The Tanton Tragedy

Millbank Prison, Westminster, Middlesex, England

James Tanton suffered many tragedies in his long life. When he died at the age of 90 in 1853 at Beaford, Devon, James had outlived not only his wife, but ten of his 15 children.

James was born in Bideford, Devon in 1768, and with his parents came to St Giles in the Wood about 1790. In 1797 his youngest brother Daniel died accidentally. Daniel's untimely death is described in gruesome detail on his gravestone:

In memory of DANIEL
TANTON by Firing off
a Gun it Burst the Breech
of which sunk in his Head
where it remained 9 weeks
on extraction of which He
expired ye 29^th of Jan^y 1797
aged 17 Years

In 1799, James married Mary Lemon at St Giles in the Wood. The first of their 15 children was born the following year. At the time of his marriage, James was an agricultural labourer. He soon acquired the means to become a tenant farmer at Blinsham in the neighbouring parish of Beaford. This was likely the result of an inheritance brought about by his father's death in 1801.

James and Mary's fourth child, Jane, died in 1804 at the age of four months. Four years later their seventh child, Richard, died at the age of seven months. Their ninth child, Hannah, was born in 1811. Six additional children followed, including twins in 1819, but all died within a few months of their births.

Their eight child, Charlotte, died in 1827 at the age of 17. Two years later, their daughter-in-law, Ann Leathern, wife of their oldest son James, also died.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy, however, involved James's youngest surviving daughter, Hannah. In 1834, Hannah had an illegitimate daughter whom she named Charlotte. Six years later she married Stephen Balkwill, an agricultural labourer from the nearby parish of Meeth. At the time of her marriage she was several months pregnant—not that unusual an occurrence. Two more children followed, both baptised in Merton.
 
Hannah died in August of 1847. Details of Hannah's death are recorded in the Merton burial register: "Killed in the harvest field by the cart going over her chest." Hannah's youngest was only 2½ years old.

A few months later a spate of burglaries occured in the area. After a break-in at the house of John Gordon on October 14th, suspicion fell on Stephen Balkwill, Hannah's widowed husband, and an accomplice, James Lewis. Stephen was arrested on October 30th, however, he escaped custody the following day despite being handcuffed. A reward of £10 was offered, but it wasn't until early December that he was recaptured at a lodging house in Crediton.

Between his escape and recapture, Stephen had fallen in with Mary Ann Eastman, who pretended to be Stephen's wife. Together they broke into the house of William Budd of Dolton on November 23rd. Evidence given at the trial showed how Stephen had cut through the shutter and removed a pane of glass from a window in order to gain entry. Mary Budd, the wife of William testified that "seven table-spoons, a dozen teas-spoons, four salt spoons, all silver, and various other articles" had been stolen. Some of this was recovered when Stephen and Mary Ann were arrested.

At their trial at the Devon Assizes on 16 Mar 1848, James Lewis and Mary Ann Eastman were sentenced to be transported for seven years. As Steven had been involved in both burglaries his sentence was fourteen years.

During the early 19th century, the British Government transported more than 165,000 convicts to penal colonies in Australia. Of these 76,000 were transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) between 1804 and 1855.

Prison Hulk (HMS Warrior)

Steven Balkwill never made it to Australia. The usual procedure for convicts awaiting transportation was to be first sent to the "hulks" in London. Prison hulks were old navy ships anchored on the banks of the Thames. Steven, however, was sent to Millbank Prison. Millbank was located near Vauxhill Bridge in Westminster (now the site of Tate Britain) and, beginning in 1843, was used to house convicts awaiting transportation to Australia.

Conditions at both the prison hulks and at Millbank were appalling, and diseases such as typhoid and cholera were rampant. Stephen Balkwill died at Millbank on 13 October 1848.

In October 1848, Mary Ann Eastman was transferred from the Devon County Gaol to Millbank Prison. She eventually was one of 170 female convicts transported on the Stately which sailed from England on 12 May 1849, and arrived in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on 2 Sep 1849. The records also show that Mary Ann died in Hobart a month after her arrival.

In the 1851 Census, all three of Stephen's children, Stephen, Mary Ann, and John, are inmates of the Torrington Workhouse. Ten years later all had obtained employment as servants. Mary Ann married in 1865 and Stephen in 1878. What became of their their half-sister Charlotte is not known.

Sources:


Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 20 Nov 1847
Exeter Flying Post, 8 Dec 1847
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, March 25, 1848
Exeter Flying Post, 19 Oct 1848

John Squire (1811-1890) — Organ Builder

Builder's Plate, St Peter's, Brampton, Suffolk

One of the interesting aspects of genealogical research is the connection to social history. I've previously written about the Tanton family of St Giles in the Wood, Devon. While recently updating my records on this family, I discovered that I had missed three children of Elizabeth Tanton (1770-1846) and her husband Robert Squire (1768-1846). At first I was sceptical given the ten year gap between the baptism of their fourth child in 1799 and that of their fifth in 1809. What convinced me, however, was three things. First, there is no evidence of any other Robert and Elizabeth Tanton in North Devon. Second, their sixth child, John Squire, had a daughter named Frances Tanton Squire. Finally, in the 1851 Census, John Squire is recorded as visiting his oldest sister Fanny and her family.

What is most interesting about John Squire, however, is that in every census from 1841 to 1881 his occupation is recorded as organ builder. Further research uncovered photographs of one of his organs in St Peter's Church in Brampton, Suffolk.

St Pancras Church, London

John Squire was born in Great Torrington, Devon in 1811. His father was a carpenter. In 1832, John married Mary Ann Slocombe (1808-1879) in the parish of Alphington near Exeter. Five children were baptised at St Sidwell in Exeter. The first reference to John as an organ builder was in the record for his daughter, Frances Tanton Squire's baptism in 1836. In about 1839, John moved with his family to London. While in London, John and Mary Ann had four more children who were all baptised at St Pancras. It is interesting to note their daughter's Elizabeth (1842-1927) and Rosina (1845-1929) were not baptised until 1854.

At the time of the 1841 Census he was living on Seymour Crescent near Euston Square in the parish of St Pancras. He remained in the Euston Square area for at least the next twenty years, but by 1871 was living a mile further east in a terraced house on Pentonville Road.

Organ, St. Peter's Church
Brampton, Suffolk

John Squire was part of what became known as the Golden Age of British organ building. Before the 1830s, none of the organs found in Great Britain could compare with the organs found in churches and cathedrals throughout France and Germany. For example, the music of J.S. Bach, which was becoming very popular, could often not be performed as written. This created a demand for better instruments. In addition, the prosperity and population growth created by the Industrial Revolution, resulted in the building and renovation of many churches, and consequently the demand for new organs.

The leading organ builder of the Victorian era was Henry Willis (1821-1901). Among the organs he built or rebuilt were the instruments at St Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall. While John Squire could not compete with Henry Willis, smaller churches were more than willing to commission him. The National Pipe Organ Register has records of 19 instruments built or rebuilt, one of which was the organ at St Peter's in Brampton, Sussex.

Sometime before the death of his wife in 1879, John Squire moved to Wandsworth, Surrey where he remained until his death in 1890.

An Imprudent Marriage: Sarah Stephenson (1782-1836)

Gravestone of Sarah Stephenson at St George's Anglican Church

Sometimes the most unassuming of gravestones leads to the most interesting of stories.

The gravestone in 1983

One such gravestone is found at St George's Anglican Church in St. Catharines, Ontario. Lying flat on the ground and almost completely obscured by grass, is the monument to Sarah Stevenson, wife of William Dummer Powell. Anyone familiar with the history of Upper Canada will recognize the name. William Dummer Powell (1755-1834) was Chief Justice of Upper Canada from 1816 to 1825, and was also one of three judges at the Bloody Assize of 1814. He was a member of the York elite, a group usually referred to as the Family Compact. William Dummer Powell, however, did not have a wife named Sarah. This is the grave of his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son, William Dummer Powell (1778-1803). Her story is both romantic and tragic.

Sarah Stephenson (1782-1836) was the daughter of Captain Francis Stephenson (1750-1807), formerly of the Queen's Rangers, and his wife Eleanor Townsend (? -1830). After the American Revolution, Captain Stephenson initially settled in New Brunswick, but was later granted land in Louth Township, to the west of present-day St Catharines.

Where and how young William and Sarah met is uncertain, however, William's father and his wife Anne Murray (1755-1849), were not at all impressed with eighteen-year-old Sarah. Their disapproval resulted in an elopement. William and Sarah were married at Niagara on 25 Jul 1801 by Rev. Robert Addison.  In a letter from Queenston dated three days later, William thanked Robert Nelles of Grimsby and his wife for their help:

Dear Sir:—I should be unpardonable if I lost any time returning the hearty thanks which are so justly due from me to you for your kind and friendly assistance in rendering me one of the most happy of men. After leaving your house on Friday night we had as uncommonly fatiguing ride to Runchey's and arrived at Niagara on the following morning where, by Mr. Addison's assistance we were soon out of fear of pursuit. Mrs. Powell joins with me in her professions of gratitude to yourself and Mrs. Nelles and requests that you will take the trouble of apprising her sister, Ellen, of her love and obligations to her for the part she took in forwarded our escape. Believe me dear Sir, your obliged and obedient servant, W.D. Powell, Jr.

Portrait of Anne Powell, 1834

Justice Powell's biographer, William Reddick Riddle, described the "runaway marriage" as "one of the romances of the time." Anne Powell described it as marrying "imprudently." Ironically, Anne's marriage to William Dummer Powell Sr. had also been an elopement.

Sadly, the marriage between William and Sarah was not to last. William drowned on 29 Sep 1803.

William and Sarah had two daughters. Mary, likely born in 1802, and Anne, born after the death of her father. Sarah was considered unfit to raise the girls, so both were legally adopted by her husband's parents. In a letter Anne Powell wrote of Sarah: "Surely it is not unjust to say she feels not maternal affection. She left them without a tear." Sarah was, however, given an allowance of 25 pounds a year.

William and Anne Powell's concern for their grandchildren may have been justified. A few years later, in a letter to her brother, Anne wrote:

Her neglect even of her children would in any other character by surprising. Not a line has she written for months, & when she did write, no one was mentioned with any marks of an affectionate remembrance. Unfortunate marriage! In what difficulties has it involved me.

Unfortunately, we only have Anne Powell's side of the story. It is clear, however, that Anne wanted the best for her granddaughters, and that the best did not include their mother:

The children are better when she is at a distance. The imbecility of her mind prevents her from seeing what is best for them and produces frequent disgusts.

Years later another scandal arose. Sarah, now in her thirties, fell in love with young man of seventeen. She pursued him even after he rebuked her. He told her that she was old enough to be his mother, and that he hated her. Sarah's sister-in-law, Mary Powell, became involved and convinced Sarah to stop acting so foolishly.

Sarah lived quietly in St. Catharines for the rest of her life. She died at the age of 54 in 1836. It is likely that she was buried at the First Anglican Chapel Burial Grounds, but was later reinterred at St George's Anglican Church.

Sources:

McKenna, Katherine. A Life of Propriety: Anne Murray Powell and Her Family, 1755-1849. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994. Print.

Riddell, William Reddick. The Life of William Dummer Powell, First Judge at Detroit and Fifth Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1924. Print.

Hazards of Gravestone Photography

 

Over the years I have photographed thousands of gravestones. Sometimes it can be quite challenging. I've dealt with gravestones obscured by encroaching grass, day lilies, wild grape vines, or lilac bushes. I've excavated half-buried gravestones. I've dealt with numerous lighting issues: gravestones in heavy shade, gravestones that face north, gravestones that can only be read when the sun shines perpendicular to the stone. But I've never had to deal with a wasp's nest on a monument. I'll think I'll wait for freezing temperatures, or use a telephoto lens.

An Ocean Apart: The Voddens of Esquesing

Gravestone of Thomas Vodden (1814-1816)

It is the quite the distance between the parish of St Giles in the Wood in Devon, England, and the hamlet of Walsh in Norfolk, Ontario. These two places, however, are linked by the gravestones of two brothers.

Thomas Vodden the son of Laurence Vodden (1782-1855) and Ann Manning (1781-1873), was baptised at Burrington, Devon on 9 Jun 1814. When Thomas died two years later he was buried at St Giles in the Wood. Why his parents choose to bury him there might baffle the researcher, as St Giles in the Wood is several kilometres from Week in Burrington where Laurence was a yeoman farmer. Laurence, however, was living in St Giles at the time of his marriage, and his father and grandfather were both born there. Laurence's great-grandfather, Laurence Vodden (?–1733), is the common ancestor of numerous Vodden lines in North Devon.

Ann Manning (1781-1873)

Laurence, the son of Thomas Vodden (1747–1810) and Judith Mill (1750-1827) was baptised at Beaford, Devon on June 23, 1782. Laurence married Ann Manning at South Molton on April 7,1808. Ann, the daughter of  Charles Manning (1752–?) and Elizabeth Hill (1756–?), was baptised at Burrington in December 1781.

It is possible that Laurence and Ann had a child between the time of their marriage and the birth of their son Laurence in 1811, however, no record of this child has been found. Thomas was their second child, followed by Elizabeth in 1816, Ann in 1818, Grace in 1820, Rose in 1822, and Rebecca in 1825. All of their children were baptised at Burrington.

The 1838 Tithe Apportionment shows two farms with the name Week in Burrington: Higher Week and Week Park. Both farms are small: Week Park at 16 acres and Higher Week at 26 acres. In 1838 Higher Week was owned by Robert Chichester and occupied by John Manning, possibly the brother of Ann. The Higher Week farmhouse dates from about 1600 and is Grade II listed.

Higher Week Farmhouse, Burrington, Devon

According to an 1895 article in the Acton Free Press, written to celebrate their daughter Rebecca Vodden's fiftieth wedding anniversary, Laurence and Ann emigrated to Canada about 1829, part of a group from Burrington that included Laurence's brother Robert (1785– ?), his wife Sarah, and their three children. After spending a few years in Northumberland County, New Brunswick, both families moved to Esquesing Township, Halton County to the west of Toronto. 

 

Laurence Vodden
(1811-1884)

A few years after their arrival in Canada, their son Laurence married Mary Ann Hutchinson, the daughter of another English emigrant. The younger Laurence had ten children, five of whom were born in Esquesing.

By 1852, Laurence had relocated to Walpole Township in Haldimand County. Between 1861 and 1871, he moved to Charlotteville Township in Norfolk. When he died in 1884, he was buried in the Walsh Cemetery.  Laurence has two grave markers: a plain slab with his name and dates as well as the name and dates of his wife and two of his children. Nearby is the original gravestone, broken into five pieces and lying flat on the ground.

Vodden-Kennedy Monument
Greenwood Cemetery, Georgetown

The older Laurence died in 1855. At the time of the 1861 and 1871 Censuses, his widow Ann was living with her daughter Ann and son-in-law John Kennedy (1821-1886) in Georgetown. Ann died in 1873. Laurence and Ann's names are inscribed on a monument in Greenwood Cemetery, although there is evidence that they were buried at the Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery, then moved to Greenwood in the 1890s.

John Kennedy was the son of land surveyor Charles Kennedy (1792-1854) who mapped out the north half of Esquesing in 1819, and built a sawmill on Silver Creek. Ann Street in Georgetown is named after Charles's daughter-in-law, Ann Vodden. In 1845, John Kennedy built Cleave House, named after the subsequent owners. In 1871 he built and moved into a Victorian cottage now known as the John Kennedy House. Ann died in 1886, ten months after her husband.

Laurence and Ann's oldest daughter, Elizabeth Vodden, married James Walter (1809–?) in New Brunswick in 1834 and had ten children. They were among the first settlers in Arran Township, Bruce County, after living in Esquesing for a number of years. Although James died before 1861, Elizabeth remained in Arran with her children until the 1880s when she moved to St Thomas in Elgin County. Elizabeth died in St Thomas in 1898.

James's brother George Walter (1807-1892) married Elizabeth's cousin Betsy Vodden (1816-1884) in New Brunswick in 1836 shortly the families moved to Esquesing.

Grace Vodden married Miller Hemstreet (1807–1885) and had five children. Grace and Miller emigrated to the United States before 1870 and settled near Cleveland, Ohio. Grace died in Cleveland in 1897.

Rebecca Hemstreet
née Vodden 1825-1920

Rose Vodden married Samuel Snell (1813–1878) of Chinguacousy Township, Peel County. Like Rose, Samuel had been born in Burrington, Devon, and had emigrated to Upper Canada via New Brunswick, along with his parents. Rose and Samuel had a daughter, Martha born in 1841, and a daughter Mary, born on March 26, 1843. Rose died in October of that year and was buried at the Zion Cemetery in Chinguacousy.

Laurence and Ann's youngest daughter, Rebecca, married Richard Hemstreet (1818-1908), the brother of Miller Hemstreet. Rebecca died in 1920 a few days before her 95th birthday. Richard was born in New York but had come with his parents to Upper Canada at the age of three. At the time of his death, Richard and Rebecca had been married for 63 years. Rebecca and Richard had seven children and were buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Milton, Ontario.

Revised November 15, 2022

The Book Cemetery

Book Cemetery, Ancaster, Wentworth, Ontario

The Book Cemetery is one of several old family cemeteries in the Ancaster area of Ontario. Unlike the nearby Shaver Cemetery, time has not been kind to the Book Cemetery. Many monuments are weathered, toppled or broken, and there is evidence that vandalism has been a problem in the past. A number of very old monuments, however, survive in situ, including two from 1815.

The cemetery is located at Lot 45, Concession 4, Ancaster on land that John Book (1754-1827) was granted in 1801. Johannes Buch, later anglicized to John Book was born in Heidelburg, Germany. About 1774 he married Anna Gertraute Zimmerman (1752-1829), who adopted the name Charity when she came to North America. In 1786, the couple and their seven children emigrated to the New Jersey, where their eighth child was born. Two years later they relocated to Canada. By 1789 they were one of 22 families squatting in the Ancaster area. John and Charity eventually had 12 children, nine of whom are buried at Book Cemetery. One of their daughters, Mary Catherine, married William Shaver (1771-1846) and is buried at Shaver Cemetery.

Book House in 1960

In 1811, John Book began work on a two-and-a-half story red brick house, but construction was interrupted by the War of 1812 when John's sons George, John and Adam served with the 5th Regiment Lincoln Militia. The Georgian style house, was completed shortly after the war and featured a five-bay symmetrical design with chimneys at the gable ends. The sash windows originally would have been 12-over-12, and the door had sidelights and a half-moon fanlight over the door. The house, surrounding farmland, and cemetery remained in the Book family until 1907. The building was the oldest brick house in Ancaster until it was destroyed by fire in 2005 in a suspected case of arson.

Mary Book 1759-1815

While oldest gravestone in the Book Cemetery is that of Henry Book (1795-1815), tenth child of John and Charity, far more interesting is the red slate gravestone of Mary Book (1759-1815), possibly an unmarried sister of John. John and Charity's gray slate gravestones are also extant as are their footstones.

Completing a photographic inventory of this cemetery was a challenge. The 1985 Ontario Genealogical transcription is incomplete as at least six gravestones were not listed. It also contains numerous errors, and does not appear to have been completed in any sort of systematic fashion. This made it next to impossible to identify the several unreadable gravestones based on their location. Fortunately an 1890 transcription is also available, as is a cultural heritage assessment report prepared in 2010.
 

John Book (1754-1827)

The Prendergast Gravestones

Gravestone of Penelope Prendergast (1774-1845)
St. George's Anglican Church, St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario

Partially hidden by the barberry shrubs that grow in the courtyard cemetery of St George's Anglican Church in St. Catharines, Ontario, is a 19th century gravestone to Penelope and Jedidiah Prendergast. What is unusual about this stone is that there is another stone to Penelope and Jedidiah in the Prendergast Cemetery in Mayville, Chautauqua, New York.

Portrait of Jedidiah Prendergast
St. Catharines Museum

Jedidiah, a physician, was born in Pawling, Dutchess, New York on 13 May 1766. He was the fourth son of William Prendergast (1727-1811) and Mehitable Wing (1738-1812). Jedidiah married Penelope Chase, the daughter of William Chase (1754-1813), a Rhode Island merchant, and Catherine Rodman (? -1789). Penelope was born in Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island in 1774.

The year Jedidiah was born, his father was charged with leading an armed revolt against landowners in the Hudson Valley. When he was found guilty and sentenced to hang, his wife Mehitable rode over 100 kilometres on horseback from to beg the governor for a stay of execution. Eventually, William Prendergast was granted a full pardon by King George III.

Portrait of Penelope Prendergast
St. Catharines Museum

Almost four decades later, William and Mehitable departed New York for Tennessee, accompanied by most of their children and grandchildren. Tennessee was not to their liking, so they headed north to the Chautauqua Lake area of Western New York. It is unclear whether Jedidiah and Penelope went with them. What is know is that Jedidiah moved to Upper Canada and settled at St. Catharines, then know as Shipman's Corners. Jedidiah was the first non-military doctor in the Thorald and St. Catharines area.

When his father died in 1811, Jedidiah rejoined the rest of his family in Chautauqua, and became a merchant in partnership with his brother Martin Prendergast (1769-1835). Jedidiah would eventually go on to become a New York State Senator.

In the few years Jedediah and Penelope had been in Upper Canada they had become acquainted with the Merritt family, including young William Hamilton Merritt (1793-1862). William married Jedidiah’s daughter Catherine Rodman Prendergast (1793-1862) in 1815. William Hamilton Merritt was a soldier, merchant, and politician, and is considered the “father” of the Welland Canal. The numerous letters held at the Archives of Ontario, and the letters published in an 1876 biography, show that William frequently turned to his father-in-law for advice.

Gravestone of Penelope Prendergast (1774-1845)
Prendergast Cemetery, Mayville, Chautauqua, New York

Penelope Chase Prendergast died at St. Catherines on February 1, 1845 during a visit to her daughter and son-in-law, and according to the burial register was interred in the churchyard of St. George’s Anglican three days later. Jedidiah died in 1848 at his home in Mayville, Chautauqua, and was buried at the Prendergast Cemetery. When William Hamilton Merritt erected a gravestone for his mother-in-law at St. George’s, he also decided to commemorate his father-in-law Jedidiah. Apparently, Jedidiah’s relatives in Chautauqua had the same idea.

Drawing of the Prendergast Gravestone from
the 19th Century Tombstone Database Project