The Family Bible- page three

The internet is a wonderful thing. You can find all manner of records on-line, including all those I've referred to in previous posts. However they only go up to 1900 at the present time, so from now on my family history is increasingly sketchy.

By some strange quirk of history the Hayes family Bible of 1865 is in the possession of the fourth son, of the second son of their fourth child Elizabeth Henrietta Trevaskis Hayes, who married Charles Clemo in 1895.
Here's the third page of the family Bible, which has been filled in to include my cousins.

The bible gives Elizabeth's husband's full name as Reginald Charles, and another Clemo tradition of naming the first son Reginald Charles is set.

Without on-line verification of dates, the history becomes sketchy.
The Bible entry records that Elizabeth and Charles had three boys, namely Reginald Charles, who died in the First World War in 1917; my grandfather Richard James, born in 1898, and his brother Leonard Francis, who was born in 1906/7.

I have been unable to find much information, except that Wilhelmina's death was recorded as:

Anna Wilhelmina Henrietta Frederica Hayes resident at Chenhalls, St Erth
Died 14-Jun 1904 aged 64

Elizabeth Henrietta Trevaskis Clemo merits one more entry- that of her death:

Elizabeth Henryetta Trevaskis Clemo resident at County Lunatic Asylum, Bodinar? Died 22-Oct 1917 age 46

The transcriber put a question mark against the location which is actually Bodmin.

The former County Asylum at Bodmin

The first of the Clemos

Not really. I'm sure that the Clemos go back a long way, but for the purposes of this story, there is an entry in the St Erth register of marriages:

Wedding on 22-Aug 1865
William John Clemo aged 23 bachelor occupation mariner of Hayle in St Erth, father John, occupation mason, married
Elizabeth Richards Champion aged 24 spinster of Carnisers, St Erth, father Thomas occupation labourer. Witnesses R H Champion, Ann Champion

the link is here:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/mar1861_65.htm.


After much searching the Phillack 1871 Census I discovered this entry here
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kayhin/72327.html

Folio 44 Page 5
26,Cross Street,1,William Jno Clemo,Head,M,28,,Mariner,St Columb Cornwall,,
,,,Elizabeth Clemo,Wife,M,,29,,St Erth Cornwall,,
,,,William Hy Clemo,Son,,1,,,Phillack Cornwall,,


So is this the Clemo family that Elizabeth Henrietta Hayes married into?
Sadly, no. She married a Charles Clemo, father also Charles, in St Erth in 1895

Source here:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/mar1891_95.htm

Wedding 1895
Charles Clemo aged 23 bachelor occupation engineer of St Erth, father Charles Clemo, a seaman,
Married
Elizabeth Henrietta Trevaskis Hayes aged 24spinster of St Erth father James Henry Hayes, occupation- smith. Witnesses Mary Amelia Hayes ,J.H. Hayes

So Wilhelmina didn't marry a seaman after all, and neither did her daughter Elizabeth, contrary to family tradition.
Ah well, back to the drawing board.

The census of 1891

The census of 1891.

Let’s move ahead ten years to the census of 1891, which can be found here
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/1891_ed1_10.htm

If you scroll down a bit you will see this entry

Chenhalls
James A Hayes head M 50 smith in Hammer Mill St Erth
A? H W L Hayes wife M51 Prussia
Richard J Hayes son S 25 fitter St Erth
Wilhelmina Hayes daur S 24 tailoress St Erth
C Henrietta T Hayes daur S 23 machinist St Erth
Julia Hayes daur S 20 tailoress St Erth
Francis W Hayes son S 18fitter St Erth
Mary A Hayes daur S 15 St Erth

It’s the same house in the same street, only now we have 8 adults living in it.
Harry Vollmer Hayes has moved out. Where did he go? Did he emigrate? Many thousands did. There is a family tale of a distant relative from Australia visiting St Erth in the 30s. He arrived in a car that was so big it couldn’t turn around in the square. Some hyperbole surely, but someone somewhere emigrated and made good.
It’s also typical of my family that my great uncle Leonard conveniently neglected to tell his brother (my grandfather) until much later. And no, we are not and never have been a close knit family.

Now's a good time to include the second page of the Family Bible

The Census of 1881

Let’s jump forward to 1881. James and Wilhelmina have settled into family life. The Census of 1881 reveals that they are living in Chennals Rd St Erth, and that James is a smith (probably at Harveys, a mile or so down the road).
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/1881_1.htm

Entry 83-6 reads thus:

83-16 Chenhalls James H Hayes head M40 Smith in factory St Erth
83-16Chenhalls Frederika Hayes wife M41 Prussia Naturalized
83-26Chenhalls Harry V Hayes son U17 fitter in iron factory St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Richard J Hayes son U15 fitter in iron factory St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Wilhelmina Hayes daur U14 scholar St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Emily H Hayes daur 12 scholar St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Julia Hayes daur 10 scholar St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Francis W Hayes son 8 scholar St Erth
83-26Chenhalls Mary A Hayes daur 5 scholar St Erth

The first thing I noticed is that the practice of naming the second son Richard James has already been established. I’m the oldest in our family, and my younger brother is Richard James. My father was the second son and named Richard James as well.

What else can be gleaned from this entry?
Firstly, that Harveys was a major employer in the town, as both sons are working there alongside their father.
Secondly that Wilhelmina is referred to as Frederika in this entry. In the transcript of the 1871 census she’s referred to as Wilhelmina while in the 1891 she’s simply AHWT. (probably a misreading of F).
What else? The U in the description refers to the marital status (unmarried). 14 year old schoolgirl Wilhelmina is unmarried, while 12 year old Elizabeth Henrietta is merely a scholar. Elizabeth Henrietta is wrongly named Emily in this entry, and she is next in my family tree.

The Harveys of Hayle

It has been common knowledge in our family that our great great grandmother was governess to the Harvey family’s children. But which ones? And when? And where?

I grew up in Hayle in the 1950s and even then, almost 100 years later, the Harveys cast a huge shadow of the town. The Foundry Square was named after the iron and steel foundry started by John Harvey in 1783 or so, and in the 1950s and early 60s the harbour they created was still receiving shiploads of goods each week. But it was all history, dusty and forgotten.

A few years ago I heard about a book written by Edward Vale, published by Bradford Barton of Truro and called “The Harveys of Hayle”. It was long out of print and copies were changing hands at up to £90. Then recently I found that it had been reprinted and persuaded my family to get me a copy for Christmas. Now I could get Wilhelmina out of the cupboard and try to discover more about her.

The obvious candidate is Nicholas Oliver Harvey. According to the family tree in Vale’s book, he was lived from 1803 to 1868. After serving his apprenticeship in Birmingham, he worked in Prussian shipbuilding firm for five years. He also spent a lot of time in Holland and developed steam tug boats for use on the River Rhine. He married his first wife in 1830 but she died childless in 1847. In 1848 he married Juliana Catharina Wilhelmina Leug (1820- 1902), moving back to Hayle to manage the Foundry in the late forties/early fifties.

They had five children starting with Harry in 1857, and no doubt it was these children that Wilhelmina looked after.
The record for Henry's baptism can be found here. He was baptised on the 13th August 1857. Wilhelmina would have been 17 at the time. I can find no trace of her working for the Harveys, so it has to be left unproven.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/bap1856_60.htm

Looking for the wedding details.

Looking for the wedding details.

When I started to check the online records of my ancestor’s wedding I hit a snag. The online records did not match with the Bible.
The list of marriages for St Erth can be found here

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/mar1861_65.htm

And if you scroll down to 1863 you will see James Henry Hayes name. However, the person transcribing the record must have struggled with Wilhelmina’s name for they have her listed as Fredericka Williams. It’s just as well I have more than one source because I would never have found it otherwise. I’ve emailed the person who made up the list and asked if they could change the entry. Maybe they will, maybe not.

So what about James? Who was he? What is known about him?


I found a record of his baptism at this site
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/bap1836_40.htm

He was baptised on Christmas Day 1840, together with his older sister Amelia.
Here’s the entry
Hayse James (Parents) Henry James / Elizabeth (on date) 25-Dec (at) St Erth (father’s Occupation) Miner (Birth registered on) 20-Nov
Hayse Amelia (Parents) James / Elizabeth (on date) 25-Dec (at) St Erth (Father’s Occupation) Miner (Birth registered on) 08-May 1838


Let’s look at the 1861 census. This site shows that James was unmarried and living with his parents in Chenhalls Rd St Erth

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/1861_ed8.htm

Hayes James Head Mar 61 private watchman St Erth
Hayes Elizth Wife Mar 60 St Erth
Hayes James Henry Son Un Mar20 blacksmith St Erth

This will provide the start should I wish to go back further into history, but for now I need to work forwards, to see how a young blacksmith and a young girl from Prussia got together.

The Hayes Family Bible

The Hayes Family Bible.

I saw this for the first time about five years ago. My uncle has it and we arranged a swap of information when I gave them a colour photocopy of Wilhelmina in return for photocopies of the entries in the Bible.

There it is, written in elegant copperplate handwriting, the fact that James Henry Hayes and Anna Henrietta Wilhelmina Frederika Vollmer were united in Holy Matrimony on Saturday the 21st February 1863 at St Erth Church in Cornwall.

Below that written their date and place of birth.

James Henry Hayes was born on the 9th November 1840, while Wilhelmina was a few months older, her birthday being the 7th March. The place of birth is hard to read but it appears to be Shlettwig Rhur..

I did some more internet research based on the date 1860. One site told me that the country we now know as Germany did not exist at that time, and it was also about 100 years behind us in terms of industrial development. It was the opening of the coal mines and the establishment of an iron and steel industry that created modern Germany from the various states like Shleswig- Holstein and Saxe-Gotha and Bavaria.

So we now know where she came from, but not why, or how she came to meet and marry James Hayes

Look for Wilhelmina

Looking for Wilhelmina

Let me introduce you to Wilhelmina. She’s been part of my family now for about twenty five years, although strictly speaking, I’m part of her family.

My memory is hazy, but I think she came into my possession in the mid eighties when my father died and my mother sold her house in West London and downsized. Exactly where she was before this is a mystery, or how my part of the family came to own this relic is another. I suspect she was pressed between the pages of a huge multi-volume history of the First World War, sadly incomplete so worthless. My father would pore over the pages for ages. I browsed through it a couple of times. It was full of paintings of idealised cavalry charges against the Hun, so was probably largely fiction, as most histories inevitably are.

Wilhelmina is a bit tatty these days, she’s looking a bit moth eaten, but then I reckon she must be at least 120 years old. Once she came into our possession she was packed away in a cupboard or drawer and quietly forgotten, as she dutifully and mutely accompanied us as we relocated several times.

About five years ago I was paying an infrequent visit to my aunt and uncle in Camborne, and the subject of our ancestors arose. I mentioned Wilhelmina and they were surprised I had her. They were unaware of her existence. They did, however, own the Family Bible and they kindly allowed me to photocopy the entries in the front of the bible. I now knew her full name which was Anna Henrietta Wilhelmina Frederika Vollmer and she was born in Prussia in 1840.

So what was she doing in Cornwall in 1863, aside from getting married to one James Henry Hayes also aged 23? Family tradition tells us that she was a governess to the Harvey family’s children. But why Wilhelmina? And why move from Prussia to be a nanny?

I could find no more, so Wilhelmina went back into storage.