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.