More on Family Members who Subscribed to the Sermon Collection

With help from my Beddome descendant friend I have now identified the family members who subscribed to the book.

Mrs Ashwin, Mrs, Bourton-on-the-Water

The Ashwins were connected with the Boswells. On July 1 1709, William Ashwin of Bretforton married Ruth Boswell at Bourton on the Water. Ruth was a daughter of Samuel Boswell, a sister of Richard Boswell and an aunt to Elizabeth Boswell, Beddome's wife. William and Ruth lived at Bretforton and had at least 6 children. Their eldest son was James Ashwin born in 1710 and buried in the Baptist Cemetery at Bourton on the September 8, 1801 at the great age of 91. Presumably Mrs Ashwin of Bourton is of the same family.

Beddome, Mr Benjamin, Manchester (1784-1869) – Grandson. His parents were Samuel Beddome (1756-1815) and Jane Wilkins (1758-1827). He was a member of a Baptist congregation in Manchester where he had a drysalting business.

Beddome, John Reynolds Esq, Romsey (1787-1859) – Grandson. His parents were Boswell Brandon Beddome (1763-1816) and Anne Wilkins (1765-1797). He became a doctor and was mayor of Romsey 6 times.

Beddome, Mr William, London (1788-1858) – Grandson. Brother of John Reynolds Beddome, so son of Boswell Brandon and Anne Wilkins. Full name - Willliam Wilkins Beddome.

Beddome, Miss Jane, London (1792-1865) – Granddaughter. Sister to John Reynolds and William Wilkins, so parents as above. She never married.

Beddome, Mrs Boswell, Weymouth (1805-1884) – Wife of grandson. Born Elizabeth Ellary, she was the wife of Boswell Beddome (1794-1834). Boswell was another sibling of John Reynolds etc, and therefore a grandson of Beddome. He died at a fairly young age and Elizabeth later remarried to Francis Flink Davis.

Beddome, Mr Samuel, Camberwell (1791-1866) – Grandson. Another of the siblings of John Reynolds Beddome etc. He wrote a book about the Beddome family now held in the Angus Library. Elected Common Crier and Sergeant at Arms, London.

Beddome, Mr Richard B(oswell), Clapham (1797-1881) – Grandson – another son of Samuel Beddome and Jane Wilkins. He became a solicitor.

Beddome, Mr Josephus, Leamington (1808-1854) – Grandson/ He was the eldest son of Josephus Beddome (1779-1834) who was Benjamin’s youngest son. In 1839 he was listed as a tea dealer and seedsman of 24 Upper Parade, Leamington Spa. He never married and at some stage went to Canada, which is where the rest of the family had settled following the death of their father. Josephus junior died at the home of his brother in London, Ontario.

Beddome, Elizabeth Favell, Camberwell (1832-1927) – Great granddaughter. She was a daughter of Samuel Beddome of Camberwell above and Elizabeth Muriel (1796-1880). In 1874, at the age of about 42, she married Rev Clement Poynder at Bourton-on-the-Water. Oddly, she is only 3 in 1835, so presumably her father subscribed in her name, similarly for her sister Annie Muriel below.

Beddome, Annie Muriel, Camberwell (1834-1920) – Great granddaughter. Another daughter of Samuel Beddome above and Elizabeth Muriel. She never married and with a younger sister, Mary Muriel Beddome (1836-1933), she ended her days in Bourton on the Water.

Charlesworth, Rev John, Ipswich (1782-1864) – married to Elizabeth Beddome below.

Charlesworth, Mrs (Elizabeth) Ipswich (1783-1869) – granddaughter. She was another daughter of Samuel Beddome and Jane Wilkins. Her son, Samuel Beddome Charlesworth, married Maria Amelia Beddome, daughter of Richard Boswell Beddome. Their daughter, Florence Louisa Charlesworth, married Charles Wright Barclay.

Favell, Mrs (Elizabeth), London (1765-1849) – daughter. She had married Samuel Favell (1760-1830).

Gregory, Olinthus, Woolwich (1774-1841) – his second wife was Anne Beddome (1789-1855), who was a granddaughter of Beddome and the daughter of Boswell Brandon Beddome and Anne Wilkins.

Stephenson, Mrs, Clapham (1764-1841) – probably the mother of George Stephenson below. She was born Alice Ruth Lucy Booth.

Stephenson, George Esq, Taunton (1790-1860) – husband of Jane Beddome below.

Stephenson, Mrs G, Taunton (1793 -1877) – Granddaughter, born Jane Beddome. Daughter of Samuel Beddome and Jane Wilkins.

Mrs Robert Winter, London is indeed the widow of Rev Robert Winter (1762-1833). She is also the mother-in-law of John Reynolds Beddome who married her daughter Rebecca about 1812.

Another family note

How did people meet one another in the past? There are some coincidences in Beddome's history that a descendant (by marriage) has noted. On the paternal side, we can go back to John Beddome, the Deputy Town Clerk of Stratford on Avon (c1587 – 1646) and also to Roger Barnard (c 1590 – 1661). From at least as early as 1615 up to 1620 Roger Barnard was living in Wootten Wawen, a village some 5 miles west of Stratford on Avon. On Beddome's mother's side we can go back to Benjamin Brandon, the tailor, whose mother was named in his will as Hester Jordan, widow of Woolvy, Warwickshire. However, Benjamin the tailor's wife was Katherine Court and she was a daughter of Henry Court and Fortune Hawthorn. Henry and Fortune were married on April 22 1612 at Wootten Warwen and, though Henry was identified in the registers as "de Henley" which we assume to be Henley in Arden which is just over a mile north west of Wootten Warwen, their children were baptised at the latter village up to 1623 when the family moved to Tanworth in Arden. Both Roger Barnard and Henry Court would seem to have been men of substance - both left property in wills - and they were living very close to each other for a number of years - does it not seem likely that the families knew each other back then? It is not entirely clear what significance that has to the later history of the family but all roads lead back to Warwickshire. Going back a bit further, Fortune Hawthorn's parents were William Hawthorn and Fortune Ussold and they were married at Stratford Holy Trinity on July 27, 1578.

Rachel Brandon Beddome 1694-1758

A descendant of Beddome (by marriage) has been in touch again and tells me these things about Beddome's mother.

Beddome's parents, John and Rachel Beddome, were married at St Mary's, Warwick on the April 14, 1715. There is evidence to say that Rachel Brandon's transfer to the Henley Congregation from Nantwich was recorded on Christmas Day 1714. She was joined in Henley by her Aunt Rachel Cope, just over a month later, on January 30 1714/5. Aunt Rachel had transferred from Little Wild Street which is where Bernard Foskett had been in membership before his transfer to the Henley/Alcester congregation.

There is no doubt that Aunt Rachel was a major influencer/organiser in her niece's life. She was a rich widow and, from various documents relating to her tussle in the Chancery Court with Samuel Cope, the brother of her late second husband Joseph, it becomes clear she was also a shrewd and formidable lady. She would have been the link between her niece and Rev John Beddome. We can only think that aunt and niece moved to Henley in order for niece Rachel to marry Rev John, although he was almost twice her age. Later Aunt Rachel followed John and Rachel with their children to Bristol and was buried on the March 5 1730/1 in the Baptist Burial Ground in Red Cross Street, Bristol. Her burial entry reads "Madam Cope was interd ye south side of Mrs Blanchet toom in over Reverit Mr John Badam Grand wher his sund Doth ly". This seems to mean that Rachel was buried over or near the grave of Rev John Beddome's eldest son, John, who was buried there on the December 8 1728.

Beddome's great grandfather was Benjamin Brandon, a citizen and weaver of London. According to the 1666 Hearth Tax returns for the St Giles Cripplegate parish, Benjamin Brandon lived in Cradle Alley, where he paid tax on 3 hearths. It would seem that the family already had non-conformist leanings, as the parish register of St Giles records the births only of three of his children - Isaac, Amos and Rebecca, with an accompanying note that they were not baptised. Furthermore, when Benjamin died from plague in 1666, though this was noted in the St Giles registers, he was actually buried in the Quaker burial ground of Chequer Ally.

Beddome Sermons Subscribers Part 2

Others

The MPs are the brothers Charles Barclay (1780-1855) and David Barclay (1784-1861) whose wife is also listed. Both MPs, like the publisher, had a Quaker background. Charles of Bury Hill, Surrey, was a brewer and landowner and Tory MP for West Surrey (1835–1837, previously of Southwark 1815–1818 and Dundalk 1826–1830). David was Whig MP for Penryn, Cornwall, 1828-1830 when he resigned. After two unsuccessful attempts to take the Sunderland seat, he eventually won it in 1835, only to lose it in 1837. He was re-elected as MP for Sunderland in 1841 and held it until he resigned in 1847.

The Beddome family is well represented in the list, unsurprisingly. Ten sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons bear the Beddome name but others may be missed, such as Olinthus Gregory LLD FRAS (1774-1841) the mathematician, whose second marriage was to Beddome's granddaughter Anne Beddome (b 1789). Another grand daughter, Elizabeth Charlesworth, has already been mentioned.

The medical doctors are Samuel Ashwell (1798-1857) a leading London gynaecologist and Bourton based Nathaniel Stenson (1776-1862). The other Bourton resident is Mrs Elizabeth Ashwin (1775-1855) probably the daughter of deacon James Ashwin (1710-1801). Also listed are John Reynolds (1776-1854) of Lower Slaughter and his two daughters or granddaughters at Sondes Place, Dorking, where Charles Barclay's wife and a Mrs Crawford, another subscriber, are all also said to be living and Richard Cooper (1757-1848) of Little Rissington, converted from Anglicanism in Beddome's time and a member at Bourton.

Other identifiable individuals include William Bury (1785-1839) of Fox-hill Bank, Blackburn; clothier and art collector E A Butler (c 1802-1886); William Romaine Callender (d 1872) and his wife, Hannah (nee Pope) of Manchester (who also paid for two further copies for a friend); the Manchester Quakers, Isaac Crewdson (1760-1844) Wilson Crewdson (1790-1871) and David Dockray (1778-1853); the businessman George Hillhouse (c 1778-1844) of Combe-house, Bristol; the clothiers, William and Nathaniel Marling, who owned mills in the Stroud area; the widows of Francis Paynter (1762-1835) of Denmark Hill, the successful Cornish builder and of the Independent minister Robert Winter (1762-1833) from London. Others with a Stroud connection include Henry Whyatt (1783-1847); the local historian Paul Hawkins Fisher (1779-1873) and Lindsey Winterbotham (1799-1871) a banker and landowner, then of Tewkesbury but later of Stroud.

The only non-personal subscriber is The Nailsworth Reading Society. This is a Quaker group started in 1818 and still very active at this time. Individuals from Nailsworth, near Stroud, include the clothier Baptist deacons, Samuel Enoch Francis (d 1858), the son of the pastor there, Benjamin Francis (1734-1799) and Edward Barnard (1796-1867). Mary Bliss of Pensile House, the widow of Baptist deacon, Edward Bliss. Her sister Ann Bliss is also listed and Thomas Overbury. Another two London men called Bliss also appear.

The name Mrs W Brock, Norwich, is interesting as William Brock (1807-1875) had settled in the Baptist church there, St Mary's, in 1833. In 1834 he married Mary Bliss of Nailsworth, whose family was just mentioned.

The Baptist minister George Cole has been mentioned. He was in Leamington as was Josephus Beddome (1808-1854), Beddome's youngest son. So also were the subscribers, John Walter Sherer (1776-1846), Mrs Way and the Misses Phelp and Pimlott.

The naval officer James Masters (1787-1863) was living then on the Isle of Wight.

Thirty subscribers are from Manchester and thirteen from London. Only a few subscribers are from outside England. William Petrie (1821-1908), the inventor of the arc lamp, was then a medical student in the Cape of Good Hope (Beddome's grandson Josephus married a Sophia Petrie); there is also Mrs Poole and Miss E Wallis in Waterford, Ireland and the Quaker bookseller and stationer, Richard Moore Tims of Grafton Street, Dublin; in Haverfors West, Miss Maelor and, in Edinburgh, Mrs John Anderson and the Misses Saville.

Beddome's support by this time was coming from family and old friends, one or two from among the great and the good and others whose connection it is difficult at this remote time to work out.

More on Beddome's oldest son and his book borrowing

Subsequent to what was recorded before, it is apparent that while a student in Edinburgh University Beddome Junior borrowed books some 33 times between 1775 and 1777. This is the complete list except for the one recorded earlier.

1 Fingal 1775/2/17 (Friday) James Macpherson (1736-1796) Fingal: an ancient epic poem: in six books: together with several other poems Statement of responsibility composed by Ossian, the son of Fingal Translated from the Galic by James Macpherson Published London.1762

2 Brydon's Tour 2 Vols 1776/5/3 (Friday) Patrick Brydone (1736-1818) A tour through Sicily & Malta. In a series of letters to William Beckford, ... from P. Brydone, ... In 2 Vols Published London 1773

3 Halleri Elementa Vol 2 1776/5/14 (Tuesday) Baron Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) Elementa physiologiæ corporis humani, etc. [Haller] Vol borrowed Vol 2 Latin Published Lausanne 1757-1766.

4 Cleghorn on Minorca 1776/5/28 (Tuesday) George Cleghorn (1716-1789) Observations on the epidemical diseases in Minorca. From the year 1744-1749 To which is prefixed, a short account of the climate, production, inhabitants & endemial distempers, of that island Published London 1768

5 Reid's Inquiry 1776/5/28 (Tuesday) Thomas Reid (1710–1796) Inquiry into the human mind: on the principles of common sense Published Edinburgh 1764

6 Priestly's Examination 1776/5/28 (Tuesday) Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) An examination of Dr. Reid's Inquiry into the human mind on the principles of common sense, Dr. Beattie's Essay on the nature & immutability of truth & Dr Oswald's Appeal to common sense in behalf of religion … Published London 1774

(Gilchrist on Sea Voyages - see elsewhere on this blog)

7 Dr Roberton's Chas V Vol 1 1776/6/20 (Thursday) William Robertson (1721-1793) History of the reign of the Emperor Charles V With a view of the progress of society in Europe, from the subversion of the Roman Empire, to the beginning of the sixteenth century Published London 1769

8 Diderot 8 vols 1776/7/18 (Thursday) Denis Diderot (1713-1784) Oeuvres de théâtre de M Diderot. French Pubished Brussels 1761 2 vols

9 Racine 2 tomes 1776/7/18 (Thursday) Jean Racine (1639-1699) Oeuvres de Racine. Vols borrowed Vols 1 & 2 French Pubished Brussels 1700

10 Boccace Decameron 1776/8/1 (Thursday) Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) Le Décaméron de maistre Jean Bocace ... traduict d'italien en françois par M Anthoine Le Maçon. French Published Paris 1629

11 Davila's History Vol 1 1776/8/1 (Thursday) Arrigo Caterino Davila (1576-1631) Historie of the civill warres of France [Davila] Vol borrowed Vol 1 Published London 1647

12 Origin of Language Vols 1-2 1776/8/27 (Tuesday) James Burnet Lord Monboddo (1714–1799) Of the origin & progress of language Vols borrowed Vols 1 & 2  Published London 1773-1787 

13 Rousseau Tomes 13-16 1776/9/10 (Tuesday) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Oeuvres de M Rousseau de Genève Vols borrowed Vols 13-16 French Published Neuchâtel 1764

14 Buffon hist: Tomes 1-3 1776/9/10 (Tuesday) Comte de Georges Louis Leclerc Buffon (1707-1788) Histoire naturelle, générale et particuliére, avec la description du Cabinet du roi Vols borrowed Vols 1-3 French Published Paris 1752-1768

15 Orlando Furioso 2 Vols 1776/9/10 (Tuesday) Lodovico Ariosto (1474–1533) Orlando furioso ... Italian & English. Vols borrowed Vols 1, 2 Published London 1755 Translators: Crocker, T. H.

16 Goldsmith's hist of the Earth 2 Vols 1 & 2 1776/10/1 (Tuesday) Oliver Goldsmith (c.1730-1774) History of the earth, & animated nature Vols borrowed Vols 1, 2  (of 8) Published London 1774-8

17 Buffon 4, 5, 6 1776/10/1 (Tuesday)  See 14

18 Goldsmiths hist of the Earth Vols 3 & 4 1776/10/15 (Tuesday) See 16

19 Priestly on Electricity 1776/10/22 (Tuesday) Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) History & present state of electricity, with original experiments [Priestley] Latin. Published London 1767

20 Buffon hist: nat: Tomes 7-10 1776/10/22 (Tuesday) See 14, 17

21 Home's Sketches Vol 1 1776/10/29 (Tuesday). Henry Home Lord Kames (1696-1782) Sketches of the history of man in two Vols.Vols borrowed Vol 1 Latin Published Edinburgh.1774.

22 Buffon Hist: Nat: Vols 11-19 1776/11/5 (Tuesday) See 14, 17, 20

23 Comparative View 1776/11/19 (Tuesday) John Gregory (1724-1773) Comparative view of the state & faculties of man with those of the animal world [Gregory] Latin Published London 1766.

24 Penant's Tour 1776/11/19 (Tuesday).Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) Tour in Scotland & voyage to the Hebrides, 1772 [Pennant] Vols borrowed Vols 1, 2 Published London 1776

25 Home's Sketches Vol 2 1776/11/29 (Friday) See 21

26 Goldsmith's Nat: Hist: Vols 7-8 1776/12/13 (Friday) See 16, 18

27 Ferguson's Essay 1776/12/16 (Monday) Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) Essay on the history of civil society [Ferguson] Published London 1768

28 Oeuvres de Maupertius Vs 1-2-3 1776/12/16 (Monday) Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) Œuvres de Maupertuis Vols borrowed Vols 1-3 French Published Lyon 1768 4 vols

29 Arbuthnot on Aliments 1777/1/24 (Friday) John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) An essay concerning the nature of aliments & the choice of them, according to the different constitutions of human bodies. Published London 1732

30 Hume's Essays Vol 2 1777/2/3 (Monday) See 21, 25

31 Linnaei Æmenitates Academicæ in 4 Vols 1777/2/21 (Friday) Linnaeus (1707-1778) Caroli Linnæi ... Amoenitates academicae; seu, Dissertationes variæ physicæ, medicæ, botanicæ. Vols borrowed Vols 1-4 Latin Published Stockholm.1749-1790

32 Montesquieu Vols 1, 2 1777/2/21 (Friday) Baron Charles de Secondat Montesquieu (1689-1755)  Oeuvres de Monsieur de Montesquieu. Vols borrowed Vols 1, 2 French Published London 1767

Richard Brandon Beddome

The Edinburgh University alumni site (see here) states that Beddome's sixth child Richard Brandon Beddome (b 1769) began studying medicine in Edinburgh in 1792, 18 years after his older brother, Benjamin, who died in 1778.

Beddome's oldest son borrows a book

It is of limited interest, but we know that on Thursday, June 6, 1776, Beddome's son Benjamn borrowed Gilchrist on Sea Voyages, which he was free to keep for a fortnight, having paid a five shilling deposit. This was from the Edinburgh University Library. Beddome Junior had begun studying medicine in the university the year before. Scotsman Ebenezer Gilchrist (1707-1774) published The use of sea voyages in medicine in London in 1756, the second edition coming out with a supplement the next year. The Edinburgh copy was borrowed 49 times between 1769 and 1789. Gilchrist was one of the first doctors to recommend sea travel for the good of a person's health. One of Gilchrist's earliest writings was on typhus, the disease Benjamin Junior died from at the beginning of 1778. See here.

Will of Beddome's father, John

This is the will of John Beddome, broken up into paragraphs to make it more readable.

In the name of God, amen.

I John Beddome of the City of Bristol Gentn do make my last will and Testament as follows.

My soul I recommend to God and my Body to the earth And all my worldly estate I dispose of in manner following after my Debts and funeral paid off and discharged to wit: I give devise and bequeath unto my two children Sarah and Martha to be paid them respectively at their attaining their respective ages of twenty two years or sooner if my Exectrix or Executors think fit the sum of fifty pounds apiece

Item I give my son in law Moses Brain one shilling*

Also all the Rest and Residue of my Estate whether real or personal whatsoever and wheresoever I Give devise and bequeath unto my dear and loving Wife Rachell Beddome for ever in case she continues my Widow but in case she alters her condition by marrying again then I give her the sum of two hundred pounds or twenty pounds yearly during her life to be at her option and to be paid her by my good friends Barnard Foskett Gentlem., Caleb Moore Brewer, Francis Collins Seedsman, all of Bristol, and give all my residuary Estate to them for ever, in Trust to sell and dispose of the same amongst my children and the survivor of survivors of them as they shall see fitting and proper, only giving my son Benjamin one hundred pounds more than either of the other shall have had or may have, and my Will and Meaning is that they or the survivors of them shall pay such yearly sum of twenty pounds if chosen by my said Wife by equal quarterly amounts and that they shall not be liable or answerable for any loss that may or shall happen by bad securities or otherwise to my Estate, and may and shall deduct and pay themselves all Moneys Expenses and Charges they shall be at in or about the Execution of the Trust in them reposed (?) and shall not be answerable but only for their respective wilfull misacting, and not for one another

And lastly I do hereby revoke all former Wills and Testaments by me made and do declare this to be my last Will and Testament and my said loving Wife sole Executrix thereof during her continuing her widow, but in case of altering her condition by marraige I make them the said Bernard Foskett, Caleb Moore and Francis Collins my Executors in Trust and my Overseers and Trustees desiring my Widow to be advised by them in all things relating to the management of mt Estate and the payment of the Legaries and Bequests hereby given and bequeathed, and I also desire in case my said Wife shall alter her condition as aforesaid that my said Trustees will take her advice in the disposition of my Estate.

In witness whereof I have to this my last Will and Testament set my hand and seal this twelfth day of June in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and forty four (1744)

John Beddome

Signed sealed published and declared by the Testor as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who have subscribed as Witnesses in his presence and at his request

Isaac Poynting, Thomas Phelps, Esther Crofts

This will was proved at London the Twenty ninth day of November in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and fifty seven, (1757) before the Right Honorable Sir George Lee Knight, Doctor of Law, Keeper or Commissary of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by Oath of Rachel Beddome Widow the sole Executrix named in the said Will to whom the Adminsitration was granted of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the Deceased, she having been first sworn by Commission duly to administer.

*Not an insult apparently but a sign the person had not been forgotten though the main gift had already been given

Beddome Relatives and Samson Occom

From the records, it is clear that contributions to the collection that Samson Occom and Nathaniel Whitlock made in England in 1765-1768 that not only did Beddome's own congregation give £30 but his relatives in Bristol also gave. His brothers-in-law Edward Bright and Christopher Ludlow gave a guinea and five guineas each.

The Manse

I have been thinking about the manse in Bourton on the Water. The current manse hotel says that it has 15 rooms available, all en suite and none on the ground floor. Looking at the manse one can see five large windows at the front and five windows in the roof. If there has been no structural change I guessed that there were ten on the upper floor (five at the front and five at the back) with five in the roof but then I saw that at least one double room has two windows so it must be more complicated. There are certainly windows on the back roof so may be it is something like eight and seven rather than ten and five. Another factor here is that there may be an extension at the back. My thought, however, is that the Beddomes had 7-15 bedrooms available to them above the ground floor. If Mr and Mrs Beddome had the master bedroom and they had one or two for servants at the top and a guest bedroom and a nursery that would leave at least 2-10 bedrooms for kids, of which there were plenty. I am assuming at least five rooms downstairs - a kitchen, a scullery, a dining room, a living room and a library and study. Lots of speculation and not much by way of hard facts then.

Beddome's Brothers and Sisters

 Beddome had at least seven siblings, as shown here.

Benjamin Brandon (Rev) Beddome

1717 - 1795

Sarah (Sally) Beddome

1727 - 1757

Joseph Beddome

1718 - 1794

Bernard Beddome

1721 - 1738

Martha (Patty) Beddome

1729 - 1768

Mary Beddome

1720 - 1763

John Beddome

1716 - 1728

Rachel Beddome

1719 - 1738

John is the oldest and Benjamin is the next eldest and the longest lived with Joseph next after him. Then come Rachel, Mary and Bernard. These were all born in Henley-in-Arden. Then after a little gap Sarah and Martha (known as Patty) were born in Bristol. John died in childhood, only 12, and Bernard and Rachel were only 17 and 20 when they died in 1738, perhaps from the same disease. Sarah, who never married, was dead by the time she was 30. The other two sisters married but died relatively young (Martha was 39 and Mary 43). (Some authorities also list a Caleb 1729-1768). Mary married Moses Brain (m 1740) and later Edward Bright (m 1753). Through Moses she became the mother of Mary (1744-1819) and the short lived Rachel. Perhaps Mary died giving birth to Rachel or shortly after. Martha was married to Thomas Samuel Ludlow. Their children were Christopher Brandon and Martha. (This Martha cannot be Martha Ludlow Jackson whose diary (1755-1790) is in the Bristol Baptist College Library as her dates are 1738-1807.)

Beddome's brother

Beddome's brother Joseph who was born in 1718 and died in 1794 was apparently a business partner with John Cross. They ran a turpentine warehouse in Small Street, Bristol. One source says that Joseph was an eccentric who loved to attend funerals. On July 16 1754 he married Jane Dallaway (1724-1794).

John Heskins

In an article on The Morgans of Birmingham found here, F W Butt-Thompson says that John Heskins had a long connection with the Baptist Church at NaiIsworth. His son, John, married Sophia, the daughter of Benjamin Francis, pastor at Nailsworth for 42 years, and a hymn-writer whose work was then well known. Sophia was born 1784. The marriage was childless and Mary died in her early twenties. Francis' other daughter, Catherine Holbrow, married a minister, Thomas Flint, and lived to the age of 67.

He also says that an apprentice of John Heskins was one of the sons of Benjamin Beddome, of Bourton-on-the-Water.

Heskins, like his father before him, a clothier, was a deacon in Nailsworth. Heskins Senior served in that capacity for 50 years. The father at one time ran Nailsworth Mills.
John Heskins Senior was born c 1731 and died 1813. He married married Hannah Horwood in 1755 and she died in 1772. No children are recorded from this marriage.
He married Mary Bliss in 1775 and had four children - John junior, and three girls, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.
Hannah  married Abraham Flint and died of complications during her first preganancy.
Sarah married Edward Barnard and had numerous children but the male line died with John in 1838 when he had reached the age of 59.

Boswell Beddome

Beddome, Boswell (1763-1816) was the son of the Baptist minister and hymnwriter, Benjamin Beddome (1717-95) of Bourton-on-the-Water, one time suitor of Mary Steele’s aunt, Anne Steele. In 1797, Boswell joined the Baptist congregation at Maze Pond in Southwark, London; unfortunately, his wife, the former Anne Wilkins (sister of William Wilkins, who had asked for Mary Steele’s hand in marriage in 1777), died shortly thereafter at the age of thirty-three, leaving him with several young children. He remarried in January 1800 to Anne Parsons and that July was elected a deacon at Maze Pond, along with Joseph Wickenden, both men being friends of Benjamin Flower, radical newspaper/ magazine editor at Cambridge and later at Harlow. Beddome was active in Baptist affairs, serving as a deputy to the Protestant Dissenter’s Fund in 1803. His business partner was Mr. Fysh (also a member at Maze Pond) in Fenchurch Street, London. Robert Hall had been intimate with the Boswell family for many years. Beddome’s father partially supported Hall during the early years of the latter’s ministry with the interest from a £600 legacy (MS., Angus Library, Regent’s Park College, Oxford, shelfmark 41.3.4[t.]). Hall and Boswell Beddome maintained a close friendship throughout their lives. Writing to Olinthus Gregory on 2 November 1816, three days after Beddome’s death, Hall laments, Alas! my dear friend Boswell Beddome—my eyes will see thee no more! The place which once knew thee will know thee no more! How many delightful hours have I spent in thy society, hours never more to return! That countenance beaming with benevolence &tc; friendship will be beheld no more until the Resurrection morn, when it will rise to view radiant with immortal brightness and beauty. (MS., Bristol Baptist College Library, acc. no. OSG.95B, box A) See Maze Pond 2.f.213, 221; CI 15 July 1797, 25 January 1800.

Samuel Favell, etc

These two entries are from Dissenting Studies 1700-1850
Favell, Samuel (1760-1830) – A prominent Baptist layman, he lived for his early London years in Tooley Street, Southwark, where he married Sarah Bardwell in 1786. She died in 1795 and his second wife was Elizabeth Beddome (1765-1830), only daughter of Benjamin Beddome, Baptist minister at Bourton-on-the-Water. He partnered most likely with her brother, Boswell Brandon Beddome (he was a close friend of Benjamin Flower) as woollen drapers (Beddome, Fysh and Co., 170 Fenchurch Street) and operated a second partnership as a slopseller (Favell & Bousfield, 12 St Mary-Axe). By 1817 his business was listed as Favell, Beddome, and David.

He was present at the initial meeting of the Sunday School Society in 1785, and served as a leading member of the London Revolution Society from 1788 to its demise in 1792, as well as Society for Constitutional Information; he was the object of a satirical piece in the London Times on 22 June 1792 titled “The Southwark Slop-Seller,” signed “Sammy Slop,” a name revisited again by the Times on 4 December 1792, described as still living in Tooley Street. Favell himself would later write of these attacks (more occurred that December) on his politics and character in a letter that appeared in the Times on 25 June 1827.

He represented the Court of Common Council from 1809 through 1829. He was, like his fellow Baptists Henry Waymouth, Benjamin Shaw, Joseph Hughes, Samuel Medley, Jr., and F. A. Cox, involved in the founding of the London University, serving as a member of the first Provisional Committee formed in July 1825. He moved to Camberwell from Tooley Street c. 1794, and later was an active member of the Camberwell Bible Association. At a meeting of 8 November 1813, he was joined by Samuel Palmer (1775-1847), father of the Romantic painter Samuel Palmer (1805-81), the latter becoming a friend of Crabb Robinson and William Blake in the 1820s (see Minutes of the Camberwell Bible Association, 1813-22, MS. John Gill Papers, William B. Hamilton Collection, David M. Rubinstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University). Most likely he attended the Baptist meeting in Camberwell during the ministry of Edward Steane.

Fysh, Mary – who joined Maze Pond on 2 December 1796, coming from the Baptist congregation at Cirencester. Her husband was Boswell Beddome’s business partner in Fenchurch Street, London (see letter 12). She died on 7 March 1804 (Maze Pond 2.ff.18, 155, 255). Mrs Fysh was also a friend of Robert Hall and may have had connections with the Baptist congregation at St Andrew’s Street (Gregory, Works 5.415-16). A notice in the Intelligencer on 28 November 1801 informed the public that a “Mrs. Fysh, daughter of Mr. Christopher Fysh of Lyon, died on Thursday sennight at her brother’s house in Camberwell,” most likely the same house in which Eliza breakfasted with Mary Fysh.

Will of Beddome's mother, Rachel

I Rachel Beddome of the City of Bristol make this my last Will and Testament if form and manner following whereas I have in a Deed dated October the 29th 1757 agreed that my son Benjamin Beddome shall within a certain time after my decease therein expressed have the sum of two hundred pounds, now it is my will that the said sum of two hundred pounds be allowed him out of my effects as also that if he has a mind to sell the Estate in the Parish of Saint George near Bristol and the house in Montague Street in which I now live within one year after my decease and the money arising from the said sale amounts to less than eight hundred and fifty pounds the deficiency shall be made up out of my effects so that he may have the whole after my death One thousand and fifty pounds.

Item: I give and bequeath to my son Joseph Beddome and his heirs the sum of six hundred and fifty pounds but not so much besides what I am bound to Mr. Joseph Grimes for on his account but including all that both principal and interest be it more or less.

Item: I give and bequeath to my granddaughter Rachel Beddome and her heirs the house in back Lane with all its appurtenances in which Mrs Bull now lives.

Item: I give to my good friends the Reverend Mr John Thomas and Mr. Peter Holland the sum of five hundred pounds in trust that it may be put out in good security and the interest given to my daughter Mary Bright during the term of her natural life and after her decease or any time before if she thinks fit such part of the interest or principal as she chuses and after her death the whole principal to be given to my granddaughter Mary Brain when she arrives at the age of twenty one and her heirs but in case my said granddaughter Mary Brain dont arrive at the age of twenty one or leaves no issue I give it to my son in law Edward Bright for the term of his natural life and after his death to be divided equally between the families of my sons Benjamin and Joseph Beddome and Martha Ludlow where there are children or a child and also equally between the children of those families it is also my will and desire that if my son in law Edward Bright and my daughter Mary Bright have a mind to improve the said sum of five hundred pounds in trade then my trustees the Reverend Mr John Thomas and Mr Peter Holland shall put the same sum of five hundred pounds into their hands upon finding sufficient security for its forthcoming to the ends and purposes before mentioned.

Item: I give to my good friends the Reverend Mr John Thomas and Mr Peter Holland the sum of five hundred and fifty pounds in trust to be paid after my decease to my daughter Martha Ludlow altho' covert by her present husband or any other husband to her own separate use to be dispoased of when or how she shall think fit in her lifetime or by her last will properly witnessed and her receipt notwithstanding her present or any other coverture shall be a sufficient discharge to the said trustees the Reverend Mr John Thomas and Mr Peter Holland for any deficiency in my assets the same if by reason of any losses thereby my will is that each of my four children shall bear an equal share of such lossses to make up the said deficiency.

Item: I give to my honoured friend the Reverend Mr John Thomas five pounds and to my good friend Mr Peter Holland the sum of three guineas for their trouble as trustees.

Lastly I nominate and appoint my son Benjamin Beddome aforesaid Sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament this Tenth day of February in this year of Our Lord Seven Hundred and Fifty Eight.

Rachel Beddome sealed delivered and declared to be the last Will and Testament of the Testatrix to us who in her presence and at her desire set our hands as witnesses thereto: Bernard Foskett, Hugh Evans, Samuel George.

---

This is an additional document, which was not signed, giving her views on where personal items of hers should go ....

I make my private will February the tenth 1758 as followeth my ????.

I leave to my daughter Beddome of Bourton my ring

??? to my brother-in-law Foskett for his wife and after him to my son Benjamin and after him to his eldest son John Beddome, and my letters and writings I give to my daughter Ludlow that are not of use to my Executor with the boxes that they are in and I give to my daughter Ludlow the clock and the mahogany desk with the writings in it as I said before that are not of use to the Executor, and I give to my daughter Ludlow my black silk gown and what plain black silk I may have by me to make it up. I give to my daughter Ludlow my aunt and uncle's copies in pictures and the cabinet in the parlour

I give to my daughter Bright my workt couch workt with my own hands and at her death I would have her give it to my daughter Ludlow. I give to my daughter Bright any two workt pictures she may chuse except the Ten Commandments I promised to my son Benjamin

My great easy chair I leave to Mrs Tommas

My black sattin gown I leave to Rachel Beddome in consideration of my daughter Ludlow's wearing her mother's black suit of clothes made of --- of three sorts as Mr Hoskett got her upon marriage but if my daughter Beddome has a mind to make up my sattin gown for herself then it is my Will she should have any sattin Hatbands or Hatband I have by me to help make it up for herself and she may give the child a gown instead of it but I have gave or shall give Joseph twenty pounds in consideration that Patty and Sally wore some of his wives old gowns they wore out but three old ones and they never had a good one and I give Joseph the use of a 100 pounds from January 18 1758 in consideration of the same viz my daughters wearing some of his wifes things and in consideration of his giving --- guineas and Patty money to buy her clothes. If I live long four pounds a year will pay him, if I don't he will be a greater gainer by my death.

I give my black chest of drawers to Rachel Beddome

And my walnut chest of drawers to Mary Braine

And I give to my brother Joseph Brandon my silver mugg and a couple of silver spoons that were my aunts.

I give to my Counsin Sarah Biggs my purple damask gown and a crepe gown if I have one and a quilted coat and a cloak and a hood and three or four aprons and 4 shifts and two or three caps and some Cover usseys and two or three Muslon Hankerchiefs and whatever other things of mine my daughter Bright and my daughter Ludlow shall think proper and what they send I would have put in a box and my Executor to pay the carriage to London. Cousin Briggs is my first cousin by father and mother's sides and I hope is a good woman and very poor.

My ?Ferret I will to my son Benjamin

Item I give and bequeath to the Pithay Church to help buy a parsonage house a hundred pounds	100.0.-
Item I give to Mrs Heritage three guineas	3.3.-
Item I give to Betty Kendall my maid three guineas	3.3.-
Item I give to Mrs Heritage three guineas	3.3.-
Item I give to Mary Carpenter for her own use	1.1.-
Item I give to Mrs ?Belcher of ?Healy	1.1.-
Item I give to Elizabeth Strange as was my sons maid	1.1.-
Item I give to cousin Sarah Biggs	2.2.-
	________
	112.12.-
Aulester	20--.-
	________
	132.12.-
Item I give to Auster Church as Mr. Beddome desired me	20.0.-

All as I am worth besides my household goods at the writing of this, 3200 pounds when Mr. Fosskett is paid the 350 pounds that I and my husband borrowed of him I have left upon Will including the two estates of my sons £025.3.-

I would have my household goods praised after my death but left to stand as they be if Mr Foskett desires it for it be for half a year when they are to be sold. I would have every child beginning at the oldest to take any one piece they shall think paying down the price at which they are appraised and they may thus so again in the same order as often as they please but not to sell anything again but only such things as they will keep for themselves.

[Perhaps Elizabeth Strange was another daughter of the deacon Joseph Strange, sister to Nanny].

Poem A Letter

The same book that has the poem A Wish also has this playful one "A Letter", no doubt from the same period and written for his wife to be.

My sister most dear
To my instructions give ear
Be sober, be best, be genuine, be true
With a decorum behave
Be cheerful, yet grave,
And give unto each the respect that is due.

Pray don't stay long
We want you at home.
A week or two more may suffice,
Your virtue reveal'd
Your frailty conceal'd
A word is enough to the wise.

If a sweet heart you meet
That is proper and fit
To look to a nearer Relation.
Don't quickly refuse
Be in no haste to choose
There are never enough in the nation.

May you snake such a choice
That your friend may rejoice
That Mr Boswell e'er had such a Daughter
From your only Brother
Till you have another
Ben Beddome Bourton-on-the-Water.

Anne Wilkins

There is no portrait of Beddome as we have said but Mrs N informs me that she was recently sent, by a Beddome descendant in Canada, this portrait of a lady who is probably Beddome's daughter-in-law, Anne Wilkins (she was married to Boswell Brandon Beddome). On the reverse it says

Grandmother Beddome

to Ellen Octavia

Ash ... ?

10 July

husband dies

October

L...st

According to an entry in the family Bible, Anne Beddome (nee Wilkins) died at 1 am on July 10, 1797. Boswell Brandon Beddome died on October 29, 1816. Ellen Octavia (b 1831) was the daughter of William Wilkins Beddome (1782-1858).

Signatures of the family

In the 19th century many of Beddome's grandchildren and great grandchildren emigrated to the Americas and to Australasia, taking with them various family documents. In more recent years it has been possible for Beddome descendants in Britain to trace these. One document (taken to Canada by the children of Beddome's youngest son, Josephus) is a page of Beddome signatures seen above (sent to me by Mrs N). One of the grandchildren has written underneath each signature how this person is related to him or her. At the top of the page are two signatures - Jos Brandon on the left (underneath 'Brother of my Great Grandmama' - in other words Beddome's mother's brother) and on the right Jos Beddome (underneath 'Grand Uncle' - Beddome's brother). Below that is Beddome's signature (underneath 'Grandpapa'), below that B Foskett ('Grandpapa's Tutor'), below that Mary Bright ('Grand Aunt' - Beddome's sister born in 1720, who had married first Moses Brain then Edward Bright), below that Rachel Beddome ('Great Grandmama' - Beddome's mother) and finally Thos Ludlow ('Grand Aunt Patty's Husband' - this was the husband of Beddome's youngest sister Martha, who was known as Patty).

What is not known is whether these signatures were all done at the same time or over a longer period. Mrs N favours the former view as the one missing is John Beddome, Beddome's father who died in October 1757. If they were all done at once, this could narrow down the date because we know that Bernard Foskett had a stroke on the morning of September 9, 1758 and died soon afterwards. However, we believe Rachel Beddome died on the March 23, 1758, which narrows the date even more - to the six months October 1757-March 1758 - possibly they were all together for Christmas 1757.

Boswell Brandon Beddome

This obituary appeared in the Baptist Magazine at the time. It begins:

Mr B B BEDDOME

Died on Tuesday, October 29, 1816, at the house of his son-in-law Dr Gregory, of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Mr Boswell Brandon Beddome, of Walworth, aged 54 years.

Mr Beddome was the third son of the late Rev B Beddome, AM of Bourton-on-the-water, Gloucestershire, a minister well known in most of our churches, and by whose admirable sermons now publishing, he, "being dead, yet speaketh." He had, therefore, enjoyed the benefit of the early and constant instruction of a parent of great piety and correctness of sentiment; and having thus been trained up in the fear of God, he always chose his principal associates among persons of professed piety. This circumstance, together with an accurate knowledge of the theory of religion, and much frankness and benevolence of character, led him, in his own estimation, and, perhaps, in truth, to satisfy himself for years, with the form of godliness, while he was destitute of the power.

It pleased God, however, by the dissolution of the tenderest of earthly ties, nearly twenty years ago, to convince him of the vanity of all mere notional religion, at once to wean him from all earthly and mistaken dependencies, and bring him to an intimate acquaintance with himself, and a cordial acquiescence in the plan of salvation through the atonement of "God's dear Son." At that period he joined the Baptist church at Maze-pond, Southwark, then under the pastoral care of the Rev James Dore, AM; of which church he was chosen a deacon about three years afterwards: and during greater part of the sixteen years in which he filled that office, he devoted himself most conscientiously, and, (considering the way in which his time was necessarily employed in secular occupations,) most sedulously to promoting the interests of religion generally, of that church in particular, and especially to the encouragement and guidance of the younger members of that community. Animated by a like spirit, he for many years took an active part in the concerns of the "Baptist Fund," and of the "Deputies appointed to protect the Civil Rights of Protestant Dissenters." Since the establishment of the "Stepney Academical Institution," he had also, from a persuasion of the advantages likely to accrue from such a seminary in the vicinity of the metropolis, readily devoted himself, as a member of the committee, to the promotion of its important objects.

The rest is here. See page 23.