Uglow Family History

Antony Court

The parish is named after the saint and possibly Anta's Farm. The village is situated in the South East corner of Cornwall to the immediate West of the River Tamar. It is called Antone in the Domesday Book. Antony is in the Caradon district near to the mouth of the River Tamar. Antony itself is very small but is the parish for Torpoint which lies to the south east and was a dormitory town for Plymouth and Devonport. The area is mainly farmland to the West and the town of Torpoint lies in the East of the parish. There are two forts in the parish, Scraesdon Fort and Tregantle Fort, the latter is currently used as a base camp for the adjacent military firing range.

Population

 
Statistics:

Torpoint created from part of parish 1819; 2323 acres of land; 142 acres of tidal water; 737 acres of foreshore

Maps

Antony is in the far south east of the county - on the west bank of the Tamar, opposite Devonport.

1. The whole of Cornwall
2. Here is a map to get you to Antony

Family 1: Nicholas and Joan Cord and Sarah Hawkes

Nicholas 1753 was the son of Abel and Mary Snell from Menheniot and the grandson of Nicholas and Joan from St Gennys.

He married Joan Cord in St Stephens, Saltash in 1780. Joan was born in 1753 in Stoke Climsland, the daughter of John and Mary Cord. They lived in Saltash in the 1780s but moved south, probably to Torpoint rather than to Antony in the 1790s. Joan died in 1797.

Nicholas married Sarah Hawkes (aka Hawke or Hawkey) in Antony parish in 1805. Sarah (1748-1814) was very pro-marriage as she was already a widow by her third husband. Banns were published on Sundays May 26 Jun 2nd & 9th. Nicholas's son, Abel, was a witness. Sarah was buried in Antony as was Nicholas who survived her. He died  on 6th May 1821.

• daughter Mary 1780 born in Saltash. She married Daniel Cullis (1776-1849) in Antony in September, 1800. In 1818, Daniel was a witness at brother in law, James, wedding. In 1819, Mary died and was buried in St Stephen Churchyard, Saltash.
  
  In 1841, Daniel described himself as a farmer and was living in Saltash a few doors away from their son, William Cullis, born 1803, a butcher married to Ann. Daniel died in 1849 and James Uglow was the executor of the estate.
  
  Some of Mary and Daniel's sons emigrated to Ontario, Canada (Thanks to Dallas Manicom, we have more on this family: read here). In the 1881 census, Daniel Cullis, born 1829, Mary's grandson, was living in Stoke Damerel and a labourer.
  
  
• son James 1783 - died in infancy
  
  
• son Abel 1785 - Family 2
  
  
• son Nicholas 1787 - this was Nicholas who marries Prudence Date and who emigrates to Pennsylvania in 1818 - Emigrant US Family 1
  • son Benjamin Franklin 1814
    
    
• son James 1790 joined the navy as a mariner. His first service was on the Astrea in 1823 and he later served on the San Joseph in 1841 - at that time, he was described as 5' 4", ruddy complexion, blue eyes and grey hair and living in Flushing near Falmouth. He was a carpenter's mate. In 1818, he married Grace Bath (1793-1835) from Mylor. She and the children were living in Mylor from 1825 - for the continuation of this story, go to Mylor Family 1
  
  
• son Benjamin Snell 1793 was probably named after his grandmother. After the christening record, there is an absemce of evidence, whether of death or emigration
  
  
• daughter Ann Sophia 1797 born in Antony. On the census, she was known as Sophia - she married William Deacon, a mason, in 1818 in Plymouth. In 1841, they were living with their children in Torpoint. By 1851, Sophia had been widowed - she was still living in Torpoint with her son, Benjamin, also a mason, but she was described as a pauper. She died in 1857. (Thanks to Dallas Manicom, we have more on this family: read here)

(Source: Letty  Fernandez and Dallas Manicom)

Family 2: Abel and Salome Venning

Abel 1785 was born in St Stephens, Saltash, the son of Nicholas and Joan Cord and the grandson of Abel and Mary Snell.

Abel was a shipwright in Devonport dockyard and married Salome Venning in 1805 in Antony. Salome was from the north east of the county - probably christened on 15th July 1781 in St Clether, the daughter of John Venning and Jane Ham. The family lived in Wilcove which was on the river, just north of Torpoint and just across the river from the dockyard.

Abel and Salome might have worked at Portsmouth dockyard for a spell as we have an IGI record for Nicholas Oglow, born there in 1812.

In 1841 Salome was in Bodmin Lunatic Asylum but she recovered and in 1851 was at 15 Fore St, Antony with her grandson, Thomas Weeks. Salome died in Bodmin in 1860.

Abel was impossible to find in 1841 - it's not inconceivable that he travelled to the USA perhaps with one of his sons but they all returned by 1842.

In the 1851 census Abel was described as a superannuated shipwright and was visiting a labourer, Benjamin Bassett, living in St Germans. In 1861 Abel was living with daughter Salome Weekes at 23 Portland Place, Stoke Damerel. At the end of his life, he was living at Torpoint. He died in December 1868 and was buried in Antony on New Year's Eve, aged 84.

• son John 1806 born in Antony. He married Salome Venning in Plymouth St Andrew in 1832. She was born in St Clether in 1807 and was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Venning - it is probable that she is the elder sister of Emily who marries John's brother Christopher in 1842. See St Clether Family 1 [See comment on John 1816 - Helston Family 1a]
  
  
• son Nicholas 1812 probably born in Portsea, Hampshire with Abel and Sarah given as his parents. Various other records give different places of birth - Antony itself, Torpoint and St Anthony near Falmouth. This is the Nicholas who marries Jane Carlyon in 1844. Much of their lives was spent around Helston - Family 2
  
  
• son Abel 1815
  
  
• son Christopher Venning 1818 (James' twin). He marries Emily Venning - Family 4. For the strange story of Christopher Venning, read Cornwall FHS Journal March at p 26 and June 2020 at p 20
  
  
• son James 1818 (Christopher's twin). There is considerable evidence that his twin brother, Christopher, travelled to the USA and was living in Texas by 1838. It is possible that James (and their father Abel) went with him as there I have been unable to find either of them in the 1841 census. But James returns by 1842 as he dies in Stoke Damerel RD in the second quarter of 1842. Perhaps Christopher brings him home when he gets sick?
  
  
• daughter Salome 1821 is born in Wilcove. In 1841 she is at Ferry St in Torpoint (perhaps modern Ferry Lane?). Her mother is in Bodmin lunatic asylum and Salome is independent. In 1843 she married Thomas Weeks, born 1812 in Saltash, in Stoke Damerel.
  
  In 1851, Thomas and Salome are at 14 Fore St, Antony with two year old John with them. Young Thomas Abel Uglow Weekes is next door at No. 15 with his grandmother, Salome Uglow. Also in the street is sister in law, Emily, at No 50. Thomas is a sailor, probably in the Royal Navy. Thopmas and Salome eventually have four children - Thomas 1845 (an engineer in 1861), John 1849 (a RN sailor), Salome 1852 (a milliner) and Jane 1858 (in 1861 she is a servant with the Ireland family in Stoke Damerel).
  
  By 1861, Salome is living at 23 Portland Place, Stoke Damerel with four children and her widowed father - Thomas is presumably at sea. By 1871, Thomas is on a pension and they are living in Fore St, Torpoint, close to Salome's sister in law, Emily. Salome dies in 1876 in St Germans, aged 55.
  
  
• son Benjamin 1823 is born in Wilcove but he dies in 1833 and is buried in Antony

(Source: Letty  Fernandez)

Family 4: Christopher Venning and Emily Venning

[For the strange story of Christopher Venning, read Cornwall FHS Journal March at p 26 and June 2020 at p 20]

Christopher Venning 1818 is born in Antony, the son of Abel and Salome Venning and the grandson of Nicholas and Joan Cord.

Perhaps it is not surprising that Christopher, son of a shipwright, living close to a port from which immigrant ships set sail, seeks to make his fortune abroad. There is evidence that he travelled to the USA and was living in Texas by 1838 - owning substantial amounts of land and also slaves. The Ancestry marriage record shows 'Christopher V Uglou' and Theresa H Smith marrying in Houston, Texas on 20th May 1839. There is a child, Theodore, born on 24th December 1841. We also know that this Christopher is born in England (stated by Theodore in the 1910 US census).

So far, so good - the problems emerge because Uglow researchers can only find one Christopher Uglow born in the early 19th century, namely Christopher Venning 1818. As a result, matters become quite difficult to unravel.

There is a Christopher Uglow serving as an ordinary seaman on HMS Blenheim in the First China War in 1840-42.  The Blenheim's log shows them leaving Portsmouth around March 1840, east of the Cape of Good Hope by April that year and by July the ship is in China. The crew of the Blenheim are awarded service medals for actions in January, March, May, August and October 1841.

We know that Christopher Venning 1818 is a seaman - he says so on his marriage record and on the baptism records of his three Cornish children. The presumption is that he is serving on HMS Blenheim by early 1840.

This presents many difficulties for the time line as it suggests EITHER that the Christopher in Texas is NOT Christopher Venning 1818 OR that the seaman on HMS Blenheim is another Christopher Uglow OR that within 12 months of the marriage, Christopher has abandoned his wife in Texas, returned to England to enlist in the RN and indeed is not the father of Theodore.

One piece of evidence is an article dated 12/25/1841 in the Houston "Morning Star," mentioning a Steam Boat accident aboard the "Albert Gallatin". Listed under the "wounded" is "A negro man belonging to Mr. Uglow" - this suggests that Christopher is still in Houston and is not our Torpoint Christopher.

It is almost certain that Theresa (and perhaps this elusive Christopher) dies, perhaps from yellow fever, an endemic problem in Texas at this time with over 500 dying in Galveston in 1853, 175 in Houston in 1858 and over 700 dying in Galveston again in 1867. Do we assume that she or Christopher made arrangements with the Lubbocks for the care of little Theodore? Francis and his wife, Adele, have no other children and by the 1850 census have adopted Theodore. This is very fortunate for Theodore as Francis is a successful livestock rancher and a future governor of Texas. Theodore is known as Theodore Uglow Lubbock- he flunks out of Virginia Military Institute but, despite poor eyesight, fights on the Confederate side in the Civil War. He later served on the Texas legislature. (For more on this story, read here).

After China, Christopher returns to Cornwall – I'm not sure when HMS Blenheim returns to the UK but she is laid up in Sheerness by April 1843. For Christopher, there is the death of his twin brother, James, who dies in Stoke Damerel in 1842. More happily, on 22nd October 1842, Christopher marries Emily Venning, in Laneast, Cornwall – his occupation is given as seaman. Emily Venning is presumably a cousin,as she was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Venning and was born in 1816 in St Clether, the village where Abel's mother, Salome Venning, came from. She is probably the younger sister of Salome 1806 who, in 1832, marries Christopher's brother, John. [If Christopher is the Texas Christopher, this is probably bigamous although there's no death record for Theresa]

Within a few months, Christopher and Emily have a daughter, Mary Jane, born in the second quarter of 1843 and baptised on 7th January 1844 in Torpoint. At this point, Christopher is a seaman on the HMS Caledonian. This is followed by the birth of another daughter, Emma Salome Uglow, christened on 16th November 1845 in Torpoint. Christopher is now a seaman on the HMS Vulture.

He is registered as a merchant seaman in Hong Kong on 13th April 1846 - he is in the RN serving on the HMS Vulture at that time. He is 5' 5" tall with brown hair, hazel eyes and a sallow complexion. He joined the RN aged 18, has completed nine years of service and cannot write (but as Dallas Manicom has pointed out, he signed the marriage register with a clear, legible hand while Emily just put her mark.)

Another contradiction turns up as Texas land records show that in 1845, Christopher has apparently returned to Texas and on 24th July 1845, purchased 640 acres of land in Harris County. An alternative scenario might be that Francis Lubbock, a successful stockman, buys the land in the name of Theodore’s father – there may be tax or succession issues which make this a sensible option? But whether Christopher was in Texas in 1845 or not, he is back in England in 1849 where a later son, James Christopher Venning Uglow is born, baptised on 27th May  but dies later that year. At this christening, Christopher is again a seaman on the HMS Caledonian.

By the 1851 census, Christopher has apparently died – in Cornwall, wife Emily and daughters Mary and Emma are living at 50 Fore St, Torpoint and Emily describes herself as a widow and is working as a laundress.  There are at least three families living in the house.  In 1861 and 1871, Emily is at 23 Fore St, Torpoint, a widow and is working as a charwoman.  In 1861, daughter Mary is at 1 Rock House, Antony, Devon, a doctor’s servant but in 1871 is living with her mother. Mary and Emma both work as general servants around Torpoint. Emma marries William Wyatt, an RN stoker, in Stoke Damerel in 1865.
Emily dies in 1879. Did she ever know about Theresa and Theodore?

• daughter, Mary Jane 1842 born in Torpoint - in 1851 she is living with her mother at 50 Fore St, Torpoint. In 1861 she is at 1 Rock House, Antony where she is a servant for Dr Charles Chubb. In the 1871 census the two of them are in the parish of Antony - Mary is still unmarried and working as a servant. After 1871, I've not been able to trace Mary. At 30, she may well have married.
  
  
• daughter, Emma Salome1845 born in Torpoint - in 1851 she is living with her mother at 50 Fore St, Torpoint. In 1861, she's a servant, working for the Rowe family in Antony. In 1865, she marries William Wyatt in Stoke Damerel - he is a navy stoker, born in 1845 in Cullompton, Devon. In 1871, the family is at North Terrace, Torpoint with their first child, Emily. In 1881, she's at 11 Macey St., Torpoint with five children: Emily, Elizabeth, William, George and Alfred. Presumably William is away at sea. There are two further children - Florence and Reuben before Emma dies in 1888 and the 1891 census finds William as a widower with the children.
  
  
• son, James Christopher Venning 1849, born in St Germans RD, who dies in infancy.

Miscellaneous

• William (1766-1827) is buried in the village

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