#15 George Holland Sheaf - Jamaica George revisited.

A while ago I wrote about my 2x great grandfather George Holland Sheaf and the mystery that surrounds much of his life (and death) in Jamaica. You can read that post here to refresh your memory. It seems however, that sometimes one only needs to wait before new information comes to light. As more and more records from around the world get digitized, more information is available to family researchers.

Just on the off chance I did another search for George Holland Sheaf and I have to say I was very, very surprised to see new results. The first new bit of information about him was that he did NOT die in about 1865, but lived until 1 Feb 1893, aged about 75. His death is recorded as having occurred at Bruce Hill in Kings District, Westmoreland, Jamaica. From the little I have been able to find out about Bruce Hill it appears that distant family connections probably through the Moores and the Tates owned this property. He is recorded as being a widower (which we knew) and a pauper (which we did not know).

The second somewhat startling discovery was that at least two of his children, other than Louisa our great grandmother, survived into adulthood. His eldest child Mary Moore Sheaf born in 1849 lived until 1909. She is recorded as dying a spinster at a place possibly called Barnes, Kings District, Westmoreland and her occupation is given as seamstress. Her younger brother George Kemble Holland Sheaf, born in about 1857, also survived childhood and lived until the age of 66, dying of fever in 1922. His death is recorded as having taken place at Friendship, Westmoreland. He also never married and is recorded as having been a carpenter.

Now all this just raises more questions! What happened to the other children? Who looked after them? Why was Granny Sheaf, Louisa, raised by Episcopalian Missionaries (so the story goes) and who were they? Did Granny Sheaf even know that she still had siblings alive after she left Jamaica? Was her father George Holland Sheaf somehow disowned by his wife's family the Briggs? Was he a wastrel? (Possibly, I would suspect!) Aaaaaaargh!!! So many little mysteries to solve!

#7 Edward and Ann Sheaf - 'Til Death Us Do Part.

Edward Sheaf of Chipping Campden is still a relatively shadowy figure in our family story. By that, I mean that I only have sparse information about his life and I am not even 100% sure of his place in the tree. However for now, let us just assume that Edward Sheaf, the son of Edward Sheaf and Catherine was born in the Buckland area of Gloucestershire in about 1725 and is a first cousin 7 times removed.

In September of 1747 he married Hannah Webb at Chipping Campden. They were both described as being "of this parish", meaning that they lived within the parish boundaries. Together they had 5 children, Edward, John, Samuel, Mary and Hannah - all born between 1748 and 1755. What happened to these children I have not yet been able to discover; that will be a job for another day.

Some time after 1755, Hannah died and in 1788 widower Edward remarried. His new wife, Ann Fletcher, had also been widowed, her husband John dying sometime after their 1784 marriage. I suspect Ann may also have had another marriage prior to that, as she would have been about 58 when she married John. Her name at the time of her marriage to John Fletcher was Ann Stephens. Ann and Edward married in the parish church at Offenham, and being described as both "of this parish" I am assuming that this is where they were now living.

Years passed and in 1803 their story takes an interesting turn.
According to the London Morning Post "A few days since, at age 83, Mr Edward Sheaf of Offenham in the county of Worcester died; and just as the hearse came to fetch the deceased, died his wife Mrs Ann Sheaf also aged 83." Another document, compiled by Peter Stewart of the registers for St Mary and St Milburgh Offenham, says  "Anne Sheaf. Died within half an hour of the time appointed for her husband’s funeral at Sawford 1st October 1803, aged 77 "

Although there are some discrepancies with ages, this is not unusual as newspapers then were about as accurate as newspapers are now! However both sources agree on the fact that Ann died very close to the time of her husband's funeral.

In terms of our family genealogy, the facts that Ann had been married to a John Fletcher and Edward had been married to a Hannah Webb are both interesting, as these are names that regularly crop up in the family tree.

Offenham Church SS Mary and Milburgh 1903

Susannah Fletcher died 1814

I have been trying to get the last few details about the children of my 4X great grandparents, Richard Fletcher and Muriel Smith. They had seven children and four of those survived to adulthood. Yesterday I discovered what became of their daughter Susannah, baptised at Ebrington in 1786. Dear Google threw up a snippet from an old book published in 1814 that mentioned a Miss Fletcher, daughter of the late Rch. Fletcher of Weston Subedge, who die at Bath in 1814. A quick search through the National Burial Index gave me Susanna Fletcher buried at Walcot (near Bath) in Somerset. Quite what she was doing there I don't know. Had she been poorly and gone to Bath to "take the waters"? She had received a bequest in the will of her father who died in 1813. Maybe she used some of the money to express her independence and travel away from home. The only child still eluding me is daughter Ann. I have not yet found a baptism record for her, but she is mentioned in both the wills of her parents and also in some legal documents arising from the inheritance disputes connected with those wills. She married a Mr John Jackson of Norton in Warwickshire in 1817 and in 1824, according to the legal documents, was still without children. More work required here!