Now to research the family of John Samuel Curtis’s wife, Mary Ann Curtis (née Cope), and as I will commence by repeating Census records previously shown in which she appears.
In the 1881 Census, recorded on the night of Sunday 3rd April 1881, JOHN SAMUEL CURTIS and MARY ANN CURTIS at 15 Thornton Lane, Leicester in the Parish of St Martins.
This record reveals John Samuel Curtis was born in Norwich in Norfolk, his wife Mary Ann was born in London.
Road /Street | Name | Relationship | Marriage Status | Age | Occupation | Where Born |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 Thornton Lane | John Samuel Curtis | Head | Married | 53 | Last & Model Maker | Norwich |
MARY ANN CURTIS | Wife | Married | 48 | London | ||
Matilda Elizabeth Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 21 | Shoe Machinist | Norwich | |
Catherine Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 20 | Shoe Machinist | Leicester | |
Elizabeth M.A. Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 19 | Shoe Fitter | Leicester | |
Lydia Harriet Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 17 | Shoe Fitter | Leicester | |
John Samuel Curtis | Son | Unmarried | 14 | Apprentice Last Maker | Leicester | |
Mary Ann Curtis | Daughter | 13 | Scholar | Leicester | ||
Joseph D. Curtis | Son | 9 | Scholar | Leicester |
Now back another 10 years to the Census of 1871…..
As in 1881 the family are living in Thornton Lane but it appears they are in the house next to the one in which they lived in 1881 as the record states their residence as No 13 Thornton Lane in the Parish of St Martins.
Road /Street | Name | Relationship | Marriage Status | Age | Occupation | Where Born |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 Thornton Lane | John Samuel Curtis | Head | Married | 42 | Last Maker | Norwich |
MARY ANN CURTIS | Wife | Married | 38 | London | ||
James Curtis | Son | Unmarried | 13 | Scholar | Norwich | |
Matilda Elizabeth Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 11 | Scholar | Norwich | |
Catherine Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 10 | Scholar | Leicester | |
Elizabeth M.A. Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 9 | Scholar | Leicester | |
Lydia Harriet Curtis | Daughter | Unmarried | 7 | Scholar | Leicester | |
John Samuel Curtis | Son | Unmarried | 5 | Scholar | Leicester | |
Mary Ann Curtis | Daughter | 3 | Scholar | Leicester |
As in 1861 the family are living in Thornton Lane but now they live at No 22 Thornton Lane in the Parish of St Martins.
Road /Street | Name | Relationship | Marriage Status | Age | Occupation | Where Born |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
22 Thornton Lane | John Samuel Curtis | Head | Married | 32 | Bootmaker | Norfolk Oleswood Norwich |
MARY ANN CURTIS | Wife | Married | 28 | Bootmaker? | Middlesex London | |
James Curtis | Son | 3 | Norfolk Norwich | |||
Matilda Elizabeth Curtis | Daughter | 2 | Norfolk Norwich | |||
Catherine Curtis | Daughter | 7 months | Leicester |
This I believe is the marriage I seek. The date of the wedding is 9th August 1857 which is the year prior to the birth of their first child, James, who was born in Norwich in 1858. Their second child, Matilda was born in 1859 also in Norwich. Unfortunately the ages of the couple are not shown which would enable to confirm this is the correct wedding however the occupation of John Samuel Curtis is the same as appears on subsequent Census records.
The bride name is MARY ANN ELIZABETH COPE. The father of couple are recorded as JAMES CURTIS (deceased) and WILLIAM COPE. This wedding took place at St. Martin at Palace, a small church situated close to the Norwich Cathedral. This church still stand, however it is now classified as a redundant parish church.
If this is the correct wedding the relevant ages of John Samuel Curtis and Mary Ann Elizabeth Cope at the time of their marriage would be 29 and 24 years old respectively.
MARY ANN ELIZABETH COPE’S BIRTH
The Census records for 1881 and 1871 show Mary Ann as being born in ‘London‘ and in the Census of 1861 the county is confirmed as ‘Middlesex, London‘. A record of her baptism can be found which shows she was born on 19th March 1832 and baptised two years later, on 31st March 1834. See the fourth record below left.
Normally baptisms would take place on the first Sunday after the child’s birth however it was not uncommon for the local parish priest to knock on the doors of all the house in his parish to establish if the children had been baptised. If they hadn’t he would persuade, cajole, urge, force the parents to get it done! This appears to be the case, as only one child who were baptised on that Sunday at the end of March 1834 were born in the close to their baptism date. The other were born in April 1833, February 1825 and March 1832!
This record show Mary Ann’s birthdate and also the name of her parents; father is William, as already discovered on the record of her marriage 24 years later and, as in that 1857 record his profession is that of a ‘Last Maker’, her mother is named Catherine. At the time of the baptism Mary Ann’s parents live in Moor Street, a Street in Soho which measures approximately 51 metres in length and is now pedestrianised.
The church in which Mary Ann Cope was baptised, St Anne Soho, which still stand as in use, is situated on the south of Dean Street, Soho, near the lower end towards Gerard Street; and the church yard reaches from Dean Street on the east to Princes Street on the west. An image of the church is shown above right.
Historically Westminster was a part of the ceremonial county of Middlesex so this substantiates the information recorded in the relevant Census records.
1841 / 1851 – CENSUS RECORDS
I cannot locate a record of Mary Ann Elizabeth Cope in either the Census records for 1841 or 1851. She would have been 9 years old in 1841 and 19 years old in 1851.
Summary of her life based on records found to date:
The story so far – a summary of the family
Click on the image to enlarge…
Seven of George Harry Leedham’s great grandparents have been identified at this point, only Mary Leedham’s husbands name is not shown on the family tree above.
I will now research each of these families as far back as records allow, starting with the Leedham branch.
Next Page: The Leedham Branch