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Chapter 8
WELLS - The Late Starter.
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Wells would appear to have been a late starter in marrying and creating a
family.
Fourth born (but third surviving) son of James and Elizabeth (nee Wells),
and baptised on 16 April 1765, Wells waited 24 years before marrying -
and then to a widow - Sarah Garritt - who was just one year younger than
him.
Sarah's original maiden name had been Cook, and confusingly in later
years, the Baptismal registers refer to their children as being of Wells and
Sarah (nee Cook). The Marriage Register however, records that the
marriage actually took place between Wells - a bachelor - and Sarah
Garritt, nee Cook - a widow ; the ceremony being at St. Nicholas Church,
Wells-next-the-Sea.
The entry reads that they were "married by Banns on the 23rd April 1799,
by me, Francis William Roll (or Robe), Curate", and shows the marks
("X") of both Wells and Sarah, together with the signatures of the two
witnesses; Christopher Savory and Jameson Frost.
Wells and Sarah, though marrying in their mid-30s, produced six children;
their youngest being born when both Wells and Sarah were in their late
40's ! although 3 of the children died very young.
Their children were;
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Although I hadn't found any records (at Wells-next-the-Sea) of Wells and
Sarah's first-born son -James - other than his birth on 30 January 1803,
recent information highlights that after his baptism in 1915 (at Wells-next-
the-Sea), his next "sighting" was at King's Lynn, where, on 5 June 1833,
he married Sarah Lack, at St. Margaret's Church.
Founded over 800 years ago, and with a Priory and cottages attached,
St. Margaret's is one of the larger Churches in King's Lynn, and contains
two of the best 14th century brasses in the country.
Whether James and Sarah were aware of the history of St. Margaret's
is unknown, but what is more certain is that their first child, Samuel James,
was born at King's Lynn.
There were however six children of James and Sarah's marriage;
N.B. a little while after 1834, James and Sarah returned to Wells-next-
the-Sea, for the Registers at St. Nicholas Church continue, recording
that;-
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I do believe however that "Martha" was the "family name" of
Only surviving child of the marriage would therefore appear to have been
James Robert.
Unlike his father, who at various times of his life, and at the baptisms of
his children, was stated to be, or have been, a Sea Captain; a Ship's
Captain; and a Shipmaster, James Robert became a "Shop Fitter", and
sometime after 1881 was in business at Little Queen Street, off Holborn,
London City.
Marrying Louise ....... in the Islington district of London, at the end of 1881,
James was father to two children. First child was Louise, who died not
long after being born. Her birth and death are recorded in the
St. Catherine's Registers as having been in the Registration district of
Holborn, and both to have occurred (and been registered) between July
and September 1883.
James and Louise's second child - Hubert James, was born at the end
of 1885, at Holborn - his survival past childhood being fairly certain, as
no death of a Hubert James is recorded before 1912 (no marriage for
anyone of the same name is recorded up to 1912 either).
At the end of 1886, just one year after Hubert James' birth, his mother -
Louise - at the tender age of 33 years, died.
Left with baby Hubert James, James Robert waited another eight years
before re-marrying; this time in the district of Edmonton, in 1894.
Did James Robert and his new wife have any children of their own? Did
Hubert James marry and have children? The answers to these questions
I don't presently know, but hope that present day readers' may be able
to point in the right direction for more research.
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I
I
Returning to James and Sarah ( James being the first chiId of Wells and
Sarah), Sarah died on 5 May 1851. Visitors to St. Nicholas' Church at
Wells-next-the-Sea will - if they walk alongside the north-west wall of the
graveyard - be able to seen Sarah's imposing gravestone standing (or
rather, leaning) 1310mm (52½ inches) high, above the ground, and
920 mm (36¾ inches) wide. The smooth, dark grey (slate?) is an
impressive 50 mm (2 inches) thick, and judging by the quality of the
stone, and the excellence of the carved inscriptions (by LE TALL of
WISBECH), was almost as clear in 1988 as it was when originally
erected in 1851; 137 years ago !
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After Sarah's death, James moved to Kent, and four years later, in the
spring of 1855 he re-married - his marriage being registered in the
district of Faversham (Kent). Six years on, James, aged 54 years old,
with his "new" wife, Alice, aged 50 years old, Alice's own two children -
a girl and a boy, aged 19 and 17 years old respectively - and James'
own son, James, who was aged 14 years old, appear on the 1861
Census. The date on which the Census was taken, was 7 April - and
the family's address in Faversham was "Partridge Lane". James'
"Occupation'' is recorded as "Master Mariner", and his place of birth,
as being "Wells, Norfolk" whereas his wife, his step-son and step-
daughter have their place of birth shown to be "Faversham, Kent".
James Powditch junior, at age 14, has been recorded as a "Scholar".
James (senior) can lay claim to an unusual place of death, for on
8 October 1884, at the age of 78, he died an the platform of St. Mary
Cray (Kent) Railway Station !
Approximately six months later, his second wife - Alice Mary, aged 74 -
also died, and the deaths of both James and Alice Mary were registered
in the district of Bromley, Kent. Little wonder then that the "space'' on
the left-hand side of Sarah Powditch's gravestone in the churchyard of
St. Nicholas, Wells-next-the-Sea, (see Fig. t.b.a.) was blank - for Sarah's
husband, James, far from having died at Sea, was buried in Kent, and
(although I haven't traced his gravestone) is most likely buried with his
second wife.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Thomas was the second son, and the second child to survive, of Wells
and Sarah Garritt (nee Cook).
Born on 4 October 1804, and baptised on 26 November the same year,
Thomas, - on 29 October 1829 married Mary Matthews.
Mary, who was single, hailed from Warham St. Mary, an inland village
not far from Wells-next-the-Sea, and her marriage to Thomas - also
single - was by Licence. At the Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Wells-
next-theSea, both signed their names in the Register, and their
witnesses signed likewise.
There were three witnesses, and interestingly, one appears to indicate
that Sarah (who had married Wells) had had at least one child by her
former marriage, for Henry Cook Garritt was the first signature on the
Register of Thomas and Mary's marriage. Second witness was Alice
(or Avice) Matthews (sister/Mother to Mary?) and third witness was
Elizabeth Powditch - who may have been Wells' sister.
Marjorie Stein, when I first made contact with her in 1985, sent me a list
of all of Thomas and Mary's children - all eleven of them, together with
the years of births.
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Since then, I have been able to expand the details of this prolific family.
Thomas and Mary's children, therefore, were as follows;-
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After the birth of James, details of Thomas and Mary's next three children
- all daughters - have been recorded from the St. Catherine's Birth
Registers. Therefore exact dates of birth have not been stated, as I am
still awaiting those details.
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Acknowledgements