last update 24 December 2011

 

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Ancestors of Dr George Frederick Aldous and Isabella Henderson Aldous (Stewart)

 

Aldous / Seward / Stewart chronology and document links     Recent Ancestors (with portraits)     all bmd document links

 

Clare Stewart Sproule (Aldous) - Annotated pedigree updated after Adrian Fletcher's Autumn 2009 travels around England

 

Link to photo page about the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Buriton, and its 1800s Haw and Seward memorials and tombs

 

Photos of 1915 wedding of George's daughter Clare to Jimmy Sproule and of his family

 

Links to a dozen places where English ancestors were married, visited by Adrian Fletcher in late 2009

 

James Cooper Stewart Story    James Stewart Portraits    Diary of his voyage to Australia    Extract from History of Mallesons    James Stewart's descendants

 

 

George Frederick Aldous

 

b 24 Aug 1861 at 14 Lion Terrace, Portsea.

Birth Certificate

 

 

Mother Elizabeth contracts scarlet fever and dies when he is just 1.  Collects an uninterested step mother when 5.

 

1867 March - Florrie (9) with her brother George (5) in the earliest family photo we have.

 

Trained at Barts Hospital London, and  became LRC P & S & Apoth in 1885.  In 1897 became Fellow of Royal College of  Surgeons, Edinburgh.

 

Link to timeline of George Frederick's life - how did he get to meet the girl from Melbourne?

 

Carlton House, Plymouth - Aldous family home, now a nursing home (2009).

 

Working life spent as a doctor and senior surgeon attached to the West Devon and Cornwall Hospital in Plymouth, Devon.  Latterly Surgeon, South Devon and East Cornwall hospitals (Plymouth).

 

Early 1900s, Plymouth - he photographed well, with a twinkle in his eye!  A territorial (not regular) RAMC soldier, our man liked a bit of uniform and in retirement titled himself "Major, RAMC" in the telephone directory.  This was one of the rare occasions that he did not have cigarette in mouth / hand!

 

Retires at 60 and moves to Harrow-on-the-Hill in 1921.

 

Isabella & Dr George Aldous and their grandson Brian Sproule c1932, Harrow

 

d 27 September 1937 aged 76 whilst living in retirement in Harrow.

 

 

Alexander James (Alex) Aldous

 

b 21 Jan 1815 Harleston, Norfolk.

 

A wine merchant who was based on the doorstep of the main Royal Navy base at Portsea where he had a (lucrative) contract to supply them with wine (and possibly rum judging by his estate!)

 

At the 1841 census, learning the family trade living with a wine merchant in Portsea.  At 1851 census lodging with a surgeon / farmer at nearby Boarhunt (pron Borunt) farm.

 

Marries Elizabeth Seward Thursday May 24 1855 at Buriton Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, but tragically she dies of Scarlet Fever on Christmas Day, 1862. 3 year old James had died a couple of days earlier, and daughter Elizabeth Harriett had previously died in 1857.  Little children Florence and George survive and then have to endure boarding schools and an unsympatico step mother Mary.

 

d. in Portsea (/Southsea - parish of St Kevin ?!?) on 23 March 1879 aged 64, an unhappy rich man, worth about £35,000 (probate) in 1879 pounds - a few mil today!  The Paymaster of the Royal Navy was one of his executors!

 

Buried in St Mary Redenhall where his father had been church warden. 

 

 

 

1855 Marriage Certificate

 

 

James Aldous

 

b 7 February 1785 Redenhall (nr Harleston) Norfolk.

 

m 10 Jul 1809 All Saints, Mendham, Suffolk,  just south of Harleston (by licence).

 

To be found in Trade Directories 1830 & 1839 Pigots, 1845 White's, 1850 Hunt's & 1854 Whites (overview of all directories)

 

 

Harleston c1820 and today

 

 

A family register (23.5cm x 30.5cm) written by James or Harriette around 1825 - click image to enlarge

 

1841 Census - family at Redenhall

 

1851 Census - living in Harleston with wife, 2 daughters & 2 servants.

 

Wine Merchant, Maltster, Brewer & Porter Merchant, Publican ("The Grapes Tap") and Farmer - mostly in partnership with brother John (d1850). 

 

d 1 May 1859 (74) Harleston / Redenhall (Depwade register) - buried in St Mary Redenhall where he was church warden for 35 years (from 1819 to 1854). 

 

St Mary, Redenhall - a very tall elegant priory church

 

The Redenhall graves of James and Harriette Aldous and other members of his and her families

 

St Margaret, Starston - James & Martha Aldous are in the vault tomb, Martha's parents, John and Mary Whiting, are in graves near the bush to the left of the vault.  John's mother Abigail is buried just on the other side of the vault, though her hubbie (also) John lies in Homersfield where his family came from.  James' parents - James Aldous & Catherine Boar were buried here but their grave has not been identified.

 

most links below are to Parish Register originals

 

James Aldous

 

ch 29 April 1757 Starston (nr Harleston), Norfolk (page includes 2 of Martha's sisters)There are also records of the christenings of some brothers and sisters in Starston.

 

A Grocer when he married Martha Whiting on 6 Aug 1782 (Redenhall)

 

bu 1810 (53) Starston ("James Aldous from Harleston aged 53 was buried May 10 1810").  See photo above and caption.  By this time he was a wealthy (£10,000+) merchant & farmer.

 

AND we have, thanks to the kindness of the Norfolk records office, located his original will ...

 

 

 earlier

James (above) was the son of another James Aldhowse / Aldis / Aldous and Catherine Boar of Starston.

 

James: ch 2 June 1718 (Denton) (as an "Aldhowse")

 

 

m. Catherine Boar 30 September 1746, Starston (banns) as an Aldis.

 

bu. 14 Feb 1775, Starston no grave identified

 

Catherine Boar: b c1716 (not Starston?)

bu. 19 February 1797 (81) Starston no grave identified

 

 

 earlier still

James Aldhowse (above), later Aldis & Aldous, was the son of Robert Aldhowse (also Aldis / Aldys) (c1673 - c1741 (68))  and Elizabeth Nudd, his first wife.  They were married in Earsham on 24 October 1711.  Elizabeth died in May 1722 (buried in Denton) and Robert married another Elizabeth (Ellis) in Denton on September 30 1722.

 

 

 earlier still

Robert Aldhowse (also Aldis / Aldys) was the son of another Robert Aldous (1640 - 1703 (63)) and Jane Meen, who were married in Alburg (Norfolk) on 14 October 1672.

 

 

 even earlier

Robert Aldhous was the son of George Aldous and Ann Saier, who were married in 1627.

 

In fact our data goes back another 4 generations to William Aldous of Fressingfield (c1450 - 1531 (81))

 

 

 

most links are to Parish Register originals.

 

Martha Aldous (Whiting)

 

ch 23 Jul 1754 - Starston (plus a brother and sister on this parish register page)

 

m James Aldous 6 Aug 1782 (Redenhall)

 

bu 17 May 1824 (70) Starston see photo at top for tomb.

 

 

 

Martha was the daughter of (Gentleman) John & Mary Whiting.  There's records of the christenings of some brothers and sisters in Starston, but hardly anything about John and Mary yet.

 

Mary - d 7 June 1758 (Starston gravestone but no burial record)

 

John - bu 17 May 1771 (46) Starston plus gravestone and we have a photo of his original will.

 

 

 

 earlier still

John was the son of (Yeoman) John Whiting and wife Abigail.

 

John - we have a photo of his original May 1729 will, and a Homersfield burial record.

 

Abigail - bu 7 April 1752 in a grave close to her granddaughter Martha Aldous in Starston.

 

 

 earlier still

John was the eldest son of (Yeoman) James Whiting and wife Ann(e) of Homersfield.  James was buried there on 9 February 1728 and we have a not very good copy of his will.

 

 

 earlier still

James was the eldest son of (Yeoman) William Whiteing and wife Elizabeth of Homersfield.  We have a copy of Elizabeth's 1698 will and a brilliant photo of William's original 1683 will

 

 

 

 

Harriette Aldous (Poole)

 

b 8 April 1783 ch 18 April 1783 at St Mary, Redenhall

 

m 10 Jul 1809 All Saints, Mendham, Suffolk,  just south of Harleston

 

Entry in Pallot's Marriage Index

 

All Saints Church, Mendham, Sussex

 

bu 13 October 1866 (83), St Mary Redenhall

 

 

John Poole

 

b c1742

 

Was a wealthy tailor in Mendham

 

Bu in Weybread 27 January 1812 aged 70.

 

We have a copy of his will.

 

 

First marriage - not found yet

 

Second Marriage (to Harriette's mum)

 

Sarah Poole (Strutt)

 

m 24 April 1777, St Mary Redenhall

d 12 December 1856 in Kentish Town

 

bu alongside daughter Harriette Aldous in Redenhall

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 - Elizabeth Haw Aldous (Seward)

 

b Ch 26 May 1824 Weston, Buriton (Hampshire)

 

m 24 May 1855 Alex Aldous, wine merchant, in St Mary, Buriton.

 

d Christmas Day 1862, aged 38, of scarlet fever caught from a child-nurse, leaving Florence (4) and George (1) motherless.  Sad memorial plaque above the Norman font where she would have been christened, in St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Buriton.

 

One of Elizabeth's brothers was another Samuel Seward (known as Colonel Seward).

 

 

2 - Mary Constance Aldous (Gray), b1844, m 1 May 1866, living in Portsea in 1871.  They had a son, Bertie , in 1874, though the family doubted that Alex was the father and dubbed him "Bertie Banks" in a thinly veiled allusion to his real (they thought) parentage!  Alex stoked the flames by seeming strangely unhappy about the event.  Mary remarried after Alex's death in 1879 - Henry Sedgwick (RN Fleet Surgeon) and had a daughter Louise.  Bertie became a surgeon and did not marry.

 

 

St Peter ad Vincula, Wisborough Green

 

Samuel Thomas Seward

 

b 1787 Loxwood (N of Wisborough Green), Sussex, then moved with dad & family to Weston c1804 and immediately got stuck in to building a humungous windmill at Weston Farm.

 

m 6 March 1821 - Old Church, St Pancras, London

 

1841 et seq censuses - Yeoman (tenant) Farmer of c800 acres of tithes with hops, sheep, lime burning (Butser Hill), and of course the huge windmill in Weston (nr Buriton), Hampshire.  1841  1851  1861 

 

d 25 Dec 1867 (80) Weston, Buriton (Petersfield register) - Tomb / Plaque in St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Buriton.

 

 

Thomas Seward

 

Yeoman (tenant) farmer of Loxton, Sussex (though Wisborough Green was where the Ch/M/Ds happened).  Then c1804 moved to Weston (near Buriton) to take up leases there.

 

Ch 9 November 1748 (Wisborough Green)

 

There is a copy of his will c1813 in the National Archive's Bonham-Carter papers (the Bonham-Carters were major local landowners and have several memorials in the Buriton Parish church).  Link to transcript. (easier to read!).  The will includes a list of his children.

 

d Will proved 1817

 

 

 

Thomas (above) was a son of John and Hannah Seward of Loxton.  Their six sons are listed in a lease and release document held in the National Archives (and their christenings are also on Family Search)

 

 

 

Elizabeth Seward (Stevenson)

 

 

 

Elizabeth (above) was a daughter of Thomas Stevenson of Godalming, according to Thomas Seward's will.

 

 

 

Elizabeth Seward (Haw)

 

b 26 August 1791, St Pancras

 

m 6 March 1821 - Old Church, St Pancras, London

 

Old Church, St Pancras, early 1800s

 

How did she meet Yeoman Farmer Seward ?

 

d 29 Dec 1858 (67) Buriton, Hampshire -

 

Tomb / Plaque in St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Buriton.

 

 

William Haw

 

b 1764

 

A carpenter turned (wealthy) builder

 

l Petty's Court, Hanway Street (links Oxford Street & Tottenham Court Road, London) - then in the parish of St Pancras.  Retired to Weston after death of wife.

 

d 1839 (75) (Weston, Buriton) - his is probably the moolah behind the large sarcophagus tomb and burst of plaques in St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Buriton.

 

 

Elizabeth Haw (  )

 

b 1766

 

l London

 

d 1829 (63) (London).  Buried in the new St Pancras Church.

 

 

Marriage Certificate, September 1887

 

 

Aldous / Stewart chronology and document links

 

Isabella Henderson Aldous (Bella) (Stewart)

 

b 5 January 1865, Melbourne (Australia).

 

Accompanies parents on their European Grand Tour in 1881 - 82.  Did she meet future hubbie on this tour?

 

m 7 September 1877 (Ma's birthday) Dr George Frederick Aldous, a Plymouth surgeon, in Saint Stephens Church, Gloucester Road (London SW7).  Mum and Dad come from Melbourne to mastermind the event from a South Kensington hotel.

 

The mid 1800s church of St Stephen, Gloucester Road, London

 

 

4 daughters, only one of whom (Clare) married.

 

Moves to Harrow-on-the-Hill in 1920 and provides a base for grand daughter Peggy when she gets sent to the UK for schooling.

 

d 5 July 1938 aged 73, living in Harrow.

 

 

Birth Record

 

 

James Cooper Stewart

    

 

James Stewart's illustrated story

 

photos of James Stewart

 

diary of his 1857 voyage to Australia

 

Bio in history of Mallesons

 

James Stewart's children & descendants

 

b 24 January 1836 in Brechin, Angus, Scotland.  Shown living in Brechin in 1841 & 1851 census records

 

Departs Brechin on 1 June 1857 to travel from Liverpool to Melbourne on the famous clipper "Marco Polo" "The Fastest Ship in the World".  Writes a diary on the way (we have a copy of original and transcript).  Arrives in Melbourne 3rd September 1857.

 

Marco Polo Passenger List Extract

 

m Amelia Waugh in 1860.

 

1868 becomes a partner in the Melbourne legal firm that became Malleson & Stewart.

 

Extensive diaried (we have them - not transcribed yet) grand tour to France, Italy, England, Ireland and Scotland 1881-82.

 

Councillor, Alderman then Mayor of Melbourne 1885-86, and later City Solicitor.

 

Portraits in mayoral gear and with family

 

Travels back to England in 1877 for the September marriage of eldest daughter Isabella in London.

 

Marries a second time in 1911 (see below) - divorces in 1916 and lots of lolly later.

 

d 18 August 1919 aged 83 - in Southsea (Hampshire), on a visit to daughters in England.

 

Probably buried with Amelia in Barnes.

 

 

James Stewart Snr

 

b 18 Oct 1804, Dundee, Scotland.

 

m 21 Dec 1833, Brechin, Angus.

 

Lived in Brechin (Angus) (latterly 62, High Street) and like his father was a master house painter.  The Brechin building is still there (see Google Earth) - now a dilapidated shopfront.

 

d 27 Oct 1867 (63), Brechin, Angus

 

 

James Stewart Snr Snr

 

b ?

 

m 10 Feb 1803, Edinburgh Parish

 

Another Master House Painter.

 

d ?

 

 

Elizabeth Stewart (Hamilton)

 

b: ?

 

b 2 Mar 1782, Gladsmuir

 

d ?

 

 

 

Elizabeth (above) was the daughter of Alexander & Elizabeth Hamilton (Brodie) - m Jul 1777 in Gladsmuir.  "Hamilton" was the primary Christian name of a sister and daughter of James Stewart Snr.

 

 

 

Mary (May) Stewart (Falconer)

 

b 15 March 1811 Montrose, Scotland.

 

d 8 April 1867 (56) Brechin, Angus

 

 

John Falconer

 

b ?

 

m 24 Oct 1804 Laurencekirk

 

Agricultural labourer living in Montrose.

 

d ?

 

 

Jean Falconer (Cooper)

 

l St Cyrus (beautiful beach place) before marriage.  Note that the marriage contracts record from St Cyrus uses "Cooper" rather than "Couper" as in Laurencekirk.

 

This would be the origin of the "Cooper" in James Cooper Stewart

 

 

1. Amelia Henderson Stewart (Ma) (Waugh)

 

b 7 September 1841 in Melbourne.

 

Birth Record

 

m James Stewart, 16 June 1860 in the garden of her widowed mother's house in Collingwood (Melbourne).

 

They have 14 children of whom only 6 survive into adulthood.

 

7 September 1886 - as Mayoress of Melbourne she lays the foundation stone of the Princes Bridge.  They say the ceremony was boycotted by the largely English  establishment - as a protest against a lowly Australian born (and worse, like Presbyterian) woman doing the job rather than the (wife of the) colonial governor (Sir Henry Brougham Lock).

 

Photo of the Foundation Stone Ceremony

 

d in Barnes (London) on a visit to daughter Edith Staples in 3rd Qtr 1903, aged 62.  Buried in Barnes somewhere.

 

2.  Then on 26 August 1911 JCS (75) marries 31 year old divorcee Edith Rosa Frances Cowling (née Muston).  Edith had journeyed (often with her formidable mother) via a mechanic father (Muston) in Kings Norton (near Leicester England), a fishmonger step father (Hyland) in Leeds, and a pearler husband (Cowling) on the Torres Strait Island of Maubiag (divorced in 1910), to owning and operating Hygeia Ltd, a dermatology & hair beautifying business in Sydney, when she met and seduced our James ...... Unsurprisingly things did not work out, and after she had spent a couple of years living in New York and London at JC's expense he called time, and an acrimonious 8 day court hearing in Spring 1916 in front of the Chief Justice of Victoria resulted in James getting huge publicity and a decree nisi on the grounds of desertion.  Not clear what happened to all the money he was trying to claw back.  Edith died aged 60 in Forest Hill, Melbourne, on 6 August 1940.

 

 

Robert Waugh

 

b c1800, a master baker from Belfast.

 

m Isabella Henderson in Belfast c1827.

 

Sails from Belfast on 9 November 1838 with pregnant wife and 2 sons on the Government contracted 500 ton barque Garrow to Sydney then the James Barry on to Melbourne.

 

Garrow Passenger List Extract

             LHS      RHS

 

Arrival papers

 

His bakery and family home was a wooden building at No 22 Little Bourke Street.

 

d 1856 aged 56 as per records of Old Melbourne Cemetery - bones now somewhere under the Queen Victoria Markets.  Sadly there's no sign of a Victorian death record (which would identify his parents).

 

Will

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isabella Waugh (Henderson)

 

b 1803 in Belfast, Ireland, one of at least 8 children of Belfast merchant / newspaper proprietor James Henderson. Marries local baker Robert Waugh c1827, and later sails with him to Australia in 1838.

 

She has about 10 children (one born at sea en route to Australia), 7 outlive her.

 

Lived in Collingwood in 1860.

 

d 1872 (69) - 44 Lygon St, Carlton, Melbourne (buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery, and now lying somewhere under the Queen Victoria Markets).

 

Death Record

Will

 

James Henderson

 

b 1766 ?

 

"Belfast Merchant" (in Isabella's death cert).  The Hendersons were a leading 1800s Presbyterian Belfast family - merchants, newspaper proprietors, churchmen, and later mayors.

 

d 28 July 1834 (68)

 

 

Amelia Henderson (Shanks or McGill)

 

b 1771

 

Shanks is the maiden name in originals of Isabella's marriage record and her death register entry (so ignore webbers who say she was Amelia McGill).

 

d 9 April 1844 (73)

 

 

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