Samuel Benbow and Mary Breeden

© Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0) geograph.org.uk/p/6294630
St Dunstan's Church, Stepney

Samuel Benbow (b. ~ 1699), son of Richard Benbow and Grace Beer, married Mary Breeden at St Mary's Church, Bromley St Leonard's, on 10 Jan 1723.

Samuel and Mary Benbow had eight children:

1. Sarah Benbow b. 18 Jan 1724, daughter of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer and Mary, bap. 7 Feb 1724 (at 20 days old), at St Dunstan's, Stepney
2. Grace Benbow, daughter of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer was buried on 1 Apr 1726, at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney. Assuming she had been born that same year and died at birth, or shortly thereafter.
3. Joseph Benbow, son of Samuel Benbow and Mary, bap. 21 May 1727 and buried on 28 May 1727, in Stepney, Middlesex
4. John Benbow son of Samuel Benbow and Mary, bap. 19 May 1728
5. Elizabeth Benbow, daughter of Samuel Benbow and Mary, bap. 18 Jan 1729; died aged 13 and was buried on 20 Nov 1742 in Stepney
6. Ann Benbow b. Friday, 12 May 1732, daughter of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer of Rat (Ratcliff) and Mary, bap. 4 Jun 1732 (at 23 days)
7. Joseph Benbow b. Monday, 14 Oct 1734, son of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer of Rat (Ratcliff) and Mary, bap. 10 Nov 1734 (at 27 days). Died just before his first birthday, on 2 Oct 1735.
8. Mary Benbow b. Sunday, 5 Oct 1735, daughter of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer of Rat (Ratcliff) and Mary, bap. 2 Nov 1735 (at 28 days old), at St Dunstan, Stepney. Mary, daughter of Samuel Benbow was buried at St Dunstan, on 30 Sep 1737, just short of her 2nd birthday.

Mary Benbow, wife of Sam Benbow, Bricklayer, was buried at St Dunstan, Stepney on 26 Feb 1735. This was 1735 by the Julian calendar, then used, but 1736 on the Gregorian calendar. Before 1752, the year began on March 25th, not January 1st. Thus entries between January 1st and March 24th of a given year would be, confusingly, one year behind our calendar. 

Samuel Benbow, Widower, then married Mary Hudson, Widow, both of the Parish of St Dunstan, Stepney at St Botolph's Aldgate (the previous Medieval church), on 24 Feb 1738. It hasn't been possible to narrow down a possible previous marriage to determine this Mary's maiden name and parentage.

In 1739, tax records place Samuel Benbow in Brooke Street, Ratcliff.

Samuel Benbow and his second wife had one daughter:

1. Mary Benbow b. Friday, 13 Jun 1740, daughter of Samuel Benbow, Bricklayer of Ratcliff and Mary, bap. 29 Jun 1740 (at 16 days old).

In 1746, tax records place Samuel Benbow on Cock Hill (The Highway).

Samuel Benbow of Ratcliff, Bricklayer, aged about 51 years, died on the 14 Nov 1750. (Actually, the original record says 1751, however, the deaths either side of his were in 1750 and Probate was granted on 20 Dec 1750, so I believe the record keeper saw his age of 51 and made a slip up in the year.) Samuel reportedly died of convulsions and was buried on 18 Nov 1750, at the Friends Burying Ground near Schoolhouse Lane. He left everything to his 'affectionate wife Mary Benbow' and appointed her sole Executrix.

James Benbow and Frances Stalker

Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0) geograph.org.uk/p/7925691
River Thames at Ratcliff (The Lost Hamlet Of Ratcliff)

James Bendbow (sic) (b. about 1699) of Ratcliff, Bricklayer, son of Richard Bendbow of the same place and trade, deceased (then eldest surviving son of Richard Benbow and Grace Beer), married Frances Stalker, daughter of Thomas Stalker of Sotheringby, Cumberland, Carpenter, deceased, at the Monthly Meeting of Peel's Court, John Street, Westminster on 27 Nov 1740. Relatives present were: Samuel and Mary Bendbow, Sarah and James Terney and Hannah Preston [1]. (Many people in this era considered Quaker couples to be living in sin because they didn't have clergy to officiate.)

As they had married late, both aged around 40, they did not have children.

James Benbow of Brook Street in the Parish of Stepney, aged about 62 years, died on 23 Apr 1761, of convulsions. He was buried on 26 Apr 1761 at the Friends Burying Ground at Ratcliff (Ratcliffe Quaker Burial Ground). The will of James Bendbow (sic) of St Dunstan's Stepney, Bricklayer, left everything (including 11 freehold houses) to his wife Frances to dispose of, as mentioned above, with bequests to his sister Sarah Terney, and his nieces (he'd said cousins[2]) Elizabeth Travally, Ann Benbow and Mary Haselden [3].

Frances Bendbow (sic) of Brook Street, Ratcliff in the Parish of Stepney, aged about 66 years, died on 17 May 1766, of a Dropsy (Edema, also spelled oedema, also known as fluid retention), and was buried on 23 May 1766 at the Friends Burying Ground, near School House Lane, Ratcliff.

[1] Found no other records of Hannah Preston to know how she was related.

[2] Interestingly, “cousin” was often used in the past to mean a niece or a nephew, a now obsolete sense that the OED defines as a “collateral relative more distant than a brother or sister; a kinsman or kinswoman, a relative; formerly very frequently applied to a nephew or niece.” [Source]

[3] Ann Benbow and Mary Haselden were daughters of Samuel Benbow.

Winnall Travally and Elizabeth Benbow

St Dunstan's Church, Stepney
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Marathon - geograph.org.uk/p/6294631

Winnall Travally (b. 26 Apr 1715, bap. 15 May 1715 at St Dunstan, Stepney), son of Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall, married Elizabeth Benbow (b. 15 Jul 1716, bap. 5 Aug 1716 at St Dunstan, Stepney), daughter of Richard Benbow and Elizabeth Cowtley by Licence granted on 14 Oct 1738.

Winnall Travally and Elizabeth Benbow, it appears, had four children; 

1. Sarah Travaly b. Sunday, 5 Aug 1739, Sarah Trevelly (sic) daughter of Winnall Trevelly (sic) Waterman of White Horse Street and Elizabeth, bap. 19 Aug 1739 (at 14 days old) at St Anne's Limehouse
2. Winnall Travally b. Tuesday, 11 Aug 1741, Winnall son of Winnall Travally, Waterman of White Horse Street, Ratt & Elizabeth, bap. 6 Sep 1741 (at 26 days old) at St Anne's Limehouse. Winnall son of Winnall Travally, Waterman was buried 8 Nov 1741, at St Anne's Limehouse
3. Elizabeth Travally b. Sunday, 3 Oct 1742, Elizabeth daughter of Winnall Travally, Waterman of White Horse Street & Elizabeth bap. 14 Nov 1742 (at 42 days old) at St Anne's Limehouse
4. Esther Travally b. Thursday, 27 Sep 1744, Hestor (sic) daughter of Winnall Travally, Lighterman of White Horse Street and Elizabeth bap. 21 Oct 1744 (at 24 days old) at St Anne's Limehouse

Winnall Travally, was a Waterman on the Thames, as was his father.

Elizabeth Travally "Inherited three houses on White Horse Street, Ratcliff, left to her in the Will of her uncle James Bendbow (sic) (died 1761), on the death of his widow Frances in 1766." In fact, James' Will specifies "give unto Elizabeth Travally my cousin three houses freehold in White Horse Street ...", but he was using the word ‘cousin’ in a generic sense, to mean any close relation; she was his niece as James was her father's brother.

Elizabeth Travally of Poplar died, aged 63, sadly, from 'mortification' (mortification is more technically called gangrene or necrosis) and was buried on Thursday, 24 Jun 1779, at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney. 

Winnall Travally of Poplar died, aged 68, of Consumption (Tuberculosis) and was buried, on 18 Jul 1783, in the Rector's Grounds at St Dunstan's, Stepney.

Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall

St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/3477011

Thomas Travally (b. ~1676) [1] and Rachel Winnall (b. ~1680), daughter of John Winnall and Alice Woodin, married at the church of St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney, on 20 Sep 1704. The record lists Thomas Trevalle (sic) of Ratcliff, Waterman and Rachel Winnall of Blackwall, where her father was also a Thames Waterman. (St Dunstan's, known as the "Church of the high seas" because of the great number of sailors who lived there and "The Mother Church of the East End" has had an important role in my family history, from baptisms in the 1630s, to the baptism of my own grandfather in 1897.)

Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall had six children:

1. Elizabeth Travally b. Monday, 6 Aug 1705, daughter of Thomas and Rachel Travally of Ratcliff, Waterman was bap. 26 Aug 1705 (at 20 days old) at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney [2]
2. Esther Travally daughter of Thomas and Rachell Travally of Ratc[liff] Waterman bap. 18 Jul 1709 at St Dunstan and All Saints (the edge of the page is missing that would have shown the number of days old) [3]
3. Mary Travally b. Tuesday, 22 Jan 1712, [daughter] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratt Waterman bap. 30 Jan 1712 at St Dunstan (at 8 days old)
4. Winnall Travally b. Tuesday, 26 Apr 1715, [son] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratt Waterman bap. 15 May 1715 at St Dunstan (at 19 days old)
5. Martha Trevally (sic) b. Sunday, 29 Jan 1716, [daughter] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratc Waterman bap. 17 Feb 1716 (at 19 days old)
6. Warden Travally b. Saturday, 1 Feb 1718, son of Thos Travally of Ratt Waterman and Rachel bap. 10 Feb 1718 at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney (at 9 days old). As Warding (sic) son of Thomas Travally of Rat was buried at St Dunstan and All Saints on 1 Nov 1719.

According to the Binding Records of the Thames Watermen & Lightermen, Winnall Travally was apprenticed and therefore bound to his father, Thomas, on 18 Jul 1729. He would then have been around 14 and would be free on 20 Jan 1743, by which time he would have been 28 years old. That seems an inordinately long time. Did Thomas just not trust his son? Apprenticeships are still completed for those wanting to work on the river, offered through the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, lasting 5 years.

"If watermen were the river’s taxi drivers, then lightermen drove the lorries."

Race for Doggett's Coat and Badge

The World's Oldest Boat Race

Since 1715 the Race for Doggett’s Coat and Badge has been passionately rowed by apprentice river workers on the Thames. It is believed to be the oldest continually competed sporting event in the world. Thames Watermen compete to earn a coveted red Waterman's coat and badge. The race therefore dates, coincidentally, to the year of Winnall Travally's birth. Thomas and Winnall must surely have known about it. Could they even have taken part? (And little did I think that I might have been 'following family tradition' when I took part in the Dongola Race at Sunbury Amateur Regatta one year.)

Land Tax Records in 1736 and 1738 place Thomas Travally in Butcher Row and Ratcliff Cross, respectively. (Butcher Row on a 1795 map, The Lost Hamlet Of Ratcliff, In Search of Old Ratcliffe, Ratcliffe Cross Stairs.)

On 22 Dec 1741, Martha Travally of Ratcliffe Cross, Master Milliner, is listed in the Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures (Premium £4 0s 0d), having taken an apprentice, Elizabeth Goffe, daughter of Joseph Goffe. (Apprentices usually being 14, there was indeed an Elizabeth Goffe, daughter of Joseph & Susannah Goffe, baptised at St Dunstan's, on 17 Dec 1727.)

Thomas Travally of Pump Yard [Ratcliff] (parallel to Narrow Street) was buried at St Anne, Limehouse on 14 Mar 1744 - St Anne's, Limehouse was consecrated in 1730. Prior to 1730, the parishioners were included in Stepney St Dunstan Parish. The parish includes Limehouse, the Regent's and ship building docks, and until 1838, part of the hamlet of Ratcliff.

Rachel Travally, Widow, also listed as being of Pump Yard, was also buried at St Anne, Limehouse, on 15 July 1755.

1. A year of 1676 has been suggested for Thomas' birth and there's a baptism of a Thomas Travell (sic), son of Thomas and Mary Travell, on 24 Jul 1676, at St Botolph without Aldgate. Elsewhere, a 1685 birth has been inferred and the baptism that has been associated, at St James, Westminster, was for Thomas the son of Sr Thomas Travell - Sr is Sir - who was a Member of Parliament from the 1690s. Not impossible, but highly improbable that the son of an MP and knight of the realm, would become a waterman in the east end. However, there are no records to corroborate either and no indication of his age at death, but I'm more inclined to accept the former. It could, of course, be neither.
2. It has been inferred that Elizabeth Travally died in 1709, however, the burial referred to is for an Elisabeth Travell of Wapp (Wapping) Spinster. Name has inconsistencies, wrong area and a four year old would not be considered a Spinster, therefore I'm unable to accept this record.
3. In 1764, Esther Travally was listed in the Land Tax records at Painters Rents. There is a burial of an Esther Travally of Ratcliff, with age given as 65, at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, on 3 Feb 1779.

Morris Glede and Sarah Thorn

St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/3477077

Morris Glede (or Gleed) b. 1783, married Sarah Thorn b. 1793, at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney on 14 Sep 1812. Both of them were listed as from the Hamlet of Ratcliff, a sub-district, in Stepney and Limehouse parishes. The marriage was solemnised in the presence of [unreadable] and Ann Gleed. 

Records exist for the following children: 

1. William Gleed b. 26 Dec 1813, bap. 20 Feb 1814 at St Dunstan
2. Sarah Glede b. 1 Aug 1815, bap. 3 Dec 1815 in Edmonton
3. Marian Glead b. 3 Aug 1818, bap. 18 Oct 1818 in Edmonton 
4. Esther Gleed, bap. 12 Nov 1829 at St Dunstan and All Saints
5. Robert Morris Gleed, b. 8 Oct 1833, bap. 14 Jan 1844 at All Saints, Poplar

All of the baptisms show them as children of Morris and Sarah. On Sarah's baptism, their address is listed as Fore Street, Edmonton.

In 1841, Morris Gleed (58), wife Sarah (48), daughter Esther (17) and son Morris (8) were living in Water Lane, Fore Street, Edmonton. Also in the household were Thomas Acland (20) and Sarah Batts (4). (There is no indication of relationships, but could she be a granddaughter?)

Morris Gleed died, at 58, in 1843 M Qtr in EDMONTON Vol 03 Page 97. 

In 1851, Sarah Gleed (58), widow, laundress, from Bromley, Middlesex, was at Victory Row, Mile End Old Town, with Morris (18) dock labourer. 

There is a death of a Sarah Gleed with age estimated as 74, in 1865 M Quarter in POPLAR UNION Volume 01C Page 553, which may relate.

Herbert Haselden and Mary Benbow

© Philip Halling (cc-by-sa/2.0geograph.org.uk/p/7164781
Hereford Cathedral

Herbert Haselden (bap. 26 Nov 1731 in Hereford), son of Robert Haselden and Magdalene Howorth, married Mary Bendbow (sic) (b. 13 Jun 1740 in Ratcliff, Stepney), only daughter of Samuel Benbow and his second wife, Mary, married in Stepney (venue is not listed), on 10 May 1757.

This couple had two daughters:

1. Mary Magdalene Haselden b. 22 Feb 1758, bap. 23 Feb 1758 (at 1 day old) at St Dunstan's, Stepney.
2. Frances Haselden b. Monday, 19 May 1760, bap. 9 June 1760 (at 21 days old) at St Dunstan's, Stepney.

Both were listed as daughter of Herbert Haselden, Grocer, and Mary.

In 1747, Herbert Haselden, then 15, had been apprenticed, for a premium of £30 0s 0d to Thomas Hodgson, Grocer, in Warrington, Lancashire.

In 1761, Herbert Haselden, late of Broad Street, in the Hamlet of Ratcliff, in the Parish of St Dunstan, Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, Grocer and Tobacconist, was a Prisoner in Whitechapel Gaol, Debtors' prison. 

Did he pay off his debt, or did he die in debtor's prison? As yet, no idea.

In 1777, Frances Haselden was apprenticed to a Susanna Pingo, as a Milliner.

William Wood married Frances Haselden by licence dated 14 Apr 1787.

There was a possible marriage of Richard Webb to Mary Haselden, in Stepney, on 30 Aug 1788. Could this be the remarriage of Mary Haselden (née Benbow)? I cannot find a death under Mary Haselden, which might suggest that she remarried, but also cannot isolate records that confirm it.

Frances was mentioned in a Lease and Release with counterpart of release, dated 24 & 25 March, 1790: "William Wood of Little Russell Street, parish of Saint George, Bloomsbury, co. Middx., cider merchant and Frances his wife, only child and heir of Herbert Haselden late of Stepney in the fields, co. Middx., grocer and tobacconist, grand daughter and heir of Magdalen wife of Robert Haselden late of Over Hulton, co. Lancs., who was one of three devisees in fee under the will of Herbert Howorth of Burghill co. Hereford, and one of five sisters and co-heirs of Herbert Howorth."

Listing Frances as the only child and heir of Herbert Haselden suggests that her older sister had died, perhaps as an infant (not found a record), which further supports the 1788 marriage as possibly being that of her mother. 

Unfortunately, I can isolate no further records for this family.

(Herbert's parents, Robert Haselden and Magdalene Howorth, had married at Hereford Cathedral (St Ethelbert) on 8 May 1729. The record lists that the groom was from the parish of St Nicholas, Hereford and the bride was from Burghill. Magdalen Haselden, wife of Robert Haselden, was buried on 24 Jul 1763 in Winwick, Lancaster. Robert Hasleden of Over Hulton, Gentleman, appears to have died in 1768, as Probate was granted on 25 Apr 1768.)

Thomas and Mary Pateman

St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney - West end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/3477022

Thomas and Mary Pateman - the record of their marriage isn't available, so I don't know Mary's maiden name, nor when or where they were born, but they were the parents of seven children, all of whom were baptised at St Dunstan's, Stepney, during the reign of Charles II. This pair of my 9x great-grandparents lived through the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London.

1. Thomas Pateman bap. 20 Aug 1663 - Buried 19 Jan 1665
2. Elizabeth Pateman bap. 2 Sep 1666 - Buried 25 Jun 1668
3. Mary Pateman bap. 20 Mar 1669
4. Sara Pateman b. 18 Dec 1672, bap. 22 Dec 1672
5. Elizabeth Pateman bap. 2 Sep 1675
6. Thomas Pateman b. 4 Mar 1677, bap. 5 Mar 1677. Buried 4 Nov 1678
7. Susanna Pateman bap. 18 Jan 1680

The baptism of Thomas in 1663 says son of Thomas Pateman of White Horse Street, Porter; Elizabeth's baptism in 1666 again specifies daughter of Thomas Pateman, Porter of Ratcliff and Mary; Mary's baptism in 1669 also lists her father as Thomas Pateman, Porter and their address again as White Horse Street; Sara's baptism says she was 4 days old; Elizabeth's baptism in 1675, once more lists her father as Thomas Pateman, Porter of Ratcliff; The baptism of Thomas Pateman in 1677 tells us that the child, son of Thomas Pateman, Porter of Ratcliff, was 1 day old and finally, Susanna's baptism specifies her parents are Thomas Pateman, Porter of Ratcliff and Mary. 

The burials, also list them as children of Thomas Pateman and Mary.

Daughter Sara Pateman married David Dalgardno (sic) on 26 Nov 1704, at St Dunstan's, Stepney. They had a daughter, Mary Dalgarno, bap. 9 Sep 1705. The surname Dalgarno appears to come from Midlothian, Scotland.

Mary Pateman, wife of Thomas Pateman, Victualler of Cannon Street, Wapping, was buried on 9 May 1716, in the Parish of Stepney.