Uglow Family History

This parish containing the ancient fishing port of Mevagissey is on the south coast of Cornwall, south-west of St Austell. The name is derived from two saints, Meva and Issey, in Cornish this would 'Meva hag Issey', hence the 'g' in the name. At one time this port dealt with huge quantities of pilchards, but these unfortunately disappeared from the seas around Cornwall at the end of the 19th century. The picturesque narrow streets leading down to the harbour still retain some of the charm of an age when the horse and cart were the main method of transport, but unfortunately find it difficult to cope with modern traffic. In the 17th century smuggling and privatering were important sources of income for the people of Mevagissey.

Population

Statistics: 1381 acres of land

Maps

Mevagissey is on the south coast in St Austell Bay

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

Family 1: George and Ann Whetter

George 1788 was born in Poundstock. There are 2 possibilities here:

1. my favourite is George 1794 from Warbstow, the son of Nicholas and Catherine Medland and the grandson of William and Agnes Hobb. The evidence for this is that a George, aged 79, dies in St Thomas, Exeter in 1873 - living with or close by son George 1828. The age is right. Against is that Warbstow is a long way away and that the 1861 census has a widower, George, living in Veryan but saying he was born in Gorran.

2. second best by a long way is based on the1861 census - that there was a George born in Gorran in 1793. But this is clearly George from the other censuses in 1851 and 1871. Why does he give Gorran as his birthplace, when in 1851 and 1871, he gives Warbstow as the answer? Probably the census taker asks the wrong question - where are you from, George? George has just moved from Gorran and answers 'Gorran'.

George 1794 left Warbstow and headed south, for some reason straying far from home. Under his father's will in 1810, when he reached 21, he received £5 pa and a lump sum of £100. Perhaps that was the spur in 1815 or so to go on the road?

Anyway he met Ann - this was almost certainly Ann Whetter who was probably 10 years older, the daughter of Jacob and Thomasin, born in Gorran in 1785. She married George in 1823 in Gorran church, just inland from Mevagissey. In 1841, you will find George and Ann (with sons George and Richard) in Treveor, a small hamlet west of Gorran Churchtown. He is a maltster, aged 45. Ann dies in 1847.

In 1851, George was lodging with Mary Billing, a carpenter's widow in Gorran Churchtown. Aged 55, he gave his birthplace as Warbstow but he was 'out of a situation'. In 1861, he gave his age as 67 but his birthplace as Gorran. He was living in Portloe, near Veryan, a few miles west around the coast from Gorran. He appears to be a lodger of Mary Teague, who kept a 'common bake house'. George was apparently working as a maltster again. But by 1871, George has gone to live with his son, George in Woodbury near Exeter. George died in 1873.

• son George 1828 was born in Gorran, Mevagissey. In 1841, he was with his parents in Treveor, a small hamlet west of Gorran Churchtown. In 1851, he was visiting in Plymouth. In Truro in 1855, he married Susan Ann Barrett, born in Truro in 1833 - she is Annie in the 1861 census but Susan A. in 1871. Her parents were Richard Barrett (linen draper of Truro) and Mary Sansom (a farmers daughter from Quethiock). Richard Barrett had some interesting background as well - as a dissenter, in 1839 he objected to paying church rates, seeing these as legalised robbery. When bailiffs came to seize his and fellow defendants' property in payment, there were large number of protestors and Richard was charged and convicted of creating a riot. The Barretts before that were from Polperro - Susan's grandfather was a smuggler, another Richard who had an interest in a smuggling vessel named The Lottery
  
  George and Susan moved to Southampton for a time - as the 1861 census shows, the first four children were all born there. In1860, they moved to London and in 1861 the family was living in Grange Lodge, Hornsey Road, Islington. George appears successful - he was a wholesale hosier employing three hands and was in partnership with Henry Owen. Their business was in Wood Street in the City of London and in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The business goes bankrupt - (London Gazette 12th February 1861) but only for a short time as we find George's bankruptcy being annulled in May 1861 (London Gazette 19th May).
  
  Presumably as a result of this failure, by 1862, the family was in Exeter. George had rescued some capital as they were living in Hurston House in Whitestone, 3 miles outside Exeter, west along the A30. But things went rapidly downhill - in February 1871 (Trewmans Flying Post on 8th February), we find an advert for an auction of George's household goods at Hurston House - these include livestock (Guernsey cow, slip pig, pony, 100 poultry) and the furniture (Pembroke tables, Brussels carpet, piano in rosewood, oil paintings, dinner services etc). This was clearly the act of a man in serious financial difficulties. By the time of the census, the family was in Ebford, Woodbury on the other side of Exeter. By this time, George was working as a commercial traveler.
  
  1872 was a worse year as their little daughter, Annie Mabel, died on June 25th aged 1 year 9 months. In October 1872, George found himself in Exeter County Court, being sued by the local doctor for fees. The doctor claimed that George had asked him to attend Annie who was haemorrhaging - thereafter he visited over ten months. He alleged that George was a lacemaker, employing 40 women and paying them in total about £20 a week. George denied this and said that he had no means except what he earned - about 25 shillings a week. He thought that the visits were for a gossip! Judgment was for the doctor - £10 at 10s a month.
  
  Whether the debt was ever paid off is moot. In spring 1873, tragedy struck at Ebford Cottage - first George senior died in March, then Annie in April followed soon after by George. The children lost two parents and a grandfather in a matter of weeks. In his will, George is referred to as a lace maker and his effects are valued at under £800. The children are all put into the guardianship of their aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. She is Annie's sister and married to a Truro tin smelter, Henry John Bawden whom she married in 1865 in Newton Abbot RD. There's some evidence from the 1881 census that Mary and Ellen Maud live with their mother's brothers
  
  
  • daughter Florence 1856 was born in Southampton. She was with her parents in Islington in 1861 and in Woodbury in 1871. She was 16 when her parents died and her guardian was her aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. She married in Hastings in 1881 - her husband was Harry Neale, a draper's assistant. She and her husband were visiting in Mann St, Hastings at the time of the census in 1881. In 1901, Florence was living at 35 Silchester Road, Hasting on her own means with her son, George Uglow Neal. Harry is missing but by 1911, Florence and Harry are living in Hanover Terrace, Weymouth where Harry is a draper's manager and Florence is running a boarding house. Son George is living in London.
    
    
  • son George Ernest 1857 was born in Southampton. He was with his parents in Islington in 1861 and in Woodbury in 1871. His guardian was his aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. He soon heads back to London and in 1880 in Kensington married Harriet May Mayhew who, says the 1881 census, was born in 1848 in Blything, Runburgh, Suffolk. They were at 2 Kennet Road in 1881 with a small daughter is called Florence - after his sister? George was working as a shopman. On the move again, in 1882 Kelly's Directory of Kent puts them at 6 Mountfield Road, Tunbridge Wells.
    
    In 1891, he was working as a shirt cutter and draper's assistant and living at 136 Trinity Rd, Aston Manor, presumably in Birmingham. In 1901, the family was at 5 Blenheim Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham - the transcription has them as 'Ugloid'. George was working as a shopkeeper and draper. During this period, he goes into partnership with Emily Maund under 'John Risdon and Co' at 66 High St Birmingham and also at 164 Stratford Road, Birmingham - they are hosiers, glovers and shirt makersbut the partrnership isdissolved in June 1904. George is still a draper in Birmingham in1906
    
    But they move south - in 1911, Harriet is in Penarth House, Wells in Somerset but there's no sign of George. George Ernest died in Devises in 1914 and Harriet in 1917 in Weymouth.
    
    
    • daughter Florence 1880 was born in Paddington. In 1901 she was with her parents but working as a solicitors' typist. She married William Farley Glass in 1910 in Harborne, Kings Norton, Birmingham
      
      
  • daughter Mary Sansom 1858 was born in Southampton. She was with her parents in Islington in 1861 and in Woodbury in 1871. After her parents' death, her guardian was her aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. In the 1881 census, she was staying with her uncle, John Bawden, a bank manager, Upper Lemon Villa, Kenwyn. Her aunt was Ellen Sansom Bawden - so the 'Sansom' comes through Mary's mother. In 1901, she was boarding at 66 High Street, Birmingham and working as a housekeeper. [nb recorded as May Uglon aged 33 but original is clearly uglow and her place of birth is Southampton - so possibly lying about her age]. She died in Bournemouth in 1940.
    
  • son Arthur Robert 1860 was born in Southampton. He is with his parents in Islington in 1861 and in Woodbury in 1871. After his parents' death, his guardian was his aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. He was an auctioneers' assistant at Barnstaple, to Frederick Symons in the census of 1881.  He married Agnes Pringle (1871-1935). In the early 1890s, he was a merchant, conducting business in the West Indies - there are four records of trips back from Jamaica to Southampton: in June 1891 on the SS Don; in July 1894 on the SS Atrato, in March 1895 on the SS Medway and in September 1895 on the SS Para. On the 1894 trip, Arthur was accompanied by "Miss Uglow" aged 25 - perhaps sister Mary (who seems prone to trimming several years of her age)
    In 1897, he emigrated, first to Wellington, New Zealand where 3 children, Arthur, Gerald and Muriel were born. They later moved to Australia where he was a retail manager at Georges department store in Melbourne. In March1912 Arthur arrived in San Francisco aboard SS Sierra en route to England. Later on, the shipping records show us that in 1923 Arthur aged 63 and Agnes aged 52 go travel from London to Melbourne. Agnes died in 1935 and Arthur died in 1949 in Victoria.
    
  • daughter Ellen Maud 1862 was born in Woodbury and was still living there in 1871 - she tends to use the name 'Maud'. After her parents' death, her guardian was her aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden. In 1881, after the death of her parents, she was living at Boscawen St, Truro, with mother's brother Richard and Edith Barrett - Richard was a prosperous draper. In 1891 she was at 3 Hereford Rd, Portsea, Hampshire where she was governess to the Green family. In 1901, she is at Broadwater Park near Tunbridge Wells, Kent where she is companion to Elizabeth Hook (although this census record could be Upton?). But in the next decade, Maud becomes an entrepreneur, running a nursing home with Louisa Emmitt - the Nightingale nursing home for the reception of paying patients and the supply of trained nurses in Strafford Road in Twickenham. It is now a school. In 1911, Maud is the head of the home - there is a mention in a will from a grateful patient and references in PO directories until 1945.
    
    Maud works alongside Louisa Emmitt - Louisa and her sister Alice were the daughters of George Emmitt, a plumber and builder, born in Streatham, London. Louisa trained as a nurse and is to be found working in Bermondsey Workhouse in 1891 and as a hospital nurse in 1901. George died in 1923, leaving the sisters a bit of money - perhaps he had also provided the inital seed money for the nursing home. Maud died in 1946 in Brentford.
    
    
  • son Richard Rendle 1863 was born in St Thomas, Exeter. After his parents' death, his guardian was his aunt, Ellen Sansom Bawden but he died young in Hastings in 1880 - the cause of death was consumption. NB his sister Florence married in Hastings in 1881 - was Richard living there with her?
    
    
  • daughter Ann Mabel 1870 was born in Woodbury but dies in 1872

 

• son Richard 1831. In 1841, he was with his parents in Treveor, a small hamlet west of Gorran Churchtown. He arrived in Australia on "Sir Edward Parry" in October 1852 - an agricultural labourer from Cornwall, he was a Wesleyan, could read only, was aged 21, employment "on own account". Richard marries in Australia but not too successfully - in 1865 the Gippsland Times (Victoria) of 21/1/1865 and 2/2/1865 reports from Sale Police Court that 'Richard Uglow, charged with deserting his wife and family, was ordered to pay 7s a week towards their maintenance.' (thanks to Jocelyn Bond). Decades later, in the Lloyds Weekly Newspaper 27th December 1891, they have a 'long lost relatives' column and one of Richard's nieces is trying to contact him.

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