the wilson's, the caldow's and the simpsons
The Caldows
James and Jane Wilson lived in the little Yorkshire village of Spennithorne and on the 6th April 1787 had their daughter Sarah (Sally) christened in the local church of St Michael and all Angels.
I have no idea why Sarah should leave for London at the turn of the 19th century. Some possibilities may be the lack of work for women in a small village other than on the land, also the demographics for 1801 shows a 3 to 2 ratio of females to males so it may have been because of the lack of marriage opportunities. Presumably she would have traveled with family and or friends or perhaps as a maid travelling to London with a local family. Whatever the reasons, we should be glad that she did otherwise she should not have met and fallen in love with the dashing young James Caldow from Marylebone in London and I would not now be here.
Sarah Wilson, aged just 21, married James Caldow on 25th May 1807 at St Bride Church, Fleet Street, London.
James Caldow was born in Middlesex about 1780 and was a carpenter by trade. From their childrens baptism records we have the names of six of their ofspring: Mary, Sarah, Jane Elizabeth, James Godfrey, John Hastings and Charlotte.
James Caldow = Sarah (Sally) Wilson
b.1780 Middx. d.1858 l married 25 May 1807 at St Bride Church, Fleet Street, London
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Mary Sarah Jane Elizabeth James Godfrey John Hastings Charlotte
bapt 1808 bapt 26 Nov 1809 bapt 1812 bapt 1814 bapt 1816
b.1780 Middx. d.1858 l married 25 May 1807 at St Bride Church, Fleet Street, London
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Mary Sarah Jane Elizabeth James Godfrey John Hastings Charlotte
bapt 1808 bapt 26 Nov 1809 bapt 1812 bapt 1814 bapt 1816
Below is a copy of Sarah's baptism record.
Interestingly, all the children (except Charlotte) were baptized at the dissenters church, the United Secession Church, (known as the Scotch Church), Wells Street/Oxford Street, Middlesex and by its distinguished minister, Dr Alexader Waugn. When you look through this baptism record book you notice that all the fathers seem to be artisans and/or trades people; no labouring classes here! Sarah went on to marry Tristram Shandy Simpson.
Sarah Caldow and Tristram Shandy Simpson were married at St Martins-in-the-Fields, Westminster on the 12 October 1836 and a copy of the entry is below:
The drawing below was done at about the time of their wedding in 1836. When the present St Martins was built in 1724 it was hemmed in by buildings on all sides. It was not until the late 1820's that the houses and workshops that were in front of it were cleared away to make way for the proposed new Trafalgar Square. The four lions, the fountains and Nelsons Column did not go in straight away. The column was not started until 1840 and was finished in 1843.
This fine watercolour of Trafalgar Square by Thomas Shotter Boys is dated 1842 (six years on) showing the now open space in front of St Martins and the image below is an early William Fox Talbot photograph taken two years later still in 1844 showing the base of the column still with the scaffolding around it.
They had seven children altogether, the important one for us being the last, James Caldow Simpson.
Sarah Caldow = Tristram Shandy Simpson
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Hope Sally. Tristram James. David Henry. William Caldow. Thomas Godwin. James Caldow.
b.29/11/1837 b.19/5/1840 b.1/3/1843 b.1/4/1845 b1848 b1850 b1852
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Hope Sally. Tristram James. David Henry. William Caldow. Thomas Godwin. James Caldow.
b.29/11/1837 b.19/5/1840 b.1/3/1843 b.1/4/1845 b1848 b1850 b1852
We shall come back to the Caldows later but lets first take a look at the Simpsons.
the simpsons.
Just seven years into the reign of George III and when America was still a colony of Britain, David Simpson married Margaret Lister on 29 January 1767 at St James Church, Piccadilly. Making his own journey into the unknown that same year was Captain James Cook setting out on his first epic voyage to the Pacific to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti.
David Simpson was an officer to the Sheriff of London and Middlesex between 1772 and 1783, living in Brook Street, Holborn. They had seven children that I could find. The one that is important to us is James, born in 1774.
David Simpson = Margaret Lister.
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Henry Margaret David William James Sussanah Thomas
b.1767 b.1769 b.1770 b.1772 b.1774 b.1775 b.1779
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Henry Margaret David William James Sussanah Thomas
b.1767 b.1769 b.1770 b.1772 b.1774 b.1775 b.1779
James was christened on the 17th August 1774 at St Andrews, Holborn.
James Simpson married Susannah Buchanan, a Chelsea girl, at St James Church Clerkenwell on the 6th January 1803 and as far as I know had six children. James' occupation was as a solicitor and an excise officer and in the baptism records for his children he describes himself as a 'Gentleman' of Mile End Old Town".
James Simpson = Susannah Buchanan
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l----------------------------l-----------------------------l--------------------------l----------------------------l----------------------------------l Frederick William Tristran Shandy Godwin Raster David Caldow Susannah Rhoda Ellen Lititia
b.1805 b.29/6/1807 d.1896 b.1809 d.1882 b.1811 d.1899 b.1816 d.1886 b.1819 d.1903
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l----------------------------l-----------------------------l--------------------------l----------------------------l----------------------------------l Frederick William Tristran Shandy Godwin Raster David Caldow Susannah Rhoda Ellen Lititia
b.1805 b.29/6/1807 d.1896 b.1809 d.1882 b.1811 d.1899 b.1816 d.1886 b.1819 d.1903
Tristram Shandy Simpson, a carpenter went on to marry Sarah Caldow on the 12 October 1836 at St Martins-in-the-Field, Middlesex.
The 1841 census shows them living in Payn Street, St Mary, Islington and in the same house as Sarah's family and they now have two children of their own, Hope Sally born 1838 and Tristram James born 1840. Both James Caldow and Tristram Simpson are carpenters.
The 1841 census shows them living in Payn Street, St Mary, Islington and in the same house as Sarah's family and they now have two children of their own, Hope Sally born 1838 and Tristram James born 1840. Both James Caldow and Tristram Simpson are carpenters.
By 1851 they have a place of their own and have moved just a few hundred yards away to 8 Ruffords Row, Upper Street, Islington and the family has grown to six, Hope Sally, Tristram James, David, Henry, William and Thomas. (census record split over two pages). Ruffords Row is between Church Street and Cross Street.
We can imagine the two men, James and Tristram, working together on many projects as they live so close to each other. The 19th century saw a great expansion in housing in this area. In 1801 the population was just over 10,000, but by 1891 this had increased to 320,000. This rapid expansion was partly due to the introduction of horse-drawn buses in 1830. Large houses and squares drew clerks, artisans and professionals to the district. However, from the middle of the 19th century the poor were being displaced by the building in inner London of the new railway stations and goods yards. Many of these people settled in Islington, with the houses becoming increasingly occupied by many families. It was time for our family to move on to the next big building boom area, West Ham. That is where we find them in the next census of 1861 along with our forebear, James Caldow Simpson, born in 1852 in Bow. The family are now living in the High Street, All Saints, West Ham. Tristram Shandy along with sons Tristram James and David are all employed as carpenters and Sarah and Hope are running a coffee shop.
Working my way backwards and forwards through the pages of the census puts their home between Station Street and the begining of Broadway. Ten years on, 1871, and they are at 236 High Street, West Ham and remarkably all family members are still all together and working as window blind manufacturers and carpenters. At various times, as a family, they discribe their professional skills as bricklayers, plasterers, house painters, carpenters, window blind manufacturers and cabinet makers.
The 1881 census shows that Tristram is a widower. Sarah died in the winter months of 1880. Hope is missing from the household as she was away looking after her aunt, Susannah Rhoda Binns, and acting as her companion.
The 1891 census is the last to show Tristram as he dies in the autumn of 1896.
Our attention must now switch to the youngest son, James Caldow Simpson. In the 1881 census we find a 'F W Simpson' aged 40 (76) marked as a visitor at the address of a certain young widow, Mrs Jane Ellen Demery (nee Wilson), in St Pauls Road, Bow. The census image of F W Simpsons age has been written over but I fancy that it says 76 which would make him the uncle of our ancestor James. The Simpsons are window blind makers and Mrs Demery’s father, Thomas Wilson, was, according to his job description on Jane's marriage certificate also a venetian blind maker by trade and could therefore have been employed by them. Mrs Demery, who describes herself as a widowed actress, has a two year old son by her late husband William Demery. William Demery was a ships cook when they married and the story goes that he sailed off to Australia and never came back. Without a body or any other proof of death a widow had to wait for fifteen years before she could legally remarry. However James Caldow Simpson and Jane Demery met, the census of 1891 puts them as living together as husband and wife at 269 Mare Street, Hackney now with three children, stepson William, Ellen Jane born 20 October 1883 and Elizabeth Hope born 1887 and all using the surname of Simpson. In August 1895 a son named James Tristram Augustus is born but sadly, in December of that same year, James dies, aged just 42.
Although it does not have any direct bearing on our family,
except that as a family group they were all were all trades people and
therefore had a relatively healthy standard of living, Tristrams younger
brother, David Caldow, was a bit of an entrepreneur. When he died in
1899, in his will he left to his family members 65 houses, 19 houses with shops,
57 shops, 30 cottages, 1 factory, 1 warehouse and 7 plots of land. Total value
£56,881! I shall try and touch on the progress of some of the other
family members later. For a very comprehensive and impressive piece of family
history please go to http://www.queenslandfamilytrees.com