John Gadsden at Upton House, West Ham

 

My great great grandparents, John Gadsden (1794-1853) and Mary Ann Bone, were married at St John Hackney on 27 March, 1821. However, by that year there was a ‘New Church’.* At the time the couple were living at Upton House, West Ham [see watercolour, partly after a photograph, partly after a sketch by Mary Lister; source Wellcome Library]. Their eldest son, Moreton Champness Nevins Gadsden was born at Upton House.

Upton House was situated on the opposite side of Upton Lane to Ham House, which was also, confusingly, known as Upton House for a short time in the eighteenth-century.  It was typical of a number of fine seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses built in West Ham as country retreats for City merchants and businessmen.  Upton House (that is, the one the Gadsdens lived in) was rebuilt in 1731 and was the birthplace of (Lord) Joseph Lister (1827-1912), the founder of antiseptic surgery.  It was demolished in 1968.’ [Source: From  ‘Britain in Old Photographs: Stratford West Ham & The Royal Docks’ by Stephen Pewsey  pub: Sutton Publishing Ltd 1996]

Clearly, if Joseph Lister was born at Upton House in 1827 it is reasonable to suppose that the Gadsdens had moved elsewhere by that date. John and Mary Ann re-emerge in the City of Waterford, Ireland, where John was a provision merchant. He and his brothers Charles Edward Gadsden and James Eyre Gadsden apparently left England and went to live in Waterford where all three produced children as baptismal records show. It is possible that John at least 'commuted' between Waterford and London, as ties with West Ham and Hackney continue until 1828 when John and Mary Ann’s daughter, Mary Rochenda, aged only 4 months, was buried at St John Hackney on 13 November of that year.

A Gadsden marriage at St John Hackney and a home at Upton House

St John Hackney in late 18th c

My great great grandparents, John Gadsden (1794-1853) and Mary Ann Bone, were married at St John Hackney on 27 March, 1821. However, by that year there was a 'New Church'.* At the time the couple were living at Upton House, West Ham [see watercolour below, partly after a photograph, partly after a sketch by Mary Lister; source Wellcome Library]. Their eldest son, Moreton Champness Nevins Gadsden was born at Upton House

'Upton House.  Situated on the opposite side of Upton Lane to Ham House, which was also, confusingly, known as Upton House for a short time in the eighteenth-century.  It was typical of a number of fine seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses built in West Ham as country retreats for City merchants and businessmen.  Upton House (that is, the one the Gadsdens lived in) was rebuilt in 1731 and was the birthplace of (Lord) Joseph Lister (1827-1912), the founder of antiseptic surgery.  It was demolished in 1968.' [Source: From  'Britain in Old Photographs: Stratford West Ham & The Royal Docks' by Stephen Pewsey  pub: Sutton Publishing Ltd 1996]

Clearly, if Joseph Lister was born at Upton House in 1827 it is reasonable to suppose that the Gadsdens had moved elsewhere by that date. John and Mary Ann re-emerge in the City of Waterford, Ireland, where John was a provision merchant. He and his brothers Charles Edward Gadsden and James Eyre Gadsden apparently left England and went to live in Waterford where all three produced children as baptismal records show. It is possible that John at least commuted between Waterford and London, as ties with West Ham and Hackney continue until 1828 when John and Mary Ann's daughter, Mary Rochenda, aged only 4 months, was buried at St John Hackney on 13 November of that year.

Map of West Ham, left, shows Upton also Ham House, Plastow [sic, usually Plaistow], West Ham Abbey; note Woolwich across the river. 

Location of East Ham helps to explain why West Ham is so-named i.e. though in the east of London, West Ham lies to the west of East Ham! Devil's House, on East Ham Level, invites further exploration.

* The old parish church of St Augustine had been largely demolished in 1797 when the new parish church of St John, Hackney was built.  Only the tower and the tomb of the Rowe family...remained.  At first the tower was kept to hang the peal of bells, as the parishioners had little faith in the strength of the new church tower and later local sentiment saved the tower from demolition. [Source: Old Ordnance Survey Maps Hackney 1870 Godfrey Edition London sheet 41]. Originally dedicated to St Augustine it was known as St John from circa 1660.  [Info from London Collage website (Guildhall Library Collection)]. 


John Gadsden was in partnership with Joseph Nash in the provision business in Bridge Street Waterford from at least as early as 1824, according to Pigot's Directory.  

Ships collide off the Irish Coast 1835

Mary Ann Gadsen, described as 'wife of John Gadsen' [sic] appears as part-owner of a schooner, the Susan, in 1835. Records in the Admiralty Court show that during a voyage on 24 August of that year from Newport in South Wales to Waterford, the 150-ton Susan was involved in a collision with a much larger vessel, the Chester, near the Hook Tower on the Irish mainland.*

Damage to the schooner was considerable and petition was made regarding this in court in October 1835. The Susan, Joseph Read, Master, was carrying coals and had her full complement of crew on board, seven persons in all.

The Chester, of St Johns, New Brunswick, was on her way to Liverpool with a cargo of timber.

Hook Lighthouse and coast off County Wexford

According to the report the schooner 'was staunch and well found' and on her proper course, 'shewing a light' (it was midnight) and all hands 'except one of the Boys' on deck, when she was struck on her Starboard Lee quarter by the other ship which was sailing at eight and a half to nine knots with a strong wind behind her, carrying away both the schooner's masts and entangling the rigging.

There can be little doubt as to the identity of Mary Ann, at this date, with husband John and linked with Waterford, though it is rather surprising to find her mentioned as one of the owners of this vessel.  All are named in the lengthy document. 

The Susan may have made a regular round trip from Waterford to English ports, carrying one sort of cargo out (butter, cheese, bacon, for example?) and another back. John Gadsden is recorded as a bacon merchant in Bridge Street Waterford at the time. Let's not forget that his father, John Gadsden b 1759, was a cheesemonger of London.

Extract from the Admiralty Instance Court proceedings:

'...although the Master and Crew of the said Schooner called out to the people on board (the Chester) to cut her adrift and shorten their canvas ... the said Ship continued her course dragging the said Schooner in consequence whereof the Master and Crew were obliged to beg for Ropes from the said Ship to save their lives and it was only after considerable delay that their request was complied with and the said Master and Crew got on board the said Ship and thereby saved their lives that after getting on board ... Joseph Read the Master of the said Schooner remonstrated with the Master and Crew thereof for not attempting to rescue them from their perilous situation and earnestly requested the Master to remain by the said Schooner until the next morning in hopes of saving her which then appeared practicable but which he refused to do and shortly afterwards he caused her to be cut adrift when she sank and together with her Cargo was entirely lost. ...the schooner Susan was quite a new vessel having been only launched fourteen days and was tight staunch and substantial her Hatches well secured and was in every respect seaworthy and he expressly alleged that the said Schooner being run down ... was occasioned solely by the negligence or want of skill of the Master and Crew of the ship Chester in not keeping a proper look out ...'

*Admiralty Instance Court record: PCAP/1/26 pg 15a-16 b; 34a - 36

Hook Tower: the lighthouse on Hook Head, Co. Wexford, originally tended by monks and one of the oldest beacons in Europe, established ca 1172. 

Gadsdens of Waterford, Ireland

Waterford City, 1830s

In the early 19^th c three sons of John Gadsden (my great great great grandfather) b 1759 (who married Phoebe Hill) began spending time in Waterford City. They were John Gadsden b 1794 (my great great grandfather who married Mary Ann Bone) and his brothers James Eyre Gadsden b 1809 and Charles Edward Gadsden b 1807. 

There are indications that the Gadsdens may have ‘commuted’ between Ireland and England. Freeman’s Journal published the announcement of the marriage of John Gadsden (b 1794) to Mary Ann Bone (incorrectly spelled Hone) in March 1821 at Hackney.* Significantly, at this date John Gadsden is described as ‘of Waterford’.

Yet John and Mary Ann married at Hackney (Mary Ann’s father was resident there) and their first two children were born at West Ham in 1825 and 1827. This Gadsden family was still associated with the parish of St John, Hackney, when their third child, Mary Rochenda, was buried there in November 1828.

Turning to Ireland, Pigot’s Directory for Waterford City in 1820 lists ‘Gadsden and Nash, Provision Merchants, Bridge Street’. In 1824 they are at the same address providing ‘provisions, butter and bacon’. In 1838, Charles Edward Gadsden crops up in the Freeman lists as ‘Merchant, Apprentice of late Joseph Nash’. Slater’s Directory of 1846 shows John Gadsden as ‘Bacon Merchant, Bridge Street’.

Bridge St., Waterford

Initially, the Waterford entries seemed to indicate that the John Gadsden in partnership with Nash in the provision business would be a different John from the person living and producing children in West Ham in the 1820s. Nevertheless, John of West Ham is described as ‘of Waterford’ in 1821. And Charles Edward Gadsden, John’s brother, is apprenticed to Joseph Nash in Waterford. This is clearly no coincidence.

A close connection between the Gadsden and Nash families gradually became apparent. Joseph Nash was the son-in-law of an Elizabeth Gadsden. While more research is required on Elizabeth, it is known she married Joseph Barrington Bradley and had a daughter Ann who in 1815 married Joseph Nash in Waterford. Joseph and Ann had 8 children, one of whom - born in 1825 - being named Joseph Gadsden Nash (a clincher, if ever I heard one).

Causeway Meadows Farm,
birthplace of Joseph Nash

Joseph Nash snr (1787-1837; merchant of Worcestershire, born at Causeway Meadows Farm, Dodderhill) was partner in Gadsden and Nash Provision Merchants of Bridge Street, Waterford. 

By 1838 the reference to Charles Edward mentioning ‘the late Joseph Nash’ confirms Nash was then deceased. Joseph Gadsden Nash (grandson of Elizabeth Gadsden) was only twelve years old at the time. The provision business in Bridge Street continued, as John Gadsden is listed there in 1846. 

Further research brings interesting, even surprising, details about the women involved: Mrs Nash and Mrs Gadsden.

To be continued

* Freeman's Journal was one of the leading Dublin newspapers from its founding in 1763 until 1924. Its birth, marriage and death notices cover all of Ireland and include people from other parts of the United Kingdom (often with an Irish connection), the British Empire and even occasionally North America.

Acknowledgement:

Judy Tuccinardi

Gadsdens of Upton House West Ham

St John, Hackney late 18th c

John Gadsden born 1794 (my great great grandfather) married Mary Ann Bone, daughter of John Bone, Esquire, at St John Hackney on 27 March 1821.

Their son Morton Champnes Nevins Gadsden arrived on 8 August 1825 followed by another boy, less fancifully-named Charles Percy Gadsden in 1827, both born at West Ham.

In the 1861 Census Morton appears aged 31, ‘born at Upton House, Essex’. If the Gadsdens were living at Upton House at the time of Morton’s birth in 1825, they had moved on by 1827 (and research proves this was the case) because in that year Joseph Lister, later to achieve fame as the founder of antiseptic surgery, is recorded as having been born there. 

Was Morton stretching the truth for the benefit of the census enumerator and was he actually born at the village of Upton rather than at Upton House? Had his remarkable Christian names given him a touch of folie de grandeur? Perhaps this is unfair: after all, the Gadsden family’s connection with West Ham goes back to Morton’s grandfather John Gadsden b 1759, who in his will of 1815 mentions his ‘Freehold piece of Land situate at Upton in the parish of West Ham, in the County of Essex’. This may equate to the property on which Upton House stood.

Upton House, West Ham
(Watercolour, Wellcome Library, London)

Upton House was one of a number of mansions built by City merchants in the 17^th and 18^th centuries at West Ham. Here they could retreat from the noise and bustle of London and enjoy rural pursuits.  During the 18^th century and until about 1850, West Ham was an area of large houses in extensive grounds. In 1762 the number of houses in West Ham parish was stated to be 700, of which ‘455 are mansions and 245 cottages’. 

Whatever definition be given to mansions, this seems too liberal a proportion, but five or six years later, Morant, the historian of Essex, describes West Ham as ‘the residence of several considerable merchants, dealers and industrious artists’.  (Source: Handbook to the Environs of London by James Thorne)

A century later, the character of West Ham had changed - and not for the better - with the coming of the railway and various factories. However by 1876 Upton was still a ‘pretty, rural hamlet … little more than a mile northeast of West Ham Church’, so while the Gadsden family were living at Upton in the 1820s the area no doubt retained much of its country atmosphere.

Opposite Upton House was Ham House, confusingly enough also referred to as Upton House during part of the 18^th century. They were distinct and separate residences. Ham House was the seat of the Quaker philanthropist, Samuel Gurney. In fact several members of the Quaker community lived at Upton in the early 19^th century including Gurney’s sister, Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer, and Joseph Lister, who was born at Upton House (i.e. the residence associated with the Gadsden family).

(Source: History of East & West Ham by Katharine Fry p 234)

Research into the Upton House matter led to the finding in the registers of All Saints, West Ham, of the baptismal record of John and Mary Ann Gadsden’s eldest son. This establishes once and for all that he was named Morton Champnes (with one ‘s’) Nevins and not Morton Champness Kevins as previously transcribed by other Gadsden researchers.

A marginal note in the All Saints register reads:  ‘According to the certificate by the Rev Ch. Champnes Rector of St Botolph’s Billingsgate transferred to me Aug 1826  J.W. Burton’. It seems that the baptism actually took place at St Botolph’s, a copy of the record later being sent to West Ham where the family then resided. 

The reason for the delay of a year between the birth of Morton and the entry in the West Ham register is not clear. It's possible that Rev Champnes conducted the baptism, either at St Botolph’s Billingsgate or privately, because he was a friend or relative of the family. Private baptisms sometimes took place when a baby was not expected to live, those that survived being ‘welcomed into the congregation’ at a later date. With the appearance on the scene of the Rev Champnes, the origin of part of Morton’s remarkable name is explained. 

A search of St Botolph’s register found no entry for Morton between August 1825 and August 1826. Some baptisms by Rev Champnes were noted in 1827 at St George, Botolph Lane – this parish was united with St. Botolph’s Billingsgate.  The full entry in the All Saints register reads: ‘1826 Aug 17 Morton Champnes Nevins son of John and Mary Ann Gadsden born Aug 8 1825, abode: Upton. Quality, trade or profession: Esquire’. Upton House is not mentioned. However, the term Esquire would probably indicate that John Gadsden was a man of some standing and it is not impossible the family were indeed living at Upton House.

The history of this building thus took on a greater significance for me. A picture of Upton House emerged in Stephen Pewsey’s book Stratford, West Ham & the Royal Docks, published as part of the Britain in Old Photographs series (Sutton Publishing 1996). Apparently an earlier structure had existed on the site, because Upton House was rebuilt in 1731. If the Gadsdens did live here, during their term of residence it would have looked precisely as shown in Pewsey’s book (p 34).  Unfortunately, the house was demolished in 1968.

Another useful illustration in the above publication was Chapman & Andre’s map of 1777. These cartographers produced the first accurate large-scale map of Essex, at a scale of 2 inches to the mile, enough to show individual buildings. The relevant section shows the parish of West Ham. The southern half of the parish was the marshland of Plaistow Level, used for cattle grazing. In the north there were three settlements, Stratford, along Stratford High Street, West Ham, clustered round the parish church, and Plaistow, around the village green. Other hamlets included Upton and Maryland Point. The area would not have changed much by the early 1820s when the Gadsden family were living at Upton. 

Its proximity to London was the key to West Ham’s growth. Stratford and West Ham were gateway districts between Essex and London. Pewsey states:

‘West Ham lies on the east bank of the River Lea and so before inexorable growth ... it was the last place in Essex before London and the first staging post in Essex from London … The great Roman road between London and Colchester was diverted through Stratford in the 12^th century when Bow Bridge was built. 

The largest settlement in West Ham, Stratford, developed due to two factors: bread and cattle. Corn from Essex was brought to the many windmills and watermills along the Lea and its back rivers. Flour from the corn was turned into bread using ovens fired with wood from Epping Forest, which then stretched down almost to the Romford Road. Stratford bakers were exempt from City guild controls and were frequently in court for giving short measure. Cattle were brought to Stratford from the eastern counties for slaughter or onward transit to London, and tanning and other leather-based industries developed there. The presence of a large monastic foundation with many royal connections, Stratford Langthorne Abbey, no doubt attracted further wealth to the area.

The River Lea was the stimulus for further early industrial activity. Silk-weaving and calico-printing were undertaken in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and Bow porcelain was made in Stratford in the mid-18^th century. Distilling and gunpowder-making were also important. 

The rest of the parish comprised a scattering of small agricultural hamlets which included Plaistow, Church Lane, Forest Gate and Upton. The marshland in the south of the parish was used for grazing cattle and pasturing horses. Places like Upton and Plaistow were pleasant enough rural retreats to attract City merchants who built substantial houses there. By the late 19^th century the separate hamlets of Plaistow, Stratford, Upton, Canning Town and Forest Gate had merged in a sea of bricks and mortar and West Ham was the eighth largest town in Britain.’

It would be unrecognizable today to John and Mary Ann Gadsden as the picturesque rural spot where they spent the halcyon days of their early married life, and where their first two children were born. By 7 November 1828 they spent some time at Clapton, as shown in the register of St John Hackney, where their daughter Mary Rochenda was baptised, having been born in the July of that year.  She died aged only four months and was buried 24 November 1828, also recorded at St John Hackney.

Their next child, another daughter, Emily, was born in July 1830 in Waterford, Ireland, where a new chapter of this Gadsden family unfolded.

Morton (Champnes Nevins) Gadsden in 1861 Census, Southampton:
 his birthplace given as Upton House, Essex
(click to zoom)