Gadsden family history and the Canal Duke

The Packet House at Worsley on the Bridgewater Canal

The Duke of Bridgewater built this canal in 1761. On the left is the Packet House, its 'Elizabethan' modifications carried out in Victorian times, where the Queen's (i.e. Victoria's) barge landed when visiting the Duke. Here also passengers to Manchester and Runcorn embarked.

This photograph is by the late David Tasker a descendant whose direct line comprised Gadsden tenant farmers on the Bridgewater Estates. 

The 'Canal Duke' came from Ashridge, Little Gaddesden and is of the same Bridgewater/Egerton/Brownlow family which until recently owned most of Little and Great Gaddesden.

The white building in the background is the 1725 Nailmaker's House and is the oldest building in Worsley (Manchester). It was featured on a dinner service made for Catherine the Great by Wedgewood when he visited the Duke's canal. The service is now preserved in the Hermitage, Leningrad (St Petersburg).

The Duke allowed his home Ashridge to fall into disrepair whilst he was concentrating on building the canal.

Note the red colour of the water from iron in the world's longest underground canal tunnels nearby.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Canal

Acknowledgement:
David Tasker

In Memoriam: Roger Bell Gadsden 1950-2012

Roger Bell Gadsden

 13 August 1950 - 25 February 2012

Actor who played Captain Hook 2 300 times

A Gadsden in the Limelight

This undated obituary was the initial clue in a search for Lionel Gadsden, who died on 9 November 1965 (some sources give 10 November; the death was registered at Bromley in December 1965).

He was an actor with an unusual claim to fame: he performed the role of Captain Hook in J M Barrie’s play Peter Pan, over 2, 300 times. Between 1913 and about 1937 he played Hook on at least 16 tours, sometimes taking on the dual part of Hook and Mr Darling.

In 1924 a review stated Gadsden was ‘a terrifying figure as the pirate captain’. His long association with the character became legendary, his version of the role establishing a theatrical tradition in its own right. He appeared in the play – in various guises - more than 4 000 times and on occasion was also stage manager.

Smee (Cassidy) and Hook (Gadsden)

Gadsden co-starred with well-known Irish actor and comedian John Rice Cassidy who played Smee to his Hook in Peter Pan on tour between 1921 and 1925.

The news report above mentions that at the age of 14 he worked as a theatre call boy, messenger and stagehand. If he was 86 when he died in 1965 it gives a birth year of about 1879 yet no birth record has emerged. He is also significantly absent in the UK Census, though shows up in London electoral registers between the 1930s and 1960s, including at Bromley the year before his death.

There are numerous references to him in press reports and reviews of theatrical productions. These show that while his Captain Hook was most memorable, Gadsden also performed in other plays and was known for ‘his fine elocutionary style’. In October 1930 he was on tour to the States in a production of Marigold for the 49^th St Theatre. In 1935 he appeared at the Fortune Theatre in When Knights Were Bold, a review in The Times on 27 December stating that ‘the knockabout atmosphere does not prevent Mr. Lionel Gadsden from playing Isaac Isaacson intelligently.’

His career spanned more than 50 years. His first stage appearance was at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, when he was 21. A descendant of Patrick Desmond, who directed Peter Pan several times during the late 1950s and early 1960s, states that Lionel Gadsden was a member of the company for at least one of the productions. When Gadsden turned 80 in 1959 the veteran actor was appearing in The Trial of Mary Dugan at the Savoy, in the role of a spectator at the trial, receiving a round of applause each evening without having to say a word. He died in harness while playing a supporting role in Hostile Witnesses at the Haymarket Theatre.

The question remains: where and precisely when was Lionel Gadsden born and who were his parents? His death was registered by his son-in-law, Wilcoks [sic] but Lionel’s daughter’s name, and that of his wife, are not known.

Acknowledgement:

Jennifer Forsyth

John Gadsden

Chris Duff

Death of a boxer: but who was he?

The above report in the Evening Telegraph of 15 March 1926 tells a sad story but also presents a conundrum: there is no death record for a William James Godson, given as the real name of boxer Billy Gibbins of Canning Town, aged 27, who died during a match against Edward Ferry.

There is, however, a death registered in Hackney for a William James Gadsdon. Some sleuthing turns up a relevant baptism at West Ham Essex in 1898 for a child of that name born to William James Gadsdon snr and his wife Julia (born Peterson). The age of the boxer is slightly out.

Apparently, Billy Gibbins from Canning Town boxed between 1925 and 1926. He had three professional contests – a brief career and a tragic end.

His opponent, Edward Ferry, was in all likelihood Ted Ferry from Bethnal Green who had a more successful career than Gibbins: Ferry boxed between 1922 and 1937 in 188 professional contests. 

There was another Billy Gibbins, a boxer of Western Australia who was shot in the stomach in 1931. And another from Sheffield fighting in the 1930s. Anyone know who the original Billy Gibbins was who inspired these boxers to carry his name into the ring?

If you have a boxing ancestor try Find A Boxer at www.boxinghistory.org.uk/alist.html


FOLLOW-UP:
The Chelmsford Chronicle of 19 March 1926 confirms Billy Gibbins's real name as William James Gadsdon:

A further report in the Yorkshire Evening Post 15 March 1926 gives a little more personal detail:

Acknowledgment:

Celia Dodd

Why no reference to my ancestor on NAAIRS?

Not finding a reference on NAAIRS, the SA National Archives online index, doesn’t mean the ancestor did not spend some time in South Africa. It could be that his activities didn’t generate any public records, or that his sojourn was brief and he remained invisible as far as records were concerned.

If you’re searching for a deceased estate, bear in mind that not everyone who died in South Africa had an estate file lodged with the Master of the Supreme Court. Where there are minimal assets – literally no ‘estate’ – a deceased estate file would not be opened. The death might have occurred within the last 20-30 years, in which case there would be no reference on NAAIRS: the file would be at the Master’s Office in the area where death occurred. Incidentally, there’s no legal or other obligation for the Master to send estate files to archival repositories at any stage; it’s incorrect to speak of deceased estate files being automatically ‘transferred’ to archival repositories.

The ancestor, contrary to what you or your family believe, may not have died in South Africa but moved on elsewhere or even returned to his place of origin: emigrants were extremely mobile.

The name you are looking for might not be correct: quite apart from variations in spelling names were sometimes changed completely if a person wanted to start out with a clean slate in the colonies. Do some lateral thinking - he might have used his mother’s maiden name.

If his time in the country pre-dates 1834 you won’t find a death notice for him.

Ordering copies of SA Archival Documents

If you’ve found a relevant reference to your ancestor on NAAIRS and need copies of file contents consider using the document ordering facility offered by eGGSA

See FAQ www.eggsa.org/sales/help_archive_docs.htm

The only repository not covered by this service is the Cape Town Archive Repository (KAB) who offer their own copying service.

Documents can be obtained through eGGSA from Pietermaritzburg (NAB) for Natal, Durban (TBD), Bloemfontein (VAB) for the Orange Free State and Pretoria (TAB) for the Transvaal.

Tracing a Master Mariner 6

By the 1860s Captain George Henry Caithness was a well-known local figure in the Eastern Cape.

Street scene: Old Uitenhage

Whether he ever lived in one of the nine cottages he bought in Port Elizabeth in 1867, or whether they were simply a property investment, is not recorded but by 1869 he had evidently been residing in Uitenhage for some time. 

According to the Centenary publication, Uitenhage Past and Present, in that year he was on the Board of Commissioners of the town. Uitenhage had been founded in 1804 on the Swartkops River not far inland from its estuary at Algoa Bay, about 28 kms from what would later be Port Elizabeth, and initially formed part of the district of Graaff-Reinet.*

'The Commissioners then in office were
 ... George Caithness' etc

Did George find time to tear himself away from civic duties to attend the wedding of his niece Emily Mary Ann Caithness to Herbert Lee Carige at Christ Church in the parish of Addington, Durban, on 12 December 1863? If so, he would have seen his nephew James Edward/Ernest Caithness who was present. It’s possible that George’s sister Mary Ann Bell nee Caithness and her husband William Bell, the latter still in office as Port Captain at Durban, were among the guests. 

Captain William and Mary Ann Bell

As already noted, in the late 1860s/early 1870s George made at least two trips to England as a passenger on Union Line steamers Cambrian and Northam and in 1873 presented some stones from the diamond diggings to the Hartley Institution (the modern day Southampton University).** He may have been the Caithness who in August 1870 joined Slater’s party to the fields though it’s more likely this was James Edward/Ernest. Seven years later James would marry Eugenie Westmacott in London and settle in India.

In 1875 George’s daughter Caroline Ann married John Loftus and became 4^th Marchioness of Ely. It’s not known whether George attended the wedding in Chelsea, London. 

During the 1880s George Henry Caithness kept a low profile, no doubt enjoying a peaceful retirement in Uitenhage. When his wife Leopoltina Cornelia Frederika died on 10 August 1894 George survived her by only a few months, dying at the Royal Hotel, Uitenhage on 28 December 1894. His Death Notice gives his ‘condition in life’ as Sea Captain.

A brief line appeared in the Colonies and India edition of 9 February 1895:

‘Captain Caithness, one of the oldest inhabitants of Uitenhage, South Africa, died there recently.’

Note: There is a Caithness Road in Port Elizabeth, about 400 metres south of Bakens River; it seems likely this street was named after James Ramsay Caithness since James's Death Notice describes his residence as being on the south side of Bakens River. There's a Caithness Road in Simonstown which may also owe its name to James. If anyone has further information regarding these two streets it would be most welcome.

* The city of Uitenhage was incorporated in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality together with Port Elizabeth and the town of Despatch in 2001

** www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/exhibitions/University_images.html

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 5

Newspaper reports in the Cape Colony and elsewhere have proved a vital source for the activities of Captain George Henry Caithness. As master of merchant vessels trading in waters off the southern and eastern coast of South Africa there would be few if any occasions when he generated public records. 

Mauritius

It’s clear that he was present at the Cape from at least August 1852 (when he was present at his nephew's baptism) and that he sailed the schooner Pet between Mauritius and Natal during the later 1850s. (Several references to the Pet emerged from searches of the British Newspaper Archive online.)



At the age of forty, George married his second wife, Leopoltina, at Port Natal. 
A more settled phase – if there can be such a thing in the life of a master mariner – followed and by the mid-1860s ‘Caithness, George H’ appears listed in the Cape Almanac, as ‘Master Mariner and Ship Owner’ at Central Wharf and 7 Church Square and later at Upper Roeland Street, Cape Town.

The Cape and Natal News of 25 April 1864 mentions George Caithness in the unusual role of passenger on a ship called Fontabelle, 537 tons, the captain of which had been lost overboard. George had taken command and brought the vessel into Table Bay, no doubt much to the relief of all who sailed in her. However, when he claimed 150 pounds salvage it led to a case in the Vice-Admiralty Court which George lost; he received 25 pounds.

He was in the news again in mid-1866 when he offered to take 500 pounds worth of shares in the Buffalo Steam Shipping Company if they would give him command of ‘the new boat’ (unnamed) whereupon he would ‘proceed to England and superintend the building of a boat fitted for the bar.’ This may refer to the mouth of the Buffalo River forming the harbour of East London which had a problem similar to Port Natal – a sandbank or bar across the entrance. Perhaps the Buffalo Steam Shipping Company was slightly premature as it was only in June 1872 that the first steamship crossed the bar of the Buffalo.

Although it seems unlikely that this venture prospered, George must have been doing fairly well as the ever-watchful Cape and Natal News on 22 April 1867 mentions his purchase, for 650 pounds, of nine cottages situated between Alice and Evatt Streets, Port Elizabeth.*

Fort Frederick overlooking Port Elizabeth; Captain Evatt's grave in foreground

*Evatt Street is named after Captain Evatt who commanded Fort Frederick from 1817-1847. He supervised the landing of the 1820 British Settlers who were brought to shore under the protection of his soldiers and were provided with provisions and tents. Originally at St Mary's Anglican Church in the city centre Evatt’s grave was later moved to its present position next to the wall of Fort Frederick. This fort, built for defence against a possible landing of French troops, overlooked the site of what later became Port Elizabeth and is now a monument.

Acknowledgement
Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 4

George Henry Caithness first appears in South Africa in August 1852 when he is sponsor at the baptism in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, of Charles Chance Caithness, son of Captain James Ramsay Caithness and the latter’s second wife, Eliza (nee Noyle).

Baptism entry, St George's Cathedral register, 29 August 1852: Charles Chance Caithness son of James Ramsay Caithness, Master Mariner, and Eliza. George Henry Caithness's name at right.

Durham Gaol

 

Diet for Class 2 Prisoners, Durham Gaol

Having weathered the storm of bankruptcy proceedings in 1850 and seen the inside of Durham Gaol* – a particularly gloomy and depressing place where conditions were harsh and the staple prison diet was oatmeal porridge – George undoubtedly needed a change of scene, as well as employment.

It makes sense that he chose the Cape Colony since his elder brother James was established there as a merchant captain. Not that James was having an easy time of it: he had lost his first wife, leaving him with six children to rear, remarried in 1851 and in the same year lost his ship Diadem.**

Still, James would have had good contacts in the colonial maritime community and George had plenty of experience behind him as well as having acquired his official Master’s Certificate. By 1857 he was trading between Port Natal and the island of Mauritius (Isle de France) as master of the 100 ton schooner Pet.

The connection between Natal and Mauritius had been strong since the 1840s. Then with the burgeoning sugar industry in Natal in the 1850s, coupled with a downturn in sugar production on that island, several Mauritians moved to Natal to start plantations on the coast. Among these was James Renault Sanders later a leader in Natal sugar and founder of the well-known Tongaat family.

The earliest mention of George and the Pet occurs in Lloyd's List, 30 September 1857 where the schooner is reported as having 'cleared outwards September 29' from Port Natal.

George's regular sailing schedule can be tracked through the press, for example:

Arrived at Natal 22 June 1858 ‘Pet’ (schooner) 100 t , G Caithness, from Mauritius.

In the following extracts, all referring to the Pet with Caithness as master, the date of publication is shown first:

11 March 1858. At Natal 24 Dec 1857, from London.  Left 13 Jan 1858 for Mauritius.

29 March 1858. At Mauritius 6 Feb 1858 from Natal.

24 June 1858. At Natal 8 April 1858. Put back for Mauritius with loss of chain plates. ***

15 July 1858. At Mauritius 10 May 1858. From Natal. And sailed 19 June on her return.

30 Dec 1858. At Table Bay 10th Nov 1858. For Natal.

George's schedule leaves a convenient gap for his marriage at Durban, Natal, to Leopoltina Jones nee Knapp on 19 July 1858.

Marriage entry St Paul's, Durban: George Caithness and Leopoltina Jones born Knapp
29 July 1858. George's occupation is given as 'Captain Merchant Service'.
A strange signature from George: perhaps he was nervous. He is described as 'widower' so presumably his first wife Caroline had died prior to this date though no record of the event has been found.

Durban in 1857

*  http://community.dur.ac.uk/4schools/Crime/Durhamprison2.htm

** http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/mariners-caithness-ships-and-family.html

*** Chain plates were essential: the shrouds, pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side, connect at the top of the mast and terminate at the bottom ends at the chain plates which are tied into the hull. The loss of chain plates would have been good reason for George to put back for Mauritius.

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Passengers to Natal: Mexican 1889

Mexican arrived 18 October 1889
reported in The Natal Witness October 23 1889

Oct 18, Mexican, U.S.S., of Southampton, 4569 tons, Jones, from England (Sept 20), and Cape ports. Cargo, general.

PASSENGERS:

From England: 
For Natal: 
Mr and Mrs Levy 
Mrs Driver 
Mr, Mrs and Misses (2) Price 
Mr and Mrs Baker 
Mr and Miss Hevs 
Messrs 
Dumat 
Fulton 
O'Mears 
Brooke 
Thompson 
Baldock 
Smyth 
McIllerow 
Cosgrove 
Berrie 
Miss Watkins 
Mr Young 
Mrs Burnes and child 
Messrs 
Allen 
Morgan 
Mr and Mrs Morton 
Mr, Mrs and Master Taylor 
Messrs 
Walker 
Colling 
McLeod 
Mr and Miss Bridgman

From Cape Town: 
Messrs 
Wilkes 
Owen 
Dr Duff 
Mr Morris 
Mr and Mrs Dangers 
Mr, Mrs and Master Rance 
Miss King 
Messrs Haigh 
Rogerson 
Chumley 
Misses Ramsay and Elliott 
Messrs 
Russell 
Hines 
Mrs Simpson 
Miss Holland

From Algoa Bay: 
Messrs 
Worman 
Bell 
Mr and Mrs Anderson 
Messrs 
Blackburn 
Howe 
Van der Merwe 
John 
Thomas 
Smyth 
Mr, Mrs and Master Dayley 
Jacob 
Price

From East London: 
Mr Wright 
Mrs and Master Ellis and maid 
Messrs 
E Jones 
W Jones 
Reeve 
Maitland 
Mr, Mrs, Master and Misses (2) Stacy

- HJ Watts, agent.

Oct 19, Clan Cameron, S.S., of Glasgow, 2433 tons, Sibery, R.N.R., from Liverpool and Glasgow. Cargo, general. 
- Steel, Murray and Co., agents.

Oct 19, Ziba, barquentine, of Arendal, 283 tons, Knuden, from Christiania (July 9). Cargo, timber. 
- WF Johnstone, agent.

Oct 20, Dabulamanzi, S.S., of Aberdeen, 1537 tons, Baker, from London (Sept 16). Cargo, general. 
- JT Rennie and Sons, agents.

Oct 21, Pongola, S.S., of London, 1440 tons, Lewis, from Cape ports. Cargo, general. 
- King and Sons, agents.

Sailed: 
Oct 20, Mexican, U.S.S., of Southampton, 4669 tons, Jones, for Cape ports and England. Cargo, general.

PASSENGERS:

For East London: 
Mrs Howard and child 
Mr J Massey

For Algoa Bay: 
Mr and Mrs SV Cloete 
C Lemon

For Cape Town: 
Mr T Harcombe 
Mrs H Scholtz, 3 children, and servant

For England: 
Messrs 
CW Reinhardt 
H Edwards 
E Athow 
F Mead

- HJ Watts, agent.

Oct 20, Byron, of Tredestrand, 348 tons,Johanesen, for Mexico, in ballast. 
- Hunt, Leuchars and Hepburn, agents.

Oct 20, Edith Sheraton, Schooner, of Nova Scotia, 314 tons, Coumans, for Guam, in ballast. 
- A. Fass and Co., agents.

Oct 21, Nubian, U.S.S., of Southampton, 3091 tons, Molony, for Cape ports and England. Cargo, general. 
- HJ Watts, agent.