Dear Reader #138

Dear Reader,

I’m delighted with this insight in a review for Damaged because it sums up my vision for the series. “Sam is a very compelling modern day female film noir detective. That I realize is a bold statement. Sam surrounds herself with good people and manages them incredibly well.”

Published on 27 February, Operation Cameo, Eve’s War book six, is a top thirty hot new release 🙂

My latest translations, the Spanish and Portuguese versions of The Olive Tree: Leaves. A Spanish Civil War Saga. I’ve worked with Ana on a number of translations and she’s great to work with. Nelson was excellent too, and great to have the series available in Spanish.

My latest article for the Seaside News appears on page 48 of the magazine.

My 8 x great grandfather John Cotterell (1718-75) was a ‘Chinaman and Glass Seller’. Here’s his trade card from 1752. John sold ‘a great variety of glasses, old as well as new china and lacquered wares with various sorts of fine teas, coffee, chocolate and snuff, Indian fans and pictures, etc. Wholesale and Retail at the lowest prices’.

My 8 x great grandfather John Cotterell’s store, selling a variety of items imported from India, was located at the ‘Indian Queen and Canister against the Mansion House’, pictured shortly after John’s time (1718-75). The exact address was 9 Mansion House Street. John’s business appeared in the trade directories for over thirty years.

We all have favourite relatives and the same is true of ancestors. My 4 x great grandmother Jane Esther Axe is one of my favourite ancestors. An educated woman, Jane was born on 10 October 1812 and baptised on 15 August 1813 (a long gap between birth and baptism) in St Leonard’s, Shoreditch, pictured.

The church is mentioned in the line “When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch” from the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons while the crypt beneath the church is the final resting place of many actors from the Tudor period.

My 4 x great grandparents William Stokes and Jane Esther Axe posted their marriage banns in April and May 1835. However, something cropped up because they cancelled the marriage and posted the banns again in August and September. They married on 20 September 1835.

I have a strong sense that my 4 x great grandmother Jane Esther Axe was a well organised woman who knew what she was about. She had four children in six years, but after the age of thirty, no more, which suggests birth control. And despite having five brothers, she was the executrix of her father’s will.

My 4 x great grandfather William Stokes was a corn meter. Corn meters had the exclusive right of measuring all corn delivered within the city and port of London. They were the link between the cargo ships and the markets. Image: William’s workplace, the Customs House on the Thames.

4 Nov 1857. My 4 x great grandfather William Stokes’ son, William Fredrick, aged 21, is awarded ‘The Freedom of the City of London’, which meant he had the right to trade in the City and become a member of a guild or livery company.

The electoral register for 1862, which featured my 4 x great grandfather William Stokes. As a property owner, he was one of only one million men in England and Wales eligible to vote (out of seven million). The Reform Act of 1867 doubled that number. The Tories introduced the Act thinking it would be a vote winner, but they lost the 1868 general election.

The Stokes branch of my family, from Pangbourne, Berkshire, were  carpenters for hundreds of years, the family business passing from father to son. In 1794 and 1795 my 5 x great grandfather Richard Stokes took on two apprentices, William Reeves and William Smith, which suggests his business was doing well.

The poll books of 1796, when my 5 x great grandfather Richard Stokes was twenty-one, and tax register of 1798 reveal that he owned land and therefore was one of the relatively few people in the country eligible to vote. The records also reveal that Richard lived next door to the Monkhouse family. On 15 May 1797 he married their daughter, Martha.

My 6 x great grandfather Richard Wilder Stokes was born on 10 October 1742. A carpenter, he died shortly before his 34th birthday. He didn’t leave a will, which suggests his death was sudden, maybe the result of an accident in his carpentry workshop?

A year later, Richard’s widow, Sarah, married John Challis, a member of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, later renamed the Grenadier Guards. Sadly, Sarah died sixteen months after the wedding.

Beyond the basic dates: born 12 October 1712 in Pangbourne; married Lucy Wilder 17 February 1736, also in Pangbourne; died 7 July 1776, once again in Pangbourne, nothing is known of my  7 x great grandfather Thomas Stokes. The same is true of his father, Thomas: only the dates survive. Born 21 August 1681; married Katherine Whittick 14 July 1707; died 4 June 1754, all in Pangbourne. So, we move on to my 9 x great grandfather, William Stokes.

The will of my 9 x great grandfather William Stokes, carpenter of Pangbourne, shines a light on his times. The will dates from 23 October 1727. 

“I give my loving son Thomas (my ancestor) all those my four Acres of Land lying and being in the parish of Whitchurch in the County of Oxon and all other my lands in the said County of Oxon to hold to him, his heirs and assignes for ever immediately after my decease and ten pounds in money.”

“I give to my son William Stoakes thirty pounds in money. I give to my said son William the Table that stands in the Kitchen of the house wherein I now dwell the Cupboard and the Bedstead.”

“I give to my Son John Stoakes ten pounds in money.” 

“I give to my Daughter, the Wife of Samuel, Mary Wright twenty pounds in money. All the rest and residue of my household goods and other goods (ready money excepted) not herein before bequeathed I give to and amongst my said four Children, Thomas, William, John and Mary share and share alike.”

“I give to my Granddaughter Mary Stoakes daughter of my said Son William ten pounds in money to be paid by my Executor herein after named att her age of twenty one years or day of marryage which shall first happen and in case my said Grandaughter dye before that time then I give the same ten pounds unto my Grandson David Stokes her brother att his age of one and twenty years.”

“I give to my two Grandchildren William Stoakes and John Stoakes sons of my said son John Stoakes five pounds apeice in money to be paid also att their respective age of twenty one years and if either of my said last mentioned two Grandchildren dye before that time then I will that the part or portion of either of them so dying shall be paid to the survivor of my said two last mentioned Grandchildren and if both happen to dye before that time then I give the said five pounds and five pounds to and amongst such children or child (if but one) of my said son John as shall be then living att the time of their decease share and share alike.”

“I give to my Grandaughter Sarah Wright five pounds in money to be paid also att her age of one and twenty years or day of marryage and if she dye before that time then I give the same five pounds to her sister Mary Wright.”

“I give To my two Grandsons William Stoakes and George Stoakes Sons of my Son George Stoakes deceased five pounds apeice to be paid also To them att their respective age of one and twenty years but If either of them may said two last mentioned Grandsons dye Before that time then I will that the part or portion him so Dying shall be paid to the survivor of them attaining that age.”

“All the rest and residue of my Estate whatsoever not herein Before bequeathed I give and bequeath unto my said son William Stoakes whom I do hereby make and Ordaine full and sole Executor of this my Will.”

William left £12,500 in today’s money. I find it interesting that, as a carpenter in Pangboune, he owned land in Oxon. I suspect that he inherited that land, which points towards the Stokes family’s roots.

My 10 x great grandfather Thomas Stokes was born on 5 May 1626 in Whitchurch, Oxon. He married Jane Deane on 10 February 1651 in Caversham, Oxford and died on 16 December 1682 in Tilehurst, Berkshire thus confirming the Stokeses connection between Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

In the 1600s, through civil war, religious conflicts and plagues records were often lost or destroyed, so unless you can connect to an established pedigree identifying ancestors becomes harder. 

Thomas Stokes married Jane Deane in 1651 and there is a suggestion that the Deane family were one of the earliest settlers in America, but that requires further research. In 1736, another Thomas Stokes married Lucy Wilder. An established pedigree does exist for the Wilder family, so my next task is to see where my ancestors fit into that pedigree.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah

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