatton Wall with children Ann (18), James (12) and John (4) but no sign of husband Thomas. Hatton Wall ran between the notorious Saffron Hill of Dickens Fagin fame and Hatton Garden. The Post Office Directory for 1848 lists Thomas as the proprietor of the Coffee House at 31 Hatton Wall but he's absent again from the 1851 census. Sarah is shown (age 54 - born in Aylesbury) as a "Coffee House Keeper" living at 31 Hatton Wall, this time with 1st, 3rd & 4th sons James (21), George (16) & John (13) plus 5 sundry lodgers (including a silversmith and another gas fitter) but no daughters ... and no husband Thomas. Intriguingly, she appears at the top of a census page as 'Wife' (rather than 'Head') as if Thomas were at the foot of the previous page .... but he isn't and he cannot be traced elsewhere either. Equally he hasn't been traced in 1861 either so where was he all those years? Son Thomas John records in his diary for 29th Oct 1865 "Anniversary of father's death" and a corresponding death is registered for Thomas Beckwith in Clerkenwell in Dec qtr 1864.

Sarah has also yet to be traced in the 1861 census.

 For offspring, see 8-7.73

Frederic Beckwith - Born 1st Jan 1790, Bap St Sepulchre's, Holborn 24th Jan 1790 [IGI}

James Richard Beckwith - b 13 Nov 1793, Bap St Sepulchre's, Holborn 1st Dec 1793

NB (1) - Although eligible for Freedom by Patrimony, none of the boys except Thomas are recorded as having sought the Freedom. This could indicate death before majority or emigration, probably the former in the case of James (1784) in view of re-use of the name.

 Generation 8

Offspring of George Beckwith & Margaret Stevens (7.47)

Stevens Beckwith - Born 21/5/1824 in Carnegie St Edinburgh about half past three in the morning. Christened Edinburgh on Monday 7/6/1824. Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1847 at which time living in Islington (the only one of George's children to do so). No trace of him was found in the 1881 census, nor any marriage or death record found. Thanks to PH, this is because he emigrated to the USA (with his mother) in 1849, married there (twice) and had four children..

Offspring of Robert William Beckwith (I) & Ann Haines (7.48)

Robert William Beckwith (II) - b 1820 (shown as age 20 in 1841 census, 40 in 1861 etc). A copy of his Indenture of Apprenticeship dated "the sixth year of the reign of William IV" (= 1836) suggests that at least he started out with the intention of becoming a silversmith (like his father) but another source quotes him as becoming an optician and obtaining Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony on 6th Feb 1850, rather than Service, at which time he was an optician living at Montpelier Row in Walworth.

In Sep 1/4 1851 he married Heloise Petronelle Estelle CAPELLE (b1830) in the parish of St George's, Hanover Square which then embraced Pimlico - his father's abode at that time - so probably covered what we now call London SW1 as well as W1. In the 1861 census Heloise is shown aged 31 and born in Calais, France. 

The 1861 census shows him in West St, Newington (Elephant & Castle part of the Walworth ward of the parliamentary borough of Lambeth) as an Optician with wife Heloise and the three children living at that time (Robert William III, 6, Joseph H, 4 and Henry, 1) while the 1881 census shows him at 24 Aldbridge Street, Newington as a 60 year old watchmaker with only his 3 children, Heloise having died in Lambeth in June qtr 1879 at age 49. 

A death record for a Robert William aged 78 has been found for Dec 1/4 1899 at Brentford, Middlesex. The age quoted is about right and Brentford features elsewhere in the family.   

For offspring please see Tree 7 

Note - a burial record has been found in St James Clerkenwell for a Robert William Beckwith, infant, 24th April 1819. "Address at time of death - St John St". Given that St John Street is the one at the west end of Wilderness Row, it does very much look as if this was William & Ann's first child and after he died, the next boy was similarly named.  

In Jun qtr 1850 there is a record of a Thomas Beckwith marrying in Lambeth at the same time as one William Samuel Rodman (see brother James 8.14 below) so, as Thomas has yet to be traced in the 1851 census, it is possible that he too emigrated to Australia.  

Circa 1849 he married Ann(e) Carew Rodman but no satisfactory marriage record has yet been found either in England or South Australia but 15/03/1851 in Bristol is a possibility if they emigrated from that port.  Ann was Christened 21st April 1826 at Saint John The Evangelist, Lambeth, Surrey, the eldest daughter of Samuel Rodman and Sarah (nee Carew ?). Ann died on 3rd May 1902 at Glenelg, Australia, aged 74. 

For details of their offspring, please see Tree 9

Joseph Beckwith - bc1830 (age 11 in 1841 census). Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1854 at which time working as a 'brass finisher' living in St John St, London.  (Colin Trotman, great grandson of Joseph, has inherited the original Freedom document, thereby confirming for definite which Joseph it was who emigrated to Australia). 

He married Elizabeth Maria MORRIS (b c 1830) Dec qtr 1853 in Clerkenwell. There were thousands of Elizabeth Morris's born between 1820 and 1835 but the most likely seems to be an Elizabeth M Morris age 29, born Newington, living with her sister & brother in law in the Old Kent Rd area.

Joseph emigrated to Australia and their offspring included a daughter who married into the Trotman family. Their son (A. Howard Trotman) visited the UK several times between 1957 and 1985, latterly making contact with Roger Beckwith, so the tree of Joseph's offspring (see Tree 8) probably came from or at least via him.

Their first child is noted as having been born in 1854 in the UK so, combined with the Freedom the same year, point to emigration soon after that as no trace of them can be found in the 1861 census.

Offspring of Thomas Beckwith & Sarah (7.73)

Ann Beckwith - b 25th May 1823. No baptism so far found.

Shown aged 18 in 1841 with family at Hatton Wall.

Sarah Beckwith - b 8th June 1825. Bap 11th June 1826 at St Ann's Blackfriars 

Not listed with family or found elsewhere in 1841 but there is an Islington marriage in 1846 for a Sarah Ann.

Mary Ann Beckwith - b 10th Sep 1827 Baptised 4th Nov 1827 at St Andrew by the Wardrobe. 

Not listed with family in 1841. A burial record has been found for a Mary Ann Beckwith, age 10 months, in 1828 at St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street

Aside - St Andrew's by the Wardrobe stands at Queen Victoria Street, EC4. The 'Wardrobe' of the name refers to the Church's proximity to the Royal Wardrobe, relocated from the Tower of London by Edward III, until both the Church and Wardrobe were destroyed in the Great Fire. The rebuilt Church contains a memorial to its most famous parishioner, William Shakespeare, who worked and lived nearby during his time at the Blackfriars

James Beckwith - b 27th June 1829. Baptised 19th July 1829 at St Mary Magdalen, Milk St.

Appears in 1841 census aged 12 living in Hatton Wall with mother Sarah, sister Ann (18) and brother John (4). In the 1851 census he is shown as a 21 yr old gas fitter (shades of the Surls & Vivians !) living at 31 Hatton Wall (with mother & brothers George & John).

Shown on one source tree as 'to America' and this is confirmed in a letter dated 12th Oct 1949 from his niece Nancy (daughter of Thomas John immediately below) to her niece Marjorie  "Father's eldest brother James went to America as a young man and was lost sight of". 

In a manuscript document which gives the dates of birth of Thomas John's parents and siblings as well as father's death in 1864 (so obviously written thereafter), his three younger brothers are noted as being at Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell whereas James is at "Crane Court, Doctor's illegible word but could be Locum " so if he did indeed leave the country, it would seem to be after 1865 but before 1881 as there is no sign of him anywhere in the UK then.

A marriage record for a James has been found in St Olave in Dec 1880 - the very time that brother Thomas John (below) was living there. At 51 yrs of age he couldn't be described as a 'young man' but did he return to the UK to marry ? 

Thomas John Beckwith - b 29th Feb 1832. No baptism so far found.

Like his two younger brothers, he was born in Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell. However, as a 9 year old in 1841, he is shown living at Charlton Crescent seemingly in the household of one Richard Hayes (35, house decorator), wife Harriet (20), daughter Harriet (7 months) and two servants. (I say 'seemingly' because there are no house/flat numbers in the listing, the enumerator merely making a double slash mark at the start of each new 'household' . TJ is shown below one Mary Sharpe, the second of two consecutive 15yr old 'female servants' but there is a double slash between the two servants as well as one below TJ thereby making it appear that just Mary & TJ are a household..)

In 1851 he is still in Charlton Cresc (No 6) but this time he appears as a 19yr old 'nephew' to head-of-family widow Ann Sligh (b 1801 in Aylesbury) with his occupation as 'junior master at Lady Owen's School, Clerkenwell'. That Ann Sligh and TJ's mother Sarah were both born in Aylesbury within 5 years of one another could suggest that they were sisters but until a maiden surname can be found, there is no way of proving this. 

At the time of his admission into the Goldsmiths' Company (4th April 1860), he was a 'hospital clerk' and was living at 22, Roman Road, Barnesbury. One of his testimonies was made by Robert William Beckwith (his father's first cousin), a 'citizen and Goldsmith of London'. The birth certificate for TJ's eldest son George Ivatts Beckwith (b12/02/1861) qualifies his occupation as Clerk, King's College Hospital and Thomas's own diary for 1865 records his employment still by Kings College Hospital. He subsequently became secretary to the governors of St Olave's Grammar School in Southwark and is shown in 1881 as living at 70 Queen Elizabeth St, Southwark with a local girl employed as a house servant. In 1891 he is still shown as a "Schools Secretary" but the family had moved back north of the Thames to 31, Tollington Place, Islington. 

He died on 10th April 1892. A letter to his widow Eliza from the school on 15th April 1892 starts "at a special meeting of the Governors held here yesterday, I was desired to convey to you ... their sincere sympathy ... in your sad and sudden bereavement" and later continues "the value of the long and faithful service rendered to the school by your late husband" so it seems that the death was unexpected and that he was still employed by them at the time.

Married in St Pancras on 5th Dec 1858 Eliza FINALL, b 14th October 1838 in Islington, died 3rd Dec 1908 Stroud Green. For details her forebears and siblings, please see Tree 10. Contrary to family legend about Eliza being from Whitby, this tree shows that the Finall family were originally from Northamptonshire. However, Eliza's Father, William, was in service just north of Whitby in the early 1830's where he met and married Hannah Mackenzie and the first of their three children, William (jnr), was also born there. Hence, Eliza and her elder sister Maria (b Clerkenwell) had no direct connection with Whitby but their mother, Hannah, was from a long-standing Whitby family, so this is probably where the confusion arose. Incidentally, according to Thomas John's diary, it seems that Maria was living with him and Eliza in 1865.  

Sometime after February 1894, two years after Thomas's death, Eliza and the remaining family moved to 48 Victoria Road, Stroud Green - she is shown there in 1901 with George, Jessie, Nancy and Ellen ('Nell'). The final move in the early 1900's was to 28, Ossian Road, Stroud Green. This became the family home for at least a decade and it was there that Eliza died in 1908 after a short illness (see Index page for photo of her c1907).

For details of their offspring, please see Tree 2 and Tree 2 Notes (or simplified Tree 2s for only generations 9-12) 

George Henry Beckwith - b 25th Nov 1834 in Clerkenwell. No Baptism found.

Appears in 1851 census as a 16 yr old errand boy living at 31 Hatton Wall (with his mother & two brothers). 

Married in 1854 in Clerkenwell one Maria Ann BLAIN (also b c 1835 in Clerkenwell). No more information found.

George is shown in 1881 as a 'Bookbinders Warehouse Man' living at 1 Larne Terrace, Templeton Rd, Islington with his wife and their 16yr old daughter Emily Elizabeth. Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1888 at which time living at 28 Devonshire Street in Islington. Died Mar qtr 1891 in Islington 'age 55'.

In the 1891 census, Maria is still in Islington (looks like 27, Hanover St) with her unmarried daughter. As Maria is not in the 1901 census, a plausible death record for her is in Brentford, Middx in June 1899 ... the same place and year of death as Robert William (II).

For daughter Emily Elizabeth see 9-8.26

John Beckwith - b 17th April 1837 in Clerkenwell. Baptised 28th May 1837 at St James Clerkenwell. 

Appears in 1841 census as a 4yr old living with his mother and two siblings in Hatton Wall then, in 1851 as a 13 yr old 'errand boy' living at 31 Hatton Wall (with mother & two brothers).

Married  in Camberwell June 1/4 1864 Annie SNOWDEN. From census info, she was born c1839/1840 in the Marylebone/St Georges area of what is now the borough of Westminster but no birth record for an 'Annie' in the whole London area has yet been found. There is however a Sarah Mary Anne SNOWDEN born in June qtr 1838 in the St James's district of Westminster which is adjacent to the Marylebone district. Moreover, she appears in the 1841 census at the family home in Tufton St, Westminster with mother Sarah and grandmother Sarah too, so it is not unlikely that she was known as Annie. 

In 1871 the family is living at 80 Newington Butts but from 1881 onwards to 1901 they are at 94 Newington Butts, London SE1. He is consistently shown throughout as an 'Engraver, General' and the Goldsmith's Freedom by Patrimony in 1888 again confirms him being an engraver living at 94 Newington Butts.

A death record for John Beckwith aged 69 has been found for Dec qtr 1906 in Southwark and this tallies with  the note in Nell Beckwith's diary for 28th Dec 1906 that  "Uncle John died". There is a death record for an Annie Beckwith aged 66 in Dec qtr of 1904 in Southwark.

For details of the known offspring see Tree 12 Notes but there could well have been others who died young.

Offspring of Joseph Beckwith & Jane Pittard (7.42)

Joseph Beckwith - b 5th (or 25th) March 1801 in Clerkenwell. 

Married Eliza Greenwood ANSELL on 2 June 1825 at St Anne Limehouse.  

Died 22nd Oct 1827 and there is an entry for the Burial of Joseph Beckwith of  Wilderness Row, aged 26, on 28 October 1827 at St James Clerkenwell. (GD). An IGI source quotes 
"Joseph died of rapid consumption Oct 22 1827 leaving at his decease two children who rapidly followed him to the deep and lasting regret of his deservedly attached family". The children referred to were 3 month old daughter Jane Ann on Dec 9th 1827 and 15 month old son Joseph ( born Sep 1826) on 24th Dec.1827 "Both children were interred with their father in St James, Clerkenwell".

An Eliza Beckwith of suitable age appears in the 1841 census in Stoke Newington as a female servant but she hasn't been found yet in 1851.

Jane Elizabeth Beckwith b20/08/1805 in Clerkenwell. On 24/12/1830 she married John MOLLETT who became a successful Russian Merchant and banker in the City. 

Henry Samuel Beckwith b26th Feb 1809 in Aldersgate. Married Maria ALLEN. (family bible)

Their daughter, Francis Caroline, also married a Mollett, her 1st cousin Arthur Robert, son of John & Jane (8.42 above). (Rosemary Dearman, great great granddaughter of John & Jane via their youngest son, William Henry Colchester Mollett). 

Mary Ann Beckwith b 25/08/1811 at Wilderness Row. 

Married Frances William TOPHAM (family bible)

George Beckwith b6th Sep 1816 at Wilderness Row. Married in America.

Offspring of Joseph Beckwith & Ann Bartholomew (7.42b)

8.46

Joseph Bartholomew Beckwith b Feb 3rd 1834 (IGI). Shown in 1841 census as aged 7, living with his father & Ann in Wilderness Row and again with them in 1851 in Shoe Lane, this time as born Edmonton (probably Winchmore Hill). 

In Mar qtr 1858, in the St Brides area of the City, he married Emma BRATT who was born Sep qtr 1839 in the St Margaret's part of Westminster and was daughter of John Bratt, mine host at the Rose & Crown in Dartmouth Street, close to Westminster Abbey (Susan Walker). Tracing them thereafter has been a real saga - not to mention an object lesson in how misleading a single census can be. Not only did they move around London rather frequently but also just about every census between 1861 and 1901 reports incorrect and so misleading information. We are talking original Enumerator's sheets here, not later transcriptions, and in Joseph's case the birthplace has included such diverse locations as Barking and Bermondsey! Hence, having previously looked at just one census in isolation, he was discounted as not being related but, thanks now to having accessed all the available years, he has been traced successfully throughout .....

First port of call after marriage was the Northern Heights as in 1861 he was a 27yr old carpenter (again shown as born Edmonton) living in Golden Yard, Hampstead, with Emma (22) and sons Joseph (3) and Henry (1). Just to prove that this is the right Joseph, also with them was 10 year old Louisa, listed as born in the City of London and 'sister' (see 8.49 below). 

In 1871 he's in Peckham as a 'Journeyman Carpenter' and both he and Emma are shown as born in Barking. With them are Joseph (13), Kate (4), Lydia (3), Charles Alfred (3) and Arthur George (1) so Joseph jnr is the only common factor whilst the death record for a Henry James Beckwith in Newington in Mar qtr 1865 suggests that the sojourn in Hampstead was not for long. There is also a death in the same locality for a Catherine Beckwith in 1863 so this could have been another of their children and who died very young. 

In 1881 the family is back north of the river at 15 Mile End Old Town with correct parental birthplaces and ages for once but now with mostly different children again: Arthur (11), Henry Charles (8), Frank Thomas (4) - all b Bermondsey - and Sidney Ernest (2) b Poplar. Joseph jnr, now 23, has left home to marry (Annie age 24 from Norfolk and the couple are living at 91 Gladstone Road Wimbledon, he as a Carpenter, she with no occupation shown). No trace has been found of Kate, while Lydia (b Mar 1869 in Newington) died in Southwark in Dec qtr 1871 at the age of almost 3. Charles A is not listed (but he re-appears in 1891) so Arthur is the only common factor this time. The re-use of the name Henry will be noted - a not uncommon occurrence in the 19th century. 

Moving on then to 1891, Joseph has changed his allegiance to the number 8 bus so he's at 359 Old Ford Road, still a carpenter but now aged 57 and recorded as being born in 'London City'. Emma is shown as also being 57 (when actually 52!) but she's correctly shown as born in Westminster. Children now with them are:

- Charles Alfred (24) a 'Steam Engine Starter' b London City

- Henry Charles (19), a Warehouseman b Southwark

- Frank Thomas (16), also a Warehouseman, b Old Ford

- Sidney Ernest (13), [Emma] Phoebe (9) & Amelia Florence (7), all 'scholars' born Old Ford

so this time it's Arthur who's missing - presumed married in Dec qtr 1890 in Bromley by Bow. 

Finally, in 1901, they have moved to No 6 Blendon St, Bromley by Bow where Joseph, now 66 and still a carpenter, is shown as having been born in Bermondsey! The three boys have all left home to marry (1894, 1899 and 1898 respectively) leaving the two girls at home, Phoebe as a 'Jam Finisher' and Amelia as a 'Chocolate Coverer'. No comment.

Ann Bartholomew Beckwith b 25th May 1835, christened 16th March 1836 at Saint Giles Cripplegate in London (IGI). All censuses show her as (b1836) in Winchmore Hill, Edmonton. Not found in 1841 census but she is in the 1851 with parents and brother Joseph (see above). 

Married Absalom ADAMS on 10th July 1854 in St John the Baptist church, Hoxton (FreeBMD quotes Dec qtr 1854 in Shoreditch). She was a 'minor' and father Joseph is described as an 'Engineer' (KdH) but this may be a misprint of 'Engraver' (MGS). Absalom was born c1829 in North Weald near Ongar in Essex, son of James Adams, a carpenter and he too is shown as a carpenter. He is shown without occupation in 1861 and has not been traced in 1871 but in 1881 he is still a 'Carpenter & Joiner'. 

From the birth locations of their then 8 children (Clara, 21, Frederick 18, Ernest 14, Ada 12, Edwin 10, Cecilia 8, Sydney 6 and Amy 3), the family moved from their initial home in Poplar via Blackwall and Camberwell back to be on the Central Line again at High Road, Loughton (Essex) by 1881 and they were still there in 1891. 

His Christian name is wont to change spelling as he appears as Jona Beckwith in the 1841 census, aged 4, at the residence of (surprise surprise) James & Susan Atkins in Old Green Dragon Lane, Winchmore Hill, Edmonton. In 1851 it's back to Jonas Beckwith (as a 14 year old 'apprentice general worker' in Whitechapel living in the family of Joseph Swaffiield) then finally to (probably what was really originally intended) Jonah Beckwith from 1860 onwards.

He married Martha POLLOCK in Mar qtr 1860 in Southampton. Back in 1851, Martha aged 12 is living in Castle Lane, Southampton with her mother Martha and brother William but all are shown as born in "City of York" but FreeBMD confirms a Martha Knox Pollock b Liverpool in Mar qtr 1839 and she is also shown as b Liverpool in all later censuses.

In 1861 Jonah (by now a 25yr old tin plate worker) and his family are shown living at 4 Castle Lane in Southampton but whether or not this was the former home of the Pollocks or just another house in the same street is not known. An even bigger question is why he left London to settle in Southampton and then return less than ten years later. 

They had 5 children :
- Wlliam P Beckwith  bc 1858 in Southampton but no birth record found.
- Martha Ann Beckwith  b 1861 d Sep 1862 Southampton. Also no birth record found
- Emma Louisa Beckwith b Sep qtr 1863 d Mar 1865 Southampton
- Julia Louisa Beckwith b Sep qtr 1865 in Southampton
- Sarah A Beckwith b Jun qtr 1868 in Walworth, S E London . 

Sarah's birthplace indicates that the family had moved back to S E London by 1868. In 1871 Jonah turns up as a 'visitor' (but still a tin smith) to the household of widow Mary A Simpson at No 20 Northumberland Park, Poplar. Just for good measure, he appears in the indexes to the 1871 census as Josiah Beckwith (!) but the original manuscript clearly shows Jonah. 

His wife and family neatly evaded discovery in the 1871 census due to wildly inaccurate details recorded for them but they have finally been traced deep in more conventional Beckwith territory - 49 King & Queeen St, Newington - close to East Street Market down the Walworth Road. Martha is shown as 'Marthia', Head of the household (it had been Widow but this was crossed out) aged 83 (when she was just 32 !) born in Liverpool and an occupation which looks like 'brush painter'. William is a 13yr old 'printer' while Julia is incorrectly shown aged 8 but both correctly as born Southampton.

After Jonah's death in 1874, Martha Beckwith married Henry STEAD in St Saviour and is shown in 1881 as a 38yr old Laundress living at 33 Dante Road, St Saviours (close to the Elephant & Castle) with Henry (Coal Carmen, 39), Julia (Embroiderer, 15), Sarah (General Servant, 13) plus Alice Stead (11) and Harry Stead(1), the latter presumably being a product of their marriage.    

No trace of William has then been found after 1871 but Julia Louisa married married Reuben DUDLEY, a general labourer, in Dec qtr 1886 and in 1891 had 2 children whilst Sarah married Walter ARNOLD, a Greengrocer, in Dec qtr 1882 so in 1891 was the more fruitful with 3 children. All married then lived in the St Saviours area.    

No further trace can yet be found of Charles. A plausible death is in Islington in Dec qtr 1845.

Robert Bartholomew Beckwith b June qtr 1851 in the City of London.  Robert hasn't been found in the 1861 census but no death located either so the Robert in 1871 who is a 19yr old 'Brass(?) Finisher' born in Blackfriars and boarding in Aberfeldy Rd, Bromley by Bow, could well be him (MGS) ditto the Robert Beckwith, engineer, who married Martha Perry, (daughter of Henry Perry, labourer) at the parish church in Edmonton on 10th July 1875 (KdH)

These suppositions seem to be 100% confirmed by the 1881 census - Robert (now at no 1, Stanstead Rd in Lewisham) is shown as a 29yr old "Gas Gitter & Bellhanger" born London, St Brides; his wife Martha C age 25 likewise born in St Brides and three children all born in Forest Hill 'Kent' (!) - Henry Robert H  (4) and Albert Edward (2) and Henrietta Kate (3 months). BMD records confirm these births but show them as being in Lewisham.

Louisa Bartholomew Beckwith  b Dec qtr 1852 in the City of London (BMD). She is shown in 1881 as age 28 living in Rotherhithe, married to a 31yr old Bag Sorter by the name of George T HARRADINE and living with them are son William G J Harradine (6), daughter Louisa J Harradine (4) .... and 67yr old mother Ann Beckwith nee Bartholomew. 

Apart from mother Ann, who had probably died in 1890, the family is unchanged in the 1891 census but then in Dec qtr 1894 Louisa Harradine died aged 42 in St Olave so in 1901 it was the turn of Louisa jnr (now married to a Robert STOTHARD and still living in the Rotherhithe area) to look after an elder - her widowed father George, now aged 52 and a 'General Dealer'.

Louisa (1876-1954) and Robert Stothard (1876-1959) had a daughter Ellaline Stothard (1903-1977) who in the mid 1920's married John Andrew HODGES (b1892). It seems that this family was still then in the Rotherhithe area as their son, Roy John HODGES (1928-2001) was registered as born in St Olave. However Roy died in Bath where his daughter still lives. (EH).    

 . 

 Generation 9

Offspring of Robert William Beckwith (II) & Heloise Petronelle Estelle Capelle (8.11) - please see Tree 7

Offspring of Thomas John Beckwith & Eliza Finall (8.25) - please see Tree 2

Offspring of George Henry Beckwith & Maria Blain (8.26) 

Emily Elizabeth Beckwith - b 9th Feb 1865 in Kennington. Thomas John's diary notes on 9th Feb 1865 "George's wife confined - girl". 

Shown age 16 in 1881 living with parents in Islington as a 'Bookfolder' and in 1891 with her widowed mother as a 'Bookbinder'. However there's then a change of direction (probably following her mother's death) for in 1901 she has been traced to a nursing home in Buckingham, Bucks, where she is shown as "Hospital Nurse Sick" and still single at age 36. The death of an Emily E Beckwith, age 51, is recorded back in Southwark in 1915.

NB The previously shown marriage to Alexander Brooks HIGGENS in Sep qtr 1885 at St Saviours, Southwark, has been proven incorrect thanks to the 1891 and 1901 censuses. In a true application of Murphy's Law, this was a different Emily Elizabeth Beckwith who happened to have been born in the same parish in the same period of the same year. That Emily was the daughter of an Albert and Elizabeth Beckwith who originated in Bethnal Green, E London, so are probably not related, at least closely.

Offspring of John Beckwith & Annie Snowden (8.27) - please see Tree 12