Isabella Cock’s parents

Now that I have explained my reasons for believing the parents of George Amos to be Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock, and have explored the paternal side, it is time to look to the maternal side. Against all odds, the maternal side has proved the easier to research in many respects.

Isabella Cock’s parents were Simon Cock and Mary Gurney. Their marriage was a bit tricky to prove without access to original records, but I am pretty satisfied with the conclusion. They were married on 24 Dec 1812 in Sturry, Kent, England. Mary’s birth location in later census records is given as Sturry, so the location, being the bride’s parish makes sense. The Tyler Index to Parish Records, one of my sources for the marriage, records that Simon is “of Tilmanstone.” Since Tilmanstone was where their family was raised, the groom also makes sense. 

Church of St. Nicholas, the parish church of Sturry, where Simon Cock and Mary Gurney were married.
pam fray [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Their first child, a son, William, was baptized on 13 Feb 1814 in Tilmanstone, Kent. My 3great-grandmother Isabella herself was next, baptized on 24 Apr 1815. Then came John on 17 June 1816, who must have died quite young, as another John was baptized the following year on 20 June 1817. (I have not, however, located a death or burial record for the first John.) Next came Simon on 27 Jan 1819, but he also passed away very young, and was buried on 3 June 1819.

There is a strange duplication of records for a baptism which took place on 26 Jan 1820; FamilySearch has records for both a Simon Edward and an Edward Simon on that date. It is possible that two sons were born twins and given identical names in reverse order, but I think it far more likely that it is an error introduced during transcription. Since I have not yet been able to examine the original records, I can state nothing with certainty. However, I am proceeding on the assumption that it is one child. 

The interior of St. Andrew’s, the parish church of Tilmanstone, where the children of Simon Cock and Mary Gurney were baptized.
John Salmon [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The next baptism for a child of Simon and Mary Cock appearing in the Tilmanstone records is for Frederic, on 26 Oct 1827. Last is Elizabeth Dorothy on 30 June 1829. There is, of course, a gap of nearly eight years between Simon Edward and Frederic. That is enough time for a few more children to have been born, but no records have been found. Perhaps there were miscarriages; Mary was by this time nearing the age of forty, and perhaps childbearing was becoming increasingly difficult for her. Perhaps Simon and Mary were separated from one another for some reason—Simon traveling elsewhere for work, maybe—and they quite simply had no opportunity to conceive any children during this time. Perhaps they moved to another parish during that period and I simply haven’t discovered the records.

In 1841, census records begin. The family is still living in Tilmanstone, and the census finds Simon and Mary with their children Edward (Edward Simon or Simon Edward of 1820), Frederick, Eliza (Elizabeth Dorothy). Also in the household are two younger children: Mary, age 6, and William, age 1. William is the illegitimate son of Isabella, and thus Simon and Mary’s grandson. Mary is likely also a grandchild, but her exact relationship has yet to be determined.

They are still residing in Tilmanstone at the time of the 1851 census. This is one of the censuses which helped in deciding that the marriage record in Sturry was the correct one, as Mary’s birthplace is recorded as Sturry. Simon’s is Ringwould, Kent. This census also brings the somewhat startling news that Simon is a pauper. That is, he is probably receiving “outdoor relief,” or money, from the local poor law union. He is in his late 60s at this point, so quite possibly he was unable to work. Simon and Mary’s children Edward and Elizabeth are still living with them, as is a granddaughter named Mary Ann (who is ineligible to be the mystery Mary of the 1841 census, as she is only four months old). Edward is working as an agricultural laborer, so perhaps he helped supplement the family’s small income. 

The former Eastry Union Workhouse and its attendant chapel.
Nick Smith [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By 1861, times seem to have gotten even harder. Simon and Mary have relocated to the Eastry Union Workhouse. Their birth places are again recorded, and Simon’s occupation is listed as an agricultural laborer. Only two months after the census enumeration, on 15 June 1861, Simon passed away in the workhouse. His death certificate pdf arrived just yesterday. His cause of death was old age and bronchitis. Mary seems to have lived a while longer.

Death certificate of Simon Cock, who died in 1861.

Sources:

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 3 Dec 2017), entry for Simon Cook and Mary Gurney’s 1812 marriage; citing Sturry, Kent, England, reference item 4 p 180, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,737,093.

St. Nicholas’ church (Sturry, Kent, England), Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874, entry for Simon Cook and Mary Gurney’s 1812 marriage; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Dec 2017).

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 Oct 2017), entries for William Cock’s 1814 baptism, Isabella Cock’s 1815 baptism, John Cock’s 1816 baptism, John Cock’s 1817 baptism, Simon Cock’s 1819 baptism, Edward Simon Cock’s 1820 baptism, Simon Edward Cock’s 1820 baptism, Frederic Cock’s 1827 baptism, and Elizabeth Dorothy Cock’s 1829 baptism; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

“England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 Oct 2017), entry for Simon Cock’s 1819 burial; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

1841 census of England, Kent, Tilmanstone parish, District 5, Eythorn, Thanington civil parish, folio 10, page 16-17, household of Simon Cock; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Oct 2017); citing PRO HO 107/470/14.

1851 census of England, Kent, village and parish of Tilmanstone, folio 474, page 16, household of Simon Cock (No. 60 of householder's schedule); digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2017); citing PRO HO 107/1631.

1861 census of England, Kent, Eastry Union Workhouse, Eastry civil parish, folio 113, page 8, Simon Cock; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2017); citing PRO RG 9/539.

England and Wales, death certificate for Simon Cock, died 15 June 1861; citing 2a/416/451, Apr/May/Jun quarter 1861, Eastry registration district, Sandwich sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Abraham Amos’ death certificate

Not long ago, I was listening to one of the many genealogy podcasts to which I subscribe (so many that I don’t recall which one brought me this welcome news!) when I learned that the General Register Office of the U.K. was running a pilot where one could order certificates to be delivered digitally in pdf form at a reduced price. That is, instead of the regular price of £9.25, a pdf costs only £6. Taking into account exchange rates, that is a difference of more than $4. So naturally I rushed to take advantage of this potentially limited time offer.

Having once before ordered a certificate through the GRO, which came through the mail, the time in which this pdf arrived seemed exceedingly short. I had ordered the death certificate of my 3great-grandfather Abraham Amos.



I must admit that at first glance I was a bit disappointed at the appearance of the certificate, which was missing the attractive pastel background and official seals of the paper certificate I had received in the past. But soon I remembered that I had ordered the certificate for information, not aesthetics. And information it did provide.

I learned that Abraham Amos had died on 2 April 1881 in Martin, East Langdon, Dover, Kent, of hemiplegia (from which he had suffered 14 years) and exhaustion. Not being much of a medical aficionado, I had to look up the word hemiplegia, which it turns out means paralysis of one side of the body, often as a result of a stroke. The certificate also records that he was a farm labourer, which must have been rather difficult without the use of one side of his body. No wonder he died of exhaustion!

His son Thomas was the informant.

Source:

England and Wales, death certificate for Abraham Amos, died 2 Apr 1881; citing 2a/515/434, Apr/May/Jun quarter 1881, Dover registration district, St. James sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Abraham Amos’ parents

All that I wrote in the previous post about George Amos’ parents and siblings had actually been researched some time ago, definitely before this summer, and quite probably even earlier than that. However, since there is some confusion online about his parents, it seemed a necessary prelude to the presentation of my new research. That is, having already determined the parents of George Amos, it was time to determine his grandparents. Fortunately, his parents’ marriage record provided a good starting place.

George Amos’ parents, Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock, were married 25 May 1847 in Eythorne, Kent. The marriage record revealed that the groom’s father was Thomas Amos and the bride’s father was Simon Cock. I first turned to the paternal side, to find the childhood family of Abraham Amos. Census records indicated that Abraham had been born about 1820 or 1821 in East Langdon, Kent. So the first step was easy: search East Langdon christening records for an Abraham Amos whose father was Thomas, and who was baptized around 1821. The results of this search left little question that I had located the correct individual; an Abraham Amos was baptized on 7 Apr 1821 in East Langdon. His parents were Thomas and Amy Amos.

Finding his siblings—for during this time frame I felt reasonably certain he would have some—proved more difficult. A search for other children of Thomas and Amy Amos in the East Langdon parish records yielded nothing, nor could I find there a marriage record for the couple. Widening the search to the entire county of Kent produced one possible sister of Abraham: Sarah Amos, baptized 1 May 1808 in Eythorne, but the relationship was by no means certain.

Since I didn’t seem to be getting very far at either FamilySearch or Ancestry, I decided to try my luck at Find My Past. They have many British parish records in their collection, and although I don’t have a subscription to their site, and therefore would be unable to view the transcriptions or original records, hoped the search results could lead me in the right direction. So I went to their “Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry Baptisms 1538-1912” database and entered the search terms to find a child of Thomas and Amy Amos. Suffice it to say, using Find My Past in conjunction with FamilySearch (Ancestry was no help in this case), I believe I have identified a large part, if not all, of Thomas and Amy’s family. 

The Church of St Mary and St Ethelburga in Lyminge, Kent
Photographs by Gnangarra...commons.wikimedia.org [CC BY 2.5 au (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Their eldest child seems to have been a daughter, christened Mary Amis on 11 Nov 1798 in the parish of Lyminge. This parish, dedicated to Saints Mary and Ethelburga, also houses a marriage record for Thomas Amos and Amy Dunn on 17 June 1797. In just the year before the birth of their first daughter, and in the same parish, it is quite likely the right couple. The record notes (or at least one of the transcriptions of the record does; I have not yet had the opportunity to view the original document) that the bride is “of this parish” and the groom “of Hastingleigh.” Given this valuable information, it ought to be relatively simple to trace the next generation back; however, thus far I have been unable to find a baptismal record for either party.

It seems that by 1805 the small family has relocated to the parish of St. Mary the Virgin in Dover, about fourteen miles to the east. A son, Thomas Ames, was baptized there on 24 May of that year. By 1 May 1808, they were about seven or eight miles from there, in the village of Eythorne. This was, indeed, the possible child I had wondered about before. Sarah Amos, it turns out, does fit into this family.

Once the family made it to Northbourne, another six miles, they seem to have stayed put for a while. A son, John Amis, was baptized there in 1810, and then a daughter, Susanna Amis, on 20 Feb 1814.

Google Map of the approximate route of the Amos family, from about 1797 to 1821.

Lastly, after a gap of seven years, came my great-great-great-grandfather Abraham Amos. He was baptized in East Langdon, about five miles from Northbourne. The entire route, from Lyminge to East Langdon, along modern roads, is a distance of about 33 miles. It appears an entirely reasonable route for a family during a period of a couple decades. Especially if the father was an agricultural labourer as his son Abraham later became.

I suspect that a child or two... or three... is missing somewhere in that seven-year gap between Susanna and Abraham. But for a basic investigation, nowhere near being a reasonably exhaustive search, it’s a pretty fair reconstruction of a family.

Sources:

Ancestry, “England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Mar 2016), entry for Abraham Amos’ 1821 baptism; citing England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Mary Amis’ 1798 christening; citing Lyminge, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,875.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Thomas Ames’ 1805 christening; citing SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN,DOVER,KENT,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 355,633.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Sarah Amos’ 1808 christening; citing Eythorn, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,696.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Susanna Amis’ 1814 christening; citing Northbourne, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,535.

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2017), entry for Thomas Amis and Amy Dunn’s 1797 marriage; citing Lyminge, Kent, England, reference Item 2, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,875.

Ronnie Cobb, “Marriages 1665 to 1841, Lyminge,” database, Kent Online Parish Clerks, Kent Online Parish Clerks (http://www.kent-opc.org/index.html : accessed 7 Oct 2017), entry for Thomas Amis’ and Amy Dunn’s 1797 marriage; citing Lyminge parish register, entry no. 379.

George Amos’ parents

Ordinarily I wouldn’t describe myself as someone who has trouble focusing, but lately—since the end of summer, in fact—I have felt like I have genealogical attention deficit disorder (ADD). My approach has been remarkably scattered. I might spend a few hours on the Howard branch, and then hop over to the Robinaults. After a few hours with them, I might return to the Howards, but get distracted by the allied Filby family. Then, for no apparent reason, I might turn to the Brosius and Wade lines, followed by a leap to the Stroesser family.

At length, the second annual WikiTree Source-a-Thon arrived, and I volunteered. For those of you who don’t know, the Source-a-Thon was a weekend-long event in which volunteers sought sources for unsourced profiles on the WikiTree site. This was tailor-made for my temporary genealogical ADD, as I researched unrelated individuals from many and varied locales. After three days of arbitrary source-finding, I was finally ready to settle down.

George Amos

The branch of my family which finally engaged me, for whatever reason, was that of George Amos. Yes, George Amos of the Creeksea Ferry, the subject of my very first blog post. There has been some question about his parentage for a while: namely, whether his parents are Edward Amos and Sarah Constable or Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock. Both couples have a son named George Amos born in Kent during the correct time frame, but after some deliberation I have fallen firmly in the Abraham and Isabella camp.

(Unfortunately, I have some fears that I may have inadvertently begun the Edward and Sarah fallacy by tentatively placing them on my Ancestry tree without publicly stating that the placement was only tentative.)

The argument for Edward Amos and Sarah Constable is based entirely on census records, for which Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock have an equal claim. But the marriage record of George Amos and Elizabeth Filby bears some pretty strong evidence, in that it specifically states that Abraham Amos is the groom’s father. If that is not enough, the 1911 census records our George Amos’ birthplace as “Martin, Kent.” The son of Edward Amos and Sarah Constable was baptized in Buckland, Kent, but the son of Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock was baptized at St. Martin, Guston, Kent.

St. Martin of Tours church, Guston, Kent
By John Vigar (http://www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Guston) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(Incidentally, you will sometimes see our George Amos recorded on online trees as George Hammond Amos. That was the baptismal name of the son of Edward Amos and Sarah Constable. There is no evidence to support a middle name of Hammond for this George Amos.)

Accepting that Abraham Amos and Isabella Cock are George Amos’ parents, George had at least three siblings. The eldest, likely a half-sibling, was born illegitimately to Isabella Cock in about 1840. He was baptized William Cock on 15 March 1840 at Tilmanstone, Kent, his mother’s home parish.

Abraham and Isabella married seven years later, on 25 May 1847 at Eythorne, Kent. Their first child as a married couple (and quite possibly as a couple at all, depending on the paternity of William) was Thomas, who was born on 31 October 1947. Note that he was born only five months after his parents’ marriage. He was baptized a few months later, on 23 January 1848, at Eythorne. Next came John Abraham, baptized 14 September 1851 at St. Martin, Guston, Kent; and last of their known children was George himself, baptized 22 May 1853, also at St. Martin, Guston, Kent.

Sources:

1911 census of England, Essex, 27 St. Thomas Road, South Fambridge, Essex, household of George Amos; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2012); citing RG 78, RG 14 PN 10108, enumeration district (ED) 14, schedule number (SN) 91.

Christ Church (Southwark, Surrey, England), London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921, “1875 (Register of marriages, P92/CTC, Item 037),” George Amos and Elizabeth Filby marriage record, p. 106; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Feb 2016).

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2012), entry for George Amos' 1853 christening; citing Guston, Kent, England, reference p35 rn279; FHL microfilm 1,886,151.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Dec 2014, George Hammond Amos, ), entry for George Hammond Amos’ 1852 christening; citing Buckland (near Dover), Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,886,085.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 Sep 2017), entry for John Abraham Amos' 1851 christening; citing St. Martin, Guston, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,886,151.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2012), entry for Thomas Amos' 1847 birth; citing reference item 9-12, FHL microfilm 1866545.

“England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2017), entry for William Cock's 1840 baptism; citing Tilmanstone, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,794.

“England Marriages, 1538–1973,” database, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2017), entry for Abraham Amos and Isabella Cook's 25 May 1847 marriage; citing Eythorn, Kent, England, reference p22, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,866,546.