Henrietta Fitz-Henry, daughter of William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead

When I obtained the will of William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead (1830 -1885) I wondered why his eldest daughter Henrietta (by his first wife Barbara Morrison) was not mentioned, even though she was still alive. All his other living children by Barbara (George William, Norman and Annie Eliza) were provided for, and his four surviving children by his second wife Martha Eagles were still too young to be independent from her.

Brian Bouchard, who has done extensive research onto the local history of Ashtead sent me the text of William's army service record. This showed that Henrietta was born in 1855 but William and Barbara were not married until December 1856.

I knew that Barbara had been married before, so I asked the Channel Islands Family History Society to have a search around and this is what they came up with.

Barbara was originally married to Charles Le Sauteur who was a merchant in Jersey from an old Jersey family. He died of a fever on 11th October 1855.
They had at least 2 children. The elder Elizabeth Morrison Le Sauteur died on 23rd May 1855 aged 19 months.
The other was Henrietta Le Sauteur born 25th February 1855 in St Nicolas in the parish of St Peter, Jersey.

William and Barbara were married in St Saviour December 12th 1856. Here's the details from their marriage certificate:
William Fitz-Henry
aged 27 bachelor, Colour Segt. 60th regiment, resident in St Peters
Place of birth St Marys Dublin
Father: Robert Fitz-Henry, linen draper

Barbara Morrison, widow of Charles Le Sauteur
Aged 28 Widow resident in St Peters
Place of birth Inverness Scotland
Father Charles Morrison, gardener

This partially answers the question as to why Henrietta was not mentioned in William's will (although I can't believe this is the whole reason) as she was not actually his daughter. However, from the 1861 census onwards she is always referred to as Henrietta Fitz-Henry and referred to as a daughter rather than a step-daughter. She did not marry as far as I am aware, so I can't check on a marriage certificate if she knew who her father really was.

The other striking thing is the name and occupation of William's father. In this marriage certificate, his father is Robert a linen draper. In his second marriage to Martha Eagles from the wealthy and socially superior Eagles family, his father is Hester a Dublin lawyer. I have several other anomalies like this in my research - in fact my great great grandfather was a dock porter in the East End, but all 5 of his daughters put on their wedding certificates that he was a master butcher!

I also wonder if there was another Fitz-Henry child between the marriage and the birth of George (1859) as this pair were quite prolific. If they had another child in this 1856-1859 gap, this child would have died before 1861, as he or she is not mentioned in the 1861 census when the family are resident in the Winchester barracks.
In order I have so far:
George 1859-1860
Alexander 1861-1862
George William 1862-1940
Charles Robert (knowing the names of William and Barbara's parents this now makes sense!) 1864-65
Norman Edward 1865 -1901
Annie Eliza 1865 - after 1885 (mentioned in her father's will)


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The Fitz-Henry / Darwin connection?

Here in the UK, there's been a fair bit of celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. And for a brief time I thought that we at the Blog could share in the party.

Back in December I did a piece about Captain William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead Surrey. His address was given in the 1885 Kelly's directory as Oakfield Lodge, Ashtead. When I randomly Googled "Oakfield Lodge, Ashtead", I was surprised to get a hit from the New York Botanical Gardens.
In the library collection of the papers of Charles Finney Cox, one of the founders of the Gardens and a great admirer and collector of all things Darwin, was a letter written at Oakfield Lodge. The letter had black borders and was sent from that address on 18th March 1886.

Black edged paper was used for correspondence by families in mourning, and this letter was sent within the six months of deep mourning that would have followed the death of the head of the family. William died in November 1885. I was very excited by this - I knew that Charles Darwin had died in 1882, but would this letter show that the Fitz-Henrys had some acquaintance with the Darwin family?

Stephen Sinon, one of the archivists, quickly brought me down to earth.

The letter in question is an offer to publish some photographs and sketches the author has. They are being offered to an artist assigned to create drawings for an illustrated edition of Darwin's travels. Apparently the letter mentions they met aboard 'The Wanderer' at Cowes. The signature is a bit indistinct but seems to read "Foley C Vescken".

While disappointed that the letter was not written by a Fitz-Henry, I can tell you that the author of the letter was the next occupant of the house, Commander the Honorable Foley C. Prendergast Vereker RN FRGS (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society). I found him at Oakfield Lodge in the 1886 edition of Kelly's directory when the widowed Mrs Martha Fitz-Henry had moved to "The Shaw". This indicates that the Fitz-Henry family had moved out of Oakfield very soon after William's death.

Commander Vereker was a member of the family who are holders of the title Viscount Gort. He himself was an explorer and surveyor, charting the Magellan Strait, the Sunda Strait and North East Borneo coasts and the Western Australian waters.

And this wasn't the last time that Oakfield Lodge had notable persons living there. In 1907, letters were sent to David Lloyd George (the British Prime minister) by Hubert Llewellyn Smith who worked with Charles Booth to improve the lot of the London dock workers in the late Victorian age.

If anyone out there has a picture of Oakfield Lodge, will they please email it to me. I believe that the house has now been demolished.

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Road Trip 3 - the Surrey Record Office

The Surrey record office in Woking is a real gem of a place. Lovely open modern building, lots of lovely records to lose yourself in and enthusiastic helpful staff.
I was on the trail of the family of William Fitz-Henry and Martha Eagles of Ashtead. I wanted to know where William was buried to see if a gravestone would give me any further clues about his ancestors. I'd looked in the graveyard of the parish church of St Giles when I visited Ashtead earlier in the year, but hadn't found a gravestone.

The first bonus was finding that the parish records of St Giles weren't on fiche - this meant I got to look through the original register. And what a splendid register it was, all leather bound and gold tooled. I have got photos of it, but the copyright declaration that I had to sign said I would put any of the photos on t'internet. Sorry.

So who did I find in the register?
William and Martha's first two children (Hester and Rowland) were born before they settled in Ashtead, but I did find the baptisms of:

Harry Duncombe Fitz-Henry christened 8 May 1882
Son of William FH (Captain Retired full pay) and Martha Elizabeth.

Woodfield Duncombe Tighe Fitz-Henry born 26 January 1883, christened 6 May 1883
Son of of William FH (captain in the Army, retired full pay) and Martha Elizabeth.

William Fitz-Henry, born 30 October 1885, christened 19 August 1886
Son of William (Captain in the Army) and Martha Elizabeth.

Harry Duncombe died in infancy, but neither he nor his father William (died November 1885) were buried at St Giles. One of the records office staff suggested that one or both of them may have been buried at the new municipal cemetery in Leatherhead (the nearest big town). This would mean a trip to the cemetery itself to consult their records.

As a stroke of fortune, the records office also had some editions of Kelly's Directories for Surrey on fiche. Amongst the "Private Residents" were
1885 edition, Fitz-Henry Capt. William at Oakfield Lodge
1886 edition, Fitz-Henry Mrs. at The Shaw.
I had previously thought that she had gone back to be near her family in Buckinghamshire straight after she was widowed, but the christening of William and the Kelly's entry showed that she was still a fixture in the village for at least another 8 months. Oakfield Lodge was still shown on the Ashtead map of 1932, but the current Google map shows some modern houses on the site in what is now Balquhain Close.

So... why was baby William's christening delayed for so long after his birth? This was answered the following day at Guild of One Name Studies lecture in Dorchester. In short, a woman did not re-enter society after the birth of her baby until she had been "churched" - going to Sunday service at her church a month after the birth. Often the baby was taken along and was christened at the same time - not before, unless the baby was very sickly. However, Matha's husband died before she had baby William christened and she entered her six month period of "deep mourning". To have the baby christened during this time was considered at the very least disrespectful, and at worst it would have brought misfortune on the child. Hence Martha had baby William christened when the mourning period was over.



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