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An Adamthwaite tale of Tragedy, Bigamy and Intrigue
- the ORANGE Adamthwaites
The children of John Allen
Adamthwaite and Susan Anglin (Bryan):
Unfortunately, John
Allen Adamthwaite and Susan Anglin (Bryan) only appear to have registered
the births of two of their nine children (though five of them were born
after the introduction of registration in 1837) and we have not yet
found baptism records for all of them, but from census and death
information, the following appears to be the complete list (to date, I have found christening records for
Thomas Bryan, John Allen, Joseph Gibson, William Vipond and Lucy ADAMTHWAITE
at St Mary’s Stoke Newington, these records also recorded the dates of birth, and
christening records for James and Robert at St George
the Martyr, Queen Square Holborn – these all confirm that they were the
children of John Allen and Susan Anglin ADAMTHWAITE, Notary Public:
Thomas Bryan ADAMTHWAITE
born 29 Mar 1831, christened at Stoke Newington 8 Jun 1831, died 1
Oct 1851 at 1 Grosvenor Park North Walworth, age 20, occupation notary’s
clerk, cause of death Phthisis (reported by Martha Dimmock), buried at
Nunhead Cemetery on 8 oct 1851.
John Allen ADAMTHWAITE jr born 11 Jun 1832; christened at Stoke Newington 3 Dec 1832; married in 1853
(Mar qtr) at Newington, Surrey to Eliza SAYNOR (1831-1886); John
Allen has not been found in the UK 1861 census, though his
wife is recorded as ‘married’ in censuses 1861 through to 1881.
Children of
John Allen Adamthwaite and Eliza (Saynor):
Florence Eliza born 1853 Newington, died 1869 age 16
at 8 David St in
Camberwell. the cause of death was 'ramollissement
of brain' and the death was reported by a Wm Hy Jewell jnr of 23
Lion Street, New Kent Road who was present at the death. We do
not know how he fits in to the family. Nor do we understand
why Florence Eliza should have died at the same address where her
half-sister Emily had been born a year earlier, even though her
father's new family seem to have moved to nearby Gloucester Rd
shortly after Emily's birth.
Alexander (aka John Alexander) born 1855
Camberwell, married 1885 to Leeanna Fairey, his occupation was
variously: musician,
dispenser of medicine, then publican. This couple had four children: Lucy
Vipond (1886 - ?), John Allen (1887-1907), Florence Eva (1891-1891) and
Lionel Willie (1894-1979). John Alexander Adamthwaite died in 1912
in Barnet, cause Phthisis exhaustion - from 1907 until the time of his death he is known to have
run the Royal Oak Inn in Litlington, near Royston, Herts. You can
read more about this family in 'Leeanna's story'
Thomas Bryan
born 1857, Newington, married 1876 to Alice Turnpenny;
occupation: seaman, barman, waiter, conman! The couple are known to have had
three children: Thomas Walter (1877-1894), Bertie Alexander (1879-1969,
and Alice Annie (1883-?). Thomas Bryan Adamthwaite died in 1924 in
Water Lane, Norwood, Lambeth of nephritis, bronchitis and dropsy - at
the time of his death his occupation was given as Commission agent
(repository). In 1899 Thomas Adamthwaite was convicted at the Old Bailey of fraud
(the case concerned a confidence trick involving the sale of a horse)
and he was sentenced to 18 months hard labour - you can read about the case at
the
Old Bailey on-line site
Mark
born 1859, Mile End, 1st married ~1887 to Mary Glyn, emigrated
to USA. Occupation: engraver, labourer, nurse – like his father before
him, Mark seems to have been a bigamist ... see more about him and his
other marriages on a later page!
Annie Margaret
born 1860, Hackney, married 2 mar 1884 at parish church of St Mary Newington
to Thomas Lovejoy, letter carrier. Annie was dau of John Allen Adamthwaite,
stockbroker (no mention that he was deceased). In the 1891 census,
Annie was a patient in St Thomas' Hospital and her husband Thomas was a
visitor in the Elkin household at 56 Belvedere Road, Lambeth. Annie died on 22 Aug 1891 at
4 Leppoc Road Clapham, aged 29 years of cardiac disease.
John Allen Adamthwaite married his second wife
Anne Fisher on 1 May 1867at Milton Gravesend, Kent. According
to the certificate, he was a bachelor
of full age, occupation gentleman, of Milton, the son of John Adamthwaite,
Notary. Anne was a spinster of full age, of Milton, the daughter of
Frances Fisher, Merchant. The witnesses were Edward Martin and Frances
Fisher (source Marriage Certificate)
Child of John Allen Adamthwaite and Anne
(Fisher):
Emily , born 31 May 1868 at 8 David
St, Crab Tree Shot Rd, Peckham, father John Allen Adamthwaite, commercial
clerk and Annie Adamthwaite, formerly Fisher. The birth was
reported by the father John Allen Adamthwaite. Emily
Adamthwaite died on 6 october 1868 aged 4 months (she died a month
after her mother) at 20 Gloucester Road, Peckham, the cause of death was 'tubercle cerebral disease
7 days, certified' and the death was reported by her father Jno
Adamthwaite, commercial clerk.
Annie ADAMTHWAITE died 7 Sep 1868 at 20
Gloucester Road, Peckham Grove, age 21 years, cause of death Phthisis
Pulmonalis 3 months (observed) and Jno Adamthwaite (commercial clerk) reported her death.
John Allen Adamthwaite died in 1881 (see below).
Joseph Gibson ADAMTHWAITE born 3 Dec 1834; christened in Stoke Newington 9 Jun 1835; died at Nun
Head Passage, Peckham Rye on 2 Jan 1849 age 14 years from Scarlatini Maligna.
The death was reported by Susannah Dimmock (Martha’s sister?). Joseph was
buried at Nunhead Cemetery on 9 Jan 1849. Was Joseph Gibson named for a
relative of his mother (there was a Bryan/Gibson marriage recorded in the
West Indies in 1800) or was he named for Robert Gibson, one of the executors
of his father’s will?
William Vipond ADAMTHWAITE born 19 Apr 1836; christened Stoke Newington 11 Jan 1838; married on 3
Oct 1854 to Elizabeth JOHNSON at Southwark (St George?); died at St
Thomas Hospital on 1 jul 1859 age 22, from Mercurial Salivation and Phthisis
– his occupation recorded as ‘on the Stock Exchange’. William was buried on
8 Jul 1859 at Nunhead Cemetery. After his death, his wife Elizabeth
moved to Nottingham where she (and later also her daughter Lucy) was a
schoolmistress. Elizabeth died in 1915 age 82.
Children of William Vipond Adamthwaite and
Elizabeth (Johnson):
Lucy Anglin
(1856 - ?), m. 1881 to Phillip STEVENSON) The couple are known to have
had three children: Arthur (?-1888), Winifred L (1884 - after 1863) and
Gertrude A (1885-?)
Frank Vipond
(1859 - ?) Frank was an artist and he emigrated to New York in 1880
where he married Sarah E Scott. The couple's known children were Lucy
G, Sarah E and Frank Vipond junior. Frank Vipond Adamthwaite senior
died (probably in New York) after 1920. Frank also had a grandson (born
~1928) and a great grandson (born ~1960) who carried the name of Frank
Vipond Adamthwaite. You can see a copy of a page from the bible that was
passed through the family on the following page.
Lucy ADAMTHWAITE
born 3 Jul 1837, dau of John Allen Adamthwaite,
notary of Green Lanes, Stoke Newington and Susan Anglin Adamthwaite (formerly Bryan),
birth reported by John Allen Adamthwaite, father
[birth certificate]; christened Stoke Newington 11 Jan 1838, died 13
Jan 1849 at Nunhead Passage, Peckham Rye, age 11 yrs from Scarlatina 11 days
(reported by Martha Dimmock), buried at Nunhead on 20 Jan 1849, less than
two weeks after her brother Joseph.
James ADAMTHWAITE born 14 Feb 1839 and christened at St
George the Martyr, Queen Square on 29 mar 1841, but birth not found on GRO
index; died 20 Sep 1859 age 20,
occupation Notary’s clerk, at 40 Leicester Square, London – the cause of
death was Phthisis Pulmonalis, (death reported by Chas Holloway of same
address) buried at Nunhead Cemetery on 26 Sep 1859. Letters of
Administration were granted to his sole surviving brother John Allen
Adamthwaite on 29 November 1859. But there is more about him on a later
page!
Robert ADAMTHWAITE born 10 mar 1840 and christened 29 mar 1841 at St George the Martyr, Queen
Square, but birth not found on GRO index; died 20 Sep 1841 at 10 Queen Square, from water on the brain, age 18
m (death reported by Martha Dimmock)
Mary ADAMTHWAITE born 4 sep 1841, dau of John Allen Adamthwaite, Notary General, of 10 Queen
Square and Susan Anglin (formerly Turner(?)) [birth certificate]
This is puzzling - the birth was reported by the mother, Susan, why did she
state that her maiden name was Turner?;
died 10 jun 1842 at 10 Queen Square aged 9 months from Whooping Cough (death
reported by Martha Dimmock).
Mary Catherine ADAMTHWAITE born about
december 1843 but birth not found on GRO index, nor have we found a
christening record; died 18 feb 1845 at 10 Queen Square aged 14 months, from
Influenza (death reported by Martha Dimmock).
you can see a chart of
this family here:
link to chart
it is a very wide image - you will need to
scroll to the right to view it all
The following gives
details of the events (in chronological order) of this family, with
particular attention being paid to the dastardly John Allen Adamthwaite
junior:
In the 1841 census,
John Allen ADAMTHWAITE, his wife Susan and Joseph Gibson, William Vipond,
Lucy, James and Robert were living at 10 Queen Square, St George the Martyr,
Middlesex. Also living with them was a niece Fanny D APPLETON age 10 and
five servants (one of whom was Martha DIMMOCK). The two oldest boys John
Allen junior and Thomas Bryan were pupils at George WALLACE’s boarding
school at 6 Paradise Row in Stoke Newington, Finsbury. The father, John Allen
ADAMTHWAITE appears in several London Post Office Directories as a Notary
Public – in 1839,
1841 and 1846 his office address of 6 St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill is
listed; in 1841 his home address at Queen Square Bloomsbury is also given.
In 1843, on the
Tithe Schedule for Sedbergh, Thomas’s two
sons John Allen Adamthwaite senior and William Vipond Adamthwaite are recorded as
owning property in the Sedbergh area – presumably these had been passed down
from William of Branthwaites, through Thomas to his two sons – it is not
known when these properties ceased to belong to the Adamthwaite brothers. (Despite
much searching, we have never found a Will for Thomas Adamthwaite, though we
know that there were two grants of administration following his death and
that of his widow Lucy, the latest in 1824)
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This is
Toadpuddle, which was owned by John Allen Adamthwaite in 1843 |
This view
shows Low Branthwaite in the foreground and High Branthwaite behind
– this property was owned by William Vipond Adamthwaite in 1843 |
There followed a tragic
decade for the family:
By the time of the
1851 census, both parents and five of their children had died, from a
variety of causes. The four
remaining sons (Thomas, John Allen jr, William Vipond and James) were living
as wards of Martha Dimmock at 1 Grosvenor Park North, Newington,
Surrey – according to this census, all four boys had been born in Stoke
Newington.
Martha Dimmock had appeared on
the 1841 census when the family were living in Queen Square, Holborn, as a
servant. She had also been a signatory of John Allen ADAMTHWAITE senior’s
will and reported the deaths of both parents and all the younger children.
Does this sound suspicious to you??
We have not found her after the 1851 census, though a Martha Dimmock aged
63, occupation charwoman, died in Islington Workhouse in August 1862 from
‘malignant disease of the rectum and bladder and asthemia’).
Living two
doors away from the Adamthwaites in the 1851 census was the Saynor
family from Yorkshire; father Samuel was an iron merchant, two years later
John Allen Adamthwaite jr married their eldest daughter Eliza Saynor.
| Following the death
of John Allen Adamthwaite senior, in 1853 the London
Gazette printed an item regarding the sale of property in
Suffolk (see right). We have a copy of the record of the case
in Chancery of Gibson v Adamthwaite, and it appears that John
Allen’s two Executors, Robert Gibson and Alexander Ridgeway,
took the four sons to court claiming that they were being
obstructed in their responsibility of selling all the testator’s
properties and investing the income for the benefit of the four
surviving sons – however they brought the case against the four
sons claiming that they are withholding information about some
of their father’s properties (presumably including the one
mentioned in the article – see right). |
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By the time of the
1861 census the entire family had died, with the exception of John
Allen Adamthwaite junior, who cannot be found, although his wife Eliza
and their five children were living in Devon – next door to the property
owned by Alexander Ridgeway who was the son of one of John Allen
Adamthwaite senior’s executors, also Alexander Ridgeway. And, is this
another significant coincidence? In the 1841 census Alexander Ridgeway
senior and family were living at 42 Leicester Square – next door to the
address where James Adamthwaite died in 1859.
In 1867, despite the fact that he
already had a wife and five
children (there was no divorce recorded), John Allen ADAMTHWAITE
married Annie FISHER (1846-1868) a daughter of Francis Fisher, at Milton next Gravesend,
Kent and the following year they had a daughter - Emily , born in May 1868 at 8 David
St, Crab Tree Shot Rd, Peckham who died 6 oct 1868 at 20 Gloucester Rd,
Peckham Grove. His
‘wife’ Annie ADAMTHWAITE died 7 Sep 1868 at 20 Gloucester Road, Peckham
Grove, age 21 years and Jno Adamthwaite reported her death. Both Annie and
Emily are buried in the Adamthwaite family grave at Nunhead Cemetery.
In March 1870, J
A Adamthwaite was a witness at the marriage of Jules Riviere, a
musician, to Amy Frances Fisher (another daughter of Francis Fisher) -
see below for more about this marriage.
In 1871 There is no
one with the name of John
Allen Adamthwaite in the census, but his first
wife Eliza (still described as ‘married’ and an annuitant) and two of the
children have returned to London and are living at 18 Chapter Terrace, Newington in Surrey. There is however a
strong possibility that the John Allen, widower, age 37, commercial clerk and born
Stoke Newington who appears in the 1871 census as a visitor in the household of Henry and Eleanor Tuggey (Henry Tuggey was a retired commercial clerk) and their two married
daughters in Camera Villas in Chelsea could actually be John Allen
Adamthwaite - he is almost the right age, the right place of birth, has the
right occupation and we have not found a John Allen born in Stoke Newington
around 1833 in earlier censuses. Furthermore, this address is very close to West Brompton where we have the
next sighting for John Allen Adamthwaite:
In 1874 a J A
Adamthwaite, gentleman of 7 Rose Villas, West Brompton, is listed in the
London Gazette as a partner in the London Bank of Commerce. There are no
other Adamthwaite’s alive at this time with these initials, so we must
assume that this is John Allen Adamthwaite. And, could he be linked in any
way to the unidentified Constance Adamthwaite, dressmaker aged 26, who is a
boarder in nearby Hollywood Road, West Brompton in the 1881 census? We have
not found any other record for a Constance Adamthwaite in this period.
| In 1878 an intriguing
letter was written to John Allen Adamthwaite of 25 Princes
Square, Kennington Park, London SE by Messrs Fenton Owen and
Hall, solicitors, of Huddersfield. The letter was in
response to an enquiry by John Allen Adamthwaite's wife
(presumably Eliza Saynor, who had explained that she was writing
due to her husband's ill health) concerning his late father John
Allen Adamthwaite. However, the solicitor replied that he
was already in communication with another firm of solicitors,
Messrs Hare and Fell of Victoria who were representing
another J A Adamthwaite of 2, Bramber Road, Fulham, who also claimed
to be 'the only surviving son of the late John Allen
Adamthwaite. (click on the image to
read the letter)
Could it be that both John Allen
Adamthwaite and his first wife were writing independently, given
that they had been separated since 1861 - and if so, what had
triggered their interest in the late John Allen Adamthwaite's
affairs? He had after all died more than twenty five years
earlier. John Allen and Eliza's granddaughter Lucy
attempted to follow this up in 1948 but discovered that no
records survived from the solicitors Fenton Owen and Hall.
I may be being cynical, but a possible
explanation of their sudden interest could be related to the
publication in 1872 of a list of 'Unclaimed Estates'
which named Rev. John Adamthwaite ... uncle to John Allen
Adamthwaite senior! (source Index to Heirs at Law, Next
of Kin, Legatees, by Robt Chambers,Edwd Preston) |
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In 1880, John
Allen Adamthwaite was involved in a high profile libel case at the Old
Bailey. Jules Riviere, a musical director, claimed that a Mrs
Weldon had libelled him - amongst other allegations made by Mrs Weldon
was a statement that M. Riviere had bigamously married his second wife -
Amy Frances FISHER in 1870. John Allen ADAMTHWAITE was called as a
witness as he had prepared the papers for M. Riviere's marriage to Miss
Fisher which stated that M. Riviere was a bachelor. John Allen
Adamthwaite confirmed that he lived in Fulham and that he knew M.
Riviere because he, John Allen Adamthwaite, had been married to Miss Fisher's sister
(Anne FISHER) but stated that he believed M. Riviere to be widowed.
The case came back to the Old Bailey in 1885, at which stage it was
mentioned that Mr Adamthwaite had since died. Mrs Weldon was found
guilty of libel. Ironically, we now know that John Allen
Adamthwaite had himself bigamously married Anne Fisher in 1867 so was in
a good position to advise M. Riviere on how to go about it!
You can read the trial record at the
Old Bailey on-line site
In
1881, his first wife Eliza Adamthwaite (still ‘married’ and living on ‘income from dividends’) and
her daughter Annie were living in Camberwell. Meanwhile, John Allen
Adamthwaite appears in the 1881 census as a patient in St George’s
Hospital, age 48, occupation clerk in the Stock Exchange.
John Adam THWAITE died on 25 May 1881 at
The Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon. His age was 48 years and occupation Mercantile Clerk and this
Hospital was used as a convalescent home for St George’s Hospital, where he
had been a patient just a month earlier. The cause
of death was Locomotor Ataxy (a complication resulting from syphillus), and
apoplexy. To date we have not found a Will or Letters of Administration for
John Allen Adamthwaite. He was buried in a common grave at Brompton Cemetery
on 31 May 1881 (in section O plot BR 106244, but we have been informed that
this section of the cemetery was badly bombed during WWII so it is unlikely
that there is any remaining masonry). The entry on the burial register
is given as John Adam THWARLE, so it seems likely that there was no family
member present at either his death or his burial, or presumably the spelling
would have been correct on these records.
(In 1885, when John Allen and Eliza’s son
John
Alexander Adamthwaite married Leeanna Fairey in Newington, his occupation
was given as musician and his father was named as John Allen Adamthwaite,
gentleman, deceased.)
John Allen’s first wife
Eliza Adamthwaite died on 26 Aug 1886 at 1 Irving Grove, Stockwell Road, Kennington in
Lambeth, aged 55 years from natural disease of the heart; she was described
as the widow of John Allen Adamthwaite, stockbroker – she did not make it
into the family grave at Nunhead Cemetery, even though John Allen’s second
‘wife’ and daughter did!
According to a letter
written in 1950 by one of her grandsons, Bertie Alexander Adamthwaite,
to his cousin Lucy (daughter of John Alexander Adamthwaite) Eliza left
bequests to her four surviving children and this money came from her
side of the family who, Bertie said, were 'quite wealthy'. He also
said that his father Thomas Bryan Adamthwaite took Mark's share of the
estate out to him in either Canada or America. However, we have
been unable to find any record of a Will or an entry in the Death Duty
Registers for Eliza Adamthwaite, neither have we found a passenger
record for Thomas Bryan Adamthwaite's trip to America. Bertie's letter mentions the
situation with the two wives and remarks that 'it was up to the first
wife to have done something about the situation'. He also refers
to John Allen Adamthwaite as 'the Perfect Gentleman' - presumably he was
being sarcastic!
Read the
following information carefully .... it could be relevant to later
events!
The terms of John
Allen ADAMTHWAITE senior’s
will were that the bequests should not
be paid until all his surviving sons had reached the age of 21 years
(at the time he wrote it there were still four sons alive).
Thomas Bryan had died in 1851, so with the deaths of two further
brothers, William Vipond who died in July 1859 and James in September
1859 (when James died he was still only 20 years old, so there would
have been another year before the bequests were due for payment), the
only surviving brother John Allen ADAMTHWAITE jr, although already 26
years of age, became the sole beneficiary of a substantial estate.
We possess a copy of
the death certificate of James ADAMTHWAITE and also a copy of the
Letters of Administration, which named his brother John Allen
ADAMTHWAITE as his executor and only next of kin. John Allen
Adamthwaite duly swore and was granted administration on 29 November
1859, so one would assume it was safe to say that following the death of
James in 1859, John Allen Adamthwaite became the only survivor of this
large and ill-fated
family.
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back to index for this story |
This should be the end
of a sad story of the untimely demise of a large and successful family,
BUT
….. READ ON
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