Alicia’s Story: Part 3 – Wobbling On A Family Tree Branch

Now, by this time in the story, I’m really hanging out on a limb. Am I just another one of those researchers who gets obsessed by a theory to the exclusion of all else? Determined to make the facts fit? Wishful thinker? After all, what I’m proposing is pretty outrageous and on the flimsiest of details. Well, I’m hanging onto that tree branch, a bit wobbly, and I’m just about to take another step further…

I’m stumped. Flummoxed. I can’t find anything for Alicia Eleanora ELLIOTT anywhere. The research trail for my wild theory has come to a standstill. And that is when I finally go and check the original marriage entry for Henry BRAND and Alicia Eleanora ELLIOTT. And found out her name was actually ELLIS.

With renewed purpose, armed with a new name and a song in my heart, I went out and researched Alicia Eleanora ELLIS (and variations). And was disappointed once again.

A siren’s call

With my research stalled, I succumbed to the siren’s call of my wild theory and tried out a newspaper search using the names of LOCKHART, BRAND and ELLIS. Surprisingly, I actually found a hit – a newspaper ad from 1823.¹

As a co-trustee, John Ingram LOCKHART was selling an absolutely massive nobleman’s estate, Mamhead in Devonshire. As is usual for these kinds of things, it was possible to view the property by ticket only, with the tickets being obtained from a number of solicitors or public houses around the country. So there is quite a list of them.

In the solicitor’s list is mentioned Henry BRAND, Esq. of Topsham (Alicia Eleanora’s husband and my husband’s 3 x great-grandfather). Not surprising, perhaps, as the property is in Devonshire and so is Henry. He turns up in many of these kinds of advertisements selling property though this is a pretty spectacular property – being owned by the Earls of Lisburne – and possibly a larger property than was usual for Henry.

Also in the list are two different solicitors identified as solicitors of the trustees. The trustees are listed as the Right Honourable Lord Kensington and John Ingram LOCKHART, Esq, in that order. The solicitors for the trustees are listed, in order, as Messrs. Foulkes, Langford, and Walford, No. 10, Southampton-street, Covent garden and Charles ELLIS, Esq. Verulam buildings, Gray’s Inn.

Maybe Charles ELLIS is acting as John Ingram LOCKHART’s solicitor? One of John Ingram LOCKHART’s illegitimate children was called Charles. Perhaps…perhaps…perhaps…and here my unruly intuition decided to carry out a coup and trampled underfoot my rational brain…some nepotism was at play and John Ingram LOCKHART threw some business in the way of his son?

Ouch. Another grand leap in logic smack in the face of research principles. Once again, I am making absolutely the flimsiest of links in order to pursue my wild theory which is rapidly gaining its own personality.

But, what else do I have to go on at the moment? The legitimate line of research is currently stalled. What harm could it be to investigate this Charles ELLIS?

So…Who was Charles ELLIS, Esq. of Verulam Buildings, Gray’s Inn?

The address turned out to be quite helpful as “Charles ELLIS” is a very popular name and I needed something to uniquely identify him. I used his name and address as search terms in a newspaper search and struck all kinds of very interesting information.

The first item of note was his marriage notice from 1823:

At the new Church, St Pancras, Chas. Ellis, esq. of Verulam buildings, Gray’s Inn, to Maria, the only daughter of Thomas Reilly, esq. of Holly terrace, Highgate.²

From this information I was able to find his children’s baptisms^3-7 and, very sadly, the burials of his two infant sons^8,9.  But when I saw the names of his sons,  I was shocked:

1. Maria ELLIS (1824- )
2. Charles Ingram Lockhart ELLIS (1825-1825)
3. Charlotte Augusta ELLIS (1826- )
4. Charles John Ingram Lockhart ELLIS (1828-1829)
5. Rosetta ELLIS (1830 – )

I couldn’t believe my eyes. By this time, I really didn’t believe I could actually find a personal link between Charles ELLIS and John Ingram LOCKHART. But why did he name his two sons after John Ingram LOCKHART if it was purely a business relationship? Maybe he really could be John Ingram LOCKHART’s illegitimate son, Charles THOMAS/LOCKHART.

Hang on a minute. Or maybe John Ingram LOCKHART was a godfather. Or Charles just really admired the man.

Hmmm. Either way, it was a little tidbit of encouragement to keep on looking for that conclusive proof. Maybe the branch was a little less wobbly than I thought? Let’s see what I can find next…

Sources:

¹ DEVONSHIRE.-VERY VALUABLE AND MOST IMPORTANT FREEHOLD ESTATES. (24 April 1823). The Morning Chronicle, p. 4. Advertisement of sale of property Mamhead in Devonshire with mention of James Ingram Lockhart, Henry Brand and Charles Ellis. Retrieved 30 June 2016 from: http://search.findmypast.com.au/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0000082%2f18230424%2f011

² MARRIAGES. (20 September 1823). Oxford University and City Herald, p. 2. Marriage notice for Charles Ellis and Maria Reilly, only daughter of Thomas Reilly. Retrieved 30 June 2016 from: http://search.findmypast.com.au/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0000991%2f18230920%2f010

³ “London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906,” database and image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 July 2016), image of baptism for Maria Ellis, date of birth 13 August 1824, baptised 25 February 1825, St Pancras, Camden, Middlesex – parents Charles (Solicitor) and Maria of Burton Crescent; citing London Metropolitan Archives, St Pancras, Register of baptisms, P90/PAN1, item 014, p. 218, No: 231.

⁴ “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database – transcription, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N66J-MRN : 30 December 2014), Charles Ingram Lockhart Ellis, 25 Oct 1825 – parents Charles and Maria Ellis; citing St. Nicholas’, Brighton, Sussex, England, reference item 1 p 25; FHL microfilm 1,468,819.

⁵ “London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906,” database and image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 July 2016), image of baptism for Charlotte Augusta Ellis, date of birth 28 October 1826, baptised 4 April 1827, St Pancras, Camden, Middlesex – parents Charles (Solicitor) and Maria of Burton Crescent; citing London Metropolitan Archives, St Pancras, Register of baptisms, P90/PAN1, item 015, p. 179, No: 416.

⁶ “London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906,” database and image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 July 2016), image of baptism for Charles John Ingram Lockhart Ellis, baptised 5 August 1828, St Pancras Old St Pancras, Camden, Middlesex – parents Charles (Gentleman) and Maria of Burton Crescent; citing London Metropolitan Archives, St Pancras Old St Pancras, Register of baptisms, P90/PAN1, item 015, p. 22, no: 1120.

⁷ “London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906,” database and image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 July 2016), image of baptism for Rosetta Ellis, date of birth 20 May 1830, baptised 13 July 1830, St Pancras Old St Pancras, Camden, Middlesex – parents Charles (Solicitor) and Maria of Burton Crescent; citing London Metropolitan Archives, St Pancras Old St Pancras, Register of baptisms, P90/PAN1, item 017, p. 1, no: 1095.

⁸ “England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991,” database – transcription, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDSS-G6B : 24 December 2014), Charles Ingram Lockhart Ellis, 30 Oct 1825; citing , reference pg258 ln2061; FHL microfilm 1,067,132.

⁹ “London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980,” database and image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 July 2016), image of burial for Charles John Ingram Lockhart Ellis, age 13 months, Abode: Burton Crescent, Burial date 23 July 1829, St Pancras Parish Chapel, Camden, Middlesex; citing London Metropolitan Archives, St Pancras Parish Chapel, Register of baptisms, P90/PAN1/182, item 017, p. 578, no: 925.