STOW(E) family

[DaveHam9]

Hello,

name: Robert Stow
event: Census
event date: 1841
gender: Male
age: 40
birthplace: Wiltshire
record type: Household
registration district: Melksham
sub-district: Melksham
civil parish: Melksham
county: Wiltshire

Spouse is Sarah (nee BULGIN) and sons include Robert b. abt 1831, William b. 1829 & Thomas b. 1826.

I'd like a look up please for the family in 1841 and 1851. Robert senior was a bailiff and court clerk.

It's Thomas born 1826 Melksham I'm mainly interested in finding in 1851 and 1861. He was a millwright, wood machinist. Thomas married in Blything RD in 1862 so I'd expect he would still be in the area in 1851 and 1861.

Regards,

Dave

 

[emeltee]

Hi Dave,

1841 HO107 1182/f33
Lowbourne Place, Melksham

Stow Robert 40 Bailiff
Stow Sarah 38 wife
Stow William 12 son
Stow Thomas 15 son Apprentice
Stow Kitty 12 dau
Stow Robert 10 son
Stow Jane 8 dau
Stow Eliza 5 dau
All born in county

1851 HO107/1840/F45
Cobourg Square, Melksham

Stow Robert 53 Pensioner Worton, Wilts
Stow Sarah 50 wife Melksham
Stow Robert 31 son Saddler & Harness Maker Melksham
Stow Emma dau 9 Scholar Melksham

I can't find Thomas in 1851 and the only Thomas I can find in 1861 wasn't born in Melksham and is married with a 12 year old daughter.

Hope this helps in some way,

Emeltee

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Emeltee,

Thank you very much.

Thomas STOW c. 25 Jun 1826 Independent, Melksham, Wiltshire, England
Robert & Sarah

Thomas married in Blything in 1862 but by 1871 the family was in London.

Spouse Emma was born in Leiston, Suffolk. Perhaps Thomas left Wiltshire to further his trade of wood machinist / millwright and returned to marry. Alternatively he stayed in Wiltshire but his name is transcribed as SLOW or something.

Eliza ended up as a servant in 1851 in Gloucesterchire.

Curious how the family name in Australia became STOWE.

Regards,

Dave

 

[emeltee]

Hi Dave,

Well I've tried searching every which way I can think of and he is very elusive. I cannot find him in 1861 at all but I have found a Thomas Storr (on the original it looks like Stow to me) in 1851. He is a 26 yr old Carpenter/Joiner living in Chippenham with wife Hester. I have found a marriage in Westbury, Wilts between a Thomas Stow and a Hester or Esther Lye (both names are entered in the original index). I have also found a death for a Hester Stow in 1861 in Bromley, Kent. Could this have been your man or am I totally barking up the wrong tree?

The references are as follows

1851 Census HO107/1836/F563/p24

Marriage 1846 Westbury vol 8 p699 (sorry forgot to make a note of the Quarter but it's on FreeBMD)

Death Dec 1860 Bromley vol 2a p 145

Emeltee

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Emeltee,

Thank you very much for looking.

I'm not sure. I will admit if the 1862 marriage is his first it's a bit odd at age 36. If you have found him then that removes one of the two census listings where we know he was still alive and probably still in Wiltshire. I would have expected to see at least one child from his first marriage with him in 1871:

1871
RG10/74 Folio: 9 Page: 10
Enumeration District: 5
4 Paultons Terrace, Chelsea South, London, England
Thomas Stowe head 37 Melksham, Wiltshire wood cutting machinist
Anna S Stowe wife 31 Leiston, Suffolk
Alfred O Stowe son 7 Theberton, Suffolk scholar
Annie E Stowe dau 5 Sligo, Ireland scholar
Francis E Stowe son 4 Sligo, Ireland
Emma M Stowe dau 1 Sligo, Ireland

It looks as though Thomas may have been in Suffolk in 1861 if that's where he met his future spouse. ??? I can only find the 1862 Blything RD, Suffolk marriage in FreeBMD so I can't see if his status was widower.

Regards,

Dave

 

[josie7644]

Hi Dave,

Just a minor point!

Thomas married Emma in 1862, but in 1871, he is with Anna S

Did Emma die and is Anna his third wife? Or do you think Emma has been mistranscribed as Anna?

I've been searching for him in 1861, but can't find him!

Josie

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Josie,

Thanks for looking.

I would think Thomas was in Suffolk in 1861 and probably transcribed in some odd way.

You are correct and it must be an error. Here they are in shipping record:

Assisted immigrants arriving in Sydney, 1860-79
STOWE Thomas 43 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Emma 37 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Alfred 13 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Annie 11 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Francis 10 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Emma 8 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE Priscilla 6 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488
STOWE George T 4 and family St Lawrence 1877 2140, 2488

The birth of a daughter in NSW:

Birth # 21476/1878 STOWE LILLIAN LYDIA - THOMAS - EMMA SEWELL - RICHMOND RIVER


The Sydney Morning Herald - Monday 11 November 1895 p.1
DEATHS
STOWE.-November 9, at 42 Phillip-street, Balmain, Thomas, second son of the late Robert Stowe, Clerk in the Court of Requests, Melksham, Wiltshire, England. Home papers please copy.

Ah. The eldest son is not with the family in 1841. That means I don't even know the name of Robert & Sarah's first son. ??? There must be an error in the 1841. William is listed above Thomas but shows 12. Probably should be 17 given this, so William is the eldest:

1851
Civil Parish: Melksham
County: Wiltshire
STOW William head 1824 age 27 Bootmaker Melksham, Wiltshire

 

[josie7644]

Hello Josie,


Ah. The eldest son is not with the family in 1841. That means I don't even know the name of Robert & Sarah's first son. :

Hi Dave,

Robert and Sarah's first son was George who was baptised on 18 August 1822 in Melksham.

https://www.familysearch.org/search...lysearch.org/records/pal:/MM9.1.r/MN8Z-QLB/p1

Good night,

Josie

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Josie,

Oh. Thanks.

William c. 18 Jul 1824 Independent, Melksham

Looks as though Thomas was the 3rd then. George must have died young.

Handy having a middle name (mother's maiden name):

Catherine Bulgin c. 22 Jun 1828 Independent, Melksham

G'nite.

Dave

 

[emeltee]

Hi Dave,

I have found something which will really throw the cat amongst the pigeons - Robert and Sarah had two sons called Thomas. I have looked at Familysearch, the nonconformists and the Hugh Wallis site and found the following children born to Robert and Sarah, all baptised at the Independent, Melksham.

Sarah 1821
George 1822
William 1824
Thomas 1826
Catherine Bulgin 1828
Robert 1830
Jane 1833
Thomas 1835

Not sure what to make of two Thomases as the name was usually only used a second time if the first child had died and we have Thomas aged 15 in 1841 which fits the first Thomas, and there is no sign of the second Thomas in the 1841 Census. Curiouser and curiouser.

Emeltee

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Emeltee,

I think the answer is that Thomas was baptised twice but at the same chapel, OR the records are crazy:

Thomas STOW c. 25 Jun 1826 Independent, Melksham, Wiltshire
Robert & Sarah Batch: C077911

Thomas STOW c. 9 Aug 1835 Independent, Melksham, Wiltshire
Robert STOW & Sarah (BULGIN) Batch: C077911

It would be very strange I think to have one batch covering such a range of years. I wonder if the first is a birth and the 2nd is 9 Aug 1826 baptism.

Well, I'm wrong. The Non-conformist RG4 records agree:

name: Thomas Stow
event type: Baptism
birth date:
birthplace:
christening date: 25 Jun 1826
christening place: Melksham, Wiltshire
marriage date:
marriage place:
death date:
death place:
burial date:
burial place:
father's name: Robert Stow
mother's name: Sarah Stow
record set: RG4_3331

name: Thomas Stow
event type: Baptism
birth date:
birthplace:
christening date: 09 Aug 1835
christening place: Melksham, Wiltshire
marriage date:
marriage place:
death date:
death place:
burial date:
burial place:
father's name: Robert Stow
mother's name: Sarah Stow
record set: RG4_3331

Regards,

Dave

 

[DaveHam9]

Oh. The age in 1871 and shipping record fits 1835 not 1826.

Could it be that they named two sons Thomas. The first married in 1846 in Westbury and the 2nd (mine) married in 1862 and took his family to Australia. The only one of all the children to leave England.

The death in NSW clearly connects that Thomas to Robert the bailiff:

The Sydney Morning Herald - Monday 11 November 1895 p.1
DEATHS
STOWE.-November 9, at 42 Phillip-street, Balmain, Thomas, second son of the late Robert Stowe, Clerk in the Court of Requests, Melksham, Wiltshire, England. Home papers please copy.

But George, William, Thomas, Robert, Thomas makes him 5th not 2nd son. ???

 

[DaveHam9]

Next question: Do we have a 2nd Robert & Sarah STOW family in England?

I can only find one marriage and that's the 1820 to Sarah BULGIN.

Why would only one out of 7 children go to Australia? From the shipping record:

The 'St Lawrence' departed Plymouth 3 Mar 1877 and arrived Sydney 8 Jun 1877
Thomas Machinist Wiltshire CofE Both


I've checked the shipping records for more STOWs and found one family from Northampton and one from Oxford.

 

[emeltee]

Hi Dave,

Like you, I can only find one marriage for Robert Stow/Sarah and that is the one to sarah Bulgin who was baptised in melksham in 1802, daughter of Richard Bulgin and Catherine.

The 1871 Census definitely has Thomas's wife as Anna but I cannot find a marriage of a Thomas Stow to an Anna although there is one to an Emma Macaree in Mile End, Dec 1865 vol 1c p 1228.

Emeltee

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Emeltee,

Seems they had two sons named Thomas but I can't find the one baptised in 1835 in 1841 census. There is a Thomas born about 1831 aged 10 but to different parents.

I have no doubt it's the right family:

1871
RG10/74 Folio: 9 Page: 10
Enumeration District: 5
4 Paultons Terrace, Chelsea South, London, England
Thomas Stowe head 37 Melksham, Wiltshire wood cutting machinist
Anna S Stowe wife 31 Leiston, Suffolk
Alfred O Stowe son 7 Theberton, Suffolk scholar
Annie E Stowe dau 5 Sligo, Ireland scholar
Francis E Stowe son 4 Sligo, Ireland
Emma M Stowe dau 1 Sligo, Ireland

I have the deaths in Australia for Alfred Owen, Annie Elizabeth, Francis Ernest and Emma Mary.

They must have had a sense of humour because they gave their youngest son Harold the middle name Beecher.

Regards,

Dave

 

[crankypants]

Hi Dave


Cyclopedia of New South Wales

A prominent Architect and Consulting Engineer in the metropolis of New South Wales, and well known in the various centres of the colony, is MR. FRANCIS ERNEST STOWE, son of the late Thomas Stowe, millwright and engineer, of London. Born on March 17th, 1867, educated, first, in the “little village,” and latterly in this colony young Stowe went through a severe course of practical training, embracing engineering, building construction, and office work, for a period of twelve years before he initiated the practice of his profession amidst the historic scenes of Parramatta in the year 1891. Since that time his professional career can be tersely described as one of substantial and speedy progress. The value of the ancient borough as a commercial centre to the up-to-date professional man is in inverse ratio to the interest it attracts on sentimental grounds; and it was not long before Mr. Stowe recognised the necessity of putting in his pegs in a more lucrative field, where his skill would receive wider recognition.
Accordingly, when the suited moment arrived he came to Sydney, where he soon gathered around him in King Street, a sound connection.
For the past sixteen years he has instructed classes on engineering at the Sydney Technical College; and, latterly, the architectural department of this important and beneficial institution has been under his control. He is the present principal of the Sydney Marine Engineers' College, from which, under his tuition, since 1902 candidates to the number of 128 have been successful in obtaining Board of Trade certificates; and the counterbalance scheme," adopted by the Government and used at Darling Street, Balmain, affords a good instance of his inventive genius.
In January, 1894, Mr. Stowe was married to Miss Margaret Lyon. Outside his profession, he devotes himself mainly to military matters, holding a commission as lieutenant in the Parramatta squadron of the New South Wales Lancers. Rising at the outset from the ranks to an officer in the lancer cadets, he was eventually promoted so a second lieutenantship in his present corps and then to the rank of first lieutenant.

cheers
cp

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello cp,

Thanks.

Francis Ernest b. 17 Mar 1867 , Sligo, Ireland Vol. 7 p. 381

Curious how the one in my tree according to shipping records is the 2nd Thomas and the one in the 1841 census is the 1st Thomas. Still seems there were two.

Regards,

Dave